I noticed that also.

They ought to make the loser sing Yesterday as their parting song. "Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away..."

I absolutely hated that Grease reality show, but I did think it was kind of funny that they made the booted off people sing the same song every week (the girls sang that Goodbye to Sandra Dee song and the guys sang some other appropriate song I am now forgetting.) Speaking of which, is AI doing some sort of "Had a Bad Day" type montage song this year? God I hope not.

I look at AI voting as a cumulative process (cultivating a fanbase), not a week-by-week process where merit alone will ensure your safety to get another chance at not making a fool of yourself in front of 30 million viewers next time out. Chikezie has been the weakest in terms of developing a fanbase, so I still think he's the most vulnerable, regardless of doing well last night. Otherwise, on merit alone, Achuleta should be a frikkin' goner tonight, but we know that ain't happening, not by a long shot.

That's it. I read a comment from one of the AI vocal coaches, and they confirmed that only about 25 songs from the Lennon/McCartney songbook were on the list. Which makes no sense to me at all. Either you have the songbook, or you don't. Why would they only get a couple dozen songs? And why these songs? Some obscurities ("She's a Woman", "You Can't Do That") and some all-time mega-hits. Makes no sense to me. Then again, what sense are we to make of a world where (if you believe some of the voting estimates) David Archuletta still is getting as many votes as the next three contestents combined?!?

David Archuletta flubbing his lines and licking his lips was still more entertaining to me than Syesha, Rumielle, David H and KLC combined. So, he'd fall in my bottom 5 (after those 4 terrible performances), but should certainly still be around.

how much in royalties did michael jackson make yesterday?

I don't think he owns those songs anymore.

Is this a reference to some news item I missed?

What did Simon say to Ramiele yesterday, something like 'the world needs to see what you wear"? What did he mean by that?

I think she had a confederate flag in her bedroom in one of her video intros. It's a stretch to brand her with that moniker but she is from Oregon and not from the South.

Edit to add: I really think Simon is bored out of his mind regarding AI. He doesn't seem very interested in continuing doing the show which will be a big loss if they cannot resign him after his contract is up. Ryan badgering him with put downs and not acknowledging him at the end of the show probably is another nail in the coffin. I have a feeling that Simon may not come back in a couple of years even if Fox throws a boatload of money at him.

The nickname KKKristy stuck at TWOP after the confederate flag thing came out. I like it better than KLC.

We know you have a great voice, unleash it, and stop messing around with boring songs.

I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to still be in the competition. But he doesn't deserve to be #1. And he sure as hell doesn't deserve to be #1 with 3 times as many votes as #2. I don't quite understand his fan block to make it that powerful. Sure, the tween girls and grandmas are on board. But I would've thought things would be more split up after that.

I'm pretty sure I remember him telling Regis and kelly that he has two more years after this and he is done. They are actually paying him a crapload of money not to come back!

Syesha - Never heard the Earth Wind and Fire arrangement, and frankly I never want to. Her vocals got lost in the cheesy overblown lite-funk.

Chekezie - Great job. I'm shocked, really. Probably my favorite of the night.

Ramiele - She sounded good, just not that exciting.

Jason Castro - His habit of trailing every line into falsetto really started to get on my nerves with this performance, especially since it was a pretty rough transition each time.

Carly Smithson - I liked the energy, and thought this worked better than when she tries the diva ballads. But gawd, that tat just doesn't fit her.

David Cook - It wasn't bad, but I think he should aim at being more of a Rod Stewart/Bryan Adams type rock/pop singer than a full-blown rocker.

Brooke Smith - I just enjoyed this immensely.

David Hernandez - It was like something from a cheesy high school talent show. I'm guessing bottom 2 after that.

Amanda Overmyer - Not horrible, but she's definitely out of tricks. I think she's going to be screwed when they pull out a wacky theme.

Michael Johns - I was bored to tears. I just don't dig this guy.

Kristy Lee Cook - That arrangement didn't feel like country... it felt like a caricature/stereotype of country music by someone who knows nothing about the genre and just associates it with square dances and moonshine-chuggin' hillbillies. What an awful, awful choice.

David Archuleta - This would have been a mess even without the screw-ups, but wow. I guess this is the best time to be humbled, while there's still plenty of elimination bait left to draw fire.

He's already said he's done with Idol after Season Nine.

In fact, if it can sustain itself to that point, it might be nice to see a reboot of the entire show for Season 10. But I think that it would probably just end at that point or be relauched as something completely different.

When was that -- 3 years ago? :D

It seems like Simon is always talking about leaving. If he ever goes, I think the show would finally go under. But I think he loves the fame.

Agree. He's my least favorite of them all.

Brooke White was easily the best performance of the night. I thought that was a beautiful and heartfelt cover and I agree with Simon it felt real. I'm really impressed how talented she really is and I think her playing piano on that song made it even better.

What's amazing is that she really didn't stand out to me until maybe three weeks ago...

All I can is thank god that this is actually a decent Top 12. I think each contestant has some strong points. No Sanjaya, Chicken Little, Sanjaya, Anthony Fedorov, JPL or Sanjaya this year.

Four pages and counting and not one comment about Seacrest acting like a complete buffoon after Chikeze's performance!? Hopping all over the stage like a complete spaz "You own the stage. Take it! Take it!". Or some such nonsense. Then wiping the sweat off Chikeze's head. Really weird and creepy.

Whoa! Kudos for remembering all those names!

Yeah, Ryan was a tool most of the show, especially with Chikeze- saying "Soaking Wet!", "That's how you do it, baby". WTF?

My initial vote in this poll, before the show, was for Chikeze. Going with the you're only as good as your last number school of thought, Archuleta would be gone and Chikeze on top.

But I think KLC is going tonite.

I read somewhere (possibly here in last week's thread) that Idol will be using a Reuben Studdard remake of Kenny Loggins "Celebrate Me Home." The Idol team flat out admitted the exit song makes too much money not to be kept in house.

That's actually what's wrong with this season in my opinion. I find this to be the most boring group they've ever had.