Only surprise last week on those who were sent home was on the Girls side with Michelle Delamor, who I’m sure thought she was in no danger. But as Kara said, when the judges listened back to her performance after the show, it really was all over the place and very pitchy. I personally thought it was a poor performance, but didn’t think she’d be sent home before a few others in front of her.

The big buzz today is Simon Cowell’s appearance on the Jay Leno show last night where he endorsed Crystal Bowersox! Simon made it very clear that he’s a huge fan of Crystal. Simon said, “I tell you who I like, I like this girl Crystal," Cowell said. "When I first saw her, I described her as a busker, and I liked the way she handled that, because she admitted that's what she was. But she's got some confidence now. She was ill, she's got over that, she's got a great voice. She's different. I like her."

If everyone’s healthy this week, and there’s not another last minute schedule swap, expect the top 8 girls to perform on American Idol Season 9 tonight. With only 16 folks left, we get a measly 3 hours of Idol this week! The show falls back to one hour tonight and starts at 8 p.m. on Fox. The top 8 boys will perform tomorrow night, with elimination night falling again on Thursday night.

The gals have such awesome potential, much more so than the guys. My TOP 4 favs this week for the Gals are: Lilly Scott, Crystal Bowersox, Siobhan Magnus, and throw in Katelyn Epperly as my new ‘Dark Horse’, as she’s starting to grow on me. Bottom 2 gals for me are Lacey Brown, unless she can get her act together QUICKLY, because she does have the potential, and Paige Miles, who sounds like she’s congested all the time. Other 2 gals who really need a BIG performance are Katie Stevens and Diddi Benami, who if they don’t step up, could be in real trouble this week.

TOP 4 guys for me are: Aaron Kelly, Casey James, and Lee Dewyze, with Michael ‘Big Mike’ Lynche as my new Dark Horse after last week’s awesome performance. Andrew Garcia, originally a favorite, is fading fast and really needs to step up BIG this week! All the other guys need solid performances this week as well, or they all could be in trouble and risk being sent home.

Here’s some interesting info…..the latest Entertainment ‘betting odds’ on who will win IDOL Season 9 are as follows:

Aaron Kelly 22/1; Alex Lambert 20/1; Andrew Garcia 6/1; Casey James 11/2; Lee Dewyze 9/2; Michael Lynche 40/1; Tim Urban 70/1 ; Todrick Hall 50/1

Paige Miles 40/1; Siobhan Magnus 5/1; Lilly Scott 12/1; Crystal Bowersox 4/1; Didi Benami 20/1; Katelyn Epperly 16/1; Katie Stevens 12/1; Lacey Brown 50/1

So….who are you most wanting to see perform this week? Who’s your favorites? More from Eddie Idol on who should stay and which two gals and guys should be sent packing after they perform over the next two nights….so stay tuned!