The girls were WAILIN'

Editor's note: Matt's made it much farther than we expected, as he continues his travails through American Idol's sixth season.

TiVo, I'm convinced, was expressly created for those of us who don't really want to watch American Idol. The show works well when you can control how much you watch. Now, please don't take that the wrong way... it sounds like I'm being down on the show, but I'm enjoying this much more than I could have ever expected... I just don't need to watch two full hours.

So tonight, I've watched the performances and the judges' comments, even (shudder to think) skipping over most of the Seacrest. Here's how the ladies did...

STEPHANIE EDWARDS: Her song started out drab and she put her vocal aerobics ahead of her singing. She outsang herself, I think. She's definitely a performer, as Paula just said, but she wasn't as entertaining as the judges said.

AMY KREBS: I dug her a lot more than I remember in the opening rounds, where I was pretty unimpressed with the women. I think she could have picked something that would have showcased her voice a bit more. I like the fact that Randy and Paula agreed with what I just typed.

LESLIE HUNT: I figured I'd get a silly crush on one of the women early on. And I can't even say it ended when she started singing (even though it probably should have). I'm not sure I'll have to worry about that after tomorrow night, though. I concur completely with Simon that she looked uncomfortable.

SABRINA SLOAN: Girl ROCKED it. Serious voice and I'd be scared if I were in the competition with her. Almost a poor ending, but now I want to see her do a rock song so I can officially join the bandwagon.

ANTONELLA BARBA: I'm not supposed to be rooting against the hometown girl, but it's really rough when you're trying to get a paper out and you still don't have a story about her with very little time left. Either way, I don't really think she did that well at all. She recovered a few times really well, but when you can't live up to Steven Tyler's raspy, drugged-out voice, you may have to find a different sort of competition. I thought she was better earlier. I agree with Simon that she's probably out.

JORDIN SPARKS: I liked it a lot. Not the best so far, but not anywhere near the worst. Better than all the guys, and MAN did she end strong.

(Halfway thorough, I'm hoping someone comes up with a song that has a bit of tempo to it at some point this evening.)

NICOLE TRANQUILLO: Nice funky song choice. She's another one that deserves to stick around for a while. It was nice to see energy. I can tell you before even hearing them that the judges are gonna give her crap (Randy did -- I can see how he and Simon thought it was outside her genre).

HALEY SCARNATO: She hit all the notes she needed to, but man that was boring. Cute smile, but no personality at all. Watch out if she picks things up though, she could take over.

MELINDA DOLITTLE: I knew I could count on her for some tempo. She's got a vintage sound to her that I've got no problem with at all. Another one who'll make things hard on the guys. I hope she's not a one trick pony.

ALAINA ALEXANDER: I expected quite a bit more from her than the bar band tune she turned out. She's better than that... and she'll need to do better if she's gonna stick around.

GINA GLOCKSEN: She showed off her voice a bit at the end, but not enough to overcome a droll beginning. She's got more personality than her song shows... and it didn't help that she brought out ANOTHER Celine Dion tune. I was rooting for her, too. I'll keep rooting, but, c'mon.

LAKISHA JONES: I read the story before I saw the show, so I was already aware she stole it right out from under everyone. I'm not a fan of the sentimental favorite in any competition, so you won't see me cheering her on, but... in all seriousness... WOW.

Thumbs up: Amy Krebs, Sabrina Sloan, Jordin Sparks, Nicole Tranquillo, Melinda Dolittle, LaKisha Jones.
OK: Stephanie Edwards, Haley Scarnato, Gina Glocksen.
Thumbs down: Leslie Hunt, Antonella Barba, Alaina Alexander.

Hometown girl's goin' home Jersey Shore. No doubt about it. Unless you got those fingers a'dialing. But if our overpopulated state is even able to save her, I'd be surprised. You'll probably see Leslie go home, too.

I'm going to admit it right now, I'm hooked. The guys were significantly unimpressive, but to see some of these ladies square off for the rest of the season's going to be a treat. Now I just have to find room in my TiVo schedule for what'll probably be a useless results show Thursday.