Our first two contestants eliminated and "The Twist"

Goodbye Jorge and Jasmine.

Neither elimination is much of a surprise or does much to hurt the show. The surprise to me is that Anoop must be pretty popular, and that outside of the most popular contestants everyone is pretty much grouped together. So, it would surprise me to see Danny, Adam, Lil, Scott, Alexis, Allison or Anoop go in the next 3 weeks or so, but I think anyone else can go. 24 People in our pool were affected by this, with 2 people having both Jasmine and Jorge, and 1 person having Jorge first. Either of those situations is probably not good! Please find attached the first results file, and it can always be found (for those here in lovely (cough) Parsippany) up by the door to my office.

Great first week in my opinion. Outside of Anoop and Megan (for the people remaining), the bad wasn’t that bad and Anoop and Megan’s main problems were horrific song choices. The results show even was entertaining (Kelly Clarkson’s new cd is very good btw and light years ahead of the last one) and I have high hope for this group going forward, although I hope someone crashes the Danny / Adam party this season has the potential to become.

Next Week - Grand Ole Opry Week on American Idol
“America’s top-rated television show is about to join forces for a week with the "Show That Made Country Music Famous!" American Idol will feature a Grand Ole Opry theme on March 17 & 18, as contestants will select and perform songs popularized by Opry members! In addition, Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis will sing together on Randy’s classic hit and Carrie’s current single, "I Told You So," plus Brad Paisley will make the television debut of his new single, "Then," from his forthcoming summer album.” Basically it’s country week.

The Twist to me isn’t that bad. I was really scared early on because I know Simon has pushed (shocking I know) for more judge input in the show in general, and the intro, etc. this year was all very much like his British shows, where the judges are the show, not the contestants. (For those of you who might have missed it the new twist is any eliminated contestant, prior to 5 remaining, can be saved by the judges. If this occurs, the next week two contestants will be eliminated. It can only be used once.) I think I’ll call it the Jennifer Hudson rule, because for the life of me I can’t figure out anyone else who went out prior to 5 remaining that warranted saving. It is harder on the contestants, as they get essentially eliminated twice. It’s also such a joke at this point to ask “Are you saving Jasmine?” Of course not. (Note: I had the correct twist up on the blog 5 hours prior to the show! Nothing stays secret these days.)

JUAN