Everytime I see that redhead, her voice seems so weak. I can't believe she's made it this far. Same actually goes for most of the white girls, no offense. I initially liked that girl who auditioned with her best friend, but she seems to be getting worse everytime she performs.

Here's the Clay story. Karma has kicked him in the ass several times since then. Take note, Daughtry.

That was exactly my reaction, and I was so sure Simon was going to call her on it. But it turned out to be a love fest. I didn't really mind, but like you I've been listening to Jennifer Hudson's version which is studio recorded, where she probably got to do several takes to get it just right, and I thought LaKisha just didn't live up to it.

Hee, that's what my mom said: "They should just send everyone home who's not black!" (In jest.) We are rooting for the San Antonio girl, though - hometown represent!

Totally agree on everything about the potshots at Simon. I do think that he could get his point across less cruelly sometimes, but the majority of the con-*test*-('")ants are right to be respectful to him. They are there to (eventually, hopefully) make a boatload of cash; he's already done so, so shut up, Ryan.

I am really torn. Last season I liked Taylor and Elliot from the beginning, and watched nearly all the performance eps. Now I am strongly considering skipping AI until they're back down to Tuesday nights with half-hour results shows. I'm reasonably confident that Blake will make it to the boys' top six, and I don't think I'll care about any of the other guys until then. And I can just keep my fingers crossed for Melinda, LaKisha, and the 17-yo.

I wasn't as impressed with Lakisha as the judges were, either. She was good but it was, to use Simon's favorite word, affected. She was trying too hard to be the shouty diva and it was a shallow performance full of all the bells and whistles, and a good vocal, but it wasn't the standard that no other will meet. I think Randy just wanted to get a jab in at Jennifer, and Simon was engaging in his beloved hyperbole so when she doesn't perform up to snuff he'll just tear her down a little. That's what he does.

My personal favorites were Melinda and Sabrina, because I think the two of them showed that they both have strong voices, but they also have control. Especially Sabrina because that song was a much more difficult song to sing than she was given credit for.

And I'd like to point out something to both Randy and Paula that they don't seem to understand. "I Can't Make You Love Me," is not a sweet, soft or sentimental song. Amy didn't whiff it because she was "better" than it, she whiffed it because she didn't quite get that it's a plaintive and desperate song.

I agree that Lakisha's version wasn't anywhere near J-Hud's, but it may be an unfair comparison. Lakisha only had 1:30 and sang it live.

I loved Melinda. I found myself thinking the white girls were terrible last night and wondered if that was a bit racist of me, but apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that, so I feel less black guilt right now...

I wonder if Idol could tweak the rules and get rid of the stupid 6 girls, 6 guys in the finals rule. Wouldn't it be great to just send through the best without regard to gender?

Oh, wow, that Clay performance was in my home town. If that's not a career death knell, I don't know what would be. It's a high school auditorium in suburban New Jersey, for crying out loud.

I was really impressed with Melinda last night. She seems like such a geniune person. It's such a breath of fresh air to have someone like her on American Idol, but at the same time I don't want her exposed to all the crazy.

I wish they would go back to the old format where they had the four groups of 8, and then the wildcard selections (even if it did result in Carmen Rasmussen).

Damn you VoteForTheWorst. Now we're stuck with Sundance and Antonella for another week!

Has there ever been any real indication of how much influence VFTW has? Because if so... damn.

I CANNOT believe I know this, but the rehearsal was so that the kids could sing on his nation-wide Christmas tour, not so he could perform at their high school. Karma may have since kicked Clay's ass (I guess?), but it hadn't quite started at that time.

Topic? I missed the girls. Boo.

I'm still in shock that Antonella managed to stay on for another week. She was awful.

Oh, I didn't know that. I was going by this quote in the linked Gawker article:

I wasn't able to see the results since I watch Earl and The Office, but I'm trying to wrap my head around why Antonella and Sundance are still there. There's always next week, I guess.

Damn.

I so want Karma to get her. Although my wanting Karma to bite her will probably produce bad Karma in my direction. Hmmm

AAARRRGH. I liked Rudy.

This is the first time I've really heard about VFtW, and I have a hard time believing that a website could have that much influence. (I'm thinking of the relative number of Potterites that muck about online - large, but not the majority of readers.) But I could be wrong, especially since I can't believe that Antonella or Sundance could have inspired enough genuine admiration to get through on straight yes votes.

Another annoying item - the list of "songs they sang" for each group doesn't include the recording artist. Thanks, that really helps a lot. Not.