oh the drama of it all!...

And so they came. They sang. They bombed. They blossomed. They dressed strangely. They annoyed us. They awed us.

Now we get to execute four of them.

Ain't this fun??

It's result night, the one-hour spectacular where we'll get a return visit from Carrie Underwood, undoubtedly another dynamic group number and, interspersed with all of that, the firing of two of the guys and two of the gals.

I love this show. [And, as a reminder, or a warning to the west coast, I'll be simulblogging throughout, hitting the publish button after each dismissal. Hey, if Carrie can shamelessly promote her platinum album, I can certainly do the same thing with my blog.]

So, who's safe, who's probably safe and whose heads are on the chopping block? I think the division is pretty clear, but this is, after all, American Idol, the folks who invented shock TV.

On the women's side, it would stun any Idol fan to see the end of Mandisa. She's turned in two decent performances in a group that has essentially gone from bland to blank. Katharine is pretty safe too, entering the semi-finals with a potload of hype and getting universally praised last week, despite a poor song choice and even poorer clothing selection this time. Paris continues to be the darling of the tweens, despite her bout with rapid aging syndrome, so she's not going anywhere anytime soon.

Kellie had one of the best performances Tuesday night, but continues to polarize voters. There are two Kellie camps: team one which detests her insincere Carrie imitation and team two which finds her endearingly sweet. [Shucks. I got into a debate with my best friends over her sincerity/insincerity.] But off-stage impressions notwithstanding, her song selection and her performance should keep her butt firmly planted on that couch tonight at least.

Lisa is another enigma. She's very much a Diana DeGarmo in that she's been groomed for this competition and technically hits her mark, but her lack of real connection is distancing her in the always-important tween/teen market. But this week, as Simon remarked, she will sail though because there were many other boot-worthy performances standing before her in line.

And that leaves the rest of the field, all of whom are ripe for an early exit.

Melissa delivered what I still consider the most entertaining performance from Tuesday night, but still, her lack of exposure and relative unknown status will plague her. But I don't think it will this week. Ayla does not have the lack-of-airtime problem, and her tomboy athlete to girly girl story was cute and will help her identify with girls everywhere (even those of us who used to be 18). Add that to the fact that she pretty much nailed a Celine song, and her stock is rising. She's still somewhat at risk, but not tonight.

Kinnik, Heather and Brenna are the most in trouble. Each of them disappointed Tuesday night and pretty much ordered their own tickets home.

On the men's side, it's going to have to take an act of Congress to remove Chris and Elliott from this show. Add Taylor to that, even though his performance last night was far less than what we've come to expect.

So with three guys firmly in the safe zone, the other seven are going to have to grab on to a lucky charm of some sort.

Gedeon probably amazed me the most last night, with his soulful rendition of a Sam Cooke classic. His attitude could still hamper him somewhat, but the thought of him on Motown night might be that lucky charm he needs to keep people dialing his number.

Ace is pretty. We want to keep looking at him. Plus he has enough credit in the bank left from the auditions and last week to keep him afloat even though he pretty much sunk to the bottom last night.

And, even though his name is showing up in bottom two lists everywhere, I still maintain that, of the teen crooners, Will has the voice that can hold its own up next to the superior entertainers. The problem for Will (and Kevin and David, for that matter) is that, if they're relying on the teen/tween vote, that vote split three ways can do nothing but hurt at least one of them. And if people think Will is safe because his performance was the best of the three, the need to save the other two could leave him hanging out to dry.

Who remains? Sway, who has tanked two weeks in a row, but did have tremendous pre-show support that could withstand a challenge. Kevin, who's a newly-anointed sex symbol and showed the most incredible maturity in playing along with the unlikeliness of it all, but turned in an uneasy and stiff performance. David, who came in as a crooner then basically sucked at it, and Bucky, who needs to let the makeover people do their thing and, like a good middle-line employee, just does his job without demanding the spotlight.

Any one of those four might be singing their song again tonight.

So, after putting it off for as long as I could, here are my predictions.

Who I want: Brenna and Brenna. (I want Brenna kicked off twice, once for each cheek.)
Who should: Brenna and Heather.
Who will: Heather and Kinnik.

Who I want: David and Sway.
Who should: Sway and David.
Who will: David and Sway.

Your turn. Who do you want, think should and will buy the farm tonight.


tag: american idol