Happy birth-year, babies!

("Dang me, I am old" could also be this week's title.)

Now THAT was an excellent show, in my never-humble opinion. Even the weaker performances (Ramiele, Jason, David "Slipping Halo" Archuleta) didn't cause me any real pain, and the strong singers were spot on. Loved it loved it loved it.

Okay, perhaps I should confess that I didn't actually hear David Archuleta, I had to take a phone call, but I saw the 30-second recap at the end and I heard the judges lambaste him, poor baby—but it's about time; he's always been a decent but limited performer, and I've never gotten the hoopla surrounding the child. Whatev. He's not going anywhere, this I know.

What I admire more than anything is smartness—in this case, meaning singers who know who they are and what they can do and play to those strengths. So a shout-out to pretty, pretty Michael Johns, who's been blandly forgettable up till now but pulled out the stops last night to blast me back to high school graduation, tooling around in a VW bus (it was Northern California, they're everywhere) with my pallies, singing "We Are the Champions" at full volume. We'd had three sips of Cold Duck apiece, we owned the night. Good times. It was exactly what Michael needed to do this week, and though generally the Idolettes should avoid Freddie Mercury, this one worked. Yay, Michael!

Another shout-out to Syesha, who has a good voice but hasn't been showcasing it well. Though I didn't know or love the song, she sang the hell out of it. Great job.

Props to my girl Brooke, who is second only to David Cook in her ability to reinterpret a song and make it her own. Sting's version of "Every Breath You Take" is a creepy stalker song; Brooke made it more tortured—like, I don't want to be glued to you in this way, but this is how it is and I can't stop myself. Not her best performance (because her best performances have been HELLA GOOD) but very good nonetheless, and to me: wicked impressive. Brooke is a smart smarty.

But who was the most brilliant last night, the smartest smarty of all? Honestly, I think it's a tie, and no one is more surprised than I am by that fact.

David "I Want to Marry Lady Chardonnay" Cook brought down the house with his soulful, haunting "Billie Jean." He is the master of breaking down a song to its essential parts, thinking it through, and rebuilding it again so it is 100% his. His voice is gorgeous, and he owns the stage. A truly brilliant performer and musician—the best I have ever seen on Idol. And I'm not just saying that because we're in love.

So given all that, who's he tied with, Lady Chardonnay-Cook? Folks, I hand that honor to Miss Kristy Lee Cook, who has been one of the most underwhelming performers so far, our perennial bottom-three girl, whose ouster this week, before last night, was about as sure a sure thing as one can get on this show—Kristy Lee Cook, who chose the most perfect song for herself, who did exactly what she needed to do last night to showcase her Aryan loveliness and Mom-and-apple-piehood, who displayed a canny awareness of who she is and what she can do . . . I can't say enough about her smartness here. Best performance of the night? No way. Something we'll be writing about forever? Again—no. But best evidence of knowing oneself and choosing the dead-on right song? Absolutely, no question whatsoever. And I really, really admire that. She may still go home, but she can hold her head high.

Great show. I had to take a little blog break to rediscover my Joy of Idol (trying to get the feeling again, don'tcha know), but guess what? (I'm being Randy now) Lady Chardonnay is in the house!

. . . and OUT.