It was a shocker but Bumpshack’s favorite Melinda Doolittle was voted off American Idol on Wednesday night. It now sets up a finale between Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks.

“This. Is. The. Hard. Part,” Ryan Seacrest said just before he announced who’ll be missing out on next week’s finale. He called out Jordin Sparks’ name first, guaranteeing her return. Then, standing by Blake Lewis and Melinda Doolittle, he asked: “Will it be girl-girl? Guy-girl?” Blake, clearly giving way to nerves and trying to toss out a joke about his beat-boxing style, stammered a non-answer: “Girl, machine – machine…”

But Melinda, who never seemed to sing a note that was mechanical or calculated for effect, was the one voted off, and the human synthesizer gets to stay. There were boos from the studio audience, and Simon – Melinda’s most vocal champion throughout the season – told her: “My commiserations, Melinda, because you are one heck of a singer.”

Doolittle will get a nice record deal and could fall into success similar to Kelly Clarkson.