Let last night's bottom two of Stephanie Edwards and Chris Richardson serve as a reminder of who's Idol this is. I get the feeling the creators of this show, known as "Pop Idol" in other countries, knew exactly what they were doing when they made the name change for the United States version. After all, we're a land of cynics, pranksters and racists... and they were putting us in charge of a talent show?

This call-out isn't a direct response to my AI6 pick getting the boot 10 weeks earlier than predicted. I realize Stephanie has steadily regressed since her round of 24 effort and I have since admitted that she might be hard-pressed to last longer than a 7th place finish. Of course had she not been eliminated before several less-impressive contestants, she might have once again found her groove and began to regain the momentum she had lost. But probably not, since it appeared that she was just a bit out of her league.

Rather my disappointment lies in the fact that the combination of Stephanie AND Chris represented the 2 lowest vote-getters this week. For one or the other to slip through the cracks and potentially be sent home early has become a standard of the show... the bottom 3 has its surprises. But to think that the motley crew of Malakar, Stacy, Scarnato, Sligh & Glockson (get your tour tickets now!) were comfortably seated while either standing contestant wasn't even going to crack the top 10 is a farce. Shame on a country.

The good news is the Wizards are in the middle of a west-coast swing and "all that is right with the world" aired on Comcast Sports Net shortly after Idol. The WashWiz/SuperSonics tilt had its ups and downs, its highlights and lulls. But at the contest's close, with less than fractions of time remaining on the game-clock and the scoreboard's dueling focal points harmoniously exact, Agent 0's floating essay embraced Key Arena's northern window and incontrovertibly caromed through the goal for a two point basket. Wizards win. No strings attached.

Labels: AI, Holy Thesaurus, NBA, WashWiz