I’m not sure that this will be a good one. First of all, Simon was almost nice! New judge L.A. Reid seems to be in competition with him as meany…

I have to agree with the assessment of my morning radio show hosts: the crowd there helped to make it feel more artificial.

In many ways it feels that the show is a mix of America’s Got Talent and The Voice. Future shows will either prove or disprove this.

What surprised me was the final contestant, Chris. Normally, when  a contestant says they’ll sing something they wrote, it is lousy. This  time, it wasn’t.

With twice as many groups this year and dividing them into two brackets on each of two sides, there will be a lot of performances.

I don’t know all the group names, but the “rap-cappela” group bothered me, as they used an Eminem song. I dislike him.

I was disappointed that the singing family were the first cut, especially after the judges all praised them.

I spoke yesterday about how dull I find Scotty, and Lauren just hasn’t been as good as she was in her audition. She isn’t like Claire on Heroes (‘save the cheerleader, save the world.’). It feels as if Scotty will win no matter what, and he will just represent fans of Country music, where there are all ready many baritones: Randy Travis, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson…

1. I’m still upset that Pia was eliminated – and so soon too! She was a major front-runner.

2. I didn’t think that Naima would go far, but the timing of her elimination was bad. Her version of Elton John‘s I’m Still Standing was very inventive.

3. Casey’s elimination became the latest Judges Save to not get far. I believe he’s the third.

4. He makes for the first time that I have jazz content in the same post. He said he wished he’d had a chance to perform with Oscar Peterson.

5. Paul being eliminated didn’t upset me. I didn’t like his style. What did upset me is that a better singer (Pia) was eliminated before him.

6. James’ elimination last week was a shock for several reasons: he was eliminated the night after the judges gushed over him. He was the other front-runner too. I thought he and Pia would be the final 2, with her the winner. He was my favorite.

Now, to this week:

I suspect that Scotty McCreery is at least bound to the Finals, but I’m not pleased with it. One person I know calls his voice sleep inducing, but I think she just doesn’t like Country music. I do — but I like variety. He’s been a one-trick pony all season, only singing country. Even the Elvis songs he chose were country-based. Carie Underwood also sings country, but she also performs more varied songs.

The judges like Lauren Alaina, but I wasn’t impressed. I found the music often drowned her out.

I’ve come to like Hayley Reinhart‘s voice more the past few weeks. She wowed me with every song yesterday.

Ultimately, I think Lauren will be eliminated this week, but I’ve been wrong before.

I am still somewhat mobile, but since a fall in August 2009 I’ve used a wheelchair in and out of my apartment. I’m only able to stand briefly. My speech is somewhat labored, and I have to repeat myself a lot. I also can’t use my right side a lot.

That ends my bad stuff. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t gripe. I walked for nearly 42 years, and sang on stage/acted, so I’ve already achieved much – and there’s more:

Starting in 2007 I founded my second publication, and in 2009 it won the Aurora award at Worldcon here in Montreal. It was nominated again in 2010, though someone else won it. That’s fine; I don’t make it to be awarded.

My NaNoWriMo wins are so far 4 of 8. I’ll try to make win 5 this year.

Some people who read this will think my achievements are great due to my disability,  but I don’t think that way. I’m a communicator, so it’s just what I do.

This means 2 people will be sent home next week, and that from now on people will only be cut.

Ultimately I think the final 2 will be James Durbin and Pia Toscano, with Pia the victor. James will still have a great career though.

It was a surprise to see Hulk Hogan on the show. As a performer he’s dull, but he’s the best known wrestler.

When they played Dream On for Tyler I expected it to be mentioned how contestant Danny Goki butchered the song a few years ago.

There weren’t as many ‘train wreck’ auditions shown as usual, but this was just the first night. Only one contestant stood out as a sacrificial Hollywood lamb too… a cute singing waitress.

The songs of Lennon and McCartney made a fascinating theme a few years ago, and this time was no different. Some of the performances were strange though. Lee DeWyze sang a great version of Hey Jude, but having a bagpiper stroll down was very strange. It reminded me of a Julian Lennon concert here in Montreal a few months after his only album, with his sole hit song. Overall it was a dull concert, the only real saving grace when he brought a giant harmonica prop out.

I didn’t agree with the results though. I thought Andrew Garcia performed weakest overall. Michael Lynch was actually pretty good. He was well-worth the judges save though.

I also don’t think Tim Urban‘s performance was that good.

Next week is a double elimination because of the save. Maybe Tim will finally get cut then.

The bottom 3 weren’t exactly as I predicted. Siobhan Magnus was safe (soon-to-be cut Tim Urban replaced her), Didi I predicted… Katie Stevens was a surprise this week, but she was saved.

While the composition of the bottom 3 was different from my prediction, the end result was the same: Didi Bonami was the lowest vote getter, and she wasn’t saved… so she’s now the 3^rd eliminated contestant.

He was still mediocre this week. I think he’ll be in the bottom 3 this week, along with Didi Bonami and, I’m sorry to say, Sioban Magnus. Based on overall performance though, I think Didi will be cut.