Here's a quick rundown of the Idol Top 10 performances tonight.

I appreciated what Ramiele was trying to do by singing Heart's "Alone", but it just wasn't the right song for her. Simon's probably right that she'll get through to next week, but it was not a good performance. Her pitch was way off and her voice just isn't big enough to pull of Heart.

Jason sang "Fragile" by Sting, and it was a good song choice. However he should have slowed down the arrangement a bit more. I think if he had it would have been really beautiful.

Syesha sang "If I Was Your Woman", and did it well, but I think it was pretty predictable. Nothing that really stood out. Totally agree with Simon on this one.

Chickezie sang "If Only for One Night", and once again didn't impress me.

Brooke sang "Every Breath you Take", and tried the piano thing again. She messed up at the beginning though, which kind of set the tone for the performance. She tried to put a different spin on it, and I personally didn't like it.

Michael made an interesting choice and sang "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions". He was obviously trying to regain the high he hit in Hollywood week with "Bohemian Rhapsody". And I have to say he does sing Queen very well. I don't think it was a performance that blew me away, but it was definitely his best performance in a few weeks.

Carly chose "Total Eclipse of the Heart", which is a favorite of mine. I don't think I liked the arrangement a lot, but her voice was fantastic for this song. She had just enough "scratchiness" coming through in her voice, but she went over the top at the end. Carly really needs to work on the things she does with her body and face while she sings, sometimes it really drives me nuts.

David Archuleta. I still don't understand why everyone loves this kid so much. I fully admit that he has a good voice, but he's just not a "pop" star. I have no idea what it was that he sang, but it made him seem like more of a Christian singer than an American Idol. I almost felt like I was watching the Mickey Mouse Club.....and that's not a good thing.

Kristy Lee Cook. It's amazing to me that this girl is still on the show, she must have a huge family base voting for her. And tonight she sang "God Bless the USA", which couldn't have been more predictable. At least this week she sounded fairly good, there were definitely a couple of rough spots though.

David Cook is always original. It actually took me a minute to realize that he was singing "Billy Jean" this week. His arrangement was brilliant. He took one of the most recognizable pop songs in the world and turned it into a rock ballad. Absolutely amazing. This week he secured his position as my number one pick.

This is the perfect time of the year for reality tv junkies. American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, America's Next Top Model, Top Chef, etc, etc. And most of those were on tv just tonight!

ANTM challenged the girls with a posing competition led by Benny Ninja, and then had a photo shoot where the girls had paint poured over their heads. Odd, but made for some interesting shots. And the elimination was pretty obvious, Marvita really didn't seem to want to be there anymore.

American Idol was a bit of a surprise tonight. Carly, Kristy, and Amanda were the bottom three. And it was amazingly not Kristy, but Amanda that went home. I really wasn't expecting that because I thought her song choice was really good. It's true Amanda had gotten a little boring, but Kristy is actually bad. And where the hell did Carly come from? She's fantastic, she most definitely shouldn't have been in that group.

Top Chef had some fun challenges this week. For the Quick Fire they had to pick 5 ingredients they could find at the Chicago farmer's market to make an entrée. I know I would have a ball with that personally. Then for the elimination challenge, they had to cater a party at the zoo using the diet of certain animals, such as: vultures, bears, penguins, and gorillas. Team vulture and bear sounded the best to me, the penguin sounded quite interesting as well. I would have loved to try their glacier gelée. And I liked the way team lion presented their dishes, it was very "mod".

It's still so early in the Top Chef competition that I don't really have an attachment to any of the contestants yet. I'm getting there, but none of them are quite there yet for me. They also don't seem used to the competition yet, so they're not performing up to the standards I expect to see of chefs on the show. Having said that, Valerie ended up being the one to go home. However outside of that I couldn't tell you anything about her.

And last but not least, unfortunately my DVR failed to record Survivor. That thing drives me nuts sometimes. One week it recorded survivor and not the Idol results show, and this week it just doesn't record Survivor at all. Technology, what can you do right? So I'll have to catch that one once they post the episode online.

Dancing with the Stars returned this week. The men danced on Monday, and the women on Tuesday. I'll admit my bias right off.....I adore Penn. Penn & Teller's Bullshit is one of my favorite shows. And I think for as big of a guy as he is he did a really good job. A lot of the bigger guys just stand there and shuffle their feet around, so any more than that to begin with and I'm somewhat impressed. I also have a bias for Adam Corolla because he's paired with Julianne Hough, and I just love her!

Overall though, I think that Mario is leading the guys to start, and Shannon is leading the girls. We'll see what happens though, it's still very early on.

The top 11 Idols performed songs from the Beatles this week, and once again most of them seemed to be completely unfamiliar with the songs! Seriously, how can you be a musician and not be familiar with the Beatles' greatest hits?!

Anyways, enough of my rant....on to the contestants. Amanda started off the evening with the perfect song for her, "Back in the USSR." I was hoping she'd choose it and she did. I agree with Simon that with that voice of hers things are starting to sound very similar week to week, however I still think that was the perfect song choice for her.

David Archuleta. I don't know what to say about this guy.....I still think he's just to "young". And I'm not one to judge based on age, but more on the fact that he comes off as a little kid to me. And since we've hit the top 12, he just hasn't performed as well as he did previously.

Kristy Lee Cook is incredibly lucky to still be here this week. If it weren't for America's obvious dislike of David Hernandez and wherever he did or didn't work (and his lack of every commenting on it), she'd be history. I'll give her the credit she deserves, she did do much better this week. I still don't think she's a strong enough competitor to last terribly long though.

Michael Johns sang one of my favorite songs this week, "A Day in the Life". However, he didn't do the greatest of jobs. He's still one of my top 3, but he needs to step it up a bit. He hasn't regained the high he hit in Hollywood week.

Brooke didn't wow like she did last week. She didn't choose a bad song, but she didn't connect with it like she needed to. "Here Comes the Sun" is on one level a happy song, but there's another sad side to it that she completely missed.

Carly sang beautifully once again. I love "Blackbird", Simon has no idea what he's talking about on this one.

Jason chose a beautiful song, but didn't sing it as well as I thought he would. I think he could have made it folksy and had it turn out better.

Chickezie was just a mess. Let's just leave it at that.

Syesha chose "Yesterday" and did a very nice job. It was a lovely rendition.

Ramiele, unfortunately, didn't do so well. I absolutely love this girl's voice as I've said. But she just isn't choosing great songs. And the good ones she chooses, she doesn't connect with. Hopefully she can stay around a bit longer and prove herself.

It's the last week before we go to the big stage, and the music of the week is the 80's (something I know all too much about).

Song choices were once again very interesting this week, and some of the guys hit the nail on the head! The Davids, Archuleta and Cook, both had fantastic arrangements and used their instruments extremely well. Jason Castro proved once again that he has an amazingly clear voice, and sang "Broken Hallelujah"beautifully....and without his guitar! That song is always very haunting to me, and I thought it was a great, stand out choice. Michael Johns picked well by going with INXS, because as Randy said, he sounds quite a bit like Michael Hutchence.

On the flip side, there were several guys who just fell flat on their faces. Luke Menard slaughtered "Go Go", which is one of my favorite songs. I've tap danced to that song, so believe me, I like the song. I believe my mouth hung open through all of Danny Noriega's performance. My fiancé looked up and said, "Is he gay or really emo? Or both?" I think that sums it up pretty well.

David Hernandez and Chikezie rode the fence for me a bit. They weren't terrible, but they weren't fantastic. David has a lot of power behind his voice, but I don't think he has enough to match Meatloaf or Celine Dion. And Chikezie chose a woman's song. And not just any woman, but Whitney Houston. Probably not the best of ideas.

My roundup is that I think David Cook had the best performance of the night by a mile. Great sound, great arrangement, great performance. I think Luke Menard has definitely reached the end of his Idol journey, but I'm not sure about who else will be eliminated. Danny Noriega, David Hernandez, and Chikezie are all possibilities.

Here's a wrap up of what was sung tonight:

Luke Menard - Wham "Go Go"
David Archuleta - Phil Collins "Another Day in Paradise"
Danny Noriega - Soft Cell "Tainted Love"
David Hernandez - Meatloaf "It's All Coming Back to Me Now"
Michael Johns - INXS "Don't You (Forget About Me)"
David Cook - Lionel Richie "Hello"
Jason Castro - Leonard Cohen (Jeff Buckley) "Broken Hallelujah"
Chikezie - Whitney Houston "(s)He Fills Me Up"

I know, I know....I'm a complete and total reality tv addict, but you know what? I love it, and I'm opinionated about it.....and if you don't like it, then skip over these posts! :-)

The results are in....and Chris is out.

This episode was pretty sad, I hated to see one of these guys go. After seeing the three pieces that they chose to showcase I loved both of them! Honestly though, I preferred Chris' designs. I'm a little goth myself, so that might have something to do with it. I hope he goes on to put out a line, because I would totally wear his clothes.

It's time for the girls......here we go!

Carly Smithson is one of my favorite girls, and she really powered through Heart (helps that I love the song Crazy too). It takes a powerful and clear voice to be able to sing Heart, and I think she did really, really well. Excellent performance.

Syesha Mercado obviously has a big, beautiful voice. But her song didn't really showcase that. It seemed safe, and almost a little predictable. I hope she'll be around for a while longer....and I know she can do better.

Brooke picked a song I didn't expect her to. Carly Simon wouldn't have been my first choice for her. I enjoyed the guitar playing with it, but it honestly bothers me how much she smiles....You're So Vain is just not a song you smile during. Good performance though.

Ramiele, if nothing else is absolutely gorgeous, but on top of that she has an incredibly powerful and deep voice. She chose a good song this week too, it showcased her talents very well. It's still a shock to me to hear that voice come out of her. I'll agree with the judges that it could have had a little more "umph" to it, but I don't think they gave her enough credit.

The first time I saw Kristy Lee Cook in the auditions, I was really impressed with her. But ever since that she's kind of disappeared into the crowd. Her styling was much better tonight, and she showed some attitude but I'm not sure about the song choice. It was a good performance though, not great but good.

Amanda definitely stands out the most of all the female contestants, the hair really stands out. This was an interesting song choice for her. The quieter verses aren't her best. She really pulls out the parts of the song that need to be belted out, but it's a little hard to understand her when she's softer. I think she needs to choose something that showcases her voice more. I still love her though.

Alaina Whitaker, she's another one that I don't fully remember from one week to the next. Olivia Newton John is another one of those artists that's hard to do, comes across as a bad imitation most of the time. And Alaina sung this well, but I'm not sure it was the best song choice. She has a pretty powerful, clear voice....but she needs to stand out a little more now.

Alexandréa....her name bothers me. Reminds me of that scene from Mean Girls where Tim Meadows says how he hates it that his sister named his nephew "Anfernee". She picked a song that I really love, and was definitely dressed better. Not sure if the song was the best for her voice though. The girls seem to be struggling a bit with the 70's. It was a nice performance, but compared with a girl like Carly I'm not sure it stood up. She might be going home this week.

Kady....I'll try not to make another Mean Girls reference. She also chose Heart, and once again compared to Carly I don't think it was a good choice. Her outfit wasn't good (way too 70's), and I just don't think she has the voice to pull off Heart. I have a feeling she's going home this week.

Last but not least is Asia'h. I haven't been fully impressed with this girl since her audition. I was truly impressed at her audition that she could sing right after losing her father, but since then she just hasn't done much. For some reason it really bothers me that her hair is so different every week. And this week she really sounded bad, she just didn't hit the notes (not bad a the end, but not good enough). And don't think I'm picking on her I really like the girl, but she needs to step it up. And once again, I do have sympathy for having the flu, I'm still getting over it!

Okay, I think tomorrow we're going to see the guys and girls that haven't stood out go home. At this point in the competition we're still weeding out the competitors that just barely snuck in. We're getting close to a good bunch though.

Tonight was the premiere of a new show called quarterlife. The show centers around six people (3 guys and 3 girls) in their 20's. The idea is to show how turbulent life is between the age of 20 and 30. My first impression of it is kind of a combination between Sex and the City and Friends, but I'm not sure it's done as well as either of those shows were. I expected to turn on this show and come across something that I could relate to, seeing as how I am a twenty-something. But unfortunately I couldn't relate at all. The characters seem more like college kids than people starting out in the world. It was really disappointing to be completely honest.

I would love to see a show about characters that are at the same place in life I am. I'm a 26 year old woman that's about to get married and start a new chapter of my life. But on the other hand, I'm a horribly confused woman attempting to find my place in life. Where are the shows about women in jobs that they can't stand, thinking about going back to school yet again to find a career that actually makes them happy. Or battling weight because there's not enough time in the day to do everything you have to do and still make it to the gym.

I mean really, how many love triangles have you run into in your life? They're not as common as television leads us to believe. And I can't name a single one of my friends that is even working in the career field they want, but somehow on television the characters are always at least somewhere close to where they want to be in life.

All right....I'm done with my rant for now.

You can check out the official site at quarterlife.com.

All right people, here we go. Live American Idol blogging! :)

Michael Johns didn't do so well tonight which was disappointing. Fleetwood Mac was not a good song choice for him. I really am a fan of his, but I think he needs to stick to songs that show a bit more power than this one.

I actually really enjoyed Jason Castro tonight. I thought he did much better than last week. His arrangements are quite good, they make the song feel different and not simply redone. I think the judges were a bit hard on him (then again I didn't agree with their assessment of him last week at all). I do think he needs to lose the guitar though. I like the image, but it could become a crutch very easily.

Luke Menard took on Freddie Mercury, which is always a difficult choice. Queen is difficult to sing, it almost always comes across as a bad imitation. I agree with Simon on this one completely. Luke simply doesn't have the charisma to pull off Killer Queen, honestly not many people do.

Robbie Carrico gave a fairly average performance. He's another one of my favorites, but he didn't blow me away tonight. It was the kind of performance I could see at karaoke night at my local bar any week, nothing special.

I've never been very impressed with Danny Noriega. Sometimes age really works against performers, and I think he's that way. He's just not believable singing about life and love. And he's so very effeminate. He needs to learn to use that to his benefit, rather than letting it hold him back.

David Hernandez has charisma, and moments of being really good. A bit overly dramatic, but still very good. His voice is very strong, so there's definite potential there. I haven't fully made up my mind about him yet, if he sticks around maybe I can make a decision in a couple weeks.

I'll be honest, I don't really remember Jason Yeager. Obviously he hasn't done anything to stand out in my mind. Without looking him up on americanidol.com I wouldn't be able to tell you what he's sung up to this point. He's not a bad singer, but there's just nothing really special about him to make him stand out.

I like Chikezie's voice, but he's another one I'm not sure about. He definitely had charisma tonight and made an impression. Good song choice, it showed off what his voice can do. Off the topic of singing, his styling isn't very good. He needs someone to dress him well, and soon.

David Cook has been another one of my favorites. He brought out the guitar tonight, which I'm not sure was a good idea. It started off feeling a little awkward, but got better as the performance went on. He's obviously trying to embrace the rocker image. He picked a good song for his voice, and was fairly charismatic. Good job overall. Also, I think Simon went a little overboard on him. Simon doesn't seem to be on his game this season so far.

David Archuleta is another one where I'm not sure he's entirely believable singing about life because of his age, but he should be okay if he sticks to songs like this. I haven't been a big fan of his so far, but I can appreciate a good version of Imagine. It's one of my favorite songs of all time, and he did a good job on it. But was he singing And I'm Telling You... in that clip? That's a little weird.

Tomorrow night the girls are up again.....and I'll be here!

Last night was the 80th annual Academy Awards....and honestly it was kind of a let down. Nothing really wowed me, or even made me envy Hollywood. I do have to say that Jon Stewart was hillarious though. He was one of the best hosts an award show has seen in a long time.

Most of the films this year I'd either never heard of, or didn't have a whole lot of interest in seeing. And poor Johnny Depp, every time he's nominated for Best Actor he seems to be up against a performance that's truly wonderful. I mean come on, Daniel Day-Lewis practically becomes his characters. While filming Gangs of New York he never stopped speaking with a New York accent, and nearly got pneumonia because he refused to wear regular clothing. It's really a shame though because Johnny's performance in Sweeney Todd really was wonderful. I've heard people say that they didn't like his singing, and I don't know what they're thinking....he was fantastic! But that's enough of my obsession. Here's the winners list (at least the categories that mattered to me):

Motion Picture of the Year - No Country for Old Men
Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Best Actress - Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose
Best Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress - Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton
Best Director - Ethan Coen & Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men
Best Animated Film - Ratatouille

Tonight the Top 24 became the Top 20 as we lost Amy Davis and Joanne Borgella from the girls and Garrett Haley and Colton Berry from the boys.

None of those choices was really a big surprise. All of their performances were equally forgettable, and won't be missed by the audience.

Just got through watching my tivo'd Oprah for the day. I know, I know....I'm a total dork, but I love it. Anyway, today she had on former winners, and the new "stars" for the show. Here's the lineup:

Adam Carolla & Julianne Hough - Carolla is of course the former co-host of the Loveline radio show (along with Dr. Drew), and Julianne is the current champion (she won with Apollo Anton Ohno in season four and Helio Castroneves in season five).

Cristián de la Fuente & Cheryl Burke - In case you can't place him Cristián is probably most recognizable (at least to me) from his role as Memo Moreno in the movie Driven. And Cheryl is also a two-time winner (she won with Drew Lachey in season two and Emmit Smith in season three).

Shannon Elizabeth & Derek Hough - Shannon Elizabeth is of course a huge film star (American Pie, Scary Movie), and Derek Hough is Julianne's very cute older brother.

Steve Guttenberg & Anna Trebunskaya - Steve Guttenberg is also a huge star (Police Academy, Three Men And a Baby), and Anna is a familiar face on DwtS returning for her third season.

Penn Jillette & Kym Johnson - Penn is of course one half of the wildly famous duo Penn & Teller (I highly recommend their Showtime show Bullshit if you haven't seen it). Kym is the Australian with the rockin' body that was paired with Joey Fatone in season four.

Mario & Karina Smirnoff - Mario is an R&B star, who I admit I've barely heard of, so not a big one for me. And Karina was Mario Lopez's partner in season three, and boy was that a steamy couple.

Marlee Matlin & Fabian Sanchez - Marlee is famous to me mainly for being a deaf actress, and honestly I'm really interested to see how that effects her dancing. I've heard deaf dancers say that they dance by feeling the vibrations of the music, I'm curious if that's how she will as well. Fabian is new to the show and the DwtS site says that he is the 2006 World Mambo Champion.

Priscilla Presley & Lous VanAmstel - Priscilla is of course the widow of Elvis Presley (who's had way too much plastic surgery at this point), and Louis is returning for his fourth season.

Monica Seles & Jonathan Roberts - Monica Seles is a tennis pro who is probably most famous for being stabbed by a fan in 1993. And Jonathan was the ever-supportive partner of Maria Osmond last season.

Marissa Jaret Winokur & Tony Dovolani - Marissa is apparently a Broadway star from the musical Hairspray (honestly I have no idea, didn't care to watch the movie or the musical). And Tony is familiar as the partner of Jane Seymour last season.

Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas - Kristi Yamaguchi is an Olympic Gold Metal winning figure skater (who I just love), and Mark is of course the adorable dancer who was recently paired with Sabrina Bryan of the Cheetah Girls.

(photo courtesy of www.oprah.com)

Well this week was the first week of voting on Idol. Last night we saw the top 12 men, and tonight the top 12 women. I admit to you all that I am a complete and total Idol fanatic. The first episode I ever saw was Clay Aiken's audition in Season 2, and I've been hooked ever since. So as an avid Idol watcher, here are my thoughts on this week's performances.

As many times as I've heard the judges say that this is the most talented group of contestants ever, I have to be honest and say that I don't really see it. Nobody has stood out for me as much as some have in previous seasons. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple that stand out a bit, but not as clear-cut winners yet.

Of the boys my favorites were the rockers. David Cook, Robbie Carrico, and Michael Johns are all front-runners for me. Michael Johns, I must say....any man that can sing Freddie Mercury and Jim Morrison is already a winner in my book. On the other side of the spectrum, I don't understand the infatuation the judges seem to have with David Archuleta. He's a decent singer, but I really don't see anything special about him so far. And while Jason Castro definitely has an interesting look that makes him stand out, I wasn't blown away by his singing. And as Simon says, the rest of them were simply forgettable.

For the girls, I have to start off by giving them props for singing with this flu/brochitis crud. I've had it myself for nearly a week now, and it's absolutely horrible. No matter what Simon says, it would be tough as hell to sing with this. I can barely talk!

There are more girls that have stood out to me in the competition so far than guys. Amanda Overmyer and Brooke White both have a great 60's throwback vibe, though Brooke lost a little bit of her charm for me this week. Alaina Whitaker came out and surprised me with how big of a voice she has. I hadn't payed much attention to her before, but now I'll keep my eye on her. Kady Malloy was also better than I thought she would be, not fantastic yet, but I think she has potential.

Sidenote....is it just me or does everyone else have a flashback to Mean Girls when seeing her name?

I think Ramiele Malubay's (whoa that's a mouthful) song choice was perfect for her voice. I have always loved big soulful voices coming out of little Asian girls. She reminds me a great deal of Miwa Yoshida of Dreams Come True. Asia'h and Syesha are both pretty good, but they're a bit similar so I think that they need to distinguish themselves a bit. And lastly Carly Smithson. I think she is really an incredible talent, can't wait to see what she does this season (especially if that was with the flu!).