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(S07E19) Thank god it's the end of three-times-a-week Idol. Tonight, we lost four more contestants to the ether and said hello to our Top 12. It's been a long road coming, and while I can't say I agree 100% with the Top 12, I will agree that most of the contestants in it deserve to be there.

Honestly, I think the Idol team accomplished their goal of creating the most talented Top 12 in Idol history. Say what you want about their professional pedigree and the lack of true amateurs in this group because in the end it won't really matter. What they will bring is a better more consistent product to the screen. Sure there's early favorites, but who can honestly predict the winner at this point (I know some of you are very certain you know who it will be)? Can you even predict the Top 12?

(S07E18) This '80s theme has been very good with the contestants this week as these past two episodes have been the most satisfying of the season so far. And other than a heavy leaning on Whitney Houston, I think the girls really stepped up their game this week. Honestly, the way it's looking, we may honestly be able to believe the hype that this could be the best Top 12 ever. Just get the vote right, America!

(S07E17) This is it, folks! After these next two weeks, we'll have our Top 12. Which two of those smiling faces doesn't deserve to be there? Well, I had a pretty good idea going into tonight's episode and after it, I'm even more certain. I hope you all get it right. The boys were more comfortable this week and it showed in their performances. I think a lot of it had to do with the theme: '80s songs. Finally, songs they may actually be familiar with and possibly even have a personal connection to.

(S07E16) We're getting closer and closer to the Top 12, and more importantly closer to the end of thrice-weekly Idol. There were almost 31 million votes cast last night, but still not enough for four more contestants. This week, both the boys and girls were largely disappointing, with many of the top performers from last week fumbling, and only a few showing marked improvement.

A portion of that, I think, can be blamed on the theme weeks. For many of these kids, songs from the '60s and '70s represent songs they've never heard before in their lives. That's not fair to those contestants or the audience. If this is the season where we're supposed to get to know these singers better, why not let us have three weeks of getting to know the type of music they both enjoy and know they can sing well. Once you've found your Top 12, you can put those kids through the ringer with your theme weeks.

(S07E15) The theme again was "Songs from the '70s," and for the most part I think the girls handled it better than the boys last night. And they also remained consistent with their performances last week to the most part. That is to say that the girls who struggled last week seemed, at best, to do only marginally better this week. The only surprises for me were some of the girls who blew me away last week turned around and struggled with their vocals tonight.

(S07E14) Tonight was a weird night for me as the boys who blew me away last week...well, kind of didn't. And the guys who barely squeaked by upped their game tremendously. It was like a mix-and-match of who was good and bad from last week and it made my brain hurt. Now I'm all kinds of confused and don't know who should go home anymore. There's still some easy fat to trim, but now I don't think it's nearly as obvious which six of these ten should make the Top 12. Good for them, but hard for us.

(S07E12) I have to say tonight's show was a mixed bag for me. There were a lot of surprises for me with the girls' performances, some good and some bad. I went into the show with a few clear favorites and a few that I didn't have high hopes for and it all got turned around on me. There wasn't as much of a "Wow!" factor with any of the girls and actually none of them earned the patented DOUBLEPLAY, but that's not to say there weren't some great performances.

I give Idol a lot of crap, and most of it is pretty well deserved, but one thing they've been hyping is absolutely true. This Top 24 has the deepest pool of talent, and if we (that means you and me) can truly get rid of the twelve weakest singers we're going to have the most amazing Top 12 we've ever seen. If that happens, I guarantee you the ratings questions about Idol being down this year will disappear as those ratings shoot right through the roof.

(S07E10) Looks like Idol's getting an early start with the cheesy blatant endorsements. They opened this episode with an incredibly corny Jumper intro featuring Hayden Christensen and Ryan Seacrest. But tonight is all about about the chair and final judgment for the contestants. No more singing; no more chances to prove themselves. It's simply a matter of sitting down and hearing if they're in the Top 24 or headed home.

(S07E09) "Welcome to a brand new Hollywood Week. This is American Idol." - Ryan Seacrest

Can I just go on record here as saying that I love love love LOVE love love (did I mention love?) the changes American Idol has made to "Hollywood Week." Gone are the forced group performances, the "When Contestants Go Wild!" bits and the breakdown at the end into three rooms, two of which move forward and one of which goes home.

Instead, every contestant gets at least two chances to make it to the third and final round. In the first round they can choose to perform with an instrument, and in the last round, they get to perform in front of the band with back-up vocals. It felt so much more like a real audition process that I'm still coming down from the high it gave me.

(S07E07) "My pen has got more charsima." Simon to J.P. Tjelmeland

The last stop of "Idol Train 2008" hit Atlanta tonight. There were some good singers and some bad singers but no real extremes on either side for me. I think I'm just getting kind of tired of this round of the competition. Here we are in week four and it's the same old thing just with different faces.

At least the new and improved Idol machine keeps on trucking along. I'm glad they read my letter and addressed my concerns. It really has improved the show tremendously. Let's just get on to the good stuff now. Thank god they don't go to more than seven cities each year or we'd be at this forever!

(S07E06) "We need someone to check in this cup," Simon about Paula's cup after she wandered around aimlessly singing "lalala" before hugging a contestant and telling him he's through to Hollywood.

It looks like Idol may have listened to me; I always knew I had that kind of pull. What made last night's episode such an improvement on the season thus far was continued tonight. We spent a lot less time on pointless back stories and a lot more time on the singing. In all honesty, I bet these changes really are in response to the feedback and reviews the show's been getting this year so far. After all, the footage is already shot, so how hard would it be to do some last minute editing before it goes to air.

(S07E05) "I can't wait to get to Hollywood and prove Simon wrong that I am America's Next Top Model!" --Elizabeth Erkert leaving with her golden ticket

Tonight's episode made me happy, which is good because Idol hasn't been doing that lately. I had resigned myself to another lackluster episode where I'd keep thinking to myself, "I can't wait until we get to Hollywood." And I'm watching it and seeing all these good singers and I'm thinking "Wow, Omaha must have really brought it." But Ryan says only nineteen people made it so what is it? They finally edited it right. More of the good, less back story on the bad and an overall feel-good attitude permeated the episode. And it looked like everyone from the contestants to the judges and even Ryan were genuinely having a good time. Now that I think about it, no one ranted and raved and bitched about not getting through either. Midwestern people are nicer! And it made for a nicer show to watch. Food for thought...