They felt sort of the same, but they felt like they were genuinely him.

I think the "felt the same" is the problem for him. It means he's playing it safe, within his comfort zone. He's doing it right, but in the wrong way.

TC: Interview with Ming Tsai.

Oh, I agree, he's sort of a one-trick pony - heartfelt, emotional ballads R him. But, you know, he's 17 and doesn;t seem like the world's most mature 17 year old at that; I would hope that with maturity he'd come to have more than 1 thing that's his thing. He's really still a kid in many ways. A nice & talented kid, but not ready for the level of attention this is bringing, I'm afraid.

Yeah, I gotta go with tiggy and Amy on this one. I love David Archuleta (not so much that I want to squish him and pop his head off, though) but I don't think he's been bringing strikingly original takes on songs to the table on a weekly basis. In fact, I think one of his problems has been that he tries to sing every song exactly as he heard it on the radio, even when he doesn't have the voice for it. I'm thinking specifically of his Stevie Wonder debacle. Even if he hadn't had a total meltdown and forgotten all the words that week, it still wouldn't have been a good performance for him, IMHO, becuase he was doing a spot on, note for note take on the song and he doesn't have a Stevie Wonder voice. He has a great voice, but it doesn't sound anything like Stevie's.

I actually think a lot of the kids in this year's crop of contestants do a good job of changing up the songs that they choose and "making it their own". From Chikezie's joyful Beatles to Carly's lovely "Here you Come Again" to Jason's very interesting "Fragile" to Michael John's Dolly. Hell, even KLC did something different (heinous, but different) to "Eight Days a Week." I wish David A. would do more of that, but I think he's really just too young (and too controlled by his father).

Nina Garcia fired from Elle!

Wow. That's unexpected. And I still can't believe they moved the show to Lifetime. Lifetime must have paid BIG bucks for that.

I wonder if this means that she won't be one of the judges next season.

Ugh! The first comment in that thread is "People get sick of snotty women!"

Rock of Love finale = awesome. I can't wait for the reunion!

It's almost embarassing how much I really believe that Bret has(had) to figure out what he really wants, both this season and last. Both times came down to a stripper vs. a more sensible-seeming girl, and both times one was young and one was closer to his age. (Although the combinations were different). I think he's genuinely conflicted. Which is a little sad for someone in his 40s, but whatever.

Although if he ever figures it out, what will happen to Joel mcHale? There's always Flav, I suppose.