On Wednesday night American Idol culled its number of contestants from four to three with the elimination of Jason Castro. Now the singing contest is down to two guys and one girl, David Archuleta, David Cook and Syesha Mercado. 

Oddsmakers at online wagering giant Bodoglife.com have now installed Cook as the odds-on favorite to win the seventh season of American Idol with 2/3 odds while Archuleta is a strong challenger with 7/5 odds. Mercado faces long-shot odds chance of winning at 20/1. 

While upsets have happened in the past and are part of the show’s drama, we don’t expect that to happen next week barring any unforeseen meltdown’s ala Jason Castro’s Tuesday performance, however; Syesha should start packing her bags. Having said that, I thought Melinda Doolittle was the one to beat last year and she didn’t make the final two. 

Having a male winner is so anticipated the wagering category for a male or female winner has been eliminated at Bodoglife . 

It was announced during Wednesday’s elimination show by host Ryan Seacrest that over 51 million votes were called-in following Tuesday’s performances. Seacrest also said the top three contestants were only separated by one-million votes between them. 

It was no surprise to anyone that Castro was the one selected for elimination. The dreadlocked Texan was hammered by judges Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell following each of the songs he performed. 

The final three contestants will be required to perform three songs apiece during next Tuesday’s (May 15) program. The final performance show and crowning of the 2008 American Idol will be May 22-23.

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