For all those who care...

For all those who don't, you don't know what you're missing. American Idol is a fantastic show, despite the excessive and shameful corporate plugs. I cringe at each and every tacky Ford video-mercial, Coca-Cola logo pop-up, and Clairol bubble bath.

It reminds me of when I was walking on M street just before the last Olympics. I had no idea what was going on. All of sudden a large crowd formed as if in anticipation of an after-school fight. A float sped by handing out flags. It must be the Olympic torch (it finally dawned on me). The float was a Coca-Cola float and for every one American flag they handed out, they gave out at least five Coca-Cola flags. The torch came running by. Some no-name. My sights were not on the flickering flame, though. I couldn't keep my eyes off the mindless sheep waving red Coke flags in joyous jubilee.

Well, sorry for the aside. It's my minor/major complaint of the show. (The other is the dizzying amount of plugs for the Fox show The Swan.) As much as the judges with Quentin Tarantino last week were dead-on in their assessments, they were completely off with the addition of the venerable Barry Manilow, who could not even tell Dennis Kucinich that he has a snowball's chance....Anyway.

Forgive me for the background clatter. Without further adieu, my Best Buy top performers of the night....just kidding TGL has yet to gain corporate sponsorship. Seriously, the top performers (best to worst):

(1) Fantasia--dude, a star. She's by far the only one I can say I want to constantly see more of her.
(2) Jen Hudson--she's performing better and better. A totally new participant. Can't help pulling for the Chi-town gal.
(3) John Stevens--okay, he was horrendous last week and should've gone instead of JPL. Maybe should've gone instead of Camille before that. But this time my eyes were welling. I thought he did well, despite what the judges said. Okay, sorry. I turned in my men's membership card there with the welling bit. He was good. Good job, John (insert fist nudge).
(4) Diana--not a big fan of the her, especially after that corny wedding song 2x ago, but did well compared to how poorly the others sang.
(5) George Huff--tried to do too much. He's been a steady performer. Someone needs to implant an earplug in him or some shock-making device for every time he does that stupid facial spasm smile or bouncy dance. [Ear Plug]: "Hey, George, stop it. Be cool, George. Stop smiling. Be like Fonzy. Be like The Fonze, my man. Ok, that's better. No, listen, you have to listen to me, George. I'll help you win this....think Ice Man....who's the best pilot?"
(6) Latoya--I'm sorry her voice does nothing for me. Cute, confident. But I can't get past: above-average Wedding Singer.
(7) Jasmine--the star has faded fast. Quickly, she's a white dwarf. Admittedly, more asthetically pleasing sans the Hawaiian flower. Her performance tonight, though, mirrored Camille's when she bit it. Peace out, Jas.

That's it. Jas is my pick to bite it. The judges would disagree but they were horribly off tonight. I have a feeling they that didn't want to upset Barry. But when was the last time Simon was so restrained? Conspiracy! Let's get Gordon Liddy on it.