'American Idol' First: Matt Giraud Receives Fewest Viewer Votes, But Is Saved by the Judges

Matt Giraud received the fewest viewer votes this week on “American Idol,” but after he reprised his performance of Bryan Adams’ “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman,” the judges used their discretionary “save” power for the first time and kept him in the competition for at least another week.The judges worked the drama of the possible save for all it was worth. As Matt performed standing in front of them (he had sat at the piano on Tuesday night), they huddled together, then split apart as Kara DioGuardi and Paula Abdul linked hands and swayed to the beat. When the song was finished, Kara joined the audience’s chant of “Save! Save! Save!”Then Simon Cowell took the opportunity to torture Matt with the kind of misdirection that he perfects during audition weeks, and that host Ryan Seacrest works to death during the finals. “Matt,” he said, “how many times have you been in the bottom three?”Matt mouthed, “Twice.”“Can I be honest with you?” said Simon. “I didn’t think you were as good as you were last night. I don’t see that you have really any chance of winning the competition. Matt, we’ve made a decision. Matt, it’s good news.”