What a strange, strange week-Mariah Carey as like, a mentor to like, the Top 7.  Never been a fan, don’t plan to become one and does ANYONE think that it is coincidence that Mariah just happens to be releasing a new album on Wednesday…the same night she will be performing live on the Elimination show?  I find it disappointing that she has surpassed Elvis Presley’s record for the most #1 hits by any artist…

Hey, at least Elliott Yamin is going to perform on Wednesday night. Such a good Jewish boy, that one.

What’s up with Ryan’s weirdo hairstyle?  Is he channeling Ed Grimley, imitating a kewpie doll, or is he just trying to emulate David Cook’s early-season “do”?  He’s an endless source of irritation. I still miss Dunkelman from Season 1.

OOH Minnie Driver AND Teri Hatcher in the audience this time-just like plain folks.  Except that the camera singled them out so we were all aware that this show is above average and attracts STARS.  No cross-promo for a few weeks….wonder what’s up with that..maybe the 35 minutes of advertising that already fit into the 44 minute show are enough.  And the inevitable Ford video will be shown tomorrow night, too.

Paula, the purple number reminds of a Barbie outfit I used to have-Solo in the Spotlight, or Moonlight Enchantment…something like that. It worked on Barbie, just looked out of place and odd on Paula, especially surrounded by Randy and Simon in their t shirts.  Her hair looked like she’d been sleeping on the floor of the bus terminal and her face was all puffy….was it botox week, or was it fatigue, or was the purple chiffon wrap around her shoulders cutting off the lymph flow???  The dress looked like a mummy wrap from a distance…couple of shots from behind the judges gave you the full effect

Loved the early chit chat between the judges-Simon saying sarcastically that this is “Make or break for Randy’s career this week” and Ryan’s crack that Randy is “Dying to sing ‘Touch my Body’ “  Looks like his endless name dropping is amusing even to his peers on the show. 

David Archuleta-Can you BELIEVE he said “I’m not worthy” about meeting Mariah? Seriously??? What was up with the leather pants?  Could this preppy kid be “bad” even if he paid someone to help him be a bad boy? I doubt it.  He’s sweet and likeable but I just cant envision him as the Season 7 Idol….I CAN see him getting a lifetime career working for Disney singing for the next animated movie or belting out “When you wish upon a star”  He could do worse.

Carly Smithson!!! She took my advice, the long sleeves helped a lot and she looked really beautiful in the black/dark blue dress with the sparkly belt…I think she is amazing.  A bit of Ramiele in her last night-a nod to the lip gloss princess….she sounded great to me when I listened to the tape after the goat boil….I liked it a lot-I hope it helps her regain  some momentum.  Her husband is quite a scary looking freak with all the tattoos…kind of shocking every time they show him, but he’s always there cheering her on. I was happy to hear Mariah say that she loves watching Carly perform-I like her (Mariah)

a tiny bit more now.

Syesha Mercado-beautiful gold dress, extra bonus points for the sparkles in her hair, mandatory deduction for the oversized parrot-worthy/bad Christmas ornament earrings.

Thought she way oversang, didn’t know the song so I don’t know if it was good or not compared to the original….my big beef with her is that we know NOTHING about her even after all these weeks. She can certainly sing, but she’s a boring robot. Times up-go home.

Brooke “SHUT UP” White of course we got the weekly update on the saga of her life and how moved she is about this and that and how she missed her sister’s wedding and on and on and on…I just don’t care.  I think she’s a bit of a phony and all the frowny faces, exaggerated reactions and the endless display of tears just bug me more and more every week.  I didn’t think she did a good job with her performance but it didn’t strike me as the catastrophe the judges made it out to be…. I thought the commentary about ordering the hamburger and only getting the bun was far more interesting that her performance.  I’m absolutely ready for her to go home. I cant see her winning under any circumstances-maybe 5 weeks ago, and maybe if she’d kept her fool mouth shut…but not anymore.

Kristy Lee Cook-Looked beautiful, sounded surprisingly good and somehow managed to remain upright for her entire performance-no crouching!! I thought I saw her going down on one knee for a moment but she was able to self-correct. This goofy girl has grown on me-I’ll probably never be a fan of country music, but something about her is endearing.  Deserves another week or two. I give her points for being a real team player and having a realistic attitude that she probably will not win. Have fun while you can.

David Cook-Brooke needs to take a lesson from David about dignity and personal space.  We all know he has a brother who is terminally ill and may not live for the rest of the season…someone donated air transport to enable him to get to Idol to see David perform live and I believe that he was in the audience this week cheering for his brother. Don’t know for sure, since it was not used as an opportunity to gain attention.  It has to be painful and difficult for David to be away from his family at this time, but he has never made it a public matter or used it to get votes or sympathy or anything else. I admire him for that.  Seeing him tear up at the end of his performance and then give a vague explanation about it being a tough week…I give him a LOT of credit for a good performance and for being a real person, but mostly for maintaining some boundaries and dignity-it has to be hard.  The performance may have been the best of the evening, but he didn’t have much competition-this was a disappointing week as the performances go.

Jason Castro-another performance that I didn’t get.  He was ok, it really was kind of a luau type performance as Randy said, and I didn’t think it was anything special at all…and then all 3 judges raved about it again.  I’m missing something and I cant figure out what it is….. Maybe next week I will listen and close my eyes and not be distracted by the fear that one of those hideous dreads will break off while he’s on stage.