"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Well, I WAS mad as hell last night and this morning over the crap TPTB dished out to Elliott last night! However, I've managed to have some Whoppers and clam down a little. Before I get into why I'm mad and a recap of last night, I'd like to say that over all, last night sucked. Elvis week was MUCH better.

Why am I mad you might ask? It's simple, Kat got pimped and Elliott got the shaft! Here are my thoughts:

1. Since the start of AI, the final three order seems to have been decided by the vote numbers of the week before, worst to first...Not this year!

2. Since the start of AI, NO ONE who sang first on final three night has made it to the top 2.

3. Clive picked a "Rock" song. PLEASE! (In fairness to Kat and Taylor, Clive's picks were bad for all of them.)

4. The normally loud band was louder than normal for Elliott's third song.

5. Praise of Kat was WAY OTT. I thought Taylor wasn't great either but he'd be in the finals no matter what happened.

Whatever happens tonight, I will be buying whatever Elliott puts out!

Recap

It started out like all other shows, talk of the recently departed, introduction of the judges (HELLO, we know who they are!!!), and introduction of Clive "I'm old and out of touch" Davis. (Note to Producers: by AI 5, we KNOW who Clive is as well...Shorten the stock footage, please.) Some states require driving test for people who have hit "a certain age" due to all of those awful things that happen to us when we get old. Shouldn't there also be a test for picking songs for a Pop Music Show?? Clive would have failed.

Elliott was up first! Say it ain't so?!!?! It's the kiss of death! I hoped that he would knock our socks off and break that "number one on top 3 night" curse. I knew he was in trouble when Clive announced his pick of the classic rock song "Open Arms." In what context is that a Rock song? It's a ballad and that's about it. There are millions of songs that Elliott would have been great doing but this song wasn't it. Now is not the time to force them to sing outside their comfort zone. It's the top 3 not the top 12! They've jumped through the hoops and did the country, did the oldies (twice - Barry and Rod), give them something that is going to HELP them not hurt them!! I'm getting Mad As Hell again!!

Anyway, Elliott was okay. It was weak. I love Elliott so I was on the verge of tears just at the fact that he was going first! Having a suck song was too much for me and, evidently, for Elliott too! He didn't make any mistakes but it wasn't great. We needed GREAT tonight.

Kat was next with an R. Kelly "Classic"? Here's another failing mark for Clive. I'll skip the rant his time. Kat was bad, the song was bad, and Clive should NOT pick anymore...ever. His day is done. Was it just me, or did she forget the words in the middle?

Taylor did Dancing in the Dark. I never thought that this song was difficult to sing and it isn't. Taylor got a softball. Again, it doesn't really matter, he's in the finals. The gun thing was BAD. Did he flub the words? The "Courtney Cox Moment" with Paula was it for me. I'm not watching Taylor next time! Just think, only one more week and there will be a chance that I could never hear "Soul Patrol" again! That is the only thing that I'm looking forward to with the end of Idol!!! I didn't count last night but I'd guess he said it about 15 times but it felt like 15 million!

The Judges did much better than Clive! Paula's song was perfect for Elliott. My cable cut the sound towards the end right during the money notes for a few seconds! I wonder how many people had that problem? I did, however, find myself smiling during this performance so I know it was good! Yeah!! I don't think he knocked it out of the park, too bad!

The pimping of Kat was in full force during Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It was a full minute longer then anyone elses songs for the night! How is that fair? Why is she on the floor again? And just what in the hell is she singing? This must be some version that I've never heard...for good reason. The leaning back to get the big note was bad and could have been prevented if she was STANDING UP!!! Oh! Best performance of the season?!?!?! Simon needs to stay away from Paula drinks!!! Walk the Line was the best of the season!

Taylor is next and will be in next week so as long as he sings something and yells out to the Soul Patrol. I think he would have done better with The Letter. Simon said it was his best of the competition. I don't know because I really can't think of any song that Taylor has done that was not overshadowed by his dancing. Can someone help me remember?

This is taking up way too much time!! Good thing I don't feel strongly about this!

The third songs were picked by the contestants and I think they all pick well...better than Clive anyway. I could have picked better songs with a dart and a blind fold! Okay, I'll stop! Anyway, Elliott was WAY over powered by the band. So much so that I could hear him at times. They have needed to fix that since the final 12 at least and haven't so why am I surprised? I have no idea.

Kat sang an old Ba-Ba-Blues song that I didn't care for but at least she wasn't on the floor. Taylor sang a song that he wanted to sing during love song week. He was Taylor (shout outs to the soul patrol).

I'd like to take this time to agree with comments that Simon has made in the past, Taylor is a wedding singer. He tries to make a mark on the song but doesn't seem to know how to do that so he tries several things, none of which work. This was evident to me tonight. I think Taylor can sing okay and is the best performer. Kat can sing and is the best looking. Elliott is the best singer and...that's about it. We can kid ourselves by saying that AI is a singing contest but it's not. It' about HAVING the whole package. Not about finding the person who has the stuff to BECOME the whole package.

Elliott will have a great career. After his Idol stint is over, look for him to drop out of sight for a while for a little work (teeth, ears, style, etc.) and then watch out!

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm an Elliott fan that happens to think that Kat should have gone last week and it should have been Chris in the final three. Chris would have guaranteed us three good songs. Kat is inconsistent. I think that since it wasn't going to be an all guy final three that TPTB decided to have a boy/girl final. Since there was NO WAY they could get rid of Taylor, they had to get rid of Elliott. I think they did a great job at doing that but we won't know for sure until tonight.

I'll write more tomorrow.

TTFN-
Kristi