Revisiting My Playoff Predictions

Okay, now that all the series have gone at least four games, let's revisit my predictions and marvel at my stupidity.

Red Wings/Oilers

My prediction: Red Wings in 5
Currently: Oilers lead 3-2

Ok, I clearly misunderestimated the Oilers, as President Bush might say. Basically, Roloson has stood on his head and outperformed what he had done down the stretch. Also, it turns out playing in a division with Chicago, Columbus, and St. Louis may not have been the best playoff preparation for the Wings.

Stars/Avalanche
My prediction: Stars in 5
Currently: Avalanche lead 3-1

I had forgotten that Marty Turco has a less than stellar playoff record, and overlooked that much of Dallas's regular season success was due to the shootout. Still, they've been close; all four games could have gone either way.

Flames/Mighty Ducks
My prediction: Mighty Ducks in 7
Currently: tied 2-2; Flames lead 2-0 in 1st period of game 5

Other than underestimating Calgary's offense, I was rather accurate. I thought this one would be close, and I've been proven right so far.

Predators/Sharks
My prediction: Sharks in 4
Currently: Sharks lead 3-1

So Chris Mason stole Game 1; that's the only thing keeping this series from going exactly as I predicted. Still, I feel somewhat vindicated. Nashville, much like Detroit, appears to have been hurt by playing in the Central Division, with Chicago, Columbus, and St. Louis. I think that it is worth noting that all four lower seeds in the West (Oilers, Avs, Ducks, and Sharks) could all wind up winning. Has that ever happened before? I doubt it. Yes, San Jose was my pick to win the West; I stand by that.

Senators/Lightning
My Prediction: Senators in 6
Currently: Senators won 4-1

Basically, the Lightning suffered from horrible goaltending; unfortunate for them, but it led to the soundbite of the playoffs, John Tortorella's rant after game 4. "A save would be nice," might be the quote of the year. That's about the only highlight I can think of, though.

Hurricanes/Canadiens
My prediction: Canadiens in 7
Currently: tied 2-2

The Canadiens looked so good in the first two games. Then Saku Koivu went down, and the Canadiens have not looked quite so good. On the bright side, Justin Williams (who has gotten away with two blatant high-sticks, including the one that knocked Koivu out) has replaced Sean Avery as my least-favorite hockey player. I'm not sure that Montreal can win without Koivu, but it looks like they'll have to.

Devils/Rangers
My prediction: Devils in 6
Currently: Devils won 4-0

The hot team (the Devils, riding an 11-game winning streak into the playoffs) beat the cold team (the Rangers) who happened to lose their best player (Jagr) late in Game 2. The Rangers weren't going to win the series, but a healthy Jagr could have allowed them to win one game. I'm still confident in the Devils as my East pick, but I'd pick them to win the Cup right now over San Jose.

Sabres/Flyers
My prediction: Flyers in 7
Currently: tied 2-2

Much like Flames/Ducks, this has gone pretty much as I anticipated. Game 1 was great; that first overtime period is the greatest period of hockey I have ever seen. I can't show you the whole period, but I can show you the highlight: an absolutely brutal (but completely clean) hit that Buffalo's Brian Campbell laid on Philadelphia's R.J. Umberger.

My East picks have been much more accurate than my West picks. Hmmmm. I guess that's because I watched much more Eastern games this year. Oh well; at least my Stanley Cup pick still looks good.

Dallas Cowboys Draft: Day 1

The Dallas Cowboys had only two picks today. One was a good pick, the other was not. Their first-round pick, Ohio State LB Bobby Carpenter, is one I like. While linebacker was not the Cowboys' most pressing need, he was probably the best player available, and LB was enough of a need that it is not totally ridiculous for the Cowboys to draft a LB in that spot. Plus, Carpenter's dad used to play for Parcells, so he has some idea of how to deal with Parcells, and that's a plus.

But I don't get the second-round pick, Notre Dame TE Anthony Fasano. He's a nice, solid, pass-catching tight end. My problem with this pick is that the Cowboys already have Jason Witten, who is not only a pass-catching tight end, but a top 5 pass-catching tight end in the league. In fact, you could make a case that tight end is the one position on the Cowboys roster in the best shape; why spend your second pick on a player who does not feel a pressing need when the offensive line is in desparate need of attention; I would have liked for the first-rounder to be spent on an offensive lineman, but the second-round pick absolutely needed to be spent on offensive line help. Parcells blew it here (or maybe Jerry Jones; I don't know which one is actually making the decisions.)

Holy Shit!

The Texans have signed Mario Williams, the NC State DE, to be the first player taken in the draft. Needless to say, this changes everything. So now, where does Reggie Bush go? My gut says that someone trades up to no. 2 and gives the Saints a shitload of picks in order to get Bush, which would be appropriate somehow. My best guess as to who would make the trade? The Indianapolis Colts. Can you imagine Bush in that loaded offense? Damn.

Ridiculous

So I'm half-heartedly watching the Rangers-Devils game on OLN (half-heartedly because it's 3-0 Devils and I'm listening to Habs-Canes on my XM radio) and, just after Montreal scored a goal on the radio to take a 1-0 lead, I hear a grating noise from the TV. Apparently, the cable company decided to test the Emergency Broadcast System. I realize that around here, no one gives a shit about hockey, but still: why would you test the Emergency Broadcast System, on any channel, at 8:20 PM? That seems to me like an excellent way to piss off your paying customers.

Barry Switzer: Worst Coach Ever?

Just look at this video and the accompanying summary and decide for yourself. Is Switzer the worst coach ever? No. He's not even the worst coach in Cowboys history. Here is one man's (mine) ranking of the coaches in Dallas Cowboys history, from best to worst.

1. Jimmy Johnson: 2 Super Bowls, and built the nucleus for the third one.
2. Tom Landry: raised the Cowboys from expansion laughingstock to title contender to title winner, but unfortunately then faded in the 80's
3. Bill Parcells: playoffs the first year, .500 since, and is now clearly going for the Super Bowl or bust this year; nothing spectacular in Dallas, but better than the morons that preceded him
4. Chan Gailey: mediocre at best, but did get to the playoffs both seasons he coached (even if he lost to the Arizona freaking Cardinals in that first season), and I'm pretty sure he would have punted in the above situation
5. Barry Switzer: won a Super Bowl with Jimmy Johnson's players in his second season; unfortunately bookended that Super Bowl win with playoff losses to the 49ers and the second-year Panthers, then missed the playoffs in his final season; loses points for trying to sneak a handgun onto a plane, then claiming he put in his bag to protect his grandkids; again: watch the above video; however, he was not as spectacularly bad as:
6. Dave Campo: 3 straight 5-11 seasons; sealed his exit by losing the first game of his third season to the Houston Texans (who, in case you've forgotten, were only playing their first game in franchise history), by far the most humiliating loss in Cowboys history; loses points for a Betty White-esque hairdo

Thank God!!!

Bob Gainey made it official today, announcing that Cristobal Huet will indeed start the playoffs for Montreal. This is good, because Huet has been excellent this year and, as I mentioned in my playoffs preview, Montreal's rookie goalies have a good track record in the playoffs (do the names Dryden and Roy mean anything to you?). So, let's hear it: Hip Hip Huet! Hip Hip Huet! Hip Hip Huet!

Correction

ESPN has fixed some (but not all) of their goalie mistakes. They have corrected: Huet for Theodore in Montreal, Esche for Nittymaki in Philadelphia, Theodore for Aebischer in Montreal, and Mason for Vokoun in Nashville. Unfortunately, they still have Nabokov instead of Toskala in San Jose, Hasek instead of Emery in Ottawa, and Markkanen instead of Roloson in Edmonton.

NHL Playoff Preview

Well, everyone's favorite time of year is now here: the NHL Playoffs! I, for one, am excited. ESPN, too, is excited, but unfortunately, in their excitement, they screwed up almost HALF of the starting goalies for the playoffs. Seriously, check it out: the starting goalies they have listed are not the current ones, but instead are the opening-night starters. I'm not quite sure how they slipped on that one, but just know that they did. Anyway, I will now preview and predict all of the first-round playoff matchups, and to further highlight my idiocy, will predict the rest of the playoffs from there, too! Let the bad guesses begin!

Western Conference

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (8) Edmonton Oilers
Right now, Detroit looks like the best team in the league; on paper, they are the most talented team in the league, and while they don't play the games on paper, I cannot see Edmonton providing too much of a challenge.
Goalies: Manny Legace (Detroit) vs. Dwayne Roloson (Edmonton)
ESPN's Goalies: Manny Legace (Detroit) vs. Jussi Markkanen (Edmonton; now the backup after Roloson was traded to Edmonton)
My Pick: Detroit in 5 (Edmonton has the talent to stealy a game, and they DID go 2-2 vs. Detroit this year, but Detroit is still too damn good.)

(2) Dallas Stars vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche
Hard for me to say, really; I haven't seen too many Western Conference teams this year. That said, without Forsberg and Foote, I just don't see them having the necessary toughness to win. Throw in the goalies (Theodore or Budaj: scary, and not for the Stars) this seems like an ugly series for the Avs. Yeah, I know Turco crapped the bed in the last playoffs, but neither Jose Theodore (whose Hart/Vezina 2002 season is looking more and more like a fluke) or Peter Budaj strikes near as much fear in me as does Turco.
Goalies: Marty Turco (Dallas) vs. Jose Theodore (Colorado, unless he falters)
ESPN's Goalies: Marty Turco (Dallas) vs. David Aebischer (Colorado; traded to Montreal for Jose Theodore; I still cannot believe that Bob Gainey was able to dupe Pierre Lacroix of all GM's on this one)
My Pick: Dallas in 5

(3) Calgary Flames vs. (6) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
The last two Western representatives in the Stanley Cup Finals, but the Ducks don't even resemble the team that took the Devils to seven games three years ago. Calgary's success in this series hinges on Miika Kiprusoff, because they do not have the offensive firepower to win this one unless he steps up like he did two years ago. I just think that Anaheim's offense is too potent.
Goalies: Miika Kiprusoff (Calgary) vs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Anaheim)
ESPN's Goalies: Miika Kiprusoff (Calgary) vs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Anaheim); hey, they got one series right!
Prediction: Anaheim in 7 (Kipper will play great, but Calgary's offensive shortcomings will be too great)

(4) Nashville Predators vs. (5) San Jose Sharks
This will be the most lopsided series of the first-round. At least, that's what I think. Apparently, the loss of Tomas Vokoun in goal really doesn't hurt Nashville all that much, because all the predictions I have seen have this one going six or seven games. Tomas Vokoun is the only reason Nashville is seeded this high. Hell, if it weren't for him, they may not even be in the playoffs. Either I am not giving backup Chris Mason (who looks a lot like American Idol Chris Daughtry, by the way) enough credit or all the hockey experts are smoking crack; I'm leaning towards the latter.
Goalies: Chris Mason (Nashville) vs. Vesa Toskala (San Jose)
ESPN's Goalies: Tomas Vokoun (Nashville; out for the season of because of a rare, life-threatening condition causing pelvic blood clots) vs. Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose; lost his job to Toskala, now backing him up)
My Picks: San Jose in 4

Eastern Conference
(1) Ottawa Senators vs. (8) Tampa Bay Lightning
Despite being the defending champions, the Lighting barely got into the playoffs this year. With the loss of Nikolai Khabibulin in free agency, their goaltending took a major hit. They will go into the playoffs with either Sean Burke or John Grahame, neither of whom is a great guy to pin your Stanley Cup hopes on. Meanwhile, Ottawa, despite faltering in recent weeks, is still the best offensive team in the league; although Dominik Hasek's groin injury hurts them in the goaltending department, they still have a great defensive corps, which should be able to somewhat overcome that deficiency.
Goalies: Ray Emery (Ottawa) vs. either Sean Burke or John Grahame (Tampa Bay; they have yet to announce who will get the Game 1 start)
ESPN's Goalies: Dominik Hasek (Ottawa; injured his groin five minutes into the Czech Republic's first game at the Olympics; may recover in time to start in the latter half of this series or the beginning of the second round) vs. John Grahame (Tampa Bay; he may get the start, but the Lightning haven't decided yet
My Pick: Ottawa in 6

(2) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (7) Montreal Canadiens
Neither team finshed the season strong. Neither team has much playoff experience, especially in goal (although only one of the Eastern starters in goal has any significant playoff experience). So I'm not going to rationalize this pick. I am a Canadiens fan, so I will pick them. Besides, unless Bob Gainey decides to start Aebischer (which would be idiotic), they will be starting French rookie goalie Cristobal Huet, and the Habs have had luck with rookie goalies in past playoffs (see: Dryden in 1971 and Roy in 1986). Also, in the last two playoffs they were in, they upset higher seeds, so that bodes well, I hope.
Goalies: Martin Gerber (Carolina) vs. Cristobal Huet (Montreal)
ESPN's Goalies: Martin Gerber (Carolina) vs. Jose Theodore (Montreal; performed poorly and eventually lost his job to Huet; in December, tested positive for a steroid masking agent that he claimed was Propecia to counteract hair loss [because he clearly suffers from hair loss], then was traded to Colorado for David Aebischer
My Pick: Montreal in 7

(3) New Jersey Devils vs. (6) New York Rangers
The Devils are riding an 11-game winning streak, an NHL record to end the season. Although the Rangers have Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist, the best of the young goalies in the East, Martin Brodeur has come up big for the Devils far too many times to count him out. Brodeur carries the Devils in this series.
Goalies: Martin Brodeur (New Jersey) vs. Henrik Lundqvist (New York)
ESPN's Goalies: Martin Brodeur (New Jersesy) vs. Henrik Lundqvist (New York); another one ESPN got right!
My Pick: New Jersey in 6

(4) Buffalo Sabres vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers
Honestly, I don't have much of a clue here. Both goalies are kind of blah to me, one way or the other. I'll pick the Flyers just because they have Peter Forsberg, one of the five best players in the league. I'm not sure I could name five players off of Buffalo's roster.
Goalies: Ryan Miller (Buffalo) vs. Robert Esche (Philadelphia)
ESPN's Goalies: Ryan Miller (Buffalo) vs. Antero Nittymaki (Philadelphia; actually held the starting job for much of the season, but faltered down the stretch, handing Esche the job for the playoffs)
My Pick: Philadelphis in 7

Western Second Round
Detroit over Anaheim in 6
San Jose over Dallas in 7

Eastern Second Round
Ottawa over Montreal in 5
New Jersey over Philadelphia in 4

Western Finals
San Jose over Detroit in 7

Eastern Finals
New Jersey over Ottawa in 6

Stanley Cup Finals
San Jose over New Jersey in 7

Raymond Felton really wants to play

Via Paul Lukas' excellent Uni Watch column on ESPN's Page 2, I found this story on Bobcats rookie guard Raymond Felton. He deliberately chooses not to pack suitable clothes for the NBA's (ridiculous) dress code to ensure that he dresses for the game. Unfortunately, that gambit didn't work in a recent game, and to (literally) add insult to injury, he was forced to borrow a teammate's clothes that didn't quite fit his style. Poor Raymond.

Sean Avery done for the season

Sean Avery's tenure in L.A. is OVER! Unfortunately, he will probably be picked up in the offseason by some team looking for "toughness"; that's the unfortunate part. The only bright spot in him leaving L.A. is that he will now find it much more difficult to date women like Elisha Cuthbert. I hope he goes to Columbus, where he'll be stuck on a miserable team in a miserable city that no one pays attention to. I will say this about Sean Avery, however: when Don Cherry retires, Hockey Night in Canada will already have his replacement right here.

American Idol Running Diary

And we begin. This week's theme: Queen. This, of course, means another week of subpar singing. It's almost as if FOX wants to make the singers sound as bad as possible. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is my second favorite song of all time, and I'm afraid that someone is going to completely fuck it up. I believe that only Chris can do a credible version of the song; if anyone else does it, I might have to kill someone.

Bucky: Oh, God, this is going to suck. And I don't see Queen coming into a bar in Rockingham. "Fat Bottomed Girls"; interesting choice. I was right; it did suck. Fortunately for him, everyone else here (with the possible exception of Chris) also cannot compare with Freddie Mercury. It may not be fair to compare these guys with the originals, but I'm going to. Sorry. Reaction to judges: It was energetic, and he kind of made it his own, but Simon was right: it was mediocre.

Okay, the Coca-Cola phone commercial is really, really stupid. I think I'll have a Pepsi.

Ace: "We Will Rock You"; it's gonna be hard to screw this up too badly, but it's hard to excel, too. I can't believe I am typing these words: I liked Bucky better. Ace can't be too confident about his singing ability if he's having backup singers sing most of the "chorus". That was an abysmal performance. Ugh. Reaction to judges: Randy being generous giving it a 5 or 6, and it was a bit karaoke. Paula's right: he did take a risk, but it backfired. I agree wholeheartedly with everything Simon said; Ace might be in danger of being voted off.

Kellie: The most annoying human being on the planet right now. If she sings "Bohemian Rhapsody", Ryan should just shoot her in the face. I'm not even kidding. NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Tough job, big shoes to fill: that's an uderstatement, guys. I'll try to give her a fair chance. Just as awful as I had feared. Actually, it comes off to me as an excruciatingly subpar impersonation of Bonnie Tyler. I think I'm going to puke. Reaction to judges: I completely disagree with you, Randy. Of course, Paula was just as brown-nosing as always. Simon liked it?!?!?!?!?! WTF was he listening too? She's never heard the expression "on paper" before? How fucking stupid is she? I hated that performance; I will go so far as to say that this may have been the worst ever performance at this stage of the competition.

A one-hour results show? How boring will that be?

Chris: I'm anticipating that this'll be the bright spot; I'm not too surprised he's picking an obscure song; out of all the contestants, he seems to be the most hardcore music fan. Wow. As always, he delivers. If he does not win the whole competition, there is something wrong with this country. Reaction to judges: It's obvious that they agree with me. They are pimping him like crazy, and rightly so. I agree with Simon: song choice matters, no matter what Randy and Paula might say. In a competition like this, good vocals can overcome a mediocre song, but in real life, the quality of the song is more important than the quality of the vocal. Simon gets this, but apparently Randy, Paula, and Ryan don't.

I like the old man Coke commercial, but I find the premise to be slightly odd. Seriously, hasn't everyone had a Coke at least once in their life?

Katharine: A ballad. I think this could go well. Of course, I like her a lot, so I am going to be slightly biased in her favor. Very impressive; slightly behind Chris, but miles ahead of everyone else; though, again, I'm biased. I loved the opening shot: sexy as hell. Reaction to judges: I'm basically in agreement with them; it's pretty obvious at this point that Chris and Katharine are their two favorites.

Elliot: Mr. Forgettable. If I can remember what he sang five minutes after he's done, I'll be surprised. He's good, but bland and forgettable; he's singing an Aretha-inspired song, and I expect another typical Elliot performance: good but forgettable. Yep, typical Elliot: pretty good, but nothing memorable, and it'll be forgotten before the next person even finishes. Reaction to judges: Best vocal tonight, Paula?! Are you crazy?! (Actually, yes you are.) I'm more in agreement with Randy and Simon.

Taylor: You don't need to do more dancing. You look like you're having a seizure. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" seems to fit with his style. Let's see. Actually pretty good; I'd rank it third tonight behind Katharine and Chris. The only part I didn't like was trying to kick the mic stand over; I would say he kicks like a girl, but that's an insult to girls everywhere. Reaction to judges: I love how Simon calmed Paula down. I say straitjacket, Paula. It was a little ridiculous, but he sang it pretty well. 2nd straight week Ryan has accused the judges of drinking; if anyone is, I say it's Paula.

Gymnasts are bitches?! I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!

If it weren't a medical show, I think I'd like "House". But medical stuff kind of gives me the willies.

Paris: She seems a bit young to pull off Queen, but we'll see. Very good vocal, but lacking charisma. Vocally, this performance actually brings to mind Tina Turner for me. However, I don't like the all-black look. Paris, you aren't Johnny Cash. Reaction to judges: They didn't have much to say. Nothing really to respond to.

My vote goes to: Chris.

Michael Nylander's Potty Mouth

Michael Nylander may have just cost NBC, oh, about $250,000. After a game-winning goal in OT against the Bruins, he was interviewed by NBC's Pierre McGuire, who coached Nylander for the Hartford Whalers in 1993-94. McGuire asked Nylander if, with all the Czechs on the team, if he had picked up any Czech, said no, he stuck with Swedish and English, and a little bit of French, which Pierre taught him. He then told Pierre that "you'd give me so much shit". Of course, play-by-play man Mike Emrick immediately apologized; however, color analyst and former NHL goalie John Davidson was clearly and amusingly cracking up. Hopefully, the FCC won't go crazy, but I have a nagging feeling that they will.

Sean Avery is an asshole

Sean Avery is my least favorite hockey player. He has a tendency to say and do stupid things, and is an embarrasment to the NHL. His latest dumbass move: insulting Anaheim announcer Brian Hayward. In my favorite part of the exchange, Avery referred to Hayward as an "embarrasment", to which Hayward told Avery, "You want to see an embarrassment? Look in the mirror, Sean." Hayward has thus earned my admiration. Bravo, Mr. Hayward, bravo.

Nationals TV Update

I have just found out that MASN has rights to all Nationals games, and ESPN must blackout all broadcasts in areas where teams have regional rights (except on Sunday and Wednesday, when they have national rights) and all of Virginia is MASN territory (as is all of Maryland, DC, and parts of Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Unfortunately MASN is not on many cable systems due to high expense. I also suspect that Comcast refuses to carry MASN until there is a resolution of that dispute.

Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals, my favorite baseball team, are playing on ESPN right now. Or at least they should be. Instead, I'm getting ESPNEWS instead of the game, and I'm not quite sure why. I'm way too far from DC to be in any sort of a blackout zone. And this isn't the first time this has happened; the same thing happened on Opening Day. I would appreciate an explanation. The only thing that I can come up with is that since the cable provider for this area is Comcast, that it is somehow related to their beef with Peter Angelos and the MASN network. But I don't know. All I do know is that I am not too happy about it.

Marlins' Payroll

Marlins' payroll is lowest in baseball since '98

Wow! Under $15 million? They must really be hurting financially. With no new stadium on the horizon, they'll probably be gone within two years. Where to? Right now, San Antonio, of all places, appears to be the frontrunner. We'll see.

American Idol Results

9:17 PM: So Taylor, Kellie, and Chris are safe. Not much of a surprise; the three of them have proven to be pretty popular. So the other groups are Mandisa, Elliot, Paris and Ace, Bucky, Katharine. The second group is probably the bottom three, with Bucky being gone. If that's the case, I don't understand Katharine being in the bottom three two weeks in a row. Of all the females, she's sung the best in the Final 12 stage, and is the most attractive, at least in my opinion. Right now, I'm just hoping and praying that Bucky is gone, thus ending our long national nightmare.

9:22 PM: I was wrong: Mandisa, Elliot, and Paris are the bottom three. I'm glad that Katharine is safe, but dissappointed that Bucky is staying. I guess it's obvious at this point that Bucky is receiving the support of the "vote-for-the-worst crowd".

Or not. I had never been to the site before, so I didn't know who they were choosing, but figured on Bucky since he is really, really bad. But their choice is Kellie, which I support for a "vote-for-the-worst" campaign. She's not a horrible singer, but she just annoys the hell out of me. Her "southern" thing just seems to confirm all the worst stereotypes people have of Southerners, namely that we are complete idiots who are naive to the wider world.

9:27 PM: Paris is safe. Between Mandisa and Elliot now. I say Elliot because he is so forgettable. But I was wrong; Mandisa's gone. Eh. She was alright, but like most of the contestants this year, she was plain and boring and very whitebread; Chris has been the only one that has REALLY stood out, at least to me.

9:30 PM: Ah, the cruelest aspect of Idol: "America just voted you out, now show them why they didn't vote for you in the first place! Have fun!"

Quincy Carter and American Idol

Quincy Carter: Marijuana had role in release

So he confirms what we all suspected at the time. Not really a surprise. I had no problem letting him go; he really wasn't that good. Unfortunately, the Cowboys don't have a good young quarterback; I'm sure they'll do something about it next year, because Drew Bledsoe only has one or two years left after this season, and I am not sold on Drew Henson. I'd love for Henson to be the real deal and be a worthy successor to Troy Aikman, but I'm not convinced.

Comparing past and present Idols

Yes, I'm an American Idol fan. I know that I am an inferior human being for it, but I don't care. Interesting article here breaking down exactly how this year's crop compares to the past.

As far as last night's show, the only ones who really impressed me were Chris, Paris, and Katharine. The rest of them were uninspired and mediocre; I hope Bucky or Kellie goes, but I think it'll be Elliot; he is the most forgettable singer in the competition. I think that Chris will wind up winning; my personal favorite, however, is Katharine, although more because she is smoking-hot than for her singing abilities.