New Orleans Eats Forums at NOLAEats.com

...you should have waited until this week, tonight in particular.

AI fans, I feel your pain. Things have sucked in a major way so far this season. But, a glimmer of hope ignited last week with the girls, continued this week with the ladies again, and tonight, the boys gave us all reason to believe that AI wasn't quite as dead and over as has been recently reported. Who watched, and what did you think? I thought even the worst were a cut above their previous performances, including Big Mike Lynche, who brought Kara to tears, and lucked-into-the-top-24 Tim Urban, who finally proved why he deserves to be included.

I wasn't that impressed with Big Mike (although I like the hell out of him) and I find Kara fake. Ellen was much more fun this week than ever before. I've found her kind of flat. I did like Tim Urban, it surprised me how much better he was, and most of the other guys did well also. Out of the girls, only three impressed me much aside from Crystal. But I agree MUCH better than previous weeks.

I won't stop watching until Simon quits. Then I'm probably out of there.

I was ready to write Tim Urban's "Hallelujah" off as trite before he even opened his mouth. I mean, Jason Castro pretty much set the bar on that one during his run. But I have to admit he acquitted himself quite nicely on it. Re: Michael Lynche, I think it transcended, although I can't say there was anything I really hated tonight (other than maybe being disappointed somewhat yet again with Andrew Garcia).

And yes, I don't think the show would miss Kara whatsoever, if she were gone.

I'm with you..get rid of Kara! As for the contestants...I still don't have a favorite. For this week...girls..I liked Lilly and Crystal...guys....I liked Tim Urban..I think Mike is great..but, he isn't one of my favorites.

I still don't see what the big deal is about the Casey James kid...yeah, he's cute..but, I'm not impressed with his vocal abilities.

Pretty much all of them sounded better tonight, but Casey, Aaron, and surprisingly because I usually hate her, Paige were the best. Garcia was back again too and Crystal as always.

I'm going out on a limb and predicting a final four: Michael, Aaron, Siobhan, Crystal. Sorry, no Paige for me. Michael has a recording contract no matter the outcome. Aaron's "Angie" tonight left me wanting for the full-length version, it was that good. Siobhan is a student of Adam Lambert, and that's a good thing. Crystal, win or not, is a virtuoso of her genre.

I agree with your picks. Unless Paige continues to show well, I don't think she has a chance except that vote for the worst supports her. She's usually terrible.

Siobhan. She's good too. I loved Adam. I'm not as attached to her yet. We'll see what they do next. Wonder who will go. The exits have been surprising this year.

Nothing tonight changed my assessment of last week. A shame, in that none of the rest stepped up to make it more than a four-horse race in a field of eleven.

I was bored to death last night. I'm going to keep watching but I'm pretty sure this will be my last year. The judges were the only thing worth watching, even Kara made me like her a little last night due to some on-target critiques. But Simon was crabby (understandably, he'd probably watched rehearsal) and so he was no fun either.

Now that they're down to the nine, things are getting better. I was sure that Andrew was a goin' but then it turned out to be Big Mike. I have mixed feelings about Mike. There are times I really like him and times that he irritates me. I was surprised because I do feel he deserves to be there longer than some of the others so I'm glad he was saved.

Adam is next weeks mentor. Looking forward to seeing him again. He and Siobhan can have a scream off.