Everybody was calm, expecting no surprise on Thursday when Ryan Seacrest called out the names of the bottom three: Syesha Mercado, Carly Smithson and Michael Johns. The latter probably was the most relaxed, as the girls had previously been in bottom three and they both expected the worst.

When Ryan Seacrest asked “Who will have the lowest number of votes?” Carly even raised her hands and shouted: “Me!”

But, to everybody’s surprise, Ryan said the name of Aussie Michael, who was completely shocked. Ryan reminded the audience that no contestants had been eliminated following last year’s special edition for fundraising, and everybody’s hopes went up. But Seacrest immediately shattered them by saying “Tonight ... we're going to say goodbye to Michael Johns.”

The Australian rocker was not the only one to be surprised. The judges and the other contestants were also greatly amazed.

On Tuesday’s inspirational-themed show, Michael Johns chose to sing “Dream On” from Aerosmith, in a rocker wannabe attempt. He added a little corniness, by explaining that he had chosen the song because he believed all dreams could come true if you believe in them and you work real hard. Both Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson were unsatisfied by Michael’s performance, Cowell calling it too “wannabe-ish.”

Paula Abdul was the only one of the judges to praise Michael’s selection, considering it perfect.

Ok, it was not a great performance, but it certainly was a better song choice than Syesha’s, who decided to sing a a song that had also been performed by previous Idol winner Fantasia Barrino – Whitney Houston’s “I Believe.” Syesha’s performance probably wouldn’t have been so bad if it couldn’t have been compared to Fantasia’s, which was much better.

The surprise elimination of Johns comes a day after a survey by E-Poll Market Research on behalf of Reuters, asking “American Idol” fans who the most talented contestant was, revealed that Michael was in fifth place, followed by Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook and Syesha Mercado. In the same survey, 40 percent of the voters chose David Archuleta as the likely winner.

After overcoming the shock of his elimination, Michael said “Dream On” was a good song to go out on.

"If there's a song to go out on, that's not a bad one," Johns told the show’s host Ryan Seacrest, while the crowd booed his unexpected elimination.

Before announcing Michael’s departure, Seacrest told the audience that “Idol Gives Back” had raised $60 million so far and encouraged viewers to donate more. Last year, the special show raised around $76 million for charitable causes and the show’s producer estimated this year’s event would gain around $100 million.