Hectic week in my world, so I didn't get to share my thoughts before tonight's *shocking* results. Who would have thought Pia would go home before Stefano?! Apparently, she should just stand there and sing ballads! While she wasn't my style, she was obviously the strongest singer of the girls. This is definitely the least predictable season of Idol ever!

I'm wondering, too, how much Jacob's little comment contributed to his being in the bottom 3 this week.

I'm not going to dissect the performances this week. My favorites remain James and Casey. I look forward every single week to seeing what they will do next. I agree with you, Gats, that's there's something about James. I just love that kid. When he cried after his performance, I just wanted to run up and hug him. I so want him to make a success of himself after this. I think he needs it more than any of the others. There's a certain re-capper I read who writes excellent articles, but he goes on each week about how horrible it is that James has left his hungry baby at home to waste his time on a reality show when he should be out there earning a living for his family, and it drives me absolutely bonkers! What does he think the boy is doing this for? I haven't been able to get exact figures, but my research tells me that after the Top 12, the contestants are paid $1000-2000 for each episode they appear on the show. For the summer tour, they are paid "only" $200 per show, but that will equate to roughly $10,000 over the summer. James was unemployed before auditioning for Idol. What job does this fool think James might qualify for that could net him that kind of money for his family? Let's call Adam Lambert and ask him if he's making more money now than he was pre-Idol. For that matter, let's call Kellie Pickler, who came in sixth in her season. I guarantee you neither will say they wish they'd stayed home and gotten a nice bartending job instead.

But I digress. All I really meant to say is I think James is a real natural. Performing and showmanship seems to come quite easily to him. I'm wishing him loads of good fortune.

Which reminds me: I've finally figured out what bugs me about Haley. She tries too darn hard. She has to try so hard, because she's not a natural.

Oh, and Lauren? While her performance was fairly good, I found the song just too mature for a girl her age to be singing. I couldn't take it seriously. And after the incredible, wowza rendition Kelly Clarkson gave us of that song, I would not have chosen it. Still, kudos to Lauren for attempting to branch out and not choosing a safe song.

The beautiful count, again, was eight. I was pretty tired that night, but I believe those were about half Steven and half Jennifer. And I know for a fact they all came from only two performances. I guess sometimes they just can't come up with any other words, so they just say the same thing over and over.

P.S. Forget what I said a few weeks ago about Randy being the voice of truth. He always was a yes-man to the other 2 judges, and the voice of truth appears to have been silenced. Pretty soon I reckon he'll just start calling everything "beautiful", too.

Yikes! I'm noticing, today, that there seems to be far fewer American Idol 'Power Lists' getting posted on the net than usual as tonight's show looms. Hmmm. Could it be because all we predictors dare not risk such failure in our predictions, as happened last week? Almost all of them (mine, too) had Pia sitting either at #1 or #2 going into Rock -n- Roll HOF night. Guess that didn't bode so well, did it? I'm compelled to say a thing or two (in a gabby mood this afternoon, for some reason) re: Miss Pia. First, her surprise elimination certainly put the show on the front pages of everything this past week, didn't it? Lots of attention, once again, to a show with skittering ratings. That must have any number of executives quite thrilled. Also, I still can't call her being sent home as the 'biggest' Idol shocker ever -- to me, that badge goes to Daughtry, so far. Pia had a very fine voice (I still think so) but she really lacked showmanship to go with it. Now that the music biz is such a visible thing that was a problem. Were this a contest aired solely on radio? Pia would have been close to a lock. Unfortunately, it isn't that ~ she was pretty well boring to watch sing, and that helped do her in, I'd say. No idea from my desk why, or even if, America votes the way it does ... but I think I'm knowing that it helps a truckload if folks remember what it looked like to 'hear' a vocalist vocalize. To wit, I read notably little on boards about how Jacob sang his tune last Wednesday. Some, but not as much as usual. Did I hear about that snippy remark he made and how oddly he wiggled his hips as he sang, though? Saw plenty of posts about those, indeed. It's all a bit weird to me, and (as mentioned in my last ramble) more than occasionally confusing. Not surprisingly? The Power Lists I AM seeing today almost all have Scotty at the top now. Hmmm. I suppose that's entirely believeable, and not necessarily a bad thing --- but I'm not sure it's the right thing. Only because, I believe, there's a country singer American Idol type show already, isn't there? If it still exists, he ought to be over there (or so I think). And, yes, it's true that Carrie Underwood is bow-to-her AI alumnus, and all that, I know. But, if I remember her run on the show properly? Carrie could sing almost anything well. That she officially chose her musical niche as country came after her time on the Idol stage (although I'm pretty sure we all suspected it would happen that way after week one of her season). I'm probably talking about the contest, though, in terms of how I want it to be, and not in terms of how it is. The buzz about a probable Scotty vs. James finale? Um, well ... that just sounds odd to me. BUT, I thought the same thing in prepping for a Carrie vs. Bo Bice one, and that one went well. So I'll ride it out, see what happens. Everybody on the wires seems to be writing off poor Casey, now especially. The *save* backlash (as in, "if those crazy judges hadn't 'wasted' [?] it on him, then poor Pia could have been rescued, etc. etc."). Naturally, I differ with that. I'd have saved him before her as well, had I known and had to juggle the options. Why? Imagine it (smirk). He is simply a more interesting entertainer than she is/was to watch. And, good grief, poor poor Stefano! The whole country seems all fired up at even him, too! Like it's HIS fault that he stayed and Pia went!? Such drama! I doubt(ed) he'll survive this week, anyway (Pia panic or no) but I'm betting he is dreading going out there tonight in a big way. He's probably prepared to get booed enthusiastically even before he opens his mouth. Tonight stands to be a very interesting show, I think. By the way it looks/smells, however? I kinda doubt that who sings what how will be a huge factor in the proceedings ...

Another yikes. All that above stuff was written while I was thinking that today was Wednesday. Whoops. It isn't ~ it's only Tuesday. That helps to explain the abscence of any Power Lists just yet, yes? Sorry 'bout all that ....

Gats, I hope you didn't spend last night sitting hopefully in front of your television, only to be disappointed! Now, today's the day, so get ready!

Chris Daughtry was the biggest shocker for me, too, Gats. I almost missed seeing his elimination. When it came down to Chris and Katherine standing there, it soooo never occurred to me that anyone other than Katherine could be going home, so I got up and started doing other things. I was barely even paying attention to the TV when Ryan said "Chris". On the good side, Mr. Daughtry has done quite well for himself (certainly better than that fellow who did win), so everything came out OK in my book.

I couldn't agree more about your comments about Scotty as well. He absolutely belongs on the country music star search show. And you are so correct about Carrie Underwood being able to tackle any theme that was thrown at her. To me, it was why she was the obvious winner quite early in the season ~ and what led Simon to predict (around mid-season or so, I believe) that not only would she win, she would go on to sell more records than any previous winner. (That prediction proved more than correct, as she's sold more records than any Idol before her OR after her.) I was quite disappointed when I read early in the season that Nigel Lythgoe had stated that there would be no theme weeks this year. For me, the theme weeks are what separates the true artists from the one-trick ponies. It is most exciting to see a contestant tackle a song out of their comfort zone and successfully make it their own. Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson both excelled at this, and I think that's why those two have sold more records than the others. Luckily, Nigel Lythgoe appears to have re-thought his decision at least somewhat.

I for one was not particularly sorry to see Pia go. Shocked? Yes. Sorry? No. The girl can sing like the dickens, but she's got no stage presence. She doesn't have that "X" factor Simon's always looking for. I never once looked forward to seeing what Pia might do. And America just loves to get all up in arms over everything. They'd have been just as up in arms if the judges hadn't used their save on Casey. It seems ridiculous to "punish" Casey for Pia's exit. Where were all these people who are now so concerned about Pia when the votes were being cast?

I wouldn't blame the Power List-ers if they just gave up and hid under a rock for the rest of the season. With both Casey and Pia getting "voted off", I'm not taking anything for granted this year. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if we had a Stefano-Haley finale.

OMG ! Casey was just the absolute picture of awesomeness. That was different, well-played, and mostly incredible!

Well? Slap me silly with the nearest bass fiddle. I've been reading about as folks were live blogging tonight (the show is long over now, but it was fun to see what they were saying when it was airing) and I must be in the definite minority thinking Casey was so terrific!? OK, I think I understand that many (most) of those bloggers haven't got a clue who Nat King Cole even was, so a fine version of one of his tunes fell soundly flat. To them it did, anyway. To me, I'll stand by my initial excitement when I heard Casey blow off those snarky advisors/mentors and sing it, despite them. I gave him an *A* for his show, whether it lands him in the Bottom Three or not. Imagine it, too ? The other one I gave an *A* to was James. Certainly not my favorite genre, his choice of song --- but I tell ya, as I was listening I thought I was hearing the best "rocker" voice of anybody who's graced the Idol stage, ever, purporting to be a "rocker". And by rock, I'm not meaning the gentle Top 40 variety of it. Mr. Durbin was downright hardcore with it this evening, and his vocals (I was paying attention) were insanely right. I reckon that the audience for such music don't care much about pitch, etc. ... but James didn't miss a note. Two *A-* grades I dished out. First was to Jacob. I was even shocked that I liked him as much as I did (normally he makes my eyes AND ears twitch). He did "Bridge Over Troubled Water" rather nicely, I thought. And he stood still. And he didn't throw his voice from California all the way over to the Salt Flats of Utah. Such restraint worked well for me, this time. The other *A-* went to (again, to my surprise) Stefano? He surely had his Wheaties Wednesday morning, by the sounds of that! He really threw himself into it, too -- and one could easily tell he was putting it all out there. I was especially impressed/influenced, I'm sure of it, that he did so well considering the pressure he was under after surviving last week's turns of events. He probably would have gotten an *A*, quite frankly, had he sang a song that I didn't hate. And, jeesh, would I have LOVED to hear Scotty do "Everybody's Talkin'"! Too out of his zone he'd be, though, and FAR too easy to be convinced by those mentors that he would be, too. So back in his 'box' for Mr. Scotty. Therefore? He did his standard better-than-average. I thought Paul was pretty terrible, and it hurts my heart to type that. I still champion him, but I thought that song sounded kinda rough and him doing it just looked funny, in my opinion. I suppose that comparing someone to Porter Wagoner might have been intended as a compliment by whichever judge said it. I'm not so sure that Paul should think of it that way, however. Porter Wagoner was born in 1927. Paul wasn't. Odd, isn't it? Only two ladies left now. I thought they both were OK tonight ~ I think I've heard both do better, though. Lauren finally tried something age apropriate, which was a good move --- but being told that you're a better singer, before singing a (dreadful) song, than Miley Cyrus is, if you ask me, another one of those dubious compliments being bandied about tonight. But, again, hers was not even close to a bad performance. Then there was Haley, who tricks me weekly. There was a noticable percentage of her Blondie song that I found vocally choice, as usual. Then there was that other growling-like-a-banshee part that flubbed me up, as usual. I'd still call her the strongest female in the race at this point, if only she'd make up her mind whether she plans to sing or howl I might even consider her this year's 'dark horse'. It seems that lots of viewers are doing just that, but I'm not a bit sure they're right.

Pretty good night on "Idol", all things considered . I know that because I, his biggest and most stubborn fan, have no choice but to call Paul the worst of 'em this evening. Bottom three? I'd predict Paul, Stefano and (it wouldn't shock me in the least, reflecting on the feedback I've read so far) Casey. I'll be hating seeing him land there, if it happens. But I kinda sorta expect it will.

Beautiful count: 4? Beautifully count: 2? Does beautifully count? Since I was playing the game tonight, I decided it does. FYI: Playing the game may result in the inability to pay enough attention to properly count beautifuls. But I had a great time.

I loved Casey's performance. Very refreshing change for Idol. I fear, however, that it may be way too unique for the masses.

I also LOVED James' performance. I felt like I was at a concert rather than watching American Idol. It was a great way to end the evening!

The other performances were about what I've come to expect. I was disappointed that Scotty almost, just almost, stepped out of his box...but then went running right back into it. Oh, so close!

Did anyone else get the feeling the contestants are tired of Jimmy Iovine telling them what to sing? Casey and James in particular stood up for what they wanted, and I was proud of them for that.

After the show was over, my boyfriend and I decided to try an experiment. He started dialing votes for Casey and I started dialing votes for James. We both got a lot of busy signals, but he managed to get in 20 votes for Casey, while I was never able to get through to log a single vote for James. I tried on and off for two hours and still never got anything but a busy signal. (This is concerning in light of the fact that the night before Chris Daughtry was sent home, I called repeatedly to vote for him, but was never able to get through.)

Bottom line: I'm still backing James and Casey, and nothing I saw tonight made me think I'm wrong.

No I didn't like Jacob(bang goes my theory of being biased if I love the song). He tried his best to almost ruin it for me.Ghastly.
Casey Casey Casey ! How terrific. I just hope America shows the sense to keep him. I agree, the other one I really liked was Stefano. A really refreshing change to have him sing like a contender.Neither girl did anything for me. I am now even more bored with Scotty. I liked Paul and James next. Going home? I wish ... Jacob
I believe... Lauren.

Beautiful count: 2. Two? Two! What the heck is going on here?

Best performance of the night has to go to James again. (Am I becoming prejudiced?) Wow, he seems so professional up there! It was far from his best singing, but theatrically, it was fabulous and entertaining. I wasn't too sure about this "21st century songs" theme, since I'm old and out of the loop ~ but I enjoyed that anyway.

I hate to say it, but my least favorite performances of the evening were Casey and Jacob. Both boring songs, for me. I wasn't familiar with either of the songs, and that may not have helped, but both found me completely zoning out.
Still, I love Casey's quirkiness ~ and his cojones ~ and wouldn't want him to change.

Haley and Stefano gave their best performances of the season. Stefano still bores me silly, but he really gave it his all tonight. I've been trying desperately to see what everyone else sees in Haley. (My boyfriend thinks she's totally sexy ~ but then, he thinks Martha Stewart is sexy, too, so I'm actually discounting that.) But for me to like Haley better than Casey is quite a surprise.

What can I say about Scotty and Lauren? They were, um, Scotty and Lauren.

I hope Casey survives this week. I know this wasn't his genre. Still, I think he could have found a better song. The money's been on Stefano to go home this week, but after tonight's performances, I think that may change. Jacob has been in the danger zone before, and didn't turn in an impressive performance tonight, so his number may be up. (On a side note: Didn't Randy pretty much tell him he should oversing next time?) But we've had such an unpredictable year, anything's possible!

Whew! I certainly am glad you said it before I had to, Starfish! It seems so out-o'-sync to say, but I thought Casey was w-a-y off his mark tonight, too. In fact (and this is even weirder than that much)? I kinda think he was the worst of the lot?! He missed more than several notes as well (I think he's missed his share before this, but it really stuck out like a sore tongue this evening, for some reason). And then to kiss Jennifer like a star-struck 14-year old? Casey, Casey, Casey . I agree with you entirely, too, in that I'm still on his side 100%. But he really should, probably will, land in the Bottom Three tomorrow. Too unfortunate, that ... but I trust his momentum will keep him around for another week or two. I can't put my finger on why, but I'm not seeing him winning (or even nearly winning) this thing as I did earlier on. Sigh. I concur, too, that James was the level best of the night. No Casey/James confusion from my seat on that issue, finally. Not only did that Muse song fit him brilliantly, allowing him to flip wildly with his volume and octaves buttons, I was shocked to notice that I didn't even hate that peculiar marching band bit. I may need to duck slightly, but I thought that Haley was awesome tonight. Another great song choice on Wednesday night's program, and she belted it out exceptionally. Or so I thought, anyway. I, personally, didn't like Stefano ... but I think, quite frankly, I'm just tired of him at this point. I'm equally *tired* of Jacob, I'm sure of it. What's up with him and these plaguing technical problems with his ear equipment, anyway? No one else has these problems, and no one else has them more than once per performance ~ notably just after they pop off a sour note (of which Mr. Lusk had plenty to share as his homage to Vandross danced off into I'd-better-throw-in-a-power-note-quickly-before-I-get-stuff-thrown-at-me land). At least he didn't kiss J-Lo, though, eh? I can't help it. Every time I hear him sing? I get overwhelmed with feelings that "there's something fishy about this guy ...". Unlike all the other finalists, I'm not seeing a recording career in his future at all! I could be way off base; probably am. I think I get to say a little somethin' somethin' almost nice about stuck-in-a-ditch-south-of-Nashville Scotty this time! I thought that was his best performance so far! It exhibited a (little) bit of vocal range/variety, and I enjoyed hearing evidence of some. Now, granted, the career path he's off on doesn't require much in terms of range, more often than not. But, for "American Idol" purposes, I'm relieved to know he can present an example of it every now and then. I've been a little hit and miss in the cognitive department(s) for the best part of a week now - it's like my brain's mostly full of mud. So that might help explain the following: even though I watched it, without interruption, I can not remember one thing about Lauren's show?! That's prob.ly not such a good thing, is it?

My hunch is that the Bottom Three chairs will be full of the backsides of boys this week. Casey, Stefano and Jacob. The pecking order seems to indicate that it'll be Stefano hitting the bricks. I'd be OK with that.

DialIdol has the bottom three at Stefano, Casey, and Haley. Scotty is always, always number one at DialIdol. If their system is correct, Scotty has 2-6 times more votes every week than anyone else. Not sure what it is about him that's so captivated America's attention, but apparently he's got it. (They have Jacob at number 2 this week ~ not sure what's up with that, either.)

Supposedly, the ratings haven't fallen significantly this year ~ not enough to call the loss of Simon and the addition of the new judges a bad thing, anyway. But the activity in this particular forum has certainly changed this year, leading me to think there must be an awful lot of folks who've stopped watching Idol this year.

I cheated and read tons of feedback on last night's show before I attempted to write anything today (I usually don't do that --- I invariably end up stealing someone else's opinions a little, or worse, changing some of the ones I had on my own just slightly based on their spin(s) or observations). This time nothing much changed in my head ... other than that I must have been watching/hearing a parallel universe version of Haley Wednesday night, or something? The gushing about her tune last night seems both universal and consistent. Me? For some reason, I thought she popped a horrible performance. Guess I must be the only one. I like Haley major bunches, too ... so I wanted to enjoy her on Carole King night. Sigh, didn't happen. My bottom-line hunch, however, is that she could replicate Susan Boyle doing a number from "Les Mis" and she'd still end up in the Bottom Three! So, yeah (all good critiques flying around out there aside), I suspect she'll end up on the errant side of the stage tonight, once again. But if *buzz* matters, I further suspect she'll be safe. I truly hope so. If Jacob hangs on even one more week I suggest that God is playing a mean trick on us, and doing it only because Jacob constantly howls as if he has a direct line to the Pearly Gates. Perhaps God knows him personally by now? If so, God needs to tell him this come the next time they chat: last I checked, it's not a good idea to wear a [crooked] striped tie with a plaid jacket. Unless, of course, there is a water-squirting plastic flower attached to the lapel of said jacket. Again, though -- others out there thought it was one of Jacob's best shows. I differ (but what do I know?). I'm going to date myself and bring up a singer that most anybody reading this will have never, ever heard of. Does the name Bobby Goldsboro ring a bell? He had a few pop/country hits, and a TV show even, in the 1970s onward into the early 1980s. He was OK, or so I thought at the time. I think I even bought one of his 45 RPM records called "Honey", all about a sad man singing to his dead wife. Yes, cheerless stuff ... but it was rather effective on some odd level. I swear, Scotty sounded SO much like Mr. Goldsboro last night that it was downright creepy. Harmless and marketable, etc. Great "crying in your beer" material lives in McCreery, no doubt about that. As was expected, singing something that was out of his (this must now be Scotty's least favorite word --->) 'box' surely highlighted his limited vocal range (but I reckon that's OK ... Bobby Goldsboro had the same problem). It wasn't until just now that I remembered yet another single Bobby G. released back in the Nixon era (and I kid you not). It went: "'cause me and God are watching Scotty grow ..." I think that one was about a dead wife who left behind a son, now needing raised by his single Dad? Yikes. I'm not sure what all of that means, rehashed and so forth. But there's something eerily similar about that earlier crooner (now in his 80's, no doubt) and Scotty, who's not even 20 yet. A throwback is not a terrible thing, I'd say. So I guess our AI country boy is not necessarily a bad thing, either. But that's about the best I can muster up to say about him, at this point. Cyber remarks were, unsurprisingly, mixed about Casey. I loved "Heidi Ho"! I wasn't mixed up about it at all. Will America like it, and vote for him? My strongest guess is "probably not" --- but that's too bad for America, if they don't give him their love. I'm starting to think that, really, he doesn't belong on American Idol, either. Clearly, his interests and repertoire are a little too vast to fit comfortably into a so-called "pop star". Lauren I didn't hate. In fact, I liked her take on "Up on the Roof". I'm stuck in a rut when it comes to her. As often happens when they get such a youngster that lasts this long into the competition? The voice always gets attention, but just as much the vocalist always ends up getting the 'I can't wait to hear what she can do once she's older'. Which only means that *now* is just not the right time for her, angelic and/or natural vocal chops regardless. With the right mileage on her (eek, I'm making her sound like a Buick) she will be amazing. All that I, for one, seem to notice about her at this very point is the lack of mileage. The voice is, honestly, 'right there'. What's behind it is not, in terms of this aspired-for "total package", just yet. But, heck. I felt the same way about Jordin Sparks -- and she ended up winning! James did an awesome job AGAIN last night. On this one I'm in sync with what I read on the wires. The stripped-down beginning of "Will You Still Love Me" was almost breathtaking (I was prepared for one of those elusive 'moments', as he got started). He changed it up as it travelled, and I was disappointed about that, but he was really really good nonetheless. I concur with Randy 100%, too. If I were a betting man? I think James Durbin both will and should win the season, and I would be willing to drop a few bucks to prove that I feel that way. Let's hope America forgets (and I'm hoping I forget it, on a private level, ASAP too) that wretched duet he got himself mired in Wednesday night. James and Jacob? Oh, my! Granted, I'm not at all sure who James should have duetted with. I just know it ought NOT have been Jacob.

Bottom Three predictions (or will it be Bottom Two, one of these days soon?). Definitely Jacob. Probably (used-to-it-by-now) Haley. If there's room? I figure Casey didn't dazzle the voting blocks too favorably, so it'll prob.ly be him. It'd be refreshing to see Scotty and/or Lauren over there for a change ... but I think we need to get rid of Jacob first, before any of those sorts of 'gaspy' things take place.

Major (but rather unsurprising, somehow) "drat!" going out to our American voters tonight . Much of the 'interesting' on season 10 was sent home on American Idol this evening. Several of his performances are burned into my memory forever, though ... notably this one. I just had a totally cool idea, I think. What a "dream duet" it'd be AND it would even feature two awesome AI castoffs at the same time as well. Casey and Melinda Doolittle! Both were/are incredibly talented and, pretty much, both were a good bit better than the stage they performed on. In my measly opinion they were, anyway.

It surely won't be the 'end of the road' for Mr. Abrams, this sixth place finish.

I haven't been able to comment before you. My internet has been out for the last 2 days after some very severe storms. We were riding out the worst of it during American Idol on Wednesday night, so I missed a few bits and pieces here and there. But my beautiful count was 7, which is pretty amazing considering there were only 6 people to critique!

I was very sad to Casey go. I really looked forward to seeing what he would do each week. I thought his send-off was very Casey-esqe, with Casey singing while running around hugging and kissing everyone. Unlike any other send-off ever, and so fitting for Casey. Losing Casey is made easier by the knowledge that winning American Idol can lead relative obscurity and losing can lead to great success. I loved all...er, most... of Casey's quirky performances, while at the same time worrying that they were too quirky for America. I never really held out much hope that he would win.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I liked James' performance best. The a capella part was particularly good ~ I wish he had done the entire song soft and sweet. Casey and Haley's duet was great fun ~ they should have closed the show with that instead of the ridiculous James-Jacob duet. I didn't love or hate Haley's solo performance. It was certainly better than "Bennie and the Jets". Jacob's outfit was screaming so loud, I couldn't hear the song... Lauren's tentativeness continues to grate on me. With the exception of "Candle in the Wind", it seems like she always chooses these rather vapid mid-tempo numbers. And I constantly have the sense that she's holding back. I'm quite sure I haven't seen her really let loose yet. I sensed from all the pimping she received early on, that the producers were hoping/planning for a Lauren win, but lately it seems they have turned their attentions to James and Scotty ~ who are quickly being projected in most corners these days to be our final two.

I was frustrated by the fact that the results show never uttered the phrase "bottom 3". Might the producers have not wanted us to know one of their chosen ones had landed in the bottom 3? Anyone wonder if they felt like they had to stick Jimmy Iovine in there giving commentary because the judges are too nice? The judges have become completely pointless for me. The show should save a lot of money and not have any judges next year.

P.S. Yes! I remember Bobby Goldsboro! He turned up on a lot of those K-Tel records. Remember those?

The beautiful count tonight was a whopping THIRTEEN!!! That's a record!

I felt the judges were absolutely correct in naming Haley's rendition of "House of the Rising Sun" the best performance of the night. (And that's a pretty big statement, as you all know I've not been a Haley fan.) If James had given one of his usual performances, I probably wouldn't be able to say that, but his first song was my least favorite James performance ever. Didn't like the song, and I'm sure that didn't help, but I also thought he sounded off key, and also seemed kind of tired, or something. Maybe the emotion just got to him, but I felt there was a lack of the power I expected behind "Without You" as well. I was expecting a mind-blowing performance but I didn't quite get it. Lauren did very well on her Carrie Underwood song ~ I saw the confidence she should have had all along shining through. I thought she was a bit off on "Unchained Melody", though ~ again, I think due to her age, she missed the wailing, soulful meaning of the song. Scotty just continues to bore me. It was nice to see him get all uptempo, but the song did absolutely nothing for me. I guess "You Were Always On My Mind" was a decent performance, but I'm just so over Scotty, I don't think he's going to be able to impress me with anything at this point. Jacob was an absolute trainwreck ~ if there's any justice in the world, he should be the one going home this week. I did get some comic relief at his expense ~ I burst out laughing when Ryan announced that Jacob would be doing a Nazareth tune. I had such wonderful visions of a Jacob version of "Hair of the Dog" (can't you just hear it? "Now you're messin' with a..." It would have been glorious!) "Love Hurts" was a foregone conclusion, however ~ my fantasies didn't last long. Haley didn't do badly on the Lady Gaga tune ~ I was just turned off before she even started by the fact that it was a Lady Gage tune. But I thought the judges were quite suddenly awfully rough on her for that one, so I was glad they heaped praises on her at the end to make up for it.

Hard to believe the season's almost over ~ it's gone by really fast!

Uh oh. Seacrest just started reading results, prefacing it with "You might be surprised ..." Ugh. If that even suggests that Jacob, who nearly caterwauled himself into Idol history last night, might stay? Where's the nearest bridge? I need to jump.

Yes, I was a bit concerned about the "you might be surprised" comment, but I guess the operative word in that sentence was "might". I was not surprised. I felt a bit bad for Lauren ~ she seemed absolutely crushed to be in the bottom two. This won't help her wavering self-esteem one bit. But there wasn't really anyone else to take that spot in the bottom two. James and Scotty are our "front-runners" and Haley had a banner night last night, so the bottom two could really only have been Lauren and Jacob.

I've been trying to figure out if Ryan was pulling the wool over our eyes with the delay waiting for Jennifer to change clothes. Many of those results-show live performances are pre-taped, and there seemed to be an awful lot of props to get on and off the stage during a two-minute commercial break. I frankly couldn't care less about J-Lo's music, so I really wasn't paying attention, but after Ryan made a point of saying Jennifer had to change, it got me thinking.

So we finally say farewell to Jacob. I wonder if anyone is sorry to see him go?

We've all noticed that Steven Tyler seems to wear some effeminate-looking clothes. Well, New York Daily News is reporting that Liv Tyler says her dad raids her closet and borrows her stuff!



Best I can tell from reading the blogs, the answer is no.

Here's a quote I read today from my favorite American Idol "summer upper" Michael Slezak. As usual, I agree with it, and the article that followed: Personally, I thought Haley was incredible last night! Even that rocky first number wasn't as bad as she was told it was, and the second number? The judges were too busy backsliding/rationalizing on what they said after the first number to get properly joyous regarding the second song she did. They praised it adequately - but the air still stank with all that throttling dished out shortly before it. Scotty was (in my opinion) almost dreadful Wednesday night! Lauren was ten times better, and was trying twenty times harder than him. James was his always entertaining self, and the show was electric. The vocals, however? Pretty hit-and-miss -- I didn't mind those oopses, though. To be honest, I didn't mind Lauren's or even McCreery's oopses all that much, either. It's become all part of what they are -and- where they're at by now. So why is Haley being held so boldly to a different standard? Clearly, her problem (I guess) is a lack of niche labeling. Clearly, too, I'm concluding that that's a 'weakness' in a competition such as this? All these years I thought it was a strength in such a race!? Bah. Haley will likely get sent packing tonight, and I really don't think she should. Lauren would be a better choice to leave, Scotty the best choice of all. And I say so NOT because they sucked so publicly last evening, because they really didn't. They are, in my estimation, the very least interesting two left. A Haley/James finale? I think that would be a slice of AI heaven, indeed. Scotty/James? Well. I'll be all jacked-up and giddy for half of the show, at least.

Say what??? Ugh, it seems like a Lauren/Scotty finale in now almost inevitable. Blech. One good thing, though. I won't have to get partly jacked-up giddy about even 1% of that episode ...

I hope Haley will be in the finale. Argh. I think the best two are Haley and James, but looking at the trend of voting, I must agree with Gatsby that it's going to be Lauren and Scotty though.

Well, I'm bummed.

I'm writing an entirely different post tonight than I'd have written had I had time to post last night. I do agree with Mr. Slezak's opinion ~ and would have written something similar last night. My personal opinion is that the producers wanted a Scotty/James/Lauren final 3 and Haley really messed up their plans by having two great weeks in a row. After being in the bottom 3 over and over, what a shock that must have been for them last week to see Lauren over there on the stools with Jacob while Haley perched on the couches. Everyone who's read this thread knows I've not been a Haley fan, but unlike the judges, I do give credit where credit is due. "House of the Rising Sun" was easily the best performance of the night last week, as was "I (Who Have Nothing)" this week. Watching the judges praise everyone except Haley has been quite frustrating. Everyone but Haley seemed a bit off last week. And this week, for Jennifer to use the phrase "James set the bar" during Haley's critique after James had just given a rather lackluster performance just seemed wrong.

James has seemed a bit off the last two weeks. I don't know what was going on with that, but I found his performances not to be on par with the ones from all the earlier weeks of the season. (Still, I did not fear for his safety.) However, he has had several awesome performances, including a couple of "Wows".

Neither Lauren nor Scotty, on the other hand, has ever had a single "knock-your-socks-off" performance, in my opinion. No one can say that either one is bad, but shouldn't the folks who will in all likelihood be our final two have knocked the ball out of the park at least once?

So I suddenly find myself in the unbelievably unexpected position of rooting for Haley.

I couldn't agree more with you Starfish. I wasn't a fan of Haley at the beginning of the season, but I would definitely root for her now. Our country crooners' second performances were rather corny/cheesy, but the judges didn't have the balls to tell them the truth (why did they lower the age requirement for the show?). I'm flabbergasted at the lashing Haley took.

After watching Lauren all these weeks I think she's still a bit of a diamond in the rough. I'm not a big country fan either, so Scotty tends to bore me a bit. Looks like there will be a whole lot of country music in the finale, yahoo.

With James' elimination, it's all anticlimatic now. It's surprising to me how conservative the voters are.

Oh, how different this season would have been with Simon as a judge! Can you imagine his reaction to that disastrous mess Scotty put on Wednesday night? That train wreck aside, there's nothing wrong with Scotty's voice ~ it's just that there's nothing special there. I do think Lauren has a great deal of potential, but she doesn't have the maturity yet in her voice OR in her performances to be the next Carrie Underwood.

There's a good deal of speculation that Haley may make it to the final 2, since country fans will have to split their votes between Scotty and Lauren. I'm not sure how much stock I put in this theory, since country fans have been splitting their votes between those two all along, and apparently there's enough to go around. What may help Haley, however, is James' fanbase. Where will those votes go now? I can't see that fanbase throwing their votes to either Scotty or Lauren.

Haley obviously has a fanbase that surges with anger and leaps to her defense with their dialing/texting fingers. What else could account for her trumping Lauren in last week's result? Again this week, the judges trounced her and she triumphed. (I would have preferred, of course, that she triumphed over Lauren or Scotty rather than my boy James, even more than I'd prefer if Scotty had a name that my spellchecker recognized.) I'm hoping America notices along with me that neither Scotty nor Lauren has ever had a "moment", while Haley has had two.

Haley's amazing voice reminds me of Mariah Carey. I really hope that she gets all the votes she can for the Top 3 show. I hope she will choose the correct songs, otherwise those judges will criticize her again.