When American Idol contestant Alaina Whitaker popped on my screen, my eyes popped open. Yow! Hot! She must be 24, right? Then I found out no, she's 16. Uh-oh! Is Chris Hansen around the corner? Shame on me!

Then she sang Wednesday, and it was updated that she was now 17. This was going to be a happy American Idol season, as we watched Alaina Whitaker get closer and closer to legal with every passing week.

But alas it all came to a screeching halt Thursday night. Poor Alaina got bounced right off the show. She was so distraught she squealed, "I can't sing! It's going to sound horrible!," turning down the final song contestants are usually made to perform right after being told their singing wasn't good enough.

It's really hard to believe she got voted off because she seemed so marketable. Young, blonde, pretty -- aren't those the prerequisites for success? Maybe not. People wonder why only dopeheads, alcoholics and sluts like Amy Winehouse and Keith Richards seem to get anywhere in the music business, and I guess it's because they're ultimately more memorable than well-adjusted people. It could also be too many people felt she looked and sounded like former AI winner Carrie Underwood (she's even from the same home state, Oklahoma), and while I would welcome as many Carrie Underwoods as Simon, Paula and Randy can find, maybe others feel differently.

Oh, well. There's still Kady Malloy, who's hot but seems like a surfer girl who got hit on the head with her surfboard a few times.

So long, Alaina Whitaker. We hardly knew ye.