American Idol 2010 -- The Dirty Dozen Is Revealed

I never thought I'd say this about "American Idol", at least not this soon ... but this show is really starting to suck. And I'm not just talking about those group numbers ... those have sucked for a good long while now (and I muted the TV 'cause I couldn't bear to hear them slaughter my favorite Michael Bublé song). I'm talking about the truly preposterous results this week -- quite possibly the most disappointing I have ever seen in the two-and-a-half years I've been watching. The shockingly eliminated Lilly Scott echoed my thoughts exactly when she said, "A lot of incredible talent is going home tonight; I don't know what America wants to hear."

Since I ended up being correct in my prediction that Katelyn Epperly and Alex Lambert would be eliminated, I didn't think Alex's departure would shock me so much, but it did. Obviously it stung the rest of the hopefuls, too, enough for Ryan to call that commercial break "the most intense few moments on the show" he's ever seen in his "Idol" career. Lilly's departure was the most disturbing this week, since I thought she had a huge following, but Todrick Hall's ouster wasn't far behind on the holy-crap-ometer, since he gave what I thought was his best performance.

Sure, Lilly and Alex didn't have the best voices, but they each had a more unique vocal style and a genuinely likeable presence than most of the rest of the pack (even if Alex still hadn't really broken out of his shell yet). I suppose I wouldn't have minded Alex's elimination quite as much if Paige Miles -- who gave the worst performance by far this week -- had been sent home too. And as for Tim Urban ... I know I said I wouldn't be upset if he made it into the Top 12, but that was before Alex and Lilly were given the heave-ho. I almost would have been okay with Aaron being sent home if it'd meant that Alex or Lilly had gotten to stay.

On an entirely different note (no pun intended), it was fun seeing last season's Matt Giraud and Scott McIntyre again! Although, I wish it were Matt who'd put out an album by now (and not just an EP like he says he's working on) ... I'd so buy a full-length CD from him!

I tell you, it's looking more and more like this is going to be my last season as an "Idol" watcher ... it seems to be less and less about the singing anymore. Sigh.... Okay, on to next week, for what it's worth....