Not at all what I expected

We're back to the girls again. Ryan asks Ramiele Malubay to stand up and he messes with her a little bit before telling her that she's in the top 12. Carly Smithson is next and she, too, is safe and in the finals. Amanda Overmyer is next and she is also on to the next round of competition. So, we're left with just Asia'h Epperson and Kristy Lee Cook. In my opinion, there's no question it should be Kristy Lee Cook, but you never know how America votes.

Ryan goes over what they sang and what the judges said and tells them that Asia'h is going home tonight. Wow... I'm totally surprised - I thought she was great last and Kristy Lee Cook still hasn't done anything great. My only consolation is that Kristy Lee Cook has got to be the next one to go.

We're on to the guys now and I'm kind of torn. I feel like Danny Noriega has chosen bad songs and really played up his personality, at the expense of his talent. Chikezie has done fairly well with the singing, but his attitude, I think, is what people dislike about him. So, in terms of talent, it should totally be Danny Noriega who goes home, but I don't think that will happen - let's see...

So, Ryan tells the two guys to come to the center of the stage, goes through their performances and the judges' comments and the last member of the top 12 is Chikezie Eze. It's Danny Noriega who goes home tonight.

The obvious choices are out of the way

Ryan tells Kady Malloy to stand up next. This has to be the first exit of the night - it has to be. I will lose all faith in this show if it's not. Ooh... I really like her dress - I wonder where she got it. (Not what she's wearing in the photo - that's from last night) Ryan goes over what she sang and what the judges said and then tells her that she is the first one tonight to go home... I'm so shocked, I don't even know what to say... yeah, whatever. It was completely expected and awaited.

Wait... her dress is a shirt?? It's hideous as a shirt - I would wear it as a dress, personally. And I really wish they would stop making people sing their songs after being booted. Let's look at this logically... we've voted her out because we think her voice is terrible - why continue to subject us to the torture of listening to someone we've chosen to stop listening to? Makes no sense to me.

OK - let's get back to the results. David Hernandez is next. Ryan does his performance recap and tells him he's safe and in the top 12. Michael Johns is next and he, too, is moving on to the finals. So, now it's down to just Danny Noriega, Chikezie Eze and Luke Menard, so I've got like a 67% shot at being right with both my guesses.


Luke Menard is next and after going through his performance recap, Ryan tells him he is the first guy to leave tonight.

So, the obvious choices are out of the way now... The next two are the ones I'm most curious about.

No one's gone yet...

So, we're really starting to get into this season - this is the last mass cut. Starting next week, we'll see the contestants go one by one. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also dreading it a bit just because the performance night is will be so long and the results night starts becoming mostly filler. But, we're getting closer to a winner and that's what really counts, I suppose.

Oh good Lord. I thought we had seen the last of Blake Lewis. I had a very strong love/hate thing going with him, because I felt like he did some interesting things with his songs, but his arrogance was just too much to handle. At least for me. But, he's back tonight to perform "How Many Words."

I hate it. The song is bad, his voice is bad - the only thing I like about him is his ability to beat box. I find that fascinating, but really, he's just not entertaining. I know there are tons of people out there who love him, so for all of you, I hope you're enjoying his performance, but I've actually resorted to muting him.

Wait... did they really put Blake Lewis in place of a group song? Of all the weeks, I would have loved to hear a group song this week, maybe a medley of 80s songs... what a waste to change it all up for Blake.

Well, it looks like people are really tuning in now - more than 36 million people voted this week - that's crazy. I'm shocked that after 7 seasons, people are still so into this show.

So, we're starting off with the guys again this week. Ryan tells David Cook to stand up first and he, of course, is safe and the first one in the top 12. David Archuleta is asked to stand up next and he is next to join the top 12. Jason Castro is asked to stand up and he's looking delicious, by the way, in a nice white shirt and it looks like he braided some of his dreadlocks. I love how he pulls his hair back, too... but I'm getting sidetracked... he too, is safe and in the top 12. Yay!!

So it looks like we're shifting over to the girls now. Brooke White is the first girl to be asked to stand up. Ryan goes over what she sang and what the judges said and tells her that she is safe - the first girl in our top 12. Syesha Mercado is next and Ryan asks the judges whether they think she went through and they all say yes. And they're right - she's in the top 12, too.