Justice and Confusion

Mikalah Gordon Knocked Off 'American Idol'

Let this be a lesson to you, Nadia--pick better songs. Fantasia dabbled with the ax before emerging as the winner of last season's contest, but she had the luxury of a cast of also-rans that included John Stevens, JPL, Jasmine Trias, et. al. Is there any question that at least half of this year's field would beat out Diana DeGarmo for last year's runner-up position? You've got to turn it on--now. Otherwise, as Simon warned, you're not going to last.

While I wasn't pleased to see Nadia in the bottom two, I was thrilled by the exit of Mikalah--and I wasn't alone. The AP called her demise "inevitable," while the Daily Herald faulted the show not for mixing up the phone numbers but for stuffing one more helping of Gordon's lamentable vocals down our throats. (Not mine--I skipped Wednesday's "encore.")

What will happen now? Based on my predictions, we should see Costantine and Scott in the bottom three soon, but it's really hard to predict who will depart next. Worse, for me, I don't know who I want to see leave. My least favorite performers are Constantine and Jessica, and I've never warmed to Scott's sway-singing. And Anthony, in trying to look like some version of cool he's misappropriated from frat boys, is not only looking silly but hasn't sounded very good of late. Here's hoping they're the next four to go, though I doubt Nikko will outlive all four of them and don't know if he should.

One thing's for certain--it may sound like hyperbole, but this is definitely the best top ten the show has had.