I should just stop pretending that this blog isn't just about American Idol.

I really do not understand why Chris Richardson is so popular on American Idol. I have not once ever really enjoyed one of his performances and I think his voice sounds very boy-bandish and totally unoriginal. I get a little bit why he keeps making it through to the next round, and I think the high-pitched nature of the cheers for him is testimony to that (although personally I don't think he's cute at all, and certainly less cute than Justin Timberlake, to whom he is often compared). But the judges have been surprisingly kind to him thus far, and keep talking about how he's in it to win it and he's so much better than the other guys. And I just think that's wrong; I think that Blake and Chris Sligh and sometimes Phil Stacey have better voices than he does. I completely disagreed with Randy Jackson when he said that thing about Chris representing the guys and being the best male singer of the bunch, and I am starting to think that Randy is a bit too lavish with his superlatives (example: he said to somebody, I don't remember who, but somebody who was only decent and who sang after Melinda and LaKisha, both of whom were great, that they won the award for the best vocal performance of the night). And I was really glad that Simon stopped inexplicably sucking up to Chris and just told him flat out that his singing was "dreadful."

Other thoughts on tonight's show:

1) Diana Ross is a great singer and I'm glad that they all got to meet her, and I was incredibly impressed with how astute she was about each of the contestants (especially if she hasn't been following the show), but I was a little bored by hearing 12 of her songs in one night. It felt very promotional and not very nice to the contestants, especially those who would never have chosen a Diana Ross song on their own. Also, I wonder if there were any battles over who would get to sing some of the songs, and how they were resolved.

2) Sanjaya was not very good, and I was very sad about that. The more I see him, the more I see his smile as fake and the more I lose confidence in his ability to pick it up. Paula and Randy keep telling him to focus on his vocals, and Simon keeps saying that he just isn’t capable of doing it. But I do wish he would stop doing weird things to his hair. Last week it was totally straight and this week it was curlier than mine. He looks prissy and girly when he does that stuff to his hair and he needs to just chill out and let his hair do its natural wavy thing. But at the same time, I know that I’ll be incredibly sad if he gets voted off tomorrow. I am obviously less rational than I like to believe.

3) At first, I couldn’t stand Ryan Seacrest really at all. And I didn’t have much respect for someone who has built a career out of being a host and nothing more. But I actually think he’s very professional and is very good at handling awkward situations. Except for that one slip-up a few weeks ago when he inadvertently implied that Jordin was fat.

4) I have been saying for awhile that I think Brandon and Haley need to go. And then who falls apart and can't hack it and forgets the words? Brandon and Haley. I'm just saying.