The Horror! The Horror! Chris After the Apocalypse

"I'm very sorry about what happened last night," said another, while others wished him the best of luck and assured him that their jaws had dropped when show host Ryan Seacrest set him up for the sucker punch by reminding Chris that most people thought he was going to be one of the two finalists, then following it with -- buh-bye!

When one of the Reporters Who Cover Television veered off point to ask him what he had learned over the weeks of competition about the three who are still in the running -- Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin and Katharine McPhee -- Daughtry shot back, "I really don't think that's relevant right now."

One critic said Chris looked "[highly irritated]" when singing his swan song Wednesday. Which, of course, went perfectly with the bad-boy uniform he'd worn so well in the course of his "Idol" run: death-ray stare, bulging biceps, bald head, cool shades, chains, heavy boots, microphone stand accessory, etc.

"I was just being real," Chris explained.

"I wasn't going to pretend I was happy about it. It was definitely a gut-wrenching moment and I wasn't expecting it -- not even a little bit. . . . It was definitely a low blow."

But then he started to go a little CPA on us when asked about word that a band was going to make a "major announcement" and offer him its lead-singer gig. (That was Fuel, whose song "Hemorrhage" he covered during one night of competition, sending it to the Top 10 list of iTunes downloads.)

The reporter wanted to know whether Chris would like to be Fuel's lead singer.

"You know, at this point I have to really take everything into consideration and be very careful of what I choose to do because I don't want to make a rash decision and regret it later."

Hey! Aren't rash decisions that you regret later -- like climbing palm trees -- the very definition of a rock star?

It got worse later, when Chris told the throng, "I'm going to have to really sit down and weigh out the pros and cons of each situation and see what are going to be my biggest benefit careerwise, and not just in the present day but in the future."

And, when asked if he had any closing comments, Chris became a virtual beauty pageant contestant:

"I just really want to thank everybody for supporting me so long in this, and I really feel for all the people that are disappointed today. I realize I do have a lot of fans out there and I'm so grateful and appreciative for everything they've done up to this point, and ask them to never forget about me when I have an album out."

Gak!