Organizing your writing life

AMERICAN IDOLS SING BON JOVI...YAWN: I am so ready for this season to be over. Maybe it's because this crop of singers are not as good as those from past seasons. There's no real sense of urgency or competition, since it will take an act of Congress to remove Melinda from the top two. Jordin wobbled tonight and Blake opened up a possible window to the finale. Remember, they are combining votes from last week (since no one was voted off) and this week. Someone might be in for a nasty surprise. Here's the quick and dirty.

Phil Stacey - Possibly his best performance of the season. He wisely chose the country-tinged "Blaze of Glory" and sang it with gusto. The question is will he get enough votes tonight to stay one more week.

Jordin Sparks - She looked hot (despite Simon's silly remark) but she massacred "Living On A Prayer." This is totally not her style of singing and it was obvious. And day-um...I never noticed what a big girl she is until tonight. Her hair was taller than Ryan Gaycrest. Although I must give props to Gaycrest for totally dumping on poor "rocker" Gina Glocksen, who was sitting in the audience. "It's rock night -- this must be killing you." Ouch!

Lakisha Jones - Kiki moved up from table clothes to curtains tonight and made me laugh out loud when she refused to sit on the stool because it would make her fat rolls show. She's worrying about that now? Lawdy me... Anyway, she totally nailed "This Ain't A Love Song" and Simon loved it so much he asked for a kiss, which Miss Jones provided. Tragically, she was so terrible last week, tonight's votes might not be enough. I have a bad feeling Kiki and her pups might be going home.

Blake Lewis - He died his blond hair black, I guess because he thought it made him look more rockerish. Not really. He took a risk by doing a beatbox version of "You Give Love A Bad Name," which sounded suspiciously like Orbital's cut up version of the song (which they renamed "Halcyon and On and On" -- look it up on iTunes). I hate to admit it -- because he's still a smug bastard -- but this was good.

Chris Richardson - He screamed his way through "Wanted Dead or Alive" and was making these weird faces at the camera. The judge's must have been feeling sorry for Mr. Nasal because this was a hot, hot mess. Dead is fine with me. He should go home tomorrow night.

Melinda Doolittle - Mindy Doo was working her inner Tina Turner tonight on Bon Jovi's "Have A Nice Day." Best performance of the night by a mile. As Simon said, she's in a totally different league. She could, literally, sing the phone book and it would be amazing.

The vomit factor tonight was Dubya and Laura congratulating the show for raising $70 million for charity during last week's extravaganza. They both looked like they were made of wax. Ugh!