Basking in the Glory. . .

My apologies for not getting this up sooner --- I was basking in the glory of Kristy Lee being sent home!!!

Actually, to be honest, even though I’ve been begging for weeks for her to be sent home, at the last moments before Ryan announced who would be leaving I actually wanted Brooke to go more than I did Kristy Lee. Did Brooke really think that by shouting “no” she would be able to protect anyone?? When, oh when, are they going to understand that SOMEONE GOES HOME EACH WEEK??? That’s how we end up with a winner, folks!!

Ryan opened the show by announcing that they had received 36 million votes the night before and that Mariah Carey and Elliott Yamin would be performing. Okay, so even if 90% of those votes were the same people voting repeatedly, that would mean that means that 3.6 million people picked up their phones and cast a vote. That’s just plain crazy!!

As he does each week, Ryan introduced the judges and GOOD GOD!! What was that around Paula’s neck??? My daughter said it was the sash that comes with prom dresses (the item that no one actually ever uses/wears) but she also had a gigantic blossom of some kind attached to it --- the flower was almost as big as her head (and Paula has a bigger than average noggin)!!

The group sang “One Sweet Day” --- another week of painful group singing.

Then they dove right in to making the announcements.

Jason was invited onstage and directed to form a group to Ryan’s left. David was next, and was asked to form a group to Ryan’s right. At this point, I’m thinking that MAYBE Jason ended up in the Bottom 3. . .

Carly came out and is sent to Jason’s group --- still not nervous, because Carly’s been in the Bottom 3 a couple of times already.

Then, Kristy Lee came out and was sent to David’s group. I started to sweat at that point, because we all knew that whoever was put in David’s group was NOT going to go home UNLESS David somehow ended up in the Bottom 3 (and, at that point, the planet would implode).

Cut to the Ford commercial (I Want to Break Free), which, again surprisingly, was really cute!!

Elliott came out, with his new grill, to sing “Free”. He is still SO adorable and I’m very happy that he got a chance to get his teeth fixed AND happy that it didn’t mess with his singing ability. Sad news at the end that his adorable mom had passed away, but I felt good knowing that she had a chance to share in his success and see him make his dream come true. It said a lot for Elliott that he could come onstage just a few short days later and share his talent with us.

Syesha was called onstage next and sent to Jason’s group.

Brooke came out next and was sent to David’s group. Now I really started to sweat --- David Cook was standing in a group with two people who had been in the Bottom 3, one of them SEVERAL times!!!

That’s when it hit me!! The groups had NOTHING to do with who was going home. Either Ryan was going to call someone out of a random group and tell them “goodbye” or something else was going to happen!

Questions from the fan came next. Some things we learned (but could have gone without knowing):

- the guy who bought Kristy Lee’s horse won’t sell him back to her
- Randy’s first record purchase was Led Zeppelin, Beatles, and James Brown
- Paula’s was Jackson 5, Earth Wind and Fire, and Carole King
- Simon’s was Paula Abdul (yuck, yuck)
- Paula was unable to come up with an answer about which one of her songs describes her relationship with Simon
- Simon actually had to explain to someone that “theme park”, “karaoke” and “beefless burger” used to describe performances were all terms that mean horrible
- David is single

Mariah came out next to lip sync and incredibly long song, dressed in a Lycra dress. Who wears Lycra anymore except figure skaters and strippers???

RECAP: One group was comprised of Syesha, Carly, and Jason. The other group was David, Kristy Lee, and Brooke. Ryan invited Lil’ David out and told him he’s safe, then asked David to swap places with Syesha. Then he asked Lil’ David to join the group HE felt would be safe, which of course, he refused to do by sitting down on the stage ½ way between each group.

Lil’ David missed Ryan’s lame hints at trying to get him to move to the “safe” group, so Ryan ended up leading the group TO Lil’ David. We learned then that David, Carly, Jason, and Lil’ David were all safe and the Bottom 3 were Kristy Lee, Syesha, and Brooke.

Syesha was quickly declared safe. The judges were asked to make their obligatory unfavorable comments, much like pouring salt on a wound. I couldn’t wait for Ryan to say that Kristy Lee would be leaving. . . and then Brooke threw her arms around Kristy Lee, and called out “no, no” as if that would stop anyone from leaving. It was at that point that I decided I could stand Kristy Lee another week if they sent Brooke home.

However, Ryan announced that Kristy Lee would be leaving, Kristy Lee broke down in tears (I think it was because she was so happy she wouldn’t be humiliated anymore by being in the Bottom 3), and she (thank God) sang for the last time on the show.

It was a long time coming! Now, if Brooke goes home, the world will be a better place for me!! AND if I can figure out how David Hernandez, Amanda, Chikizie, Ramiele, and Michael got sent home the FIRST TIME they were in the Bottom 3 and it took Kristy Lee four times in the Bottom 3 to be sent home. . . oh wait, I think I got it!!