We’ve got four people left on The Show now, in a year that I am officially ready to title The Season Of The Flameout. The most interesting, and among the most talented, people have been kicked to the curb — mostly through their own bad choices. As a result, we have a final four with a street singer, a regional theater singer, a bar band singer (he got offered a gig for $50 last week) and some guy for whom appearing on television appears to be the most painful experience imaginable.

But it wasn’t always like that this year. Remember these people?

What the hell happened to you? When things got going, people talked about you as a potential deep-into-the-game player, possibly even a Final Four type. You went out in March. Why?

Easy. You picked one of the most earnest heartbreak songs ever written (“I Fall To Pieces”), sped up the tempo a bit, and sang it like a bubbly cocktail song. No. No no no no no. Patsy Cline has probably been haunting your butt ever since you did this. Your version of the song still makes me angry. America gave you a big “WTF?” for your efforts, and you gave America a big FU in return.

Don’t believe the hype, O Early Contestants. He believed the hype. He came out channeling Jim Morrison so hard that I expected him to moon the audience and get hauled away by the cops. One problem: No one under 50 (or heck, 55, really) can remember actually seeing Morrison sing in person. So you wanna be a rock ‘n’ roll star? Don’t mimic Grandpa’s long-dead rock ‘n’ roll star.

I literally do not remember you at all. Seriously. Are you sure you were on The Show this year?

It’s hard when you learn for the first time that not everybody loves you at first sight.

Some contestants are not a threat to get to the interesting part of the show, but deserve a shout-out for a nice little run. She deserves a shout-out for a nice little run.