GoEliGo????

David Cook: WTF? He's a cheap knock-off of what he's trying to be. Though somehow, he is fooling everyone, and he knows it.

David Archuleta: Season long European vacation? RIGHT ON! MAKE IT 4 SEASONS! That boy needs to go back to being a boy for a few years, he's incredibly talented and this is a waste... Ya right. He'll be washed up before he ever should've released his first album.

Jason: Someone get him off this show so he can get on with being a professional artist already. Sure his recent performances have been so-so, but he is in a different class among this gang, a true artist. He will have a music career because that's what he's supposed to do.

insideoutbox

And I'm rooting for Syesha to win the whole thing. She's handily the best singer left, has grown exponentially in recent weeks, and it would be a fuck-you to the season's overarching whiteness, and the fact that the producers wanted her gone around the time of Chikezie and Ramiele.

Charles A. Hohman

Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston

Hmm, I wonder which singer (cough Syesha cough) has never received enough votes to be up top (cough cough)?

In the heat of the campaign last nite, I let this slip by. Syesha topped DialIdol's rankings last week. Even though Syesha was onstage with Brooke when the latter was sent home, as has been widely discussed, Ryan never declared who made up "the Bottom Two". I actually think it's more likely that Jason has never been the top vote-getter.

Rob Murphy

I love that Syesha mentioned her "oh wow, this song about civil rights TOTALLY gained a new meaning for me after last week" TWICE. She wanted to make sure everybody knew how important it was for her to get to hold a note for a long time on TV. Being in the bottom two week after week is totally like being stuck in the back of the bus, you know.

Every damn performance blew chunks last night, only Castro's mugging and "I was thinkin' Bob MARLEY!!" (followed by Randy's "if I had a hose right now I'd beat you within an inch..." glare) kept me from having a "omg WHY AM I WATCHING THIS SHOW?" breakdown.

Anthony Miccio

SteveHy

Manola

Seriously, what the heck?!

The first group of performances was horrible. In the second round everyone was firmly in their respective "zones." Castro's "Tambourine Man" was actually good, save for the slip-up, but he is *so* going home.

punkybunky

Moomtazz

8:32 p.m. Indiana is still too close to call with 52% of the precincts reporting; it's a 54-46 split in Clinton's favor but there's the whole northwestern part of Indiana that needs to come in, as well as Bloomington, Indianapolis, etc. Seriously, have you ever looked at Bush/Kerry and Clinton/Obama maps side-by-side in some of these more rural states? It's kind of-okay, very creepy.

As a raised-in-Indiana native -- and an IU alum -- I can verify that Indiana is a mostly-empty state with a few population centers and a small handful of major concentrations. Obama's natural base of support is in the densely-populated Chicago "suburbs" of NW Indiana and Indianapolis and the college towns. Most of the votes are there, and that's why it's still too close to call even this late.

Also, yes, very creepy.

Rob Murphy

This is a tough week to predict, and I would not be surprised if we have a "truly shocking" elimination this week -- meaning, obvs, David or David, but most likely Cook.

I think Syesha has been playing everything juuuuuuuust right all season long, flying just under the radar, and I think she did it again tonite -- including the perfect dress for the Tina performance, the perfect dress for the Sam performance, and the waterworks during her second judging.

For those of you/us who are "conspiracy theorists", did you catch Paula's comment to Syesha during the second critique? Not-exactly-exact-wording: "Welcome to your dream, Syesha...this is it for you!" "It" being "your dream"? Or "it" being "finito"?

Hmmmm....

Rob Murphy

That being said, David Cook has been good enough in weeks gone by that I expected WAAAAAAAY more than him on the song equivalent of "night of 1000 stars." Boo David Cook, boo.

The worst part however is the pimping of Archuleta. Randy might as well get out his tax statements, to keep going on week after week about how David is the BOMB, etc. is embarrassing. And wrong. Dawg, get a conscience.

whoneedslight

Agreed. It was much better suited for a beauty pageant.

melanielectric

But it's clearer than ever that the fix is in. Archuleta is your next American Idol.

brasstax

Maura Johnston

(IMHO, of course)

Rob Murphy

Maura Johnston

MTS

Wait, did Syesha just compare her Idol experience to the civil rights movement?

exposition