Ugh, I get so annoyed when I make unintentional puns. I think that's the second or third time someone on the board's pointed one out that I totally didn't realize I'd even made. Shouldn't the pun-maker be in on the joke? I'm as much a lost cause as Sanjaya at this point.

I didn't realize the crying girl was on the Today Show this morning. She's approaching William Hung-esque levels of fame.

My real problem with Sanjaya, aside from his crazy hair styles, is just his attitude. He always looks so damn happy to be there, and to be performing, which is great, but he needs to have some sort of serious side to him, and I don't think that's coming through. Also, he just really bugs me that he's so under the top when it comes to performing. Not that over-the-top is better, but it kind of actually is.

And I happen to love Blake unconditionally and I think really, he is among the best of the guys (him and Chris R)

Yeah, I actually was shocked that Chris R. was in the bottom 2 b/c I really liked his performance Tuesday. He dropped all those annoying runs and just sang a sweet melody. In tune. And I like Blake, too. He's a great all-around performer; YMMV.

I feel much better about laughing at Crying Girl now that I know she's not really a Make-a-Wish child.

So do we have a theme for next week yet?

I think next week Gwen Stefani will be there. God only knows what she'll teach them. I love her and her ridiculously pop music but I can't see her teaching anything useful beyond how to dance around in really really high heels and tight dresses.

I heard it was going to be '90s week.

I think Jlo week already has that covered.

I thought I read somewhere that next week is going to be Pop Week. I'm not positive though.

You mean Pop music isn't the theme of the show already? That's like walking into a bakery and being surprised they sell pie.

Looks like we were all right, sort of. The theme was rumored to have been the '90s, but Gwen Stefani will be the guest judge and the theme has been expanded to be "Pop."

That reminds me of the Billboard week where they could do any song that was on any Billboard Top 100 list ever, which basically meant there was no theme.

Eh, themes are for squares! I say, let anarchy rule!

Pancake makeup and lipstick application?

I think the themes are stupid. It's not like any of these kids who get signed are going to be making a record with one country song, one 60s song, one Latin song, one Broadway song, etc. They're going to make albums within the genre that is best suited to their strengths (or whichever box AI/19E decides to shove them in). It's ridiculous and unfair to force someone like, say, Melinda, whose strengths lie with R&B/soul, to sing a song in a genre she's unfamiliar and uncomfortable with and that could hurt her in the competition, when she wouldn't be recording an album with songs like that in the first place. I just wish they'd let them all pick what they want to sing each week.

Well, I downloaded and watched this week's performance episode. Keep in mind that this is the first episode of American Idol I've watched since Season 3 (I'm a Canadian Idol fan, meself), and the first time I've seen/heard any of these kids sing.

Jordin and Blake were my favourites, I guess. Jordin did a beautiful job with that song; my roommate and I watched it twice and both times we both got the shivers. (I think she looks like America Ferrera, but I'm sure that's probably been mentioned upthread somewhere.)

Blake, y'know, I don't really know what I think about him as a whole, but I liked his singing enough. We were a little WTF over the slo-mo-robo or whatever that "dancing" was called, but overall, a pretty enjoyable performance. I like that he doesn't just stand there and sing; he performs, and that's kind of nice to see. Like Peter Noone said, it isn't a singing competition, it's a voting competition. I couldn't agree more.

I'm still shellshocked over Sanjaya. That one's going to take a few days to process.