(S06E19) The show begins tonight with the group song, "Stuck in the Middle," reminding me of that infamous ear-torture scene in Reservoir Dogs. Because of that connection, the song seems inappropriate to me at first. Then again, with SANJAYA and HALEY inexplicably advancing to the finals, Idol is going to keep providing its own form of weekly "ear-torture," making the song oddly fitting.

The contestants received almost 37 million votes this week, but unfortunately SABRINA did not receive enough of them. And I'm shocked that Haley advances. I really didn't think she was popular enough to survive after three truly weak performances. Not surprisingly, JARED, ANTONELLA, and SUNDANCE also receive their walking papers tonight. I'm not sad to see any of them go. But I do think that things might get a bit duller without Sundance and Antonella in the competition. They certainly kept us buzzing, didn't they?

Whether we like it or not, the Top 12 finalists are: LaKisha Jones, Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh, Jordin Sparks, Phil Stacey, Melinda Doolittle, Brandon Rogers, Gina Glocksen, Chris Richardson, Stephanie Edwards, Haley Scarnato, and Sanjaya Malakar.

(S06E14) After last week's boring first impression, the guys needed to step it up this week and show us something big. Did they succeed?

Well, overall the guys were definitely better this week, but nobody even came close to Lakisha's show-stopping performance last Wednesday. In my mind, the ladies remain ahead, and this is still their race. However, at least the guys picked better songs, and showed a little personality tonight.

So who's going home?

(S06E11) Tonight we moved past the horrible auditions and the Hollywood meltdowns into the part of the competition that many of Idol's critics call "Karaoke Time." I think it's a given that all of the semifinalists are talented singers, having beat out thousands of others, and holding their own during Hollywood Hell Week in order to get to the Top 24. But staying in the competition is going to be tough. They're going to have to go beyond lame or even "safe" Karaoke renditions. They really need to kick some butt big time and shine.