I just watched the performances during my lunch break. I really liked Lee and Crystal. Mike's okay, but the rest I don't really care for now.

Well, it didn't surprise me that Tim went home (although I thought Aaron has been worse the last two weeks). But I was really surprised that Casey was in the bottom two.

I didn't care much for most of the "live" performances by the celebrities on Idol Gives Back, but I really do like the recorded parts where they travel to Africa, etc. I find those stories very moving.

I was shocked by the story Jennifer Garner did in KY--the statement that there were places where there was only 1 book for 300 kids amazed me. I made my son come out to re-watch that part with me (tore him away from the Wii for a moment!). I told him that he complains about school and other things in his life, but just imagine if he lived in a place like that. When he heard the comment about the books, I looked at him and said, "1 book for 300 kids, and you are 1 kid who probably has 300 books." How fortunate we are, and how easy it is to forget.

Casey = gags.

I was hoping George Lopez was going to send Kara home.

So......what did everyone think of Mary J's version of Stairway to Heaven?


Or does that discussion belong in the new Cooler?

was web surfing last night and found a site that had the breakdown of the percentage of votes by contestant

Crystal was at about 43% while Tim was around 5%

Casey was something like 8.5% and Aaron about 8%, so the last two standing aren't necessarily the lowest vote getters, I'm guessing it's more for suspense

anyway, glad Tim went home

I'm no country music fan and I suppose Carrie Underwood is more crossover than pure country, either way I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to her. But damn, she has some pipes!

That's interesting, Peepers. If Crystal is getting that large a percentage of the vote at this point, the others might as well start packing!

I am a country fan but not especially a Carrie fan, but when they announced she was singing next, my comment was, "Finally, someone who can actually sing!"

I didn't look at past weeks to see if the variance has been as large, also I would think others have taken home a higher percentage of votes on other weeks but I could be wrong.

I think that high percentage this week really reflected how much better she was than the others.

Now they just need to get rid of Aaron (I can't stand seeing him rock back and forth as he sings).

Also, they should axe Carla (as George Lopez called her).

Peepers is right. The last two standing are not necessarily the lowest 2 vote getters. He puts the bottom 3 out and then sends one of them back to safety. It could be the 2nd lowest or the 3rd lowest he sends to safety.

Any discussions about Kara should be brought to the controversial cooler!

Hated Mary J's version of Stairway to Heaven. I was yelling at the tv telling her to stop it, stop it!!, then I hit the mute button.

I was trying to explain the horribleness of it to my husband (he was still at work) and the best description I could come up with was "a bad wedding singer version." I've heard better covers from college bands.

I was out last night so I missed most of it. Came back in time for the announcement of Mary J Blige and Stairway to Heaven. Whaa?? Whose idea was that? It's just not right.

Sooo happy Tim is gone! It's a good week - Tim and Kate gone from DWTS!!

I did not LOVE Tim's singing...but I LOVED how happy he was and how supportive of everyone around him. I will miss him as a person.

I would love to see Idol use it's own superstars to entertain at this event (and the Finale)...it made sense to bring in others at the beginning, but after 9 seasons, Idol has plenty of it's own success stories to promote. I would have dialed and donated more listening to David Cook, Kris Allen, Clay Aiken, Kelly, Daughtry, Lambert, Kimerly Caldwell, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson...even if you don't love all of them...it's far more interesting than listening to "pros" completely butcher songs.

That said, Elton and Annie Lennox were amazing.

oh, and can we PLEASE get rid of the group sing?

PLEASE

I missed it, but I was wondering what they sang when I saw all of them at the end in their white outfits. They looked like they were getting ready to serve up some ice cream!

I am glad I fell asleep durring it and for some reason the DVR did not tape. Yeah!!!

Please tell me my ears failed me this morning: is it really Shania Twain night tonight?

If it's a combination Shania Twain and bikini contest, then I'm cool with that.

I'd go for Seacrest in a Speedo. That's about it.

It's Shania night. If the contestants choose songs wisely, they'll be fine...she has a wide range of music. However, if they wander into songs like "That don't impress me" it could be a LONG hour tonight!

Shania was a good guest judge during auditions...so i'm hoping that she'll be a good mentor.

I thought Siobhan was BAD, and I did not enjoy Aaron's performance. Not sure if it was his song choice or what, just didn't like it. I thought Casey was great, and the rest were good but didn't knock my socks off.

It would have been somewhat difficult to tell it was "country" night if you just heard the songs and didn't know the theme. I know a lot of you probably think that is a good thing, but I like my "country" to be more country than what we saw last night.

Siobhan was indeed bad. I liked Aaron. The worst, however, was Crystal in my opinion.

I hope either Aaron or Lee goes home tonight.

Sibohan is also on the bottom of my list this week....i thought the song was a hot mess...maybe it was better live?

Overall though, i thought the idols picked songs that suited their voices, moved it around to make them work. There wasn't a point where I was wanting to fast forward through any of it.

Casey was my favorite. Not a Crystal fan this week..I couldn't understand half the words she sang....and she lost points for talking back to the judges.....never a fan of that.

Aaron was sweet and gave a good performance this week.

Sibohan was bad! And I was disappointed that none of the judges seemed to have noticed. I really hope that someone admits that tonight after they watch the play back. In the beginning I had high hopes for her, but she just keeps going down in my opinion.
And last night was the first time I was disappointed with Crystal. Just didn't suit her style to me. Or she just failed to pull it off. The vibe just wasn't there.

Well, I'll go against the crowd today - I liked Crystal last night. She was the only one who did a country song (if you ignore the mess Siobhan made ). Casey won the night, Lee was good, Aaron was ok but something about him bugs me, Mike got lost in the crowd, and Siobhan was spectacularly bad. Should be interesting to see who goes.