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Hey there Idol friends.  Tonight's report is going up a little late, as I had to stay at my job until eight o'clock for the last day of parent-teacher conferences for the year.  So I got to watch the show on tape tonight.  (At least conferences have passed.  Yay!  -I don't mind talking with the parents, but the day ends up to be a bit of a grind.)

On a personal note: I would like to congratulate my best friend Andy and his wife Chialing who had a baby girl this morning.  She's a little under seven pounds, and she is apparently healthy.  Yay!  I can hardly wait to see her.  I'll post a picture once I get a look at her.

Back to Idol:  Once again the women's show didn't match up to the quality of the mens' show, but there were enough passable performances tonight to give the whole show a so-so grade.

The Contestants:

1) Amanda Avila-  Amanda looks beautiful, and she has a nice speaking voice.  Her song this evening was a bit forgettable.  (I don't even remember it as I write this immediately after watching the show.)

There was an annoying tapping sound that came from Amanda's microphone as she kept the beat while singing.  That was a bit distracting.  I am surprised that they didn't pick that up in sound check.

Amanda's prospects: Amanda is "on the bubble."  I don't think that she'll last much longer if (big "if") she makes it through tomorrow.

2) Janay Castine- Janay came out with a better hairdo this week.  She looks a bit like Kim Fields (a.k.a "Tootie" from "The Facts of Life.")

Once again, Janay's performance was subpar, and not at all memorable.  Judges didn't go for it either.

Janay's prospects: Not so good.  Doubtful she'll last any longer.

3) Carrie Underwood- Carrie looks like one of the nice, clean-cut young people that one could see weekly on the "Lawrence Welk Show."  (I'd always roll my eyes when my grandmother told me that I should watch the "handsome men" and "pretty girls" on the show.  Lawrence Welk was pretty boring for a four year-old.)

Carrie was okay tonight I guess.  I doubt that I'll remember her performance tomorrow morning.  I am sure that her camisole will leave a longer-lasting image than the song.

Carrie's prospects: We can write down Carrie's name in pen on the calendar for at least the next 9 weeks.

4) Vonzell Solomon- Vonzell came out as a cute little cowgirl.  She sang a fine version of Aretha's "Respect."  That was a good showing for her, considering that she had been slipping a bit lately.

Vonzell's prospects: Assuming that she has a fan-base, she'll make it to next week's show.  Her performance was good enough tonight to grab enough fans to put her over the hump.

5) Nadia Turner-  Nadia is the cream of the women's crop.  She had another good performance tonight.

Nadia's prospects: Most likely of the women to make it into the top-two.

6) Lindsey Cardinale- When Lindsey was talking before going on stage, I reconized a resemblance to Phoebe from "Friends."  (At least Lindsey is a better singer!)

Lindsey used her deep voice to belt out Aerosmith's Armageddon song.  Not bad.  I liked Lindsey this evening.

Lindsey's prospects: Early cut from the final twelve.

7) Mikalah Gordon- When it is Mikalah's turn to sing, she always has to do a good job in order to make up for whatever idiocy she decides to decry in her pre-song segments.  I don't think that tonight's song was good enough to wash that bad taste out of the viewers' mouths.

Mikalah's prospects: On the bubble tonight, or early cut from final-twelve.

8) Jessica Sierra- Jessica was last again.  She looked pretty, and she sang "The Boys are Back in Town" really well.  I'd bet that Jessica is growing on a lot of people.  (If I hadn't gotten around to watching the show until so late tonight, I would have voted for her.)

(Jessica's appearance is a bit of a cross between Courtney Love and Tori Spelling.  Not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation.)

Jessica's prospects: She'll last at least another six weeks.

Tonight's top three:

1) Jessica Sierra   2) Nadia Turner   3) Vonzell Solomon

Tonight's bottom two:

1) Janay Castine  2) Amanda Avila

That's it for tonight.  Let's see what the results' show will bring us tomorrow!