It’s got to hurt a man when he can trace the disintegration of his musical career to the moment he started playing harmonica on stage, but that’s what just happened on The Show.

Off goes the man responsible for what was easily the best performance of the year (and there have been some good ones this year, so that’s a high bar). He was certainly mediocre enough this week, but his mediocrity was surpassed by at least two other performances, including an off-key warbling blast aimed right at America’s patriotic heartstrings, apparently bypassing the brains along the way. I’m proud to be an American, too, but some songs just trigger an involuntary gag reflex, and all the patriotism in the world can’t stop that.

And so The Show becomes a lot duller. Sure, I could root against the beauty-pageant performance that just booted my man to the curb, but that seems like a tired response, especially when there are other, more skilled contestants available who are more fun to root against.

In the end, this departure is an injustice…but it’s an injustice for which I see no solution.