I was just LMAO the entire night at Ryan's emphasis on "Dial CAREFULLY!" oh how many children will lose some innocence tonight, haha :P

I read on TWOP that a poster tried to call the 13 number and it was busy. Oh man, this has the potential to be awesome. Oh forgot, I hate the new judge. She's totally useless.

I thought Adam was the best, followed by Lil. They sounded like pros. Most of the rest were pretty mediocre. I have grim forebodings about the "twist." Sounds like something to give the judges more power. Way to take away the incentive to watch.

The only one I care about is Anoop, and then mostly only because he's a folklorist. And I like saying Anoop. But I didn't hear him sing last night because I was on the phone.

Sadly, I think I'm over Simon. It took awhile, but unless he steps up his game and stops sounding like such a hack comedian then we're gonna have to break up. He's not telling it like it is or speaking the truth or whatever it is that people usually say he's doing, he's just being kind of lazy and mean and offering very little constructive criticism. Wow. Making a joke about someone being bad by using the song title "Bad". Awesome, Simon! The only good comment he got off last night was the bit about wondering what oil rig guy did for a living. My boy Anoop and my girl Megan don't stand a chance to win this thing (Danny's the winner), but I'm pulling for them anyway in spite of average performances and stupid song choices.

Hmm, from what I'm reading now it seems that the Judges might get Veto power to save contestants from the bottom three this season. I'm not sure what to think of it.

That's the plan, though I'm not entirely clear on the details. Ken Warwick has only teased that they're taking a concept that they've already tried and succeeded with in France, but since I'm not entirely sure how the veto in France works, I'm still skeptical on both it's success and how well it'll go over with the audience. If it's a blind veto and/or they only get one veto for a period (and can't just do it week to week, willy nilly) then I'm at least open to giving it a shot, but the last thing this show needs is the appearance of a "fixed" winner. Veto doesn't do that as badly as the SYTYCD system, which is what I initially assumed they were going to switch to, so I'm less annoyed right now than I was at 10:02 last night.

I'm not a fan of Michael Jackson's music. I didn't think Scott did as well as he has previously. Danny did a good job. Chris and Jasmine were okay. Allison was pretty good. Anoop and Jorge were disappointing. I really didn't like Adam's performance.

I have to rant about the "twist." This is the lamest thing ever. You know darn well they aren't going to use their one-time save until much later in the season, yet they have to ask the judges after each elimination. It's like one additional sadistic twist of the knife for the person. I don't get the point.

I'm with you 100000%, Peggy, it's ridiculous

Sop they are using this veto thing(only up to the top 5) to avoid another shockboot a la Daughtry or Tamyra, who both went out as fourth. Yeah well thought out people.

It's a lame twist that doesn't even make for good TV. I am not into this season at all. I'm not even sure I'm going to keep tuning in, actually. Everything about it is just sitting wrong with me. In the past, I've always been all for the knife twists and rooting for the obviously terrible singer sticking around for too long, but this season...I dunno...the gratuitous mocking and cruelty just seems so Bush era.

Everything about it is just sitting wrong with me. In the past, I've always been all for the knife twists and rooting for the obviously terrible singer sticking around for too long, but this season...I dunno...the gratuitous mocking and cruelty just seems so Bush era. The fact that the format, the judges (especially Simon) and the outside forces are all rubbing me the wrong way this year makes my own personal mocking less fun. I think that's it, really. Good fun cannot be had when there's already kind of a gross edge to what I'm supposed to be mocking. That said, having immediately assumed the worst when they first teased, the "twist" doesn't especially bother me. The whole season already feels so lopsided and anti-climactic that one more thing doesn't really phase me. Going back to the rounds seemed like a good idea to me at first because I liked it the first time they did that, but I guess I got used to the top 24. I don't even feel like I know most of these people. I knew who David Cook and Michael Johns were immediately last season. This year I've got blind guy, Wicked guy, piano guy and so on. Nobody has a real identity. And when I see them drag Anoop back down to the middle and see that he looks tired and sort of done with it all it makes me think that maybe we should all go home and come back in a month and start fresh. They shouldn't look burnt out this early.

I have to admit that for Knollers like me things are slowly becoming more and more transparent. It seems that Nigel leaving and Simon getting more power is a very big part of most of those changes. Simon saying that they were 'casting' the top 12 a few weeks back is telling. I think they are all about the drama and entertainment now and not so much about the competition. I also have to admit that I went and YouTubed DC's Billie Jean the other day(and Hello as well) and it's still so much better than anything that the current crop managed to do on Michael Jackson night.