Top 8 Minus 1 - JLo Performs!

They're squeezing an hour out of this!? JLo better perform twice!

The group sing was enjoyable. It's interesting how they seem to have paired people by their relative status - Sanjaya with Haley, most noticeably.

When they interviewed the little girl about who she liked, it seemed clear that Sanjaya has a similar appeal to young kids as Michael Jackson had. He does have that 'young at heart', playful vibe. The kid was quick to say she didn't like Blake or Jordin. Interesting.

Simon took the ribbing well about his man-breasts, as drawn by one of the schoolgirls in Africa.

Tony Bennett's fake audition was pretty funny, especially the 'other door' ending...LOL!

Blake keeps a crib sheet on his wrist...LOL! I probably would, too.

Phil's in the bottom 3. No real surprise. Sanjaya gets played - up & down. I'm betting he's safe. Haley's in the boot'em 3, as well. Yay! Chris and Sanjaya get played. I'm betting Chris is going down. Yep. But I'll bet he's not in the bottom 2.

Ellen Degeneres did a bit today about how Howard Stern and a certain website are encouraging people to vote for Sanjaya - as the worst contestant. She stole my joke and noted that we'd already tried voting for the worst, and look what's happened, and urged people to vote for the best. She really meant it. She loves American Idol, and, according to a poll of her viewers, on her website, Melinda is still winning by a landslide.

Chris is safe, as I thought.

Sanjaya wants JLo....ewwww!

JLo sings! Yes! Talk about goose bumps! It's easy to feel her even without understanding the words. She is awesome. I don't know if you've ever gotten to watch her act, but she's a joy to watch in the cinema, as well. It doesn't surprise me that she's in the 'Paula school of criticism', and I love her for saying so (not that we don't need our Simon).

Haley goes bye-bye. She sings us off with good spirits. I wish her well.

See you next week!

...John