Curly's gone. But please, no Shemp!

Sligh's gone. No shocker there. He'd lost his edge or mojo or something since we've been seeing him weekly. He seemed like the kind of guy who's hiding a lot of insecurity behind a facade of self-depricating humor. That stuff is great when you're Tommy Boy, but not as an Idol. I had higher hopes for him, and apparently much of America did as well. I am slightly surprised that Haley's got one more week in her, but then again, Sanjaya's far from the last position so anything goes!

So I have only a handful of unanswered questions:

1. Did Akon say anything besides, "C'mon y'all. Like this!" That big necklace was distracting, too. It reminded me of Flavor Flav's clock.

2. Why, Ryan? Why? Did you need to wear the hair?

3. Why do the producers and writers of A.I. feel the need to give extra air time to those clearly out of their league? Think Sanjaya and Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais.

4. Is it just me, or did Lakisha seem a bit overconfident tonight?

5. Did Paula and Gwen Stefani shop at the same place for the show tonight?

6. Do people really spend $10 to enter those contests 10 times? And do they ever get the wrong answer?

I'm excited for Tony Bennett week. He's 80 years old and still putting out relevant material. Any doubters should see the work he did on his Duets album. He sings with the Dixie Chicks, Bono, Michael Buble, James Taylor, Tim McGraw, k.d. lang, Elvis Costello, and a bunch of other great artists. Even if the contestants are limited to the 20 or so songs on the album, it should be a great night.