Blah, Blah, Blah, Elimination, Blah, Shock and Awe, Blah . . .

In keeping with the feeling I've been having all week--Did I really need to sit through an hour of that? I'm starting to think Fox wants to dumb me down so I will no longer be smarter than a 5th grader. They already think Antonella Barba is on that level--did you catch it last night when she was talking in the Popular Cola Beverage Red Room and they flashed up the 5th grade apple? Classic. But I digress . . .

When Ryan told the final 6 guys "we have to hurry" I was wondering what the slowdown was before. He successfully reviewed judges comments for 6 contestants, eliminated poor Rudy Cardenas, caused Sanjaya Malakar to go into hyperventilating fits, got another pedicure, picked his teeth, applied additional product to his hair, and insult Simon's shirt all in the space of about 75 seconds. That's 12 seconds or so per contestant. 24 total contestants times 12 seconds each, plus 240 more for Fantasia (great performance by the way, just awesome!), then add 2 tenths of a second for the legendary music icon Quincy Jones plus another minute and a half for each of the four eliminated contestants and you get, um . . . 14.8 minutes. We can actually ignore Q's .2 seconds since we made up for it by running the credits over Rudy's swan song.

First, here are my impressions on the eliminated:

AMY KREBS: Ho hum. No shock here. Unfortunately she has enough talent to continue on here, but her lack of airtime up until now along with her lackluster performance last night did her in.

NICOLE TRANQUILLO: It would have been next week anyway. Her performance last night was definitely in the "what the hell was that" category. That's the official name of the Gwen Stefani week, by the way.

PAUL KIM: Another predictable one. He really didn't pull it off last night. On the upside, he sounded much better tonight overall. And shoes wouldn't have mattered one bit.

RUDY CARDENAS: I feel a little bad for this guy because he has a really good voice, and given another shot I'm sure he'd wow us with a better song. But, second chances only come around once in a while (unless you're Sundance!) and I knew the bullseye was begging for bad karma.


Here are my memorable moments from tonight:

If this really is about the performances, Sundance Head and Antonella Barba should be going home right now. I know Sundance had a great audition, but I have seen nothing so far that warrants his still being in the competition. He is talented. He seems like a nice guy. But I can't say he was good enough to stick around. I honestly hope he "brings it" next week, because I think I'd like his style. Antonella is reaping the benefits of airtime and thinned voting in the early weeks. She's got a lot of work to do to make it past next week.

How in the world do you cut off Quincy Jones mid sentence. Ryan was obviously looking for a simple "thumbs up" to his asinine question, but the man wanted to say something. When a musician with 70 Grammys--not nominations, but actual stupid-looking statuettes they give to the one who wins--and who has arranged music for musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles, and who has produced countless classic albums . . . when he wants to say something, you let him say it! Especially on a music show. Bet there's not going to be a Quincy Jones night too soon. Don't worry, we do get Bee-Gees night again!

Ryan is obviously rusty a bit. How many times did he tell Paul Kim he was the first contestant voted off American Idol this year. I felt bad for Shoeless Joe. "Paul, you're the first one off. Oh, and here's what the judges said (like you care now) . . . . So you have hardly any votes, and very few loyal fans, so you don't have enough votes, so you are the first contestant voted off. Did I mention how you are first this year?" Ouch, Ryan. That's cold!

I liked how they gave us a sneak peak at the upcoming weeks. Tony Bennett night--good. British Invasion--intriguing. Diana Ross night--not so much. I'll wait 'til each week arrives to give my final verdict.

So, it is officially on now. I'm hoping the guys figure out how this thing works next week, because I'm going to get really tired of the same old preshow banter. "Girls are the best this year, blah, blah." True or not, without a little more parity it's going to get boring. Only 4 more days and we're at it again! What a great time of year!

P.S. I'm really on a Quincy Jones kick now, so I'm going to share three albums/compilations you should definitely check out. Just look at who's sings on the albums and you'll be impressed. And Bono does a pretty good job with his jazz tune!


Back on the Block
Q's Jook Joint
Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones

OK, rant off now.