I'm not why I allow this show to surprise me anymore but...where to start with this one?  Do we have any questions about this being a "singing competition" (as Simon wants to tell us it is) anymore?  While the insanely inferior singing talents of Brooke & Jason got sent to the couch we were treated (rarely do I enjoy the Wednesday redos) to outstanding performances by two very talented women in Carly & Syesha.  I don't know how anyone could have watched the Tuesday show and said that the bottom two would be anything but Brooke & Jason but that's probably why they survived.  They "needed help" and so it came from the people that like them.  It's the biggest flaw in the Idol process and we've seen it time and again.  And yes, I realize a certain Miss McPhee probably benefited from this exact scenario when Chris D went home but...OMG, at least a worthy contestant to the crown was staying that time this is just...and I know Carly probably wasn't going to win because the Davids are unstoppable but....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  I hate this show!  I love it and hate it all at the same time!

Not only this but then we've subjected to "Simon's find"....ugh.  I like Leona Lewis, it's just all the fawning over her by Simon, Clive, et al that makes me want to scream.  The girl is very, very talented but she's not the greatest thing ever, OK?  AHHHHHHHHHHH!

Should I get to the results?  OK...guess who predicted the "surprise" exit for the second time in three weeks?  Come down and claim your prize again.....VADIA! 

The best anyone did from the Top 12 ballots was Uplink Bill with his 4th place prediction for Carly.  This is the second week in a row that Bill was closest when everyone else was way off (Kristy Lee in the other direction from Carly).

This was crazy.  We all got a second chance and nobody but Vadia put Carly below 4th.  Amazing...here's the new scoreboard:

TW	LW	Player	Prev	T12 Ballot	S6 Ballot	Elim	Total
1	1	uplink2	20	5	2	0	27
1	5	Vadia	18	3	5	1	27
3	1	Misty	20	3	2	0	25
4	3	DJ CoBaby	19	3	2	0	24
5	3	Mattsie	19	2	2	0	23
6	7	Gregoriancant	17	3	2	0	22
6	5	sjwolves	18	3	1	0	22
8	9	Maddie	15	3	3	0	21
9	7	bcollan	17	2	1	0	20
9	9	BigShady	15	3	2	0	20
9	11	kate4chris&kat	14	4	2	0	20
9	13	KatPack1198	13	4	3	0	20
13	14	pakatfan00	12	3	3	0	18
14	15	Collette_leyton	11	3	2	0	16
14	11	shinamarih	14	2	0	0	16
16	16	Barlo	7	3	2	0	12
17	16	bian	7	2	2	0	11
18	18	trsf	5	4	1	0	10
19	18	je_suis_jess	5	4	0	0	9

As usual, for guidance next week this is who you had on your ballot(s) for 5^th place:

Player – Top 12 Pick / Super 6 Pick

Bcollan – Ramiele (gone) / Syesha

Maddie – David Hernandez (gone) / Syesha

Gregoriancant – Kristy Lee (gone) / Brooke

Uplink – Jason / Syesha

Collette – Ramiele (gone) / Jason

Bian – Brooke / Jason

Misty – Jason / Syesha

KatPack1198 – Michael (gone) / Jason

Pakatfan – Ramiele (gone) / Brooke

Barlo – David Cook / Brooke

Vadia – Brooke / Syesha

Mattsie – David Cook / Jason

Sjwolves – Michael (gone) / Syesha

Trsf – Michael (gone) / Syesha

DJ CoBaby – David Cook / Jason

BigShady – Michael (gone) / Jason

Jesuisjess – Ramiele (gone) / None

Shinamarih – Brooke / None

Kate4Chris&Kat – Brooke / Brooke

Kate4C&K could make a major move up the standings with a Brooke trifecta next week!

Oh, a couple more things about all of this.  I agree with Bill C that Archuleta is one of the most boring "frontrunners" in Idol history.  If he beats Cook...the world is insane if that happens.  David C showed this week why he should win.  He can do an Andrew Lloyd Webber ballad well, he can rock a Michael Jackson song.  That's a winner, folks.  Not David A's ballad o' the week every friggin' week.  Beyond that...Archuleta has ZERO stage presence.  The kid can sing but that's it.  He's uncomfortable in the post-performance chat, he's not funny, he's not...ugh.  I know he's only 17 but so was Jordin and she was cute, funny, etc, etc.

See...and Jason...oh, Jason!  Why America!  Why are you voting for him?  Is he really that cute?  I don't know.  I always feel like washing his dreadlocks everytime I see him.  They look so dirty to me.

And the thing is about all of this and of course everything comes back to Katharine when I watch Idol (haha).  She got the "ballad singer" thing for some reason.  And yeah she did them extremely well but it's like everyone forgot how great she was with songs like Think, Until You Come Back To Me, BHATCT & a few others.  Kat showed she could do it all.  David A can't.  That's why he should not win.  I'm fully in the David Cook corner now that Carly is gone.  I don't know why the kid brings this out of me but I just...it's probably those stupid screaming girls they have this year.  Most of it isn't really his fault.  It's the judges never criticizing his lack of stage presence when they have many others in the past...it's...nevermind.

Thank goodness the Sharks won last night  or I'd be even worse about all of this. 

I don't really mean to be mean, but this image always flashes through my head when I look at Jason's locks.

http://www.ukdogs.org/pastoral/hunkomador/Hunkom.html

It's like we've got a Sanjason this year, only he never changes his hair, which would help add a little variety to the vanilla performances.

I guess I've fallen into the "voting for someone who needs help" category this year, because every week I'm sure Syesha is going home, and I'm convinced she's better than some of the people I think will be staying, so I vote for her. Evidently it helped. I'm just not rabid about anyone this year so I've gone the other way. I started out in the Archuleta camp but he really doesn't seem capable of injecting much variety into his performances. He has a good voice, but once the initial impression has faded, he becomes almost monotonous.

Joe, you're funny when you're all wound up.

 - this smiley says it all, about my reaction to Carly's elimination.   Gotta watch out for those power voters, I think a lot of people voted for Brooke because of her "oops," to save her.  But, darn it, I really thought Carly was the best female vocalist.  A Carly-David Finale would have probably been one of the best in AI History, but that dream is over. 

Can America ever get a vote, right?  We can't decide on the democratic nominee and now, we eliminate one of the best contestants?!  Oy vay!! 

IT'S A SHOW

Next week, it could be another shocker, for all we know. Right now, it seems as though David Cook is the only untouchable going to that dreadful bottom 2. DC has proven that he is. after all, an all around singer with his broadway act, and that is the reason why he is even gaining momentum. The votes for Michael, Kristy and Carly would now be routed to David Cook, which means the teeny votes will be split for Archie and Dreamboat Jason. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if Jason would surpass Archie in the Neil Diamond theme. Jason could use the drums this time to entice those vulnerable voters, singing on the top of his lungs "Sweet Caroline". I'd probably love it too.

Academically, Jason, Brooke, Davids A&C are on the note because they play instruments. Syesha is the only one remaining to be a pure vocalist and stage performer, and I would hope that she uses that asset to her advantage next week.

Talking about spunk, grit, wit, and sassiness, Syesha's personality doesn't strike me as a spunky girl that would retort to judges to defend herself - like how Kat and Kristy Lee did. Even Carly's "you're hard on me this past week" is still weak for me. Kat's "I didn't pick it!" is a downright insult to Randy, knowing that it was Clive who chose the song "I Believe I Can Fly", not Kat. Go Kat!

Anyway. Kristy's "we don't have to hear what Simon had to say", and "I can blow you out of your socks and you know it", and lately, "I think Simon is sometmes a butt" would top all retorts ever given by a single contestant to any judge. Woah! That's my kind of girl! Go Kristy Lee!! While others see that as being a "spoiled brat" or "too full of herself", I don't. I would have said and done the same thing. Go Kristy! For someone like Kristy Lee who has all the extras (beauty, skills, talent) that could be accorded a singer, and be bashed around the internet for what she is not, she has a legitimate case to defend herself, and I applaude her for taking up martials arts. For being spunky and sassy, Kristy is not your ordinary type of girl to pick on. For all her sweetness and prettiness, it's her self-deprecating humor and smart wit that carry her very well. You go, girl!

Unfortunately, Simon, for the most part has very much to do, I think, with Kristy's going to the bottom 3 a few times. The most damning comment, "forgettable" has been used on her not only once but twice, during "Faithfully" and "Coat of Many Colors". I felt so bad for Kristy those weeks. I was cursing out Simon in my breath.

Contrary to the beliefs that it was Simon who picked up KLC to go to the top 12, I do believe that were it not for KLC's bottom 3 dives, she would have made it past top 7. One thing about voters. Once you've been to the hole twice, they kind of brand (stereotype) you as near-reject already, which is just getting much harder to get out of every time. In KLC's case, because she was voted off at the top of her game that it equated to a shock, actually the general public has a sympathetic attitude towards her, and that perhaps would be the consolation there. But if course, no doubt, Kristy Lee will have a great future in country music world.

But it's still Simon who praised Carly as someone "with the caliber of Kelly Clarkson" who could possibly win the show. But something not so obvious happened with Simon's recent comment on Carly that I thought was the same dive that Katharine took after "I have Nothing". Simon said of Carly twice that "she could not find herself a better song to sing". Woah! What a way to comment! Very tricky! But these kinds of comments do send a negative message to voters. So, those voters would conclude and interpret that since Archie gets most of the better praises, they'd swarm him with "felt according love" as shown in their voting manner going gaga, fueled by the judges' very obvious musculine inclination.

This show is a  S H O W.  The bad part of it is, a lot of us still think it's a singing competition. It's not. It's a ploy to allure those young voters to buy iTunes, CD's and sorts. It's the only voting process that they could involve themselves in, and it's as though they're making a great impact on american pop culture. But who benefits? Foremost, AI show and all involved in its business. Then, perhaps those lucky talented rejects that almost made it but worked hard and still are working hard for their dream to come true. Exposure- it can be the most valuable item a top 10 contestant could ever get out of this show. After all, it's a very commercialized world we're living in. Success is spelled as M O N E Y. The more fame we get, the better we get at the possibility of making more money. But sometimes, the likes of Simon and AI would wake up and say "let's give back". Nice try. Anyway, maybe there is still some conscience behind this show, I grant them that.

Thanks!  Oh, Co...I know about this country with these elections.  I found myself thinking this today about the Obama/Hillary thing...why don't we just call it a tie and let them be "co-presidents" and get on with our lives.  Let Barack be President in even years & Hillary in odd years and then we'll figure out who we like better four years from now when one of them can take them helm fully.

I know this will not and cannot happen but...why not? 

Oh Mattsie...my favorite thing about KLC was her spunkiness with the judges!  It did remind me of Katharine somewhat.  And yeah Kat got knocked for being a "brat" and "not being able to take criticism" because of some of the things she said.  I suspect KLC got the same things around the Internet (haven't looked)...I'll take that over Archuleta's deer in the headlights look every week when they comment on his "perfection".  Ugh!  I still don't know why that kid bothers me so much.

Don't be ridiculous! Jason is much hairier than that. He makes me want to take a set of loppers to his dreadlocks.

Could we have a High Five bonus round of picks? My conspiracy theories didn't pan out again.

I'm sure you all have seen the TV buzz about the ratings for American Idol falling the past few weeks.This season has turned boring as they can't wait to appoint Archueletta the winner and it looks like the rest of the country is getting bored  as far as this season goes.I wouldn't be surprised if AI pulls a Daughtry here soon and says goodbye to one of the David's,which in turn may pick up the ratings.This season has been a disappointing one other than Kristy Lee Cook, and it may be time that AI changes the voting rules so fairness can be installed.One vote from a person would be the best.