At Last!

What a wonderful night! Loved it, loved it, loved it. Our darlings should make a CD of standards right this very minute and forget all this other nonsense.

I agree with Simon that Katharine blew the rest of them away, but still. Everyone performed well. I felt like a proud little momma, watching my babies shine. What a wonderful night!

Besides Katharine, I thought Chris was especially fine (is it possible to do a bad version of that song? Even Willie Nelson, whom I usually loathe, sang it beautifully in Michael, the John Travolta angel movie), and Paris and Ace did very well. I may be alone in liking Kellie's version of "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered"—I thought it was a nice fit with her (limited) voice and (totally put-on) vulnerability. Yes, I am having no luck dealing with my Kellie irritation. Maybe next week.

My two disappointments were Taylor and Elliott, even though they were each "fine." (The F-word! The dreaded F-word!) My expectations for both men are high, and neither one knocked it out tonight. And I'm mad at Elliott for choosing a boring song. I'm not worried about Taylor; his fans will pull him through. But Elliott—baby, you needed a solid gold performance tonight, and that just wasn't it.

But oh well. They can't all win, and I know the out-of-her-league Kellie won't be budging any time soon, so someone has to go, much as I hate it. Have we ever had such a musically satisfying Top 7 before?!

I can't say enough about Katharine's performance of "Someone to Watch Over Me." It may be the best thing I've ever heard on Idol. Beautiful voice, beautiful song, she brought so much personality to it, and she looked absolutely gorgeous (yes, I am Paula). Just—wow.

What a wonderful night! Rod Stewart! Who'd a thunk it?

Lady Chardonnay, all aglow and OUT.