American Idol 7 -- There can be only one

Ah, Luke Menard. I did have high hopes for this handsome young man with family from this very town of Kankakee, Illinois. His looks are constantly compared to that of Orlando Bloom. Sadly, America wasn't keen on his tenor voice. His song choice of Wham's Wake me up before you go go was an instant death sentence. He would have been better off doing Weird Al's parody of Bad. There was no doubt that the former a capella group singer would be voted off before getting into the top 12.

It's clear that the Idol contestants think they are better than they really are. Well, most of them, anyway. The singers who have real talent seem to sell themselves short and play it safe. Then there are those mediocre warblers who take on gigantic songs; Kady Malloy, I'm talking to you. She had the audacity to attempt one of the most dramatic songs of the 80s. A song performed by one of the all time great bands and front man of ALL time: Queen and Freddie Mercury. Steve Spears put it best. Check out his brilliantly composed blog regarding this debacle.

Surprise elimination was Asia'h Epperson. I thought her performance was a little cheeky, but she wasn't awful. She was first out of the gate daring the judges to be harsh by attempting a Whitney Houston song. I Wanna Dance With Somebody. She made a poor song choice. I was certain the country bippy Kristy Lee was hitting the bricks. She was bland and that's being considerate. However, she put that country twist on a Journey song and won over the country music fans with phones and text messaging capabilities.

Last, but far from least, was Danny Noriega aka Danny Montana (I swore he was Hannah Montana in boy drag). Danny, at times, had a great sense of humor and wasn't afraid to back talk. I think after the Sanjaya mess from last season, people weren't willing to put up with it this year. Did I think he lacked talent? No. His youtube antics might have hurt him dearly. I did fear we'd not get a chance to see Chikezie bring out the Luther Vandross smooth tones, though. Thank you, America, for having sense and voting for talent over amusement.

Next week our Top Twelve darlings will bring on the Beatles. I'm praying that Michael 'Roo' Johns pulls out the stops and delivers the performance we all know he has under his belt. ::insert perverse remark here:: The Lennon/McCartney catalogue is so vast, I certainly hope he chooses wisely like Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade.

Will Amanda "Cruella" Overmyer crackle out Helter Skelter? Revolution? Sgt. Pepper? Will she show her softer side and give us Let it Be? Of course, I'd venture to bet her softer side is equal to a belt sander.