Boo, Idol. Boo.

We didn't watch until today. We have such a busy, filled week that it just was NOT happening yesterday. It's a good busy, but yeah, busy. I'm lucky I'm sitting down to write this at all.

Ryan kicked off the evening by vaguely alluding to a contestant's disqualification as if we hadn't all already read it on the news. Being cryptic about it in some kind of ploy to get us to keep watching is stupid, too. It's 2012. Anyone who hadn't yet read the news, Googled it right then. C'mon, Idol, you can do better than that, right? Apparently not. Because it only got worse.

But I'll get to that part later. Dun-dun-DUN. See? I can do that, because I'm being cryptic about my opinion, not a news fact that is easily researched. Eye roll.

Yesterday's show was all about controversy, baby pictures, and songs from the years of their births. They could've entitled the show "really boring songs from lots of years" and it would've been generally the same. There were about 2 exceptions -- Phillip's song and Joshua's song.

Phillip Phillips - "Too Hard to Handle"

The poor guy had kidney stones at rehearsal and then performed in front of millions of people on live television after having surgery. And though he could've easily used that as an excuse to do poorly, he didn't have to. He was funky and fun and basically awesome. And he was all that while post-op! I love this guy. He is definitely one of my favorites. He has a loveable Paul Rudd quality about him and I find him even more endearing after seeing his father get emotional talking about Phillip's health problems as a baby. I loved his line about how Phillip had to make it through because he is a kid that the world just has to meet. How sweet is that? Well, meeting him we are and color me duly impressed.

Jessica Sanchez - "Turn the Beat Around"

Those are some shiny pants! I don't like this song. She did great, but, oh, that is not a great song choice for anyone, including Gloria Estafan. Blech. She did great, though. The judges said they love her voice, but not on fast songs. I groaned audibly when they said that. Brace yourselves for many, many weeks of drippy ballads, followed by the criticism to "mix it up a little bit and do something new." Schizophrenic judges. Randy told her that their job as judges is to "stir you in the right direction" and I immediately got a mental image of her as a skinny, striped coffee stirrer in a cup of hot coffee being stirred in circles by a manically laughing Randy Jackson. Welcome to the inner workings of my mind.

Heejun Han - "Right Here Waiting"

Ugh, just when I thought a worse song couldn't be chosen, Heejun does this. That song ALWAYS bugged me when it was on the radio -- even Richard Marx couldn't sing it on key. Bah. I do love Heejun's parents, though, and his mom made me cry. At one point, I surprisingly got chills, but then the rest of the song went downhill. He was flat for most of it. Ugh. I think it's the curse of the song. It was just okay for me. But Heejun is a fun kid. Plus, he 70% loves his girlfriend (with 10% going to Fergie and 20% to Jennifer Lopez) and what girl doesn't want that?

Elise Testone - "Let's Stay Together"

I loved the Obama clip of him singing this song. I had already seen it back when it happened (though definitely not on Fox News). I thought the sing-off between her and the POTUS was pretty dang cool. I will say, though, that this song is on Idol every freaking year. And, for that reason, it should be banned. But yeah, she slayed it. In a good way. Will.i.am's telling her to smile more was the best advice of the night. Steven's Aunt Sonya loves Elise's voice. And I hope Obama is the special guest star tomorrow night.

DeAndré Brackensick - "Endless Love"

Well, it was a better choice than "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," but apparently not good enough. Will.i.am rapped his advice - how cool is that? I'm glad we had that to entertain us, because poor Deandré was just under the notes during his performance. You know, just a couple of weekends ago, my girlfriend Cathy and I were belting this out to the radio together. And that worked. Know why? Because it's a duet. Years ago, Rickey Smith did it on Idol and did BOTH parts. It was incredible (I tried to find it online, but no luck). So, yeah, this was really flat to me. There were too many runs and it just felt wrong without at least some of the duet parts being sung. Meh.

Shannon Magrane - "One Sweet Day"

In this week of boring songs, I got up and did something else during part of this song. I didn't mean to not pay attention. It just happened so naturally. That's when I realized I was bored. The modulations on these abbreviated songs are so odd. There's no escalating build up because they've only been singing for 30 seconds. The other down side to this song is that it gave Randy Jackson the chance to name drop and plug his relationship with Mariah Carey. Again. Is he Moroccan's and Monroe's godfather or something? And, more importantly, why is he suddenly wearing brooches?

Colton Dixon - "Broken Heart"

Colton got to have dinner with Daughtry and he was pretty pumped about it. Colton is really good. I like his hair down and in a cool wool beanie more than that skunk updo he always has when he performs. Steven Tyler is clearly the killjoy of the night. I personally don't think it matters that the song wasn't well known. He did great. He could be even edgier, really -- more growl, more rasp -- when he does these hard rock songs. I agree with Mark's take that Colton has more of an indie rock sound than a hard rock edge. He is a rocker with such a clear tone -- that's why he does so well on Coldplay songs. More of that, please. But this was good.

Erika Van Pelt - "Heaven"

Oooh, I like crossover songs! I love that she sang a song that was originally sung by a man. That horrid, psychedelic subway background was dizzying. It made it difficult to focus. Is she singing a song? Is she late for her train? I don't know! The break in the song was a great idea in theory, but the execution fell short. I think she needs to tone down the other embellishments, but it was well done overall.

Jermaine Jones . . . oh wait.

This was the part of the show where Idol decided to go all reality show on us. I'm surprised they didn't start that segment with a rendition of "Bad Boys" from Cops. The fact that they taped their confrontation with Jermaine was in such poor taste. They've never done anything like that before. Are they that hard up for better ratings? Really, Idol, that was totally unnecessary and so low class. Boo, Idol. Boo.

(And I'm with the rest of America -- I like Idol, but given a choice between Idol and The Big Bang Theory, the physics geeks TOTALLY have my vote).

Skylar Laine - "Love Sneaking Up On You"

She has a great stage name and sounds just like Bonnie Raitt. She already seems like a seasoned professional. She did a great job. None of this was surprising.

Joshua Ledet - "When A Man Loves A Woman"

I LOVE this guy! Did you see the standing ovation? Did you see the smiling, awed faces? Did you SEE his passion on stage? THAT was a spiritual experience. Day-um! I love to see that kind of passion! He took them all to church. WOW! I bet J.Lo got "goosies," but, lucky for us, was rendered too speechless to say as much. Dude, Joshua was channeling James Brown, Fantasia, and I Don't Know What!! THAT was fun to watch. THAT was passion. WOW. Just WOW. We watched it 3 times. It was that good. If you missed Idol, look it up. His performance should not be missed. Love him! Best of the night, hands down.

Hollie Cavanagh - "Power of Love"

Oh! She has an accent, not a speech impediment! I honestly did not know that until they interviewed her sweet parents. It was a decent arrangement for a shortened song, but I'm befuddled as to why Joshua didn't close the show. That being said, she was good.

High points of the evening - Joshua and Will.i.am
Low point of the evening - Idol's interrogation of a wanted man. Boo.

Tomorrow night (well, tonight), Daughtry and Demi Lovato will be performing. I'm happy to see Daughtry, but Demi Lovato? I'd rather have Obama.