This elimination was less about Sanjaya sticking around and more about the wrath of TPTB being wrought upon Chris Sligh. The theme for this week was always vague, starting with Gwen Stefani week which nobody wanted and then being switched to the more acceptable "alternative week." But then the chosen one, Melinda, wouldn't nail an Alternative theme as well as she could, and you can't stretch that to include her kind of song as well. And then Sligh gives VFTW an on-air shoutout, and he'd do great in Alternative week. After that, the theme changes to pop, then to 90's, then to the really vague and manipulatable "songs that inspired Gwen Stefani" which means who knows what, but they can include stuff that Sligh might stumble on and stuff that Melinda would nail (cause, you know, Donna Summers' influence is all over the No Doubt albums). Which is why the judges jumped all over Sligh's one moment of being off-tempo. Sligh pissed the producers off, now he's gone.