and then there were 14

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The Canadian Idol judges had their fingers on the pulse of the voting public Wednesday night, accurately predicting three of the four competitors eliminated from the Top 18.

Both Sass Jordan and Zack Werner forsaw the departure of rock goddess Naomi-Joy Blackhall and Toronto belter Scarlett Burke when asked at the beginning of the show which women they would send home.

When asked which male singers would be on their way, judges Jake Gold and Farley Flex both named B.C. crooner Clifton Murray, but missed the mark when they chose Halifax rocker Dwight d'Eon - who landed in the bottom four, but did receive few enough votes to be eliminated.

Also ending his Canadian Idol run was Sarnia singer-songwriter Andrew Austin, who wowed the judges during this week's performance (the first-ever where a competitor on the show accompanied themselves with an instrument) but landed in the bottom four for the second week in a row.

"I have a lot of music going on outside this show," Andrew said when the results were announced. "I hope you people will keep looking for me. Thanks for having me on. I had a really amazing time."

"Andrew... certainly knows who he is," noted Zack, adding the rest of those who were eliminated might not have resonated with the Canadian public. "The people who are staying are good choices: people who made a decision to stand for something, to represent something they'll be if they had a career. I think Canada knocked one out of the park."

Once the results were announced, Naomi-Joy explained why she thought she'd lost her spot.

"I think the two songs I sang weren't as recognizable to the voting public," she said.

The judges had touched on this when critiquing her obscure first-week choice, and many of brought it up again when offering advice to the remaining competitors.

"The song's got to have some relationship to who you are and who you want to be as an artist," said Farley. "It's got to be relevant to the Canadian public and it's got to have an element of risk so you can show yourself and the public what your potential really is."

"A lot of what this show is about is song choice," said Jake. "If they want to be singers, they have to be writers at some point in their career."

"Guys, if you pick the right song, you will give the right performance," added Sass.

Scarlett had taken some heat for her choice of CCR's "Proud Mary" the night earlier, but when asked if she had any regrets, she simply said she "had a good time and... sang (her) heart out for everybody."

Hamilton's Brian Melo, Toronto's Mila Miller and Montreal's Khalila Glanville also hit bottom three status but breathed sighs of relief after learning they'd be back onstage for at least one more week.

In his turn to say goodbye, Clifton graciously reminded viewers that they still have lots to look forward to.

"I want to thank everyone for voting," he said. "Last night I didn't breathe and kind of choked. These guys are solid so you've got a lot to look out for."

See what songs the men of the Top 14 have in store on Monday, July 9 at 9 p.m. on CTV.