Stephen Thomas Erlewine
It’s hard not to see Amanda Overmyer’s elimination as a flippant flipping of the bird to the rocker chick of Season Seven, a ripping riposte to her claim that she’s just trying to show the audience what they’d get if they bought tickets to her show. Thanks to her sudden dismissal — she was not good this week but there were worse on this week, when the Idols butchered the Beatles just like the Fab Four did to those baby dolls on the banned cover of Yesterday & Today — she’ll go no further than that bar in Lafayette, where she actually probably sings better than she ever did on Idol. Her dismissal may have come a bit a bit early, but it’s by no means a surprise as there was absolutely no way she’d ever get to the Top Seven.

The surprise of the night was having Carly Smithson in the Bottom Three, especially when her male doppelganger Michael Johns so clearly deserved to be there due to his botched “A Day in the Life.” Carly’s “Blackbird,” while perhaps a bit stilted, was nice and assured, not deserving of a bottom-of-the-barrel positioning, so her placement there is either a reflection of a lack of popular support for Carly or a way for the producers to scare up support for her. No matter what, I can’t believe that Kristy Lee, Ramiele, Chikezie, Michael, Syesha, and maybe even Jason and David C will last longer than her in this competition. After all, she’s been groomed as the inevitable third-place finisher.

And, hey David Cook! A word of advice: a way to not seem smug is to not say “I don’t” when asked how to respond to being called smug.

Andrew Leahey
As far as elimination episodes go, I was oddly pleased with this one. Carly’s presence in the Bottom Three was ludicrous, of course, but rest assured she won’t ever wind up there again — those fans who previously took her frontrunner status for granted will start voting again, and Carly won’t be in much danger until the final showdown with Archuleta, Brooke, and David Cook. But other than Carly’s near-brush with elimination, last night’s Idol installment was full of deliciously WTF?! moments: Simon’s flirtation with Paula, Kellie Pickler’s display of true talent and maturity (since when did she grow up?!), and that mind-boggling sci-fi monstrosity that I think was supposed to be a Ford commercial. As for the elimination itself, way to go, America! Amanda may have more pizzazz than Kristy Lee Cook, but she could never sing, whereas Kristy still has a dwindling chance of matching the power of her “Amazing Grace” audition.

Matt Collar
If Amanda going home last night wasn’t the biggest surprise, then the announcement of the “Idol Gives Back” participants and subsequent guest mentors was! Seriously, the guests read like a casting for the next season of The Surreal Life. You got Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Neil Diamond. It’s like a bizarro-world ABBA or something. I’m generally pretty happy with the Idol Top Ten this time around and I DO think this may be the best Top Ten ever. I mean, I think these guys make for a good touring show. Nobody is a really horrible singer and they are all fairly distinctive from each other. However, I really have no sense of how the public is voting — especially with Ramiele getting a quick pass-through. As they say, the competition is now getting serious, ‘er whatever.