America Got It Right

Last night's results show was once again a half hour too long, fitting in performances by Elliot Yamin and Mariah Carey, as well as the "viewer" phone calls. I haven't been a fan of these call-in segments up to now, but last night a crazy gal from Paula's erstwhile reality show called in and took the whole thing off the tracks. Paula, who had what looked like a rose bush growing out of her neck, seemed distinctly uncomfortable as the girl said, "Paula this is Megan from your show..."Hilarity ensued as Ryan lost control of her right from the start. She had shout outs for all the guys on the show and Ryan got her onto her "question" with some difficulty. They all looked happy when she finally hung up.

Then Mariah sang a song that I understood to be about her dead grandma? Maybe I misunderstood. I don't normally listen to Mariah, but I thought she was pretty good. Her legs looked amazing, I wonder if that's from Pilates. I'll have to check that out. Of course they have to talk about how Randy knows Mariah and is instrumental to her success. Ryan congratulated Mariah on her success and told her, "We're so proud of you." Thanks Ryan, that's the validation she's been waiting for all these years. You are proud of her. She's Mariah Carey you dumb ass, not a contestant from season 3.

While all this was going on, Ryan had been seperating the contestants into two groups on either side of the stage. Ryan asked Carly after she came out onto the stage if she thought she had held back the night before. And Carly replied that no she hadn't and furthermore she thought the judges were being a little hard on her. And I was so glad to hear Simon explain himself.

"You know Carly, you know why I am, " he admitted, " I think you're potentially great. I do, and I just wanna give you that extra push sometimes."

That must have felt great to hear, I know I was happy to hear it and I'm not the one up on stage singing every week. Anyway, as the groups were sorted I was sweating because at first the group to the left was KLC, David Cook and Syesha, and the group to the right was Carly, Brooke and Jason Castro. And I knew David C. was safe, so I thought uh-oh. I was worried that Carly was the one going home. But my husband said, "Don't worry, they're just messing with you." And he was right, after David Archuleta came out and was sent to safety (of course he was safe, how could he not be), Ryan had Brooke and David C. switch places and I breathed big sigh of relief. Then Ryan asked David A. to move from the center of the stage to whichever group he thought was safe. I hate it when they do that, how can they expect these contestants, especially some sweet kid like little David, to do that? And good for David, he refused to play Ryan's sadistic game and pulled a Bo Bice, sitting down right in the center of the stage. After Ryan finally determined that Carly, David C., and Jason Castro were safe, I breathed another big sigh of relief because my last two remaining favorites were going to live to sing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs.

So, Ryan sent Syesha to safety, which she absolutely deserved. I am not a big fan of hers, but she has done really well the past few weeks. Brooke had the biggest, saddest frown on her face I have ever seen. When Ryan announced that Brooke was safe, sending Kristy home to ride her horse I will admit a did a dance of happiness.

My feelings about Kristy have been well documented in previous posts, so I will only say that it was her time to go home. She got really far, farther than she should, largely due to her own willingness to work hard and, after the two week Beatles fiasco, shrewd song selections. I think even she knew that she had nothing to be sad about, she noted that "At least she made the top 10." She went out in a great way, with class and humor, sitting at the judges table and singing the opening verse of Mariah's "Forever," "Those days of love are gone, our time is through...still I burn on and on, only to hear a good comment from you," to Simon. Good for her. I'm not a fan, but that was the perfect way to go out, it was memorable and she didn't break down hysterically. Ryan's proud of her, I'm sure.

Now that KLC is gone, each week from here on out, someone really good has to go home. Everyone remaining is talented and authentic. The contestants have to fight it out week after week to stay alive and there could still be some surprises in store. Go Carly go!