*Clears throat* Well, tonight's results were like a big ol' round of love/hate for me. Naturally I have no mixed feelings for the person who got the boot - quite frankly, the boot could have landed a month ago for that one is my take on it. That's the 'love' part . Now to the 'hate' sector: What on Earth was Chris doing in the bottom three? I nearly swallowed my tongue! When Taylor had to pick which group to stand with I was SURE he'd head to Chris's circle (especially since Pickler was over in that other one...but, then, McPhee was over there, too). Kellie top four and Chris (even Paris - who was really quite good on Tuesday) in the basement? This is just getting worse and worse for me as it goes. I've already eased myself into that my favorites (Elliott and Chris) probably won't win for some reason but that does not mean, not even close, that I'm warmed to the notion that Miss What's-her-twang might win. Whoever said it prior I second the emotion: if this is Pickler's year it is also the last year I'll watch the show. I'd rather join a Tuesday night bowling league than indulge in such silliness. That'd be OK, though. I like to bowl. Or used to, anyway.

Now for the acidic remarks about tonight's show. Cowell, who I usually respect with caution, really oinked tonight and actually [finally] irked me. He tells Chris to branch out style-wise, takes credit for it when he does so and does well then, when Chris is on thin ice, says "I'm not the one singing the song..." What a pig! Make that a bullying pig. Also, I'll just have to say that I was reminded tonight that Rod Stewart's baby looks like a mini-Yoda. Well, he DOES, doesn't he ? Last to say ---> Andrea Bocelli happens to be one of my favorite tenors. I can't wait, I'm just on complete pins and needles, to see how he and American Idol mix next week.

Maybe I should go bowling?

The Dallas Morning News predicted that either Kellie or Elliott would leave. Boy, were they wrong. I'm not going to miss Ace at all. But I thought his performance Tuesday night was a heck of a lot better than the one from last week. As much as I like Taylor, he hasn't impressed me much lately. I thought Katherine was the best, and Paris wasn't far behind. I agree with you Gats. If Kellie Pickler is the next American Idol, then something else will have to be substituted for the show next year. It's becoming more and more clear to me that people aren't voting on the contestants based on talent. That's what it should be based on, but it obviously isn't. My God, that little hilbilly gal destroyed that song. Maybe something regarding Bocelli will finally bury her. Let's hope so.

My husband and I have a theory when it comes to the "bottom three"...

Ace was the least votes.. Ok, but if YOU were the producer, and its a numbers game with the voting/texting/ and so on.. wouldn't you want people to scream "Oh no! Why him in the bottom three?" (Chris notion). And to vote the next time so Cingular gets more $$ per text message? Or votes go up in general?

It might have been a teaser to put Paris and Chris there. Think about it.. if Kellie and Ace were standing there, America could have gone to bed 5 minutes earlier.

PS. If Pickler makes it to the top three, I may join Gats's bowling league.

Y'know, s-u-michelle, I've been thinking about your post on and off for a day and I'll bet you're right. Or, if not right, you could be right. These shows have regulations (essentially laws) to follow but they apply to verifiable winning/losing AND cash prizes (which doesn't figure in to anyone but the final victor of this contest, of course). They really can't change the number of who got the least votes because, in the event of a protest, they'd easily get caught. So, heck, why not whip up some "good" TV with the other ones in the bottom three? The two who stay get nothing for being there or not. They'll not protest since they're just happy not to be the bottom one. Very interesting to consider....
Slippery and not quite ethical if they do that (because I think it [the bottom threesome] really does influence actual voting the week after) but, in my mind, not even close to foul play.
Just as long as they don't play with numbers on the night Pickler gets voted out ...

Now, if that unyieldingly pathetic performance on Tuesday night wasn't enough to get Miss Pickler voted out I may have to leap out the window. That's two weeks in a row - short of screeching like a castrated owl, how bad does she have to be on a regular basis? I missed McPhee on the show (I assume she did OK, though). Chris and Elliott were excellent and I even thought Paris stepped it up again. Um, Taylor? Dude, you're starting to worry me...
Anybody else wondering how a blind man would immediately assume Kellie was a blonde? My bet is that nobody had to tell him (and I'm not making fun of blondes; really I'm not).

I don't dislike Kelly - I've always thought she was cute and funny. However, now that it's down to six finalists, it's SO clear that her voice isn't anywhere in the same league as the other 5. I really think she needs to go.
I didn't agree with the judges' assessment of Katherine last night. She sang Whitney Houston's, "I Have Nothing." The judges' opinion was that "if you sing a Whitney song, you'd better be as good as Whitney." I thought the song was a little big for her, but that she did all right.
Then Paris sang Streisand's "The Way We Were," which I didn't care for, but she was ok. The judges didn't rave about her, but why not "if you sing a Streisand song, you'd better be as good as Streisand"? Just thought that was a little strange...
Chris and Elliot both shone last night!

The song that Katherine McPhee picked was a little big for her, but I thought she did pretty good with it. In diagreement with Randy Jackson, I don't think Whitney Houston is "one of the greatest singers walking the planet". I would have rather heard Paris sing anything but a Barbara Streisand song. When Eliott performed "A Song For You", everyone kept talking about the Donny Hathaway version. There was no mention of the fact that Leon Russell wrote the song. I've never heard the Donny Hathaway version. The original version by Russell suits me fine. Eliott, Chris, and Katherine to me, gave the best performances. Kellie Pickler did fine with "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. Other than a couple of "above-average" renditions of country songs, she's pretty much mangled everything else put in front of her. Like Gats, I have nothing against blonde-haired women. I know quite a few that are very intelligent. But I also was amused when a blind man (Bocelli) was able to pick one out.

WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
let the singing competiton begin next week!!!

She's gone! She's finally gone! My wife pointed out to me that it was the first time that she had seen a contestant voted off and they didn't let them sing their way out. She was so busy thanking everybody that she was cut off anyway. I was relieved that the producers thought that much of the television audience. Nobody should have to hear her mangle "Unchained Melody" over again. Now we get down to brass tacks.

Whew, that's all taken care of now . It surprised me (a lot!) that I almost felt sorry for Kellie Wednesday night - but I got over it pretty quickly. She is not a complete vacuum in the talent department and I'm sure her future will be fine. I can picture her going a route similar to Kelly Ripa's [and Ripa is doing quite nicely for herself]. The rub is, and always has been, this for me in regards to the Pickler types: [back to the other Kelly (Ripa) for a second] lovely girl, charismatic, photogenic, all that. She has done soap operas, morning talk shows and marginal sitcoms. No problem. One thing she's wise enough NOT to do is take on Shakespeare or expect an Oscar ever in her career as it stands. There's nothing at all wrong with taking what you've got and making it work where it works best. Pickler, on the other hand, was a passable [sometimes] commercial jingle singer figuratively thinking she could pull off opera! Clearly, that she outlasted Mandisa, even Lisa, is preposterous in terms of what she was capable of vs. what they were. That she was winning outside of any logic whatsoever was the glitch and, yay, now it's no longer one. But, I have to say, it pretty much wasn't her fault that she got as far as she got. She didn't vote for herself, after all. But, all that aside, I'll breathe easier and watch the show with far less stress now. Really, none of the remaining 5 would make my head explode off of my neck if they managed to win. The worst that will happen is that I'll wonder why, on any planet, Elliott can nearly blow the audience out of the building and still not make it to the top 2 in terms of votes earned. That's "American Idol", though. "The Pickler Show" was just outrageousness personified.
I'll shut up now ...

I totally agree (and nice Ripa refference by the way). I think that we'll see more of Pickler on the country music channel.. but with less ratings. If I was to stand in a cd store months from now and I saw a Pickler cd next to a Bucky one.. I'd buy Bucky's.

But let the show begin, as we are all saying. Its going to be nice not to roll my eyes at any of them.

Anyone know what next week's theme will be?

I read somewhere that each contestant will sings 2 songs next week, one from the year they were born, and one that is a current billboard hit. (no idea how reliable that information is...) I've also heard that the producers are saying there's definitely an "Elvis" night in the future.

Horsefeathers (<---which is not exactly the word that is coursing through my head) ! I caught the last 4 minutes of the show last night, which left me completely clueless. Any and all updates appreciated - I couldn't even piece together from that 78RPM recap what they were singing about.

It was the song from the year they were born, and then a current song. (just as cinnam0n predicted).

I fear our dear Paris is in trouble tonight. In my opinion, her rendition of Prince's "Kiss" did it no justice. (And by the way... 1988????? How's that a jolt to feeling old??!!)

Can anyone tell me the name and artist of the song that Chris sang from the current list? It was called "Dare" or something. I loved it.

Michelle,

It was a song by Shinedown, I believe it was "I Dare You"

I also think Paris might be in trouble. It is gonna be either her or Elliot tonight. Kat blew her first song, and then totally redeemed herself on the second one. Chris totally rocked out on the first song, and then overreached on the second one. He needs to take it easy on his voice or he's gonna blow it out. Taylor.. omg.. wow. Like Simon said, you sometimes forget what an amazing voice he has... I think he had the best performance of the night last night.

Paris is gone. But I don't think that she will be forgotten. The girl can sing. She has a post-American Idol career in store for her. The Elvis "thing" is about to take place. With all of the songs that the man recorded in his life, I can't believe that it is coming around when there are only four contestants left. I was pretty stunned when there was finally a Beatles song involved. Of course "Something" is a George Harrison composition. Taylor did a pretty good job on it. I'd like to hear more fab four songs tackled, but since a lot of the royalties of the Lennon/McCartney songs go into Michael Jackson's pockets, there has to be an underlying reason as to why they are avoiding that. Chris was straining on the one song, but he admitted that it was the fifth time that he had to sing it that day. I'm confident that he has his singing career cut out for him, whether he gets the top spot or not.

I won't say I'm glad to see Paris gone but I DO have to say "better her than Elliott". Although, yeah, he could channel the vocal chops of Elvis next week and I'm afraid he's still the next to go. Couldn't you just gather up that Paris and just squeeze her 'til she squeaks (even though she squeaks while not singing as a general rule anyway)? For a 17-year old she has got class galore. Not to mention poise, talent and a whole lot of guts. I agree that her future is indeed golden.

Isn't Paris from a famous grandmother anyway? She probably didn't need the show, but I am grateful for watching her all these weeks. The next few shows are only going to get better.

ps- wasn't it funny how in their car commercial this week they all could finally fit into the actual car? tee hee.

I loved the commercial. When they got out of the car and had on the funky clothes.. that was fabulous. Loved Taylor in the football stuff. Elliot as a punker.. *lmao* That was great.

AOL has revealed what is highly rumored to be tonight's song menu as the four do the Elvis bit (which doesn't make it official, of course):

Chris - "Suspicious Minds" & "A Little Less Conversation"
Kat - "Hound Dog/All Shook Up" & "Can't Help Falling In Love"
Taylor - "Jailhouse Rock" & "In the Ghetto"
Elliott - "Trouble" & "If I Can Dream"

Hmmm...
I guess those sound OK enough. I'm having a little 'ouch' with Kat and "Hound Dog" but Chris should blow the doors off with "Less Conversation". I guess we'll find out .
Poor Elliott....

Who said Poor Elliott? Oh, that's right...I did . It's a real shame, you know? I watched without bias tonight (seemed too late for bias) and still it seemed to me that Mr. Yamin did the best of them all! I've seen "stepping it up" in the past but that was a monstrously large step. Unfortunately it probably won't matter when the votes come in BUT the dude can move on knowing that he rattled the rafters on his last night on "Idol". Seacrest noted the obvious last night: of all the remaining finalists Elliott has clearly and solidly come the farthest. The other two guys did good one song/bad the other song, I thought. I liked Taylor's "In the Ghetto" a whole lot and with Chris? Even when he's not exactly startling or fresh he is great or so close to it there's no reason to call it anything else (what was up with those sunglasses, though?). Kat blew it, in my opinion. Bad songs for her to try and technically it was as if she wasn't trying very hard ~ but, again, in her case it probably won't matter at this point as the voting blocs are established. Based on the show, though, she deserves the fewest votes for Elvis night. I wouldn't vote for her just because that camera spinning around on that second tune of hers made me mighty dizzy and basically seasick [not that that was her fault, of course ].
The show was fun to watch. Except for Tommy Mattola, that is. I still hold him entirely responsible for Mariah Carey and will likely never get over it. Better him than Barry Manilow, though, I reckon.


edited to fix spelling

Once again, I agree with Gatsby's notions.. It's a ride from here on in, it seems, but perhaps a little bit biased to pick a strong male songwritter when there was only one girl left. It was Elvis, for crying out loud... they could have done that catagory when there were 12 left.

Elliot was great. Chris's first song was great, and I can't wait to put a Taylor CD next to my Bob Seager cds on my shelf.

I have no clue who will go tonight. I tried to vote last night on my house phone for about an hour and then quit.. I couldn't get through. (on both #'s no doubt) And I haven't hit the "redial" button on a phone since I was 12 trying to win concert tickets from a radio dj.

I've stuck by Katherine through thick and thin. I'm afraid that the Elvis songs will take her down. She blew the lyrics on the "Hound Dog/All Shook Up" medley. I don't think that it was her fault, but that arrangement of "Can't Help Falling In Love" was way overblown. I don't know if Mottola was responsible for that or not. I thought that Chris, Eliott, and Taylor handled things quite well. One of my wife's favorite Elvis songs is "In The Ghetto", and she didn't like Taylor's version at all.

oh my god. No way did I ever think Chris would go home. I am SO in shock right now. I thought Kat was going home after the performances last night..

I can't believe this.

I think Taylor may actually win..