Well, only hours after I sung the praises of American Idol semi-finalist Josiah Leming and prematurely cleared a space for his voting number on my speed-dial (sorry, Mom, I'll re-program your number later), I've been hit with the shocking news that this favorite contestant of mine did not make it through to the final 24.

I'm about to cry on cue--just like Josiah himself!

Seriously, despite Josiah's barely-standing version of "Stand By Me" last night, I stood by him. I definitely still thought he was worthy of a spot among the the 12 final boys. And my respect for him only grew when I checked out his MySpace page and discovered that his influences included cool, credible Britpop bands like Radiohead, Travis, Blur, Echo & the Bunnymen, Oasis, Supergrass, and Keane (not to mention Mika, the U.K songwriter he covered on last night's show).

I honestly can't believe a Brit like Simon Cowell let a promising young Anglophile like Josiah slip away. Blimey!

Well, until the Idol powers-that-be reinstate the "wild card" policy that once gave ousted Idol semi-finalists like Clay Aiken a second chance, I encourage all my fellow Lemingheads to petition on the message board below, begging Simon, Randy, and Paula to give poor Josiah another shot. Or at least encourage Idol sponsor Ford Motors give the boy a new Focus or something, so he has a nicer, newer car to sleep in.

And since we won't be seeing Josiah on future American Idol episodes, I'll leave you with this amateur video of the boy wonder in all his fake-English-accented glory. He will be missed: