More evidence for my American Idol conspiracy theory. Last night's show gives me more reason to think that the producers, faced with way too many bad performers, deliberately clustered the good ones on two nights (the first and third shows) and the bad ones on two other nights (the second and fourth shows). As I said here, I think they are trying to set up a great wild card show by having some memorable people, like Jennifer Hudson, left behind, as Clay Aiken was last year.

Tiara Purifoy, who does have the coolest name, is the Wisconsin candidate (Miss Beloit 1999!), so I'm going to hope she makes it through tonight. She seems good, even though her performance really was a "mess," as Simon pointed out. People have got to stop singing "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," which must be jinxed. I also would like it if no one ever sang "New Attitude" again. Each of those songs, when sung by anyone other than the vocalist who made it famous, just makes you realize how great Whitney Houston/Patti LaBelle must be.

I've got to admit that I like the sweet sixteen-year-old John Stevens (who, if you think about it, looks a bit like the way Supreme Court Justice John Stevens might have looked when he was sixteen).



People may think he's too bland, but he's the only one who sang with charm and taste and understated feeling last night. Stevens loves Frank Sinatra (in his CD player right now is "Come Swing With Me"), big band is his favorite music, and his favorite song to sing is "The Way You Look Tonight." Aw, that's just adorable! Compared to some of the horrific yelling, he seemed quite deserving.

The horrific yelling, however, was pretty darn entertaining in the case of Lisa Wilson, who sang "Come to My Window" (aka "Run as Far Away From My Window as Possible").