Utahn on "American Idol" — Final 13

THE BAD NEWS for Megan Joy Corkrey is that she had the flu this week. The good news is that she essentially got a pass from the “American Idol” judges, who all but campaigned for her to return for another week on the show.

The 23-year-old Sandy woman had some obvious troubles performing “I Go Walking After Midnight” during Tuesday’s country music episode — troubles that were explained by the fact that she had the flu. And not only all four judges but then host Ryan Seacrest told viewers “She’s very sick.”

“People don’t know, she’s been in the hospital and back,” judge Paula Abdul said,

The faintest praise Corkrey got was from judge Randy Jackson, who said, “I thought it was going to kind of be a little bit of a train wreck, but I must say, I was quite impressed. I thought it was really good.”

Kara DioGuardi, on the other hand, positively gushed.

“Perfect song. Perfect look,” she said. “And here’s the thing. You’re a winner, because not a lot of people with the flu would be able to get up in front of 25, 30 million people and do what you did tonight. That shows you are serious.”

“If this is what sick is being about, have at it,” Abdul said. “Keep being sick. Because you were fantastic.”

And even the acerbic Simon Cowell agreed.

“You should have flu every week. Because you were better this week than last week,” he said. “And you look gorgeous.”

The results of Tuesday’s voting by viewers will be announced in Wednesday’s episode (8 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13).