Gone, but far from forgotten, Danny Noriega’s exit from American Idol on Thursday left fans of the flamboyant 18 -year-old  weeping and buzzing with indignation over the reasons behind his failure to make the final 12.

Supporters  of the cheeky Noriega,  who dub themselves “Danimals”,  organized a petition on the American Idol message board demanding his return while others speculated darkly that the California teen  may have been the victim of homophobia.

A much-circulated YouTube Christmas video, in which a heavily eye-linered Noriega hoped Santa Claus carried out unseemly acts on mothers, was also thought to have turned off many  of the talent show’s  28 million plus viewers.

One contributor to the American Idol message boards on Friday summed it up like this;  “In the end Danny was too feminine and ‘dainty’ acting and had a lousy attitude. Then you have the stupid childish BLEEP video, along with his mocking of Simon.”

Like Sanjaya Malakar last year, Noriega may turn out to be most talked about contestant who never actually became America’s idol.

“American Idol” also delivered its most vicious blow to three other wide-eyed young performers, denying them access to a coveted spot among the singing competition’s Top 12 contestants of its seventh season.

Along with Noriega, sent packing last night were Asia’h Epperson, a 19-year-old who judge Simon Cowell dubbed a “second-rate Whitney Houston”, Kady Malloy, 18, whose Britney Spears impressions were more memorable than her performances and Luke Menard, a hunky but boring 29-year-old whose rendition of Wham’s “Wake me Up Before You Go Go” was called “corny” by judge Randy Jackson.

Elimination this week means not only will they never achieve “American Idol” status, it also means they won’t get to perform at the show’s finale and are denied a spot on its popular summer concert tour. In other words, they now join the ranks of Sundance Head, Sabrina Sloan, and other “Idol” also-rans who missed the Top 12 by the skin of their teeth.

What, you say? Sundance who? Sabrina what?

Exactly.