Interesting post. It would be a hoot if the judges had to use their “save” so early in the game.
It would serve them right for messing up the original format.
I really do suspect them both messing with “the original” AND being particularly blatant with their “picks” - especially with the Drudge/NY Post article earlier today about the F4 being “pre-ordained” that it may well happen.
Of course they can also leave phone lines open “at least [read as long as necessary to get the intended results] 2 hours after the show ends” so they can still mess with the results even without the save...unless it were to be so blatant...that could be harder to swing.