`American Idol` drills down to 9 contestants

Michael Sarver got a crude awakening from his "American Idol" life.

Los Angeles, March 27: Michael Sarver got a crude awakening Thursday night from his "American Idol" life.

The 27-year-old oil rig worker from Jasper, Texas, made his final plea by belting out "Ain`t Too Proud to Beg," but it just wasn`t slick enough for the judges to overrule the votes of viewers. Sarver was also in the bottom two last week, and put on a consensus weak performance in Wednesday night`s performance round. Even sugary-sweet Paula Abdul chimed in, comparing the 27-year-old oil rig worker from Jasper, Texas, to an old-school Vegas lounge act. His unrefined reprisal of the Temptations classic didn`t appear to tempt the judges to spend their one-time save of a low-vote getter. The four got their heads together for a moment, then Simon Cowell told the married father of two children: "Michael, you`re going home. Sorry." Matt Giraud, 23, of Kalamazoo, Mich, was the other bottom vote-getter, despite the judges` positive appraisal of his "Let`s Get it On" by Marvin Gaye. Stevie Wonder kept the Motown mojo of this week`s show going by singing a medley of his songs, energizing both the contestants — who were dancing and grooving along — and audience. The nine contestants who remain on the Fox network`s singing competition are Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Corkrey and Scott MacIntyre. Fox pushed this week`s "American Idol" broadcasts back a day to steer clear of President Obama`s prime-time news conference on Tuesday night. Bureau Report