Last week I wrote that I thought the judges on “American Idol” were making a big mistake by making Ashton Jones a wild card, and not sending Robbie Rosen through. Was my point made loud and clear? Yes. More on that in a minute.

Last night’s results show was thankfully only an hour, unlike last week’s two-hour marathon. They showed footage of the contestants living in their Hollywood mansion, and then showed their awful group number, a Michael Jackson medley. Blech.

Then Ryan Seacrest mentioned that Casey Abrams was in the hospital again, but that he’d be back on stage next week. Yikes. We hope Casey is okay.

So Seacrest then had Jacob, Karen and Stefano come to the front of the stage. And he said, “All of you are safe……audience goes wild….except Karen.” Karen was in the bottom 3. Man, Seacrest blew that. How annoying for Karen and her fans. Anyway, Jacob and Stefano were safe.

Then Adam Lambert sang his new single, “Aftermath,” in stripped-down, acoustic fashion, and it was pretty good. But his screams are still just so annoying.

Next up, Lauren, Ashton and Haley were called to the front of the stage. Lauren was safe. And Ashton and Haley were both in the bottom 3. So everyone else–James, Paul, Pia, Casey, Scotty, Thia and Naima–joined Lauren, Jacob and Stefano in safety and will be back next week. The bottom 3 was Karen, Ashton and Haley.

Then the hip-hop super group of Diddy Dirty Money performed, and the song was actually really good.

Back to the results. Karen was safe. So it was down to Ashton and Haley. I really like Haley, but I felt like Randy Jackson in particular slammed her for no reason on Wednesday night. The person with the least number of votes this week was….Ashton. But wait….the judges’ save returns this season, which means they could save her…again. So Ashton sang the same crappy version of a Diana Ross tune, and the judges announced that they would not be using their only save for the season on Ashton.

Whew. That was a good call, America….and a good call by the judges because basically, they already gave her a second chance. And that reinforces what I said–that Ashton did not belong in the finals to begin with. Ah, redemption. But of course, Robbie Rosen is still watching the show from home just like I am.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week….

To the contestants on “American Idol,” if you’ve made it to this week’s Final Four, you’re either on the verge of winning it all, or of being a pretender and fading into the show’s collective oblivion soon. Mentor Jamie Foxx signified as much when he had t-shirts made up that said “contestant” and “artist,” and told each one of them that they had to earn their artist shirt this week to prove they are ready. Corny, yes, but effective and correct. The theme this week was songs from movies, which is about as vast a catalog as there is.

I was wondering how they were going to either stretch four performances into an hour, or cram eight performances into that hour. What they did was meet in the middle and have them perform two duets, making it a comfy six performances in the hour. Nicely done, producers.

Anyway, here is our recap….

THE REALLY GOOD

The duet between Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox was flat-out awesome. They chose “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once. The song is great to begin with, but these two absolutely nailed it and had nice stage chemistry. Randy said it was a big difference from the first two solo performances (Lee and Mike)…Ellen said it was like watching the Captain and Tennille…Kara said they had great chemistry and it was one of the best moments of the season, and I agree completely….Simon said it was fantastic. Yep, pretty much.

THE GOOD

Crystal took on Kenny Loggins’ “I’m Alright” from the movie Caddyshack, and on the surface it seemed like an odd choice, but it was a very cool, funky version that proved one thing–Crystal wants to win it all. Randy said Crystal is a true artist but it wasn’t his favorite performance of hers….Ellen said she took the song and actually made it better than the original….Kara agreed with Ellen…and Simon said Crystal is now back in the game after a couple of mediocre weeks. Agreed.

THE PRETTY GOOD

Big Mike Lynche did Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” from Free Willy, and it seemed like a hard song to sing, but Mike did a pretty good job with it. However, the judges didn’t quite see it that way. Randy said it was a cool song choice, but he didn’t love it….Ellen said it was a bit predictable…Kara said she wanted something akin to when Mike did “Woman’s Work” and that he played it too safe…and Simon agreed with the other judges but said Mike did give it 100%.

THE MEDIOCRE

Lee kicked things off with Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” and it just felt bland and out of tune. This was an instance where I questioned the fact that Lee has made it this far, because it totally lacked any star quality. Randy said Lee did nothing with the song and that it was just okay and pitchy in spots…Ellen said more could have been done with the song, but Lee is still so good….Kara said while Lee had a great week last week, this was a difficult song for him…and Simon said he agreed with Randy, that with so many great songs to choose from, this one sounded a bit karaoke-ish.

The duet between Casey James and Big Mike was Bryan Adams’ “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” and for me, it was pretty boring. I don’t like this song to begin with, and it wasn’t awful, but it was just, well, blah. However, the judges were freaking out about how good they thought it was. Say what? Randy said he loved Casey’s guitar playing and that the two sounded great together…Ellen said “I have loved a woman,” which was her best line of the season…Kara said both duets last night were incredible…and Simon said Jamie should give artist shirts to both duets. Whatever.

THE NOT SO GOOD

Casey’s solo performance was Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate, and I was questioning this choice from the start. And yeah, it was very, very bland. Talk about safe…this was the safest and worst song choice of the bunch last night. Randy said he wondered why Casey would choose that song but that he liked the cool, laid back version. He then started poking fun of Kara, who has had a crush on Casey all season, for obvious reasons…Ellen said Casey got beat up by the judges last week but she liked the way he changed things up this week….Kara said she liked the choice, and that he is fighting to stay in the competition….and Simon said the song and performance had no substance and that it came across as lazy. I totally agree with Simon on this one.

So that’s it. Crystal and Lee are probably safe, if anything because of that awesome duet. Mike and Casey will be in danger of heading home, and I’m going to say it again this week…it should be Casey’s time to board a plane back to Texas. But it wouldn’t surprise me if it was Big Mike either.

What do you all think? Let me know and we’ll see you back here tomorrow….

As Fox tries desperately to compete with NBC’s Winter Olympic coverage, they keep unveiling “first time in American Idol history” type stuff, which really is just a small break in format during Hollywood week.
But I’ll give them this…they are getting down to the final 24 quickly. Almost too quickly.

Last night’s two-hour episode began with the final 71 contestants being broken into three rooms. Two rooms would hold those advancing to the next round, and one room full of those heading home. This, after one final shot to impress the judges with a solo performance.

Since they showed bits and pieces of various performances in rapid-fire fashion, we’ll make comments the same way…..

28 year old Angela Martin, who has had the longest string of bad luck any of us has ever seen, was decent but notably shaky in her performance. Of course, her mom was reported missing, I believe right before Hollywood week began. You are not human if you don’t feel bad for Angela…..Casey James did Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly” and it was a super cool acoustic guitar version (though I personally can’t stand the song)….Jermaine did “Brick House,” and while it was one of the choices available, you have to wonder why dude chose the song played at every single American wedding…another Jermaine, Jermaine Sellers, did a decent version of Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”….then 19 year old Siobhan, who we haven’t seen much of so far, did an amazing version of Stevie Wonder’s “Livin’ For the City.” Keep an eye on this girl….then guitar-wielding Crystal Bowersox did a pretty good version of Sheryl Crow’s “If it Makes You Happy.” Good but not great…..Alex Lambert broke out his ukelele and did a song that I hate more than “Bubbly,” Jason Mraz’ “I’m Yours.” It was okay, but I still hate the song….then big Michael Lynche also did the Jason Mraz tune, and he was okay but the version was not as good as Lambert’s….17 year old Thaddeus did an awesome version of “Man in the Mirror, much to the delight of his very animated mom…17 year old Charity Vance did “Gravity,” though I’m not sure whose song that is, and it was okay, as was Tasha Layton’s guitar version of Coldplay….Mary Powers, who for my money is way too cocky to make the final 24, was as cover bandy as ever….big Lloyd Thomas, after crying in front of the microphone for a while, did an okay version of “Man in the Mirror”….Brian, the police officer from Tennessee, didn’t do very well but was pleased with some sort of weird hand gesture Simon gave him….20 year old Hope Johnson did a not-very-good rendition of Daughtry’s “Home”….19 year old Shelby Dressel, who has that disorder that affects the nerves on one side of her mouth, chose Boston’s “More than a Feeling,” a very very odd choice both for her and for the producers who made it available, and it was just okay….Aaron Kelly, who forgot the words to Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel,” was still pretty good….Ashley Rodriguez did Jordin Sparks’ “Battlefield,” a curious choice because you then are going to be measured with an Idol champ, and it wasn’t that great….Then Lee Dewyze, Joe Munoz and Haeley Vaughn all went in very rapid-fire fashion, and were all just mediocre, at least in my book….finally there was Janell Wheeler, who was losing her voice during Hollywood week and struggled in her final showing before the judges.

So the contestants were then split into three rooms, and the judges met with them one by one. First, Room 1, and it was a yes for them. That room included Siobhan, Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens, Casey James and big Michael Lynche. Then Room 2, and they let Simon give this group the bad news that they were going home. This group included Mary Powers (thankfully), Brian the cop, Charity Vance, Lloyd Thomas and Hope Johnson. Finally, Room 3 was a yes, and this set included Ashley Rodriguez, Angela Martin and Shelby Dressel.

So after that, we were down from 71 to 46, as the 25 contestants in Room 2 were sent packing. But wait, there was more than an hour left in the show at this point. So they would begin the next round, which was meeting with each contestant, not in a conference room, but on a small stage in the middle of the Kodak Theatre “for the first time in American Idol history”…..so lame.

One by one, they were ushered to meet the judges by Ryan Seacrest, and the four judges would tell them individually if they had made it to the next round, which was the Final 24, the TV round in which America would do the voting.

First up, Michael Lynche, the dude whose wife had given birth to their first child at the start of Hollywood week. Simon said something about how he didn’t feel Michael believes in himself the way that the judges believe in him, but that the news was good–he was in the Top 24.

Didi Benami was next, and while none of us remember much about Didi, she also advanced. So did Catelyn, who I don’t remember much about and I can’t even picture her now, but I did write “eh” next to her name, so I don’t think I agreed with the choice.

Shelby Dressel was next and she was the first to be told she was going home. Too bad for her, but I have to believe part of the reason was that horrible song choice of “More Than a Feeling.”

Casey James made it to the Top 24, and Kara, who quite obviously has a crush on this dude, lifted one of her legs when hugging Casey, something Randy Jackson noticed and made fun of profusely afterward. Ha! 16 year old Aaron Kelly also made it through, because you always need a short, wimpy Kevin Covais or David Archuleta type….Lee Dewyze, who has a voice like (argh) Scott Stapp from Creed, also made it to the TV round, and I really have no idea why…..so did Todrick, who I think is the dude who sang alongside Fantasia in “The Color Purple.”

Finally, Jessica Furney was told she was going home, but then she unleashed a fury of begging and pleading that was, well, epic. This had to be a producer’s dream, as Jessica repeated over and over, “You have no idea what I can do.” Um, yes, Jessica, they do have an idea, because you just sang for them like four times. As Mrs. Mike pointed out, Jessica had the “crazy eyes” and started to get more and more belligerent with the judges, who simply told her their minds were made up and that was that.

So 7 of the final 24 have been announced with 17 more being chosen tonight–10 more girls and 7 more guys. I have to admit, I’m starting to get nervous for my favorite so far, Andrew Garcia. Seacrest made some comment about a “shocking elimination” and they even showed a dejected Garcia walking down the aisle at the Kodak in previews….please, tell me they didn’t let Lee Dweeby in and not my boy…please, don’t tell me that, because if you do, I’m going to go all Jessica Furney on you.

So that’s it everyone…after tonight we will have our Top 24, and the real competition will begin next Tuesday. Thanks for reading and see you all back here tomorrow….

* Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” tested as the most memorable film commercial during last night’s hugely rated Superbowl and understandably so, it’s genuinely beautiful stuff. Past versions of the classic, however, have been somewhat hampered by the episodic — you might even say pre-Pythonesque — structure of Lewis Carrol/Charles Dodgson’s freewheeling children’s literary classic. (The first work of art to ever really blow my mind, I think.) The idea this time is to get around that problem by turning the film into something like a sequel to the original as concocted by writer Linda Woolverton. Storylines, or the lack thereof, have been Burton’s Achilles heel in the past, so this should be interesting.

* The late Michael Jackson’s doctor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

* We’ve had movies based on toys and board games, so why not a new movie based on this blog?

* In the seventies and eighties, horror films were often named after holidays. Now it’s ensemble romantic comedies, apparently.

* “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” meet “Mr. and Mrs. Jones.” (I guess “Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Episode 1” didn’t do well in focus groups.)

* I’ve always loved Robert Wise’s great film of “The Andromeda Strain” and there are few movies I’ve detested more than Wolfgang Peterson’s “Outbreak.” (A virus is threatening all of humanity and I’m supposed to be distracted by an adorable monkey on loan from an overrated sitcom and helicopter chases???) I’m sure Steve Soderbergh’s “Contagion” will at least try to be closer to the Wise approach. Soderbergh may be uneven because he’s so unafraid to take huge chances, but when he pulls a movie together, few are better.

* Yet another item from Deadline|Hollywood’s ace, non-venomous reporter, reporter, Mike Fleming. Ami Canaan Mann, daughter of Michael Mann, is directing her first big feature (but not her first feature). It’s an intriguing sounding fact-inspired thriller about a series of unsolved Texas murders tied with the drug trade.

* Our very sincere condolences to the friends, family, and avid readers of writer and horror/gore maven Chas Balun, who died of cancer on December 18th. Probably mostly because of my phobia of the kind of movies he championed, Balun’s name wasn’t immediately familiar to me before this, but clearly the author and longtime contributor to Fangoria and Gorezone was a writer whose work meant a great deal to genre fans as well as a very sincere film geek/cinephile, and for that he has my respect. The Fangoria blog has a very good obituary.

* Sony has not been including a screener DVD for Duncan Jones’ highly regarded science fiction film, “Moon,” in its pre-Oscar promotional package. The result: “Twitter storm“!

* It’s now Sir Peter Jackson to you.  Considering the positive impact his LOTR tour de force must have had on the New Zealand economy, they might have considered making him king. Okay, New Zealand doesn’t have one. Also, I gather it’s more of a British Commonwealthy kind of a thing.

* Netflix recently expanded its list of “Play Instantly” films recently via a deal with Starz. This has made the studios a bit antsy, though Netflix content chief Richard Sarandos is a valued customer. This BusinessWeek article is worth a look if you’re interested in the future of home movie viewing which, like it or not, is how most of us — even a purist like me — see most of our movies now.

* The process DisneyPixar is using for it’s next princess movie, “Rapunzel,” sounds like a blending of CGI/3-D and with more of a 2-D hand-drawn look, if that’s possible and I’m sure if anyone can make it possible, it’s these folks. Anyhow, I’m convinced that ordinary Pixar-style animation won’t work for this kind of story, so I’ll be very interested to see how it turns out. The art /film has is quite pretty, however.

* Following it’s fairly lame box office performance over last weekend, “Nine” is being yanked out of about five hundred theaters, with 890 screens remaining. [UPDATE: The key word in the report I linked to was, it turns out, “likely” as in “not certain”. Here’s the updated news.]  Earlier this year, the Weinstein Company enjoyed a break with the solid success of “Inglourious Basterds,” which was something of a surprise at the time, given the mixed response the first cut of the film had at Cannes and the fact that a large percentage of the dialogue-heavy movie is subtitled. This surprise lack of success (less surprising if you look at the reviews and the vague marketing), however, is not good news for the brothers Weinstein and their employees, I’m guessing.

* The numbers aren’t as astronomical as for the Hollywood, but Bollywood and China’s studios are doing well right at the moment. Topping it off for South Asia is the comedy-musical-melodrama hit, “Three Idiots.” Coincidentally, Anne Thompson has seen the film and liked it quite a bit. I haven’t seen a Bollywood film I’ve liked much since 2002’s hugely fun “Lagaan,” but this one sounds promising to me. I mean, how can I not have at least some affection for a national film industry where musicals are actually the default format?

* The annual ritual in which the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry picks 25 significant films to be given special status regarding preservation has occurred. It’s not a “best of” list but a “most culturally important” grouping, though there’s obviously some crossover there. For many of us, I’m sure, the most obviously overdo title is Sergio Leone’s 1968 masterpiece, “Once Upon a Time in the West,” which was homaged very directly in the opening sequence of “Inglourious Basterds,”

The great cinephile blogger, the Self-Styled Siren, notably did not care for that film but, as if the to compensate her, a Siren favorite was added, William Wyler’s 1938 “Jezebel.” Also included was Sidney Lumet’s 1975 “Dog Day Afternoon”; Rouben Mamoulian’s 1940 swashbuckler, “The Mark of Zorro” (a personal favorite of mine since childhood, and not only because it’ s the only period sword-fight movie set entirely in L.A., though long before freeways and the Chinese Theater); “Mrs. Miniver,” a classic piece of soapy, entertaining World War II Hollywood propaganda from, once again, the great and greatly underrated William Wyler; 1979’s wonderful “The Muppet Movie”; “Pillow Talk” the Doris Day/Rock Hudson sex comedy that started a whole cycle of giggly innuendo-fests; the well-regarded 1957 sci-fi hit written by Richard Matheson, “The Incredible Shrinking Man,” and the John Landis-directed 1983 Michael Jackson video, “Thriller,” which certainly was culturally significant, no getting around that. You can see the complete details on the official press release. H/t Cinematical.