First of the 12 booted off last night. Thank Goodness - Leah Bulgarian Girl LaBelle was wretched in her singing. I do think she could go far in modeling though.

Who watches this show and who are your favorites? I remember discussion last year - JGeoff sided with Clay and Lombardi was a huuuge Ruben fan (no pun intended )

11 left now. Alot of my favorites didn't even make the top 12 so I need a little more time with the remaining contestants to decide who my favorite is. Right now I am leaning towards LaToya - beautiful girl with great stage presence and a nice voice.

Camille - beautiful girl with a nice voice but will have to find songs to showcase her talent better. Go Camille!

Jasmine and George - Sweet people and nice voices.

Jennifer - who else was surprised about her making the bottom 3 last night????

JPL Pen Salesman - a Hobbit... but sooo entertaining. We wonder what he is going to do next.

Who can go next week for all I care? John "Opie" Stevens. All I can say is

Same with Amy "Maude" Adams. Seriously, Maude with pink hair. Too old looking to be acting so goofy.

Fantasia and Diana - talented, but not my cup of tea.

And last but not least - Matt "Rose Bowl". Why oh why does every other sentence have to include the phrase "...when I was in the Rose Bowl" The guy loves kids and takes bubble baths. I vote him to be the next Bachelor or Average Joe.

Buffy!

I've been having to tape these things, because I don't get home in time to watch it live.

(JOIN THE BRACKET GAME)

You know who my favorites are... that's right, the two Filipinos! Support your own, you know!! They're my cousins, by the way!!

(trying to see if I can fool you twice... )

(JOIN THE BRACKET GAME)

Pork siding with Clay... I would have never guessed. Just joking, Don JG!

Yep, Matt "when I was in the Rose Bowl" Rogers annoys me. His Simon fixation is getting old. The little guy annoys me too. If he's supposed to be so full of character, why does he come off as so dry when he's interviewed.

(JOIN THE BRACKET GAME)

I was surprised that Jennifer Hudson was in the bottom 3. She could have picked a better song though. She's representing Chicago.

By the way, you like my subliminal messages in there, Buffy??!!

Yep, and Geoff -- just to let you know, and everyone else -- Ruben is selling more albums than Clay.

I like George, John Peter Lewis, and Matt. They're my favorites, but I don't think they'll win -- LaToya will probably win, although I don't want her to. I think she oversings, like that Jennifer girl does.

My wife and daughter are hooked on this show. They even vote on the phone. I passed by the TV last night. Nice to see a baritone - George - in the finals. Baritones are not commercially appealing though. But it looks like George has some charisma. Famous baritones: Barry White, Lou Rawls.......???

Whaddya trying to say there DB???????

I don't do basketball. Hey I need ONE month out of the year that is not fantasy driven - in sports that is

I am seeing a trend here of people picking the wrong songs and probably not showcasing their talent like they could. Next week is Country theme night, THAT should be interesting!!!!!

On one hand I think this top 12 has more talent than last year - must I remind you of Julia, Carmen 'Goat Girl' Rasmussen or Josh 'Constipation' Gracin? But I am not really feeling any love for anyone at this point. They shoulda brought back Army Girl and Alan - the hottubbing tool with the abs - at the least he was eye candy. JPL - that guy is eye maalox!!

George is from Nawlins and makes a mean omlette. That is good enough for me!

Hey, you had fantasy-free-February for that...

Yes, that one extra day DID make it seem almost like a whole month!!!!!

Bracket Schmacket!

Don't be Dissin da Bracket. It's perfect for us fantasy-less fools. One pick once and never look back.

LDV, maybe you can start an IDOL Bracket?

The number one seed would be Latoya. The last seed of those remaining would have to be Amy Adams (#11). No contest.

The Cinderella diaper dandy would have to be Jasmine (#6).

#2 seed... George.

Feel free to fill in the rest.

Even though I crunch numbers for a living, I cannot fathom all your statistic logic. I read ...number one seed blah, blah, blah .

I go with my gut.

I know this: I won't agree with the American Idol winner. I honestly don't see anyone in the top 11 who has the WHOLE package of singing talent, personality, good looks and chemistry who would make a good touring idol.

But my GUT tells me Fantasia might win. Only because people seem to like her alot.

So what did everyone think of Clay's performance last night? I thought it looked like he put on a bit much needed of weight and he actually LOOKED good. I liked him singing the song last night. Not an idol in my mind by any means, but a decent looking - and talented singer.

sidenote: If I have to sit through anyone singing "Son of a Preacher Man" OR "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" one more time....I am going to start throwing things.


And if you have no genuine soul - stay away from the R and B....are you listening John Opie Stevens???? He butched one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs and made it almost unrecognizable!!!

I totally missed it this week

Yeah, maybe (I can't access Billboard's charts w/o subscribing? That's b.s.)... but Ruben just won an Emmy, I'd expect that to boost his sales. Clay's will go up when he goes on tour w/ Kelly.

Nah, before the Emmy or anything -- Ruben is/was selling more albums...period. Simon Cowell said it himself. Just admit it -- RUBEN > CLAY.

WTF? Clay's going on tour with a child rapist?

Anthony....I think Clay is on tour with Kelly CLARKSON.

Not R. Kelly.

I admit I laughed reading your post!!

Kelly Clarkson a child rapist?? Did I miss something??

Edit: Phew! Thanks for clearing that up, LDV

Simon also picked Goat Girl as his wild card pick last year...

I loooove the sound of Ruben's voice. He sounds great on a CD track but after seeing him perform I'm Sorry (2004) on the show last week, he just doesn't have the stamina to perform a show without becoming out of breath and wiping the dripping sweat from his face (this from a guy who didn't even have ONE dance step in his one-song act!)

Clay rocked last night. The guy oooozes charisma. I was actually having some uncomfortable thoughts about him last night and as a straight white girl, this concerns me. The guy has what Simon calls the all elusive "IT" factor. God knows where he got it from. He has certainly improved in all ways over the last year.

Yeah, but this is going on facts and statistics -- not opinion. Ruben's selling more albums.

And by the way -- it's not like Clay dances around or moves on stage.

Touche. Thank goodness for small miracles

My gut says American Idol will crown itself a queen this year. It IS a girl's turn. And there is some potential this year for a star in the making out of the females (Amy Maude notwithstanding )

Is it wrong that I think Amy is hot?

No. Not wrong at all! Personal preference, ya know...Different Strokes for different folks.

I would not call Amy hot. Camille is hot. Leah is hot (even though I could not stand her or her Patsy Ramsey-ish mom) and even Jasmine and Jennifer are hot in subtle ways.

This is good to know though. I know that Anthony and I will never compete over women

I think eventually Latoya and Fantasia will make it to the final 3. The 3rd contestant will either be George or Diana. I do think that this year's finalists are much more talented than last year's. We all knew that Ruben was gonna win last year. But it's a little harder to predict this year. I'm so glad that Leah was voted off. She shouldn't have made it to this round. I don't even know why Paula Abdul chose her in the wild card round cuz there was one girl that sang a million times better than her but wasn't selected. I'm refering to Suzy Vulaca. She was way better than Leah. I don't think any of the guys will win it this year. With the exception of George and JPL, I would be really surprised if the other 2 survive the next few rounds. I know that John Stevens is a little different, but how long will he continue to sing like Sinatra and Dean? All in all, it has been an interesting and entertaining season.

God I CANNOT stand that show! They are going to end up having so many of them that every flee-bittendog who howls at the moon will be an American Idol. "Oh hey, you were on American idol, right."
"Yeah I was AI # 175. You were...if I'm not mistaken.......873 right?"
"Um, 874 actually."
"Oh sorry, my bad."

Isn't funny how the goal is to become the American Idol to get a record contract and the worst singer on the try outs was SO BAD that he was actually signed on a record company?

Shut up. It's all in humor. Jackass.

I think eventually Latoya and Fantasia will make it to the final 3.

That's what I don't want to happen. I think they both -- along with Jennifer -- oversing. Well, not so much LaToya. She's actually pretty good -- that girl can sing. But Fantasia and Jennifer both oversing. Anyone who can howl for ten seconds and change pitches every couple seconds is considered "good." At least Simon hasn't been blinded by horrendous feedback and knows they oversing. He's the only honest judge on the show.

Woo Hoo! We will never have to hear the dreaded words "Rose Bowl" ever again. Buh-bye Matt. See ya on Average Joe III!

DB - your girl Camille narrowly escaped elimination. She had better step up her game.

So when is it ok to forget the words to a song? John Stevens MUST go. He can't remember an easy song like King of the Road??? Plus he has ZIP/ZERO/No/ personality. Ryan even looked pained asking him questions as if he were talking to himself. And the guy can't dance to save his life. Not even a little bit of entertainment value? Please Please Please, just go.

Next week - Motown. Didn't we already see them sing Soul? Prediction: JPL is gonna dance to some California Raisin song....ok, maybe not. But he IS gonna dance!