LOS ANGELES -- Australian-born singer Michael Johns was eliminated Thursday from "American Idol" as the popular contest narrowed its finalists to seven.

Kristy Lee Cook as shown in a photo from her fan Web site.

That means another appearance for Oregon's Kristy Lee Cook. The young woman from Selma earned raves from the judges this week after her performance of Martina McBride's "Anyway."

 Background: More on Cook & Selma

Cook started out a little rough with lots of criticism from the judges, but as the weeks go on, she's earning more occolades.

Folks in her small town of Selma are also banding behind her, organizing big voting nights to rally support for her during the 'American Idol' call-in and text-in nights.

The dismissal of Johns came as a surprise because the hunky rocker had never been in the show's bottom three vote-getters. Cook has been a regular guest in the bottom three, but she escaped that group this week.

More: G'day Mate for Johns