Perfect.

The voters agreed with me on who the weakest three performers were. And Carmen, who's never really given a killer performance wound up ousted. Whereas Trenyce and Josh, who've given really good performances in the past but have been highly uneven, managed to cling by their fingernails. And the top three--Aikin, Studdard, and Locke--were all solidly safe.

I couldn't have asked for better. I shouldn't have been so pessimistic.

If you haven't been watching American Idol, next Wednesday night will be the best time to start. Only five of these young nobodies, out of a pool of 30,000 or so, remain. The weakest talent among them is still, on a good night, very good indeed. The remaining five competitors, if they all truly give their best, are going to make this a truly memorable show.

(And by the way, Ara Rubyan, get your kid to try out for this thing when they come to Detroit next year. In fact, drag his ass to the tryouts even if he rolls his eyes and tells you it's lame.)

I never, ever would have thought I'd get hooked on this show, but I'm truly impressed with the level of talent and how caught up in the competition I've become. I'm actually ready to buy an album of recordings from this show, and I'd normally just laugh at anyone who said that.

By the way: I [heart] Kimberly too.