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Newsflash: Ryan and Paula say they are are talking again! Now I can sleep at night.

Put your hands together, and give an Abdul child-like clap for the emotionally unstable panel of AI judges and the unprecedented apology from Simon. The smarmy Brit told Katharine that after watching her performance again, he did not give it the "right appraisal."

Tuesday night, the audience thought Katharine was magnificent. You could tell she did too, but the panel, not so much.

Ryan, at first, singled out Simon when he said FOX received "lots of calls about the judges being unfair." He then went down the line through Simon, Paula and Randy -- and they each reneged on their critique of Katharine. However, I didn't hear Ryan apologizing for his part in all this. And I quote the host's comment to Katharine, "for those who didn't have the volume up, I'm sure you're going to get plenty of votes."

So... more than 47.5 million votes were dialed in for the remaining six contestants. That's the highest non-finale vote in American Idol history!

Andrea Bocelli's "Because We Believe" was brilliant, flawless. That said, I was antsy for the results and found myself fantasizing about a bubble bath or dinner by candlelight during it. I almost forgot what I was watching and changed the channel. American Idol really needs movement. Hopefully the contestants shake it up next week. Hint, hint, Taylor.

Wait, Ryan didn't announce if another famous singer would be performing and working with the top five in the upcoming round. Who has the inside track on this?

They split up the six contestants in three groups of two come decision time. Exactly how I envisioned it: Chris and Katharine had the most votes. Not far behind that,Elliot and Taylor. And the bottom two were Kellie and Paris.

Well lookie here, America got it right, Pickler's packin'. And I don't "play dumb" as well as the country bumpkin herself, so I can't say I'm surprised. Miss twang got herself in a pickle. Her performances did not pack enough punch the last couple of weeks. Not to mention the "act" that could only take her so far in this competition.

The justice I was talking about last week was served! Now, the gloves are off and the show is over for Kellie, who actually sounded halfway intelligent last night as she closed the show thanking her fans. I am giving a big thanks and hallelujah to the producers for not having time in this episode to squeak out that awful rendition of "Unchained Melody" again.

The standard montage with the "cause you had a bad day" song really fit this week's ousted performer -- unlike last week when Ace was voted off. That's because he did not have a bad day last week!

Okay, okay, while I'm on the subject if you really want to know...
What I learned from Ace on the little I caught of the talk show circuit this past week: He's going to be tossing beanies off the stage on the AI tour. (Note to sit front and center.) And the heartthrob says everyone who voted for him gets a hug, no matter what.

I wonder if I can exchange all the votes I cast for him -- for a bigger
prize? Hmmmm.
By the way, Lisa Tucker made a somewhat predictable appearance in the Idol audience last night too. Oh shocker – she plugged her O.C. debut tonight on Fox at 9pm.

How quick do you think it will take Kellie to land a gig? My guess is she'll be just fine. So congrats Kellie! Really, I mean it -- for working the system and staying in it this long. Number six! It took smarts to be so dumb.

Until next week... and before I see the performances, I say Paris is out.
J