That was a painful two hours. Moody Blues?? The kid, Sanjaya? His sister totally screwed him over with that song. And he looks so much like the Indian Andy Gibb it cracks me up.

I was loving Chris Sligh. I thought he had the best performance (showwise not singing wise) of the night and then he had to do his little obviously prepared "smackdown" of Simon. And no one fucks with my Simon. Esp when Simon has just said how much he liked you and wasn't even being that mean. And now Simon will be out for blood. Stupid Chris. You were in there!

I'm only hoping Chris Richardson, Paul Kim (who was pretty bad and put some shoes on fool) and Blake Lewis (he actually made Keane sound listenable) make it through Thursday.

Please let Sundance get booted tomorrow. Please!

Ryan and Simon going at each other and Simon calling Ryan sweetheart got old real quick.

That took me right out of the show. Simon was right, Ryan was making the whole show uncomfortable and making himself look bad in the process. A couple of little cracks can be fun enough, but this ridiculous gay-subtext melodrama is pointless. The show is already 2 hours long and features only 18 minutes of actual singing; if they'd not allow Ryan and Simon to talk to one another, we could lose another half-hour easily.

I can't remember anyone's name except for Blake, but I really liked him, cute backup singer, and Jack Osborne guy.

I hate when Ryan tries to stir shit up. Like the Indian Andy Gibb kid or the last guy. They were both taking Simon's stuff fine and there goes Ryan trying to get them all mad and make them take potshots at Simon. Shut up Ryan.

ETA: Seems that Simon produced a Teletubbies cd. Obviously Chris S. googled Simon for material

Over the years I've noticed that Ryan seems to feel really protective of these kids, and that whenever he really goes after Simon, it's when he seems to feel like Simon's gone too far in some way. They definitely have it set up as a good cop/bad cop kind of thing, even more so than Paula vs. Simon.

Also, I have no idea what the Teletubbies crack was about.

Let's see, I loved Blake (I enjoyed hearing a Keane song on the show) and I loved Chris Sligh since his performance was the most entertaining. But he barely opens his mouth so I don't understand how sound comes out.

I can't stand Ajayjay or whatever his name is. His 17 and has Farrah hair. I can't decide which of those bugs me more.

I love Blake. Didn't think I would but there you go. I also really liked the guy who sang the Brian McKnight song. He was pretty and had a nice voice.

Aww I liked Sanjay at first, and I also hope Sundace goes.

Ah, I'm also hoping that Sundance goes. Even if it is largely because he somehow reminds me of my Idol-hating roommate, and there's only so much cognitive dissonance that I'm willing to deal with over the course of a day.

You can get away with some cheap shots at Simon at the beginning of the season, but Sligh may have gone a bit over the top with the Teletubbies/Il Divo crack. Though he did seem to realize it immediately after the fact, if his calling Simon "sir" in humble tones was any indication. Not the best strategy for the strategist.

Blake Lewis was probably the best one tonight. Sligh was a close second for being willing to do something original.

I sort of want to metaquote a bit from all of the recent posts, but that would make my post ridiculously annoying, so I'm just going to say that "ajayjay" cracked me up way more than my level of shame about that would indicate.

Yeah, and I liked Chris Sligh enough initially, but he absolutely seemed like someone who likes to win internet arguments--that is, prepped with Google and five minutes, he will smack you down! And that sort of business is so annoying, because a prepared witty comeback isn't either item and Simon didn't diss you, so now you look like a Mega Tool. And what was that he was going on about with "this is the kind of music kids like these days?" I have never heard that song. It sounded like it belonged at an Up With People rally.

I loved Blake (if I voted, Blake. . .you! You would get my vote!) and I was surprised by liking that kid who did the Brian McKnight song, because I usually dislike Brian McKnight. And thank whoever it was for making the note that it's time to try and bring it into the new millennium with audition songs. "Nights in White Satin." I just.

Additionally, I am really glad that the youth of America is no longer feeling as hampered by typical gender roles and we are getting some male performances that aren't all about camera-sexing and cowboy-stomping. However. There is a cognitive disconnect I experience while watching a flashy but unironic and self-unaware performance of Free Ride that I can't handle.

And yeah. Put on your shoes, fool! I don't want to look at your feet.

I'll just stand up for all the leery older broads and admit that this year's Ace can at least sing. So you go, Jared Cotter with your really tall, really pretty self. Keep standing right behind Ryan so your face will always be on screen, even if you have to tilt your head and duck to get in the shot.

But do not heed the siren song of the falsetto. She does not love you and that path only leads to ruin.

Wasn't Chris Sligh part of some Christian rock band? The song he did sounded like Christian rock and maybe he thought Simon was going to start dissing that kind of music, like that was what he meant with the "student gig" (wtf Simon) comment.

That student gig thing had me cracking up. It went from weird to absurd, with Simon's posh voice insisting that "where a student gets up and sings" was enough explanation. I'm going to try to remember to say that anything I dislike is a student gig.

VoteForTheWorst is encouraging voting for Sundance this week. They call him the ManBearPig, which seems oddly accurate.

I've been meaning to ask - did they ever show what happened with Ebony the rollerskating waitress in the Hollywood episode? If they did I totally missed it, and I thought it was odd considering how Simon was going on about how fantastic she was.

I think they showed her for a split second, getting eliminatd. I recognized her by the pouf of her hair. Can't remember exactly which round, though.

Man, I must be the weird one out. The only two I liked were Chris Sligh and Rudy Cardenas (what? He kept me interested).

Ebony was shows for a split second - not even a backstory or anything which I found very odd indeed (I would expect at least a showing like Bailey Brown)