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Lost track of time and missed all but the last 5 minutes. Will catch the west coast feed as looked good from the rewind clips and report back, however what I did see: Okay great.

1.David Cook definitely looked and delivered like a star! IMO, David's first song was quite good. His second song was only okay by me. His third song was sronger than the second, but still not as good as the first. I would like to see if you folks agree after you've seen it and given it some thought. The judges made it very clear they think Cook should win. IMO, he wasn't as dazzling as I had hoped he would be. You folks may disagree, but I wasn't seeing it. Paula said he would sail through. Simon said so as well. Randy may have, but I don't remember.

2.Shyesa seemed to have a good night. Clips said after the first song she had a better song choice and seemed to use her power of voice and her energy to deliver. Syesha had three good performances. I thought each were good in different ways. She had a very nice gown on for her first performance. Wow. She truly looked like a star. Her vocal was very nice. She is really in a groove and Randy said he was happy to see her peaking now, that 'was why she was there as the third' (what kind of a comment was that, last week all three came within one million votes of each other after 51 million votes were cast) after last week. I thought that was a poor thing to say, but it's par for the course for Syesha. Randy and Simon have been downplaying her for at least six, perhaps eight weeks. That angers me. Her second song was a torch song. She was dressed in a mid-thigh dress that was vampy. She looked confident, star-like, and sexy. It was a good performance. They thought the vocal was good, but paned her for making a bad choice, as it wasn't contemporary. What a snow job. They picked non-contemporary songs for the contestants in the first round. Why dump on Syesha for doing the same thing in the second, but they did. For her third song, the producers picked a good song. She hit it out of the ball park, to somewhat blase reviews. Big surprise. It is amazing to me that Syehsa has come this far considering how the judges respond to her. I'm not sure why they haven't warmed to her, but it is quite evident they haven't. She wore black pants and a white top for the final song. My wife didn't like it, but it really highlighted here figure. She was moving around a bit, and I think the men would appreciate it more than the ladies.

3.Archuleta is still to "controlled" for me. Even his dress is safe. I as thinking Disney/Animation film and noticed you had mentioned Nickelodean. Too controlled. I don't blame that necessarily on David; I fault his Handler- I suspect. Like a hooded falcon that never was allowed to fly on its own. I'll tell you, David A. hit the first song out of the ball park IMO. I really liked that song. His second song was contemporary. I hadn't heard it before and I thought it was a very lackluster performance. His third song was good. I like David quite a bit. I think he's marketable, but I'm not sure how marketable. If the song he picked tonight was any indication, he may not transition to boy toy as easily as some might think. If he does balads, who does that sell to? I'm not really certain David A. is as marketable as his very good voice would seem to warrant. I'm open to other opinions. The judges made it clear they think David A. is though to the finals. They may be right, but I'm not as sure as they seem to be.

That's all I got from the clips (5 min); ah..except tuned in on the " audience annoyance clip" of Seacrest ..kid on his left purposely showcasing himself with a buggy-eyed repeated swivel-head action thing going on.

Cook Cooked Tonight.. I still think Cook should come in first. I will say that if tonight were the only night I had seem him and the other two perform, I would be somewhat at a loss to pick a clear winner. The last few weeks have been rather disappointing for me, as it relates to David Cook. Last week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame song list available, he completely underimpressed. He even addressed the issue, basically agreeing with what I have said here.

Think how long this would have been if I had seen the whole thing..... !!! Yeah really!!! Heh heh heh, just kidding. Thanks for the comments. I look forward to more tomorrow.

Simon Cowell has told “American Idol” season seven finalist Syesha Mercado that she’s no Whitney Houston, but to jazz musician Boney James, the 21-year-old is the next best thing to Faith Evans.
Yesterday Concord Records released “Gonna Get It,” recorded by James and a then-unknown Mercado in August 2006. The song is available for purchase exclusively on iTunes, but can be heard for free on a number of Web sites.
More:
“She was wonderful. I think she was only 19 at the time,” Lowell-born saxophonist James said of Mercado.
Evans eventually did cut the track, which appears on James’ 2006 album “Shine,” and Mercado’s version was shelved. But that was before she became the last female standing on “Idol.”
“I found out she was in the finals (and thought), ‘Wouldn’t it be a great opportunity to hear this song?’,” James said.
James, who co-wrote the song with singer Rahsaan Patterson, said he would have kept Mercado’s cut on “Shine” had Evans’ label held out.
“Now I have two incredible versions of the song,” he said.
Fox was taken by surprise by yesterday’s release of “Gonna Get It” and had no comment.

Only on ITune (Mercado’s version) and on Boney's myspace: http://www.myspace.com/boneyjamesmusic