Cutting down to the final 24 is always a little brutal. There are always some folks who I like who get the late boot and it isn’t fun watching them walk away.

What is sad, though, is how often someone says something like, “I don’t know what I’m going to do next.” That’s sad to me because hopefully they had some other goals in life before entering into a contest where the likelihood of winning is--well, there is no likelihood, it’s all about how unlikely it is win the contest.

It’s nice that tattoo girl is going through, I suppose. Although after hearing about her previous record deal and music industry failure, I wonder if she really belongs in a contest meant to discover new talent. I dunno…

Most of the names and faces I really don’t care about. They don’t spend enough time that you really notice that there are fifty separate personalities--at least, I don’t.

The nurse stays, which is nice, David “Boy Wonder” Archuleta, stays, which irritates no end.

It’s most sad when the “hubbas” leave--but they give a lot of leeway to the pretty ones. Kristy Lee Cook, for example, might not have deserved a top spot, but I’m still glad she’s there. Brooke White, on the other hand, deserved a spot--nice person, pretty, gorgeous voice--so it’s no wonder she went through. They don’t send too many women like these two home when they get them to Hollywood. That isn’t a bad thing, of course; you don’t see too many bands and singers who look like the Rolling Stones anymore.

Which, in most ways, is kind of nice.

Darling girl will be happy that her man, Michael Johns, made it through. In fact, she’ll probably watch just so she can secretly enjoy his looks and his accent. I feel the same way about Syesha Mercado. Pretty voice, gorgeous woman, and I’m glad she’s going through. I also hopes she learns to stop over-singing her songs.

I was a little surprised that they put Robbie Carrico through. I wasn’t impressed with his voice and I was less impressed with his looks and personality. Not that any of the above were actually bad, just that they were all a little blah.

What about the crying boy? Did Josiah make it through? No, he didn’t it; back to living in a car for you. And it would be hard to say he deserved otherwise--that last performance was abysmal. I still would have liked to see how far he could have made it in the show, though.

And, now, I have to say: has anyone ever seen Simon be so nice to someone that he cut? When Kyle was sent off, he was so utterly kind to the kid that it was shocking--and he took the disappointment well. A nice guy and I hope he does well in life.