Can't we give this year's Idol title to Elliot Yamin?

I know I wrote last night that I'd rather buy Blake's album and Jordin seems to have more of the total Idol package and is more exciting, but watching the two of them at the end of the show tonight together as the final two, it just felt wrong. I may not have been the biggest Melinda fan, but she was still the best singer consistently throughout the competition. While she may have tried as much as possible to do the same type of songs--ones which often didn't have much of an appeal to people under 40--when she was forced to branch out and sing rock or some other genre, she was good at it. Perhaps doing more of that would have kept her around to the final two. Perhaps doing a new song in the third spot last night instead of repeating one she'd done earlier would have helped. Who knows? Even Simon's begging for Melinda didn't work. In the end, I can't say that I'm surprised, but I am disappointed.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see Simon's final comments about Melinda, or her final sing-out, because my DVR stopped recording at 10 p.m. On Tuesday night shows, I add a few minutes to my DVR recording because they almost always run over a couple minutes. But a 60 minute results show during which all they need to do is announce a name? They can't get that in within 60 minutes. They need an extra couple minutes for that? This is completely insane. How about cutting the inane "Randy said you were..." crap and getting off the air in an hour, guys?

On the plus side, at least tonight's show wasn't as full of filler as it has been in previous weeks. The trips home weren't as exciting as last year, but they're somewhat entertaining. Maroon 5 was OK, and I'm thinking Paula's really active dancing during the song indicated that she really wanted a date with lead singer Adam Levine. And Elliott Yamin was really good, even thought with the curly hair and the new teeth he's barely recognizable. I'm thinking I might have to pick up that CD. And Elliot's appearance brought me back to the time when people felt really passionately about American Idol singers--last year. They keep plugging that Idols tour--are people really going to buy tickets to that this summer?

So we're left with Jordin and Blake in the finals. It will at least match two singers with completely different styles, so it could be interesting. If Jordin sings "I Who Have Nothing" again, though, I might march on the American Idol studio with torches.