AI9: No More Urban Blight!

It took over two hours of "Idol Gives Back" to get to the meat of the evening: would they finally eliminate somebody who deserved to go? Or would the tweeners have voted through another annoying and untalented singer while somebody with talent was sent home? When Casey James was the first one named to the Bottom 3, I wasn't so sure. True, his performance Tuesday night was uninspired and barely musical, but when he's good, he's really good, something you can't say about either Aaron Kelly or Tim Urban. Those two contestants, fortunately, made up the rest of the Bottom 3.

But Ryan had to stretch it out as long as possible. He sent Aaron (AARON?!) back to safety, leaving Casey and Tim as the Bottom 2. Was he faking us out, the way he did last week when he left Michael Lynche there even though he wasn't a Bottom 2 vote-getter? He didn't say, but I wouldn't be surprised. For when the axe fell (or maybe it was just Ryan's hand), it landed on Tim. I cheered.

So now, for the Top 6, we have five people with talent plus a high-school student who would probably deserve to be here if he'd auditioned maybe three years later. With the Blight gone, the competition should be more of a joy to watch.