We start out with a group number, Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go. Apparently, I wasn’t clear enough when I said that these people should never sing together again in public. I was hopeful when there was no group number last week that someone somewhere had gotten that messsage. Sadly, I was wrong.

I didn’t start watching late tonight, so I can’t fast-forward. Thank goodness for the mute button. So far the best part of the show is Ryan cutting to the chase and putting both Paige and Tim in the bottom three at the same time. Katie should just join them right now, Ryan can send all three home and we can end this show in half an hour. Who’s with me?

The “mentor” (admit it, when Ryan called her that you heard air quotes, too) Miley Cyrus performs for us. If you ask me that was nasaly and pitchy. But the way she kept throwing her hair around like that made me a little dizzy. And nauseous.

Back to the eliminations and I was right. Katie is in the bottom three with Tim and Paige. She didn’t have to stay there long, though, which makes sense, cause no one would think she’s really going home.

I just ran downstairs to put the dog out and get an apple. Looks like I missed some singing. Would it be wrong to say I’m happy about that?

Not surprisingly, Paige is going home. Simon also puts us all out of our misery by telling her to not bother singing, since they are not going to save her. Oh, no! They are letting her sing. Quick, where’s the mute button???

There was lots of drama, basically surrounding Brenda and Ren. Both of them whine a lot and need a good slap down, if you ask me.

The girls are then all assigned a genre of dance and given lessons before they are called on to interpret that form of dance in their photo shoot. Watching it all makes me wonder who keeps coming up with all these ideas. Some of the girls looked really good, but some of them are just scary.

Can I just say, going into panel, that I have no idea what Tyra is wearing? What is the point of that weird outfit? In any case, Tyra proves that she really does know about all the drama in the house by asking Ren whether or not she wants to stay. She saiys that she wants to stay, but somehow I don’t believe her.

In eliminations, the girls are called in this order: Alasia, Angelea, Jessica, Alexandra, Krista, Raina, Tatiana, Simone and Anslee. The final two are Ren and Brenda. I exhibit no surprise. Tyra tells them Ren was hand picked and she has all the goods, but not the wants. Ren agrees with Tyra and tells her that she is doing it to get her mother’s approval. Tyra says she appreciates her honesty and then tells Brenda that she is still in the running and was the choice anyway. Brenda is also told that some time this week she is getting another fashion makeover so she won’t keep looking like a mom.

Moving into this week, the theme is Teen Idols. Seriously? To me, the term “Teen Idol” means Frankie Avalon. Maybe Shaun Cassidy or Leif Garrett. Not Miley Cyrus. But maybe I’m old. Personally, I’m looking forward to Beastie Boys week, cause I’m sure one of them can do wonders with Fight for Your Right. Oh, wait, the theme is actually Billboard #1 Hits week. Huh.

So moving right into the fray:

Lee Dewyze -The Letter, The Boxtops – I like this song, I kinda like Lee’s voice and this was the most energy he has ever shown, but still I’m not impressed. The feel was just wrong somehow. Lee doen’t think of himself as good and that lack of confidence is going to be his downfall.

Paige Miles – Against All Odds, Phil Collins – This is another song that should never, ever be sung on Idol again. Also, Paige should never, ever sing on Idol again. What do people see in her? Her voice is weak and she’s all over the place. My husband’s comment, “Ugh. That’s lousy, isn’t it? That was brutal, it was like punishment.” Yes, I agree, that was just terrible. I’m not sure why the judges are so hard on her tonight, she sounds just as bad tonight as she has since the first time we heard her. Please, let’s turn the Paige.

Tim Urban – Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen – After seeing David Radford say the word “jellyfish” on Idol in Season 5, I declared a moratorium on this song. It figures that Tim Urban is singing it. He is not teachable. I’m not even going to say anything about that. He just needs to go home now.

Aaron Kelly – Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, Aerosmith – As weak as that was and although he was little sharp in some places and a little flat in others, so far he was literally the best of the night. Terrifying. Especially since he apparently has laryngitis or something.

Crystal Bowersox – Me and Bobby McGee, Janice Joplin – Why is there always one chick each year who thinks she’s Janice Joplin? Obviously, if any one is like Janice it would be Crystal. The only criticism I’d have is that she really just sang that song as though she was echoing the original. That’s not usually the way she rolls, but I think she was more nervous than she has been up til now. Clearly, Crystal stays more or less true to who she is every week. That’s a good thing, I guess, but I think I’d like to see her just sing and not hide behind that guitar.

Michael Lynche – When a Man Loves a Woman, Percy Sledge – I have nothing bad to say about that. Darn.

Andrew Garcia – Heard it Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye – Ok, so he wasn’t supposed to slur his words, but was he supposed to pronounce them so specifically in that kinda awkward way? I don’t think so. The word that comes to mind for this whole performance is lame. It’s not good or contemporary or interesting or anything good. Boring and dated. I couldn’t wait for it to end. He’s probably still safe, cause people won’t even remember that after the hideousness that was Paige and Tim.

Katie Stevens – Big Girls Don’t Cry, Fergie – She’s the only one to sing a song from the past ten years, yet somehow it still didn’t sound contemporary or fresh. I’m starting to feel that this young girl just has an old voice. And personally, I find that voice really painful, like nails on a chalkboard, pitchy and very wrong somehow. I wonder what the judges are hearing that sounds good when what I’m hearing sounds so very, very bad.

Casey James – The Power of Love, Huey Lewis and the News – Ryan called Casey a “rocker.” Really? Why, cause he has long hair? I don’t recall him ever actually rocking out since he’s been on Idol. Or even singing that well. Also, Huey Lewis was more pop than rock. Just saying. All that aside, this was the Casey moment I’ve been waiting for. That was the best he has ever sounded on this show. He could have moved around a little more, but I really liked that vocal. Casey’s personal best and the night’s best.

Didi Benami – You’re No Good, Linda Ronstadt – Just something about the way she talks annoys me. So her singing really pushes me over the edge. I’d complain about her teeth, but they aren’t as scary as Siobhan’s so I’ll leave them alone. If I put aside the fact that her singing annoys the crap out of me, that was just boring.

Siobhan Magnus – Superstition, Stevie Wonder – She earned the pimp spot for herself after last week. I hope she makes the most of it. I can’t look at her when she’s singing, cause she just has this huge mouth and all these weird teeth and she’s smiling in such a creepy way. As long as I don’t look, she sounds pretty good. Nearly every note was in tune. Except that now she thinks she has to scream every week to be good. That has to be stopped. By force, if necessary.

Who’s going home? If there’s any justice in the world, Paige has sung her last on the Idol stage. If the judges want to be merciful, they won’t even allow her to assault us with her voice again by even pretending she has a chance at the judge’s save.

I’m fast-forwarding through most of this beginning stuff, but I felt like watching a little of the weird, uncomfortable banter between Ryan and Simon. I wish I hadn’t. We start out with David Cook singing Jumping Jack Flash. Is there some reason they won’t let him sing something off his own CD? They do realize that he’s not a contestant anymore, right? I saw enough of Cook, so I moved on. I also ignored the Ford commercial and whatever happened afterwards. I just realized that there was no group song tonight and it brought me to my very happy, happy place.

Starting with the eliminations, we have Paige Miles and she is in the bottom three. I exhibit no surprise. Lee Dewyze is next up, but he is safe. (According to dialidol.com, he’s the only one who is safe.) Siobhan Magnus is also safe, as is Aaron Kelly (and his mother, Kelly Kelly, is also safe). Andrew Garcia and Tim Urban are together, so one must be safe and the other not….maybe….right. Tim is in the bottom three, as it should be. Not that Andrew is much better, but still.

Do you know that if you fast-forward through all the nonsense, the entire hour long show only takes about 15 mins. Of course, if you really want to cut right to the bottom line, just tune in for the last three minutes. It’s all you need and it saves you an entire hour of life that the rest of us will never see again.

Back to eliminations, Didi Benami is safe. I wish Ryan wouldn’t ask these kids questions cause their inane chatter annoys me. Unbelievably. Crystal Bowersox is incredibly, incredibly safe. Katie Stevens is also safe, although she does not deserve to be. Michael Lynche is safe, as well, which leaves us with Casey James and Lacey Brown. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Casey is safe and Lacey is not. Oh, look, I was right.

So the bottom three are Paige, Tim and Lacey. I’d love it if all three of them were just sent home right now. Not one of them is worth a judge’s save, that’s for sure. Ryan sends Tim back to safety. This means my twitter friend, @RachelintheOC has to eat her bra, cause she said he would if he didn’t go home tonight. I seriously hope it’s not an underwire.

OK, so whoever (or whatever) that last act was, it made me realize that I am truly too old for this show now, cause that was just plain old crap. CRAP. But apparently, the kids like it.

The person with the lowest votes this week was Lacey. So now, knowing she had the lowest number of votes (although I don’t really believe that, but that’s another blog post) she has to sing again (and how come they get to sing any song they want?) to see if the judges will save her. They won’t. They don’t. The End.

I’m just glad the show is over, cause I haven’t had time to watch Lost yet and I want to do it now before it gets too late. I hear there’s some shirtless Sawyer.

Into the first judging, the panel consists of Nigel Barker, fashion photographer, Sally Hershberger, celebrity hairstylist and Andre Leon Talley, editor-at-large from Vogue. Tyra says he’s one of the most powerful people in the entire fashion world. He doesn’t look like it. Where’s Miss J?

At the first elimination, the girls are called in this order: Jessica, Angelea, Ren, Brenda, Simone, Tatiana, Anslee, Raina, Naduah, Alexandra, Krista. The bottom two are Alasia and Gabrielle. Tyra tells them Gabrielle is lovely in person, but her photos are not impressive; Alasia’s photo made the judges feel uncomfortable, even if she is a very beautiful girl. Alasia stays because Andre said he liked the photo and would hang it in his salon.

Next the girls get some time with with Miss J. practicing runway walking while taking off their coats. Then they have to walk across a busy NYC street, pacing themselves and removing their jackets. Then they move on to their first runway challenge wearing clothes by designer Rachel Roy. They have to use their timing skills to walk through swinging pendulums. The winner gets to keep the dress and also gets a photo in the new Spring collection on her website. Or something like that. Poor Alexandra feel coming down the stairs and then got hit by the pendulum and fell right off the stage. Didn’t I see something like that happen in an episode of Leverage? Brenda won the challenge and got to keep this great dress and Jessica who had the best pic at panel got to keep her dress, too.

Into the next elimination, the girls are called in this order: Raina, Krista, Anslee, Tatiana, Simone, Alexandra, Angelea, Alasia, Brenda and Jessica. The bottom two are Ren and Naduah. Tyra tells them Naduah looks so edgy but her photos aren’t, Ren looks good, but her photos make her unpredictable. Ren is staying and Naduah is going. I’m not sure it’s the right choice, cause although Naduah thinks she’s better than she is, Ren really just seems to want to go home.

Honestly, I’m giving this group two more weeks to impress me. If no one starts to really stand out, in a good way, by the time we have the tour group chosen, I think I may have to give up. I understand that Crystal Bowersox is good in her way, but her way and my way are not really the same way. (That sounds like a song. Isn’t there a Bryan Adams song with something like that in it? Now I have to go look that up. *insert dramatic pause* OK, I looked it up. I must have been hearing these lyrics “There’s nowhere, unless you’re there, all the time, all the way” which are clearly not what I just said. But the rhythm is close.)

Anyway, where was I? Crystal is good, but I’m not wowed by her. Then there’s Casey James. Casey is just not good. Sadly. There’s a lot riding on him, because he is literally the only good looking man in the competition this year (and he’s not even that good looking). I just keep expecting him to deliver something really outstanding, but unfortunately he’s barely even so-so.

Tonight is when we begin the countdown to the finale, so says Ryan Seacrest. I’d like to count faster, please. The theme for tonight is the Rolling Stones. It feels like this theme was chosen for a completely different group of people, possibly for season 4.

Michael Lynche – Miss You – The first spot can be good or bad. It’s not the real pimp spot, but it’s still good. I tracked it one year (yes, I really did) and although I don’t remember the exact stats, I know it was rare for the person in either the first or last spot to be kicked off. Michael could use some move lessons (like dance lessons, but less stressful), but his voice is smooth. For what is possibly the first time this season, I actually enjoyed a performance. Weird.

OK, Ryan is now starting to get a little scary. As is the Simon/Ryan romance.

Didi Benami – Play With Fire – The second spot person is one of the more likely people to be gone by next week. This musical arrangement is sounding more like Lionel Ritchie than Mick Jagger. Her vocals are weak and a bit strained on the top end. I don’t like what she’s doing with that song at all. Oh no! Here come the swaybots. This is not the right song for that. Not that any song deserves swaybots.

Casey James – It’s All Over Now – Please be good. Please. I’m a little impressed with his guitar chops. He also had a few good moments, an occasional burst of sound that was honest and bluesy. But overall, he took a great song and made it forgettable.

Lacey Brown – Ruby Tuesday – Do I have to review this? I don’t know what to say or how to say it. Um. I hated it. Hated the arrangement and the way she sang it and the way the background singers and music seemed to be doing something different than she was doing. I also hated her outfit.

Andrew Garcia – Give Me Shelter – I still think this kid is fodder, but his dad cried, so he may make the tour just from the pity votes. He nearly ended up in a good place, but not quite. He just seemed off throughout the whole song, so hitting that last note (at first, before sliding off into badness) wasn’t enough to make it right.

Katie Stevens – Wild Horses – This is probably the 90’s cover version by The Sundays, right? Oh no, she’s probably too young to remember that one, too. I hear Susan Boyle just did it last year. It wasn’t bad, but dare I use the word “pitchy?” It kept going off in a way I didn’t quite expect for some reason. (Ooh, see, I was right, Simon actually recorded it with Susan Boyle. Do I know my random Stones covers or what?)

It’s only half over. I may be ill.

Tim Urban – Under My Thumb – People in the middle of the group are statistically more likely to be singing their last. I had never thought of this song as reggae or of Tim as a reggae singer. I wish I could still say that. I’m going to have scrub my mind with bleach to block that out now. My husband has wisely retreated to his office, closed the door and put on his Stones CD. I think I can hear him weeping.

Siobhan Magnus – Paint It Black – This chick is just a little odd, but now I’ve seen her family and I understand better. But her toothy grin is still scary, with those long canines glaring at me. Has anyone ever seen her in daylight? I’ll give her props for unusual and dramatic, including a good arrangement, but the song sounded really pitchy all over the place to me. I could also have lived without that scream. I wish Laura was here, cause she would remember who did that really bad scream that time. Was is Scott MacIntyre? I need Laura.

EDIT TO ADD: Thanks to my lovely tweep @amedawg18 for knowing exactly who I meant when I mentioned that scream. It was definitely gonna bother me for a long time, but she knew right away. It was Danny Gokey singing Dream On.

Lee Dewyze -Beast of Burden – I actually liked that. He thinks he’s Chris Daughtry, and he’s not, but that was still good. He seemed comfortable and more in his element than he has yet.

Paige Miles – Honky Tonk Woman – First let me say that I hate when they sing a song and have to change the pronouns. Why can’t they just pick a song where the pronouns can be left alone? In this case, she basically changed the whole song around, so it had a completely different meaning. Plus, that country sound just takes me to my unhappy place.

Aaron Kelly – Angie – His mother’s name is Kelly Kelly. Huh. Once more this 12 year old has chosen a song that is way too old for him. I don’t even want to say too big, since clearly the Stones are way beyond anyone in this group, but this song is about a love affair. A love affair. Even at 12, I’d bet Mick Jagger had enough sexuality to pull this off, Aaron Kelly does not. Plus, I want to blow up the swaybots. Couldn’t they at least have found losers with rhythm for the swaying parts.

Crystal Bowersox – You Can’t Always Get What You Want – Why am I not even a little surprised that Crystal is in the last spot? I may have to do a tracking thing this year, too. Bill Bowersox did not need to cry to get votes for Crystal, she’s safe til the tour, I’m certain. My husband and I were just sitting here speculating about what Crystal would sing, and I called it. He was hoping for Let’s Spend the Night Together. But clearly he does not know Crystal as well as I do. (Yes, he came back just at the end of Aaron Kelly to see if it was over yet.) That was the best of the night. Not all flashy and crazy, but just solid and (darn it) plain old good singing.

Who would I like to kick off after this? Can I get rid of more than one person? Pretty please? OK, if I have to choose just one, I’d go with Tim Urban (and Paige Miles and Lacey Brown). And maybe one or two others.

1. The crappy contestants. I just can’t believe that these are the best singers they found out there after a nationwide search. It feels to me like they went for quirky over talented and were more concerned with “casting” the right characters for the show than in finding people who can actually sing.

2. No Paula. Sorry, but I can’t get over this. I loved Paula. The show just isn’t the same without her loopy comments and gentle put downs. I know that Ellen tries to be nice when she has to give criticism, but the mere fact that her funny comments are supposed to be funny somehow takes the fun out of it. Unintentional humor is way better.

3. Kara. She just bugs me. I never liked Kara and now that her advice is nearly starting to make sense, I like her even less. Somehow it was better when I could just hate her for being an idiot.

4. Ryan Seacrest is getting too thin. Be honest with yourself, you saw that pic I posted, Ryan is definitely turning into Beaker. It’s like those people who start to resemble their pets.

5. Simon has become boring. His snarky comments to the contestants used to be a highlight of the show. This year, he’s clearly just phoning it in. I don’t remember hearing him say anything like, “If I’m being honest” or “Utter rubbish” one time this season.

6. Song choice. One of the best parts of this show for me was the fact that the majority of the music was from my life, you know the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Good music. I’m not saying everyone has to have my taste in music, I’m just saying that appealing to the demographic with the most money to spend (people in their 30s through 50s) is what they used to do cause it makes sense. Now, apparently, their target market is 12 year olds. With bad taste.

7. Tyler Grady left the first week. Granted, he wasn’t the best or strongest singer in the bunch and I never thought he’d be the final one standing, but at least he seemed like he might be interesting. I would have liked to have seen him around for a little bit longer, cause we could definitely use some interesting on Idol this year.

8. There have yet to be any standout moments. By this time in previous seasons, there’s been at least that one moment when you knew you were witnessing something special and different. Carrie Underwood’s version of Alone is a good example. Bo Bice singing Whipping Post, in that same season, is another. Also, David Cook’s Hello and Jason Castro’s Hallelujah, Fantasia with Summertime and Adam Lambert with Ring of Fire. I’m sure there are many more, I’m just too lazy to go look them up.

9. The creepy stuff happening at the judge’s table. To be fair, this has been going on for many years now, but somehow it’s getting even creepier.

10. The lame lip-synched group numbers. I believe that says it all.

11. Alex Lambert’s Carol Brady ‘do. I realize that this isn’t America’s Next Top Model. I don’t necessarily expect these kids to have complete make overs by day one. But still, why has no one involved in this entire show tried to cut that sad little mullet off yet?

12. The Top 12. Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Katie Stevens, Lee Dewyze, Lacey Brown, Michael Lynche, Paige Miles, Siobhan Magnus, Tim Urban. Really?

Normally, I don’t bother trying to learn any of the names until at least three weeks in, since they drop so quickly and are often interchangeable. Plus, they generally have strange names, for example, here’s this years crop: Naduah, Jessica, Simone, Raina, Tatianna, Alexandra, Krista, Brenda, Alaisa, Anslee, Gabrielle, Angelea and Ren. Some are normal, but some were completely made up. Possibly by Dr. Seuss. One girl was familiar, Angelea, who tried out last time (or maybe it was the time before), but who didn’t make it. I probably wouldn’t have remembered her, since she didn’t get far, but for two things. One, she’s from Buffalo, as am I, and, two, she’s a real bitca. Really. They tend to stand out more than the nice chicks.

Once the show got past the first hour of choosing the girls, they moved on to New York City and met up with Perez Hilton. Apparently, he made a deal with Tyra, when he was on the Tyra Banks Show, that he wouldn’t do something for six months to get a guest spot on ANTM. I’m not sure what it was it had to stop doing, but it would have been great if she has asked him to stop, ya know, breathing. Talk about weird and freaky.

They went on to do the makeovers right in the first ep, which they have never done before, but it makes sense. I always thought that it was wrong that the group picture is of the girls looking the way they did when they started out and not how they look once Tyra has transformed them into model wanna-be’s. There wasn’t as much misery and teeth-gnashing as I like to see, but it’s still fun to go through the makeovers.

They give the girls some brief together time which, as usual, they used to bicker with and talk about each other. I’m always reminded at these times how young these girls really are and that maybe they aren’t really ready to be out on their own without some guiding adult direction. But then I realize that a group of women left together, at whatever age, tend to end up doing basically the same stuff eventually. The show then takes us to the point of the first photo shoot and leaves us there. A nice cliff-hangery spot, just telling the girls that they will be wearing only one article of clothing for the shoot and will otherwise be nude. The nude shoots are generally where we lose a girl, so I guess we’ll see what happens next week.

Lee Dewyze -Fireflies, Owl City – Maybe it has something to do with my TV, but no one sounds good to me this year. It’s just kinda rough and little nasaly. The best thing I can say is that his eyes look very blue.

Alex Lambert – Trouble, Ray Lamontagne – His voice is thin and wavery. And I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe him. He doesn’t look or sound like someone who has that kind of trouble.

Is it just me, or is Ryan Seacrest starting to look a lot like Beaker from The Muppets?

Tim Urban – Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley – No one is going to be able to do this song justice like Jason Castro did. I firmly believe that. You don’t take a another person’s “moment” song and try to make it your moment.

Andrew Garcia – Genie in a Bottle, Christina Aguilera – What’s with this guy singing all these pop princess songs? It was a little weak, but I’d say that he was the best of the night vocal-wise to this point. I doubt that will save him, though.

Casey James – You’ll Think of Me, Keith Urban – I want to like this guy. OK, I’ll be honest, it’s cause he’s the only decent looking one of the entire bunch. If all the singing sucks I should at least have something nice to look at while I put myself through the torture of watching this show. But that just wasn’t good. Too much vibrato and too much country crappy.

Aaron Kelly – I’m Already There, Lonestar – Yay, more country vibrato crap. As you probably know, I try not to watch too much of what they do while they sing, cause the weird rocking stuff (like I’m seeing right now) tends to make me a little sea sick. But somehow, I can’t seem to look away. He started out very weak, but even I have to admit his voice sounded not so bad once he really got going. Still hated it.

So I’ve been thinking, instead of going to the Idol tour this year, maybe I’ll do the Glee tour instead. It’s gonna be in New York City and I wouldn’t mind a trip up there in May.

Todrick Hall -Somebody to Love, Queen – You, sir, are no Freddie Mercury. The background vocals nearly drowned him out with their gospel choir thing going on. Look, I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.

Michael Lynche – This Woman’s Work, Kate Bush – So do all of these guys think they’re chicks? Personally, I think he’s just trying too hard right now. But he did have a bit of moment there, with that long glory note. The judges and the voters seem to like stuff like that, so I’d say he’s a safe bet for the Top 12.

Who’s going home? I’d have to say Andrew and Tim.

Katie Stevens – Break Away, Kelly Clarkson – Katie is no Kelly Clarkson. That was just uncomfortable and bad. Singing Kelly Clarkson is sorta like trying to sing Whitney. Don’t do it. Simon was partly right, she kinda sucked.

Siobhan Magnus – House of the Rising Sun, The Animals – I can’t put my finger on just what it is about this chick that I don’t like. But there’s something. I think she has a nice voice, but that she just picks the wrong songs. This song is not a slow ballad. Don’t attempt to make it into one. See above, re suck.

Lacey Brown – The Story, Brandi Carlile – This is probably more like the type of song she should be singing, her voice sounds better than it has before, but I still didn’t like it. It was just boring and not very good.

Katelyn Epperly – I Feel The Earth Move, Carole King – I always forget about her for some reason and I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. She’s like this year’s Brooke White. Anyway, she’s not really doing anything much interesting with this song and her hair is a little bit distracting. It didn’t even feel like she was having a good time.

Didi Benami – Rhiannon, Fleetwood Mac – This is one of those Fleetwood Mac songs that I know, but that I can never remember the name of and that I don’t really like that much. I only hope I can completely forget that rendition as well. I thought it was terrible, weak and boring. She’s like this year’s Megan Joy Corkrey.

Paige Miles – Smile, Nat King Cole -(Sorry, Charlie Chaplin may have written this, but I think of it as a Nat King Cole song.) A week has not improved Paige’s singing for me. I find her voice absolutely grating, pitchy, screechy and just annoying. Also, boring.

Crystal Bowersox – Give Me One Reason, Tracy Chapman – This is her bailiwick, as they say. (I have no idea who they are or why they say that, but they do.) Crystal is just so much better than all the other chicks (and guys for that matter), that they should just stop the show right now and hand her the trophy. Think of all the hours we’d get back in our lives if only they would. She’s in a completely different league, pretty much on a completely different show.

Lilly Scott – I Fall To Pieces, Patsy Kline – OK, we have two Megans this year. Look, if this kinda of thing is your cuppa, then you probably like her. It’s not mine. Ergo, I don’t.

If I was doing the cutting, I’d like to get rid of Paige and Lacey. Maybe also Didi and Katie.