In their quest to choose the top 24 contestants, the ‘American Idol‘ judges continued to torture the remaining contestants they began brutalizing on Wednesday night — so let’s see how our own Steven Tyler held up under the pressure.

In our previous installment, we covered the elimination process and the flashy set on which it’s all happening. And you know, that island-stage is kind of starting to grow on us. In fact, we hope they keep it all season. Let a few sharks loose in there, even. Then they could threaten everyone with being pushed in if they don’t get enough votes. See how many people dare veer off-key then.

Where were we? Oh, yeah. Top 24. We’ve noticed that when someone is cut, it usually isn’t Steven who swings the ax — but he’s often tasked with telling someone when there’s good news. So the first part of Thursday’s show was devoted to him doing just that, getting lots of grateful hugs (and even the offer of a lifetime supply of crawfish from a Louisiana singer) along the way.

But for the ones who don’t make it, you’d have to be completely heartless not to feel bad for them when their dreams are dashed on live TV (hey, no matter how snarky we are in these recaps, heartless we are not).

When one singer took his ejection particularly hard, the judges were clearly shaken up by his reaction — and after the poor guy left, Steven shook his head and said quietly, “I thought I became a singer in this business to break people’s hearts in a good way.”

Dammit. Stop making us want to hug you, Steven.

Even J.Lo was worn down by the end of the day. “I’m glad that sh*t’s over,” she said after splattering the hopes of a talented young boy all over the island-stage.

And then … yay! Sad Steven was Rock Star Steven again! Yay!

Perhaps in reaction to the stress, he stripped down to a pair of black underpants, mooned the camera, and JUMPED IN THE SHARK-INFESTED WATER. (Okay, there aren’t sharks in there yet, but he definitely dove in and splashed around like a guy who was trying to wash off the royally crappy day he’d just had.)

So there it is. Your Top 24 have been chosen. But in a tease for next week, it seems they’re bringing back one of the guys they cut — which should make Sad Steven a little less sad.

See you then.

Watch Steven Tyler Take a Swim on ‘American Idol’

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