Finally!!!!!

Leave it to Sanjaya Malakar to get the last laugh. The most buzzed-about, most irreverent, and, in many circles, most loathed contestant of American Idol's sixth season left the competition on a high note tonight — not with a powerful vocal performance, but with an amusing twist on a well-known Bonnie Raitt lyric: "Let's give 'em something to talk about — other than hair."

Indeed, while we all have been down on Sanjaya for the past nine weeks — such as decrying his gauzy "Steppin' Out With My Baby," raging against his tongue-in-cheek take on "Bathwater" — I've got to give credit where it's due: For the first time in memory, I was laughing with the kid, not baring my teeth at his mockery of my favorite show. Even more surprising, though, was the sympathy I felt for the little guy as Ryan Seacrest swung the axe tonight, and Sanjaya's fellow bottom-two dweller, LaKisha Jones, gripped him in an embrace that lasted longer than a Martina McBride money note.

Which isn't to say I didn't want to see the kid go home. To my eyes and ears, Sanjaya's deflated Tuesday-night rendition of "Something to Talk About" was audible proof that even he'd had enough — enough of the brutal critiques from Simon, from critics, and from fans; enough of being reduced to a national punch line, like being named "Today's Girl" on Maxim magazine's website on Tuesday. (Was that really necessary?) The absence of the maddening mischief that had punctuated "You Really Got Me," and the fact that buzz about Sanjaya had taken a backseat to the Simon Cowell-Chris Richardson incident, made me confident that Sanjaya would finish a lucky No. 7, and for once, I got it right.

Nevertheless, LaKisha should consider herself lucky to have survived the week, given that even a fanboy like myself couldn't find anything positive to say about her loud cover of "Jesus Take the Wheel." I'm just hoping this close call will relight Kiki's fire, and prompt her to do something extraordinary next week — like a flawless a cappella number, or a radical arrangement of an unexpected track.

Oh, and speaking of folks who'll need to raise their games next week — what did you all think of Blake Lewis's inclusion in the bottom three? I'd never in a million years have predicted it. I think that if the spiky-haired dude doesn't join Jordin and Melinda in the final three would be more bizarre than Randy's skull-embossed fedora, one of the many oddities of a bloated, often disjointed results show.

Seriously, the discordant combo of Ryan attempting to clear up the controversy over Simon's eye-roll during Chris Richardson's remarks about the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, the snooze-inducing group rendition of "I'm Alright," an extended advertisement for the upcoming Shrek sequel, and an utterly random performance by Fergie. And note to Antonio Banderas: Next time anybody asks, Shrek the Third opens May 18, not sometime in June.