Who were you surprised by?

Who were you disappointed by?

Who do you think could win the whole thing?

Of the guys, I liked Chris Daughtry a lot. I was surprised by how good Bucky Covington was. I wasn't disappointed by any of them.

Of the girls, I liked Mandisa. I was surprised by Becky O'Donohue and Ayla Brown. I was disappointed by Stevie Scott.

Ace Young and Paris Bennett seem to be the judge's favorites.

Printed in this weeks TV GUIDE: "Why can't you say "you're
not a very good singer" and not necessarily take their soul,
put it in a blender (and) drink it in front of them?"
- Jon Stewart, talking to Randy Jackson about Simon Cowell,
on The Daily Show.

But...she didn't.

I don't know the names of all of the women, but there was only one I really didn't like, and that was because she seemed mean-spirited.

There's a young man who does a rat pack shtick that I don't care for and another man who sang Copacabana that I found painful to listen to.

Other than those three I enjoyed the singing and look forward to more. Taylor (grey hair) is such a character and I really like his style. Ace has what I call the drool factor. Those may be my early favorites.

I try to ignore what the judges say, especially Simon.

Well the "Copacabana" kid is gone. So is the girl who sang "Because the Night" So are Patrick Hall and Stevie Scott.

I'm looking forward to next week anyway. It's fun to watch the performances and root for our favorites. I hope they will eventually let the ones who also play instruments or write their own songs show what they can do.

I have only sung a couple of times on stage when I took a vocal class, and I was petrified. How these young people can be brave enough to sing live on TV, and face an immediate public critique, is beyond me.

Say goodbye to girls Heather Cox and (thank you) Brenna Gethers.

This week Chris Daughtry of the boys shone the best. Of the girls Mandisa was the best.

There are many good competitors, though, so we'll see next week if someone else gives them a run for their money. Taylor still makes me smile from ear to ear and Paris has an expressive voice that reaches me on an emotional level. (Did I mention that Ace is extremely cute?)

Sooooo glad that obnoxious Brenna was voted off. Her background story shows that her "__ you" attitude may have served her well during tough times in her past, but her behavior is very inappropriate in the context of a singing competition. American Idol is not only about talent, which I think she has, but about likeability.

Oh, well. Chris should have won.

Bill

WHAT was up with Clay Aiken?? I don't particularly care for him, but his appearance was just bizarre. Pasty faced with dark Beatlesque hair? Yikes!

Yes, I was thinking Clay had a Beatles hairdo. If I close my eyes when I listen to his voice I really like his singing. I felt a bit worried about Meat Loaf -- he didn't look well or sound well.

I would have preferred that Chris win, of course, because I'm more of a rock aficionado. Of the final two, Taylor has a strong, passionate vocal style plus he writes songs and plays guitar & harmonica. Not a bad choice in my opinion. DH was disappointed because he wanted the beauty to win.

Katharine: