For Certain Reasons

Yes, I watch American Idol.  And yes, I have opinions.

Elimination Recap:
According to my rankings, America got it half exactly right and half terribly wrong.  I ranked Tyler Grady second-worst, and he was rightly shown the door.  However, I had Joe Muñoz as second-best, and he was also shown the door.  He was a little bizarre, as his interview demeanor was incredibly awkward while his singing demeanor was a picture of confidence.  I guess the voters just couldn't reconcile the two, and that's too bad for the fellas.  That guy really could sing.

A note on my rankings - I'm not out to predict who will be voted off.  If you're looking for that sort of thing, I would recommend DialIdol.com - which had an 87% success rate when I started using it a couple of years ago.  My rankings are strictly my opinion, which sometimes goes against the norm...sometimes drastically so.
The Judges:

Randy Jackson - In lieu of reviewing Randy Jackson, I shall not. 

Kara Dioguardi - She's turning into Paula without the endearing qualities.  She still makes some serious-ass serious faces though.  And, not to get catty, but WTF with that hair.

Simon Cowell - I think Simon is officially starting to mail it in on his last season.  Still, Simon mailing it in is better than the other judges combined on their best day.

Ellen Degeneres - She's pretty steady, nothing controversial, but I wouldn't say she's boring, only because she showed she can hand out the negative criticism.

The Contestants, Worst to Best:

(Note - If I give someone a nickname, it's generally not a good thing.)

Tim Urban - Oh, you again.  Sorry, the kid is just bad.  Apparently even God wants him gone.

John Park - I wanted him gone during his pre-performance couch interview, when he told the story about how his group, "Purple Haze," was rooting against him so he would come back home...hopefully America will oblige.  A terribly uncomfortable performance.

Ted Douchenozzle - Oh look!  Somebody's doing Gavin Degraw....again...how interesting.  Boo.  Boo.  A thousand times boo.

Jermaine Sellers - I think he came out of the closet in his "something people don't know about me" feature, when he talked about how cold his "daddy" kept his house.  Just sayin'.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  He's got crazy range, just needs to tone down the "crazy." As in, not so much with the "I know God."

Lee Dewyze - "You sound like you could be on the radio."  No kidding, judges.  Didn't realize you were all butt-rock fans.  He sounds like he could be on the radio because he is on the radio, and he's just slightly more talented, and his name changes between...oh never mind.  I covered it last week.  He really missed some notes last night, and he has yet to put anything resembling an original twist on a song.

Fake Sisqo - I just can't find anything to like about him.  I don't know what it is, but he better figure out how to be interesting in a hurry.
 
Aaron Kelly - Hated the song on him, but I have to admit he hits the notes.  He's got a giant likeability gap to fill.

Andrew Garcia - I think taking out the guitar really hurt him, but he's by far the most likeable, and I think he'll get through on that.   

Alex Lambert - By far my favorite vocal of the night, and I actually kind of like that he almost passes out before performing.  The only one of the group that makes me interested in what he's going to do next.

Michael Lynche - A huge performance out of Biggy McBiggerson - huge enough to overcome the dreaded first performer slot.  I don't think he's "there" yet, but he's growing on me and is a very good and consistent performer.


Overall Impression

I agree with the general consensus that the guys made a huge improvement, but they only went from sucking to not sucking too badly.  Nothing to brag about, no clear frontrunners, and still a HUGE talent gap between the guys and the girls.