As expected, Milwaukee native Danny Gokey survived another cut in "American Idol."

Gokey, who drew a somewhat lukewarm response after his version of "Get Ready" during the Motown show Wednesday night, sat comfortably on the sidelines while Michael Sarver was bounced from the competition Thursday.

Sarver, a 27-year-old oil rig worker from Texas, was panned for his performance of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and did not get a judge's reprieve when voters ranked him last among the finalists.

"Michael, you're going home. Sorry," Simon Cowell said.

Sarver's companion in the elimination lounge was a surprise. Matt Giraud of Kalamazoo, Mich., won positive reviews for his version of "Let's Get it On," but did not win favor with voters.

In addition to Gokey and Giraud, the remaining finalists are Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Megan Corkrey and Scott MacIntyre.

The results show on Thursday, which was pushed back a day because of President Obama's prime-time news conference on Tuesday night, featured performances by Stevie Wonder and Ruben Studdard and a duet with Smokey Robinson and Joss Stone.