IDOL - Elite Eight

At least I was expecting Queen to be bad. My problem this week was with the judges...Simon specifically. Obviously the whole "Queen" week is supposed to really test the finalists because its so hard to do, kind of like a really rough class in college or law school or med school. But let's face it, aren't we the ones that are suffering here? Simon was right, the audience deserves better, but the show is the one that made them do something so off the map in the first place. Plus, its not really weeding them out because in the end only one person is going home, just like every other week...and America tends to forget bad performances by the next show. So the show forces the contestants to perform in an area is that is so far out of most of their comfort zones that its almost impossible to be entertaining and then tells them that they can do better. Ryan was almost tolerable tonight, thats something.

Bucky: What the hell is this guy still doing in this competition? Seriously. This isn't a rhetorical question anymore guys. I'd like some feedback. Every little bit helps. In singing lessons, we used to have to do an exercise saying "mommy makes my mash my m&ms". All I want is for someone to teach it to Bucky. Dude...I cannot understand what you're saying. DICTION. And I've never seen so many karaoke performances on national television. I have a local bar, thanks. I seriously have no clue who's voting for this guy every week, so safe? Not safe? I think he should have gone home weeks ago.

Ace: Well Ryan gets the Captain Obvious award for the week...yes Ryan, the competition is getting more and more intense every week. And Ace, its a bad sign when Queen tells you no, not to their own song. I mean, what can I say? It was just...embarrassing. You did not rock. It was the first awful man-eyeliner moment of the night. I felt like it was something that one of my friends would have done as a joke in my living room on a drunken night while we were all sitting around laughing. Just awful. Not safe. Going home if America grows a brain cell this week.

Kellie: A for effort...I guess. Simon said it perfectly...its a mess on paper, and its hard to get past that. I think ultimately, it was good. The whole look was a little weird, and I thought she was a little awkward around the stage, but I can't find a lot of fault in it. Ambitious, but good. Safe.

Chris: He is the one that I'm going to hold to a higher standard this week...and its his own fault. He has made it clear, against my strong wishes, that he is a rocker. This week should have been a breeze for him, and I have to agree 100% with Simon here. He could have picked a much stronger choice and really shined and he just didn't...bottom line. And he becomes the second male eyeliner tragedy of the night. I feel like Simon was initially super-impressed with him but is finally just getting sick of it, and not that it makes a difference, but it still makes me happy. But he is, of course, safe.

Katharine: I definitely don't think this was Katharine's best night, but compared to the rest of the train wrecks tonight, she did well. The change was definitely a good move for her, but I did think it was a little "indulgent" as Simon likes to call it. And I absolutely hated that shirt. Of the three girls left in the competition though, there is simply no comparison. No prediction.

Elliot: He has got to let this rapper thing go. No matter what he does, you know somewhere in there he's going to throw in those oh-so-dependable, yet no less embarrassing 8 Mile moves. Stop it! He can still sing though. I would love to think on it for a while and hand pick a song for Elliot and arrange it so he can't mess it up. Because man...he. can. sing. I think he should be safe, but America's weird.

Taylor: I loved this. I know he looks like a dork jumpin' around like that, but it was entertaining, and the vocal was very good. Lance physically spit his drink out when he missed kicking the stand over. That was great. It was just fun which, to me, was something missing from this whole show. I liked it. He's safe.

Paris: Another week, another trip to the dress-up trunk, but I actually thought it was good. It was a little big, but what are we really choosing from tonight? I really should have just stuck with Veronica Mars. I wouldn't put her in the bottom three, but I'm not America.

I have a small rant (who are we kidding...its a big rant) before predictions that just came to a boiling point tonight when it became clear how obvious the judges favorites are. And by judges I mean Randy and Paula. Simon, for the most part, is pretty consistent and fair. But tonight was crap. This entire time, basically every single week without fail, Randy has gone on about song choice song choice song choice and this week when Simon throws out there that Chris could have picked a song that did more for him, Randy says no way...its not about the song choice?? You've got to be kidding me. And he and Paula are horrible with this...Katharine is clearly not who they want to win. Ace's performance tonight was pitiful, and yet Paula and Randy are upbeat and try to be a positive as possible, but then when they're judging Katharine, someone who was actually good, they both say as many negative things as they can think of, in as negative a voice as they can muster before half-heartedly admitting that it was a solid performance. When everyone else gets up there, they are so excited and happy for them and jazzed to give a good review if the show warrants it, and many times if it doesn't, but Katharine doesn't ever get that. The most she gets is a solemn, "it was good."

I voted for: no one (line was busy for 05!!)
My bottom 3: Ace, Bucky, Paris (stressing this is prediction, not who I'd put there)
Going home: Please, God, ACE