<font face="times" size="+0">well, i have to agree i was shocked to see Latoya in the bottom 3. i mean, it was so obvious that between the two of them, John S. would be the one in the bottom 3. heh. the producers sure tricked us.
anyway, honestly, i wasn't surprised to see Amy and Jennifer in the bottom three. why? they were in the bottom 3 the first week. the first week is the only week IMO where there is no imbalance of votes caused by what some of you are calling "sympathy votes". so, IMO, the first week is the only week where there is a more true picture of who America likes.
as soon as the 2nd week comes around, someone has been in the bottom 3. if the contestants that end up in the bottom 3 have built up a good fan base, that fan base will freak out the following week and cast a million "sympathy votes" to keep them safe.
an article on Foxesonidol.com summarized this idea really well. basically, i understood the theory as:
in order for a contestant to get a lot of votes, they have to be either
1) REALLY good (both singing and personality) to compel America to vote for them.
or
2) REALLY horrible (usually bad only in the singing dept), BUT have built up a LOYAL fan base who will cast votes for you anyway... especially when it comes to "sympathy votes".
the contestants that are neither 1) or 2), but are in the middle... they don't get votes... and they end up in the bottom 3. it's an interesting theory, and i'm starting to believe it's pretty accurate.
also, IMHO, if a teenager (or other age person) is <i>so big a fan</i> of any one contestant that they spend an hour or two pressing redial on their phone to vote for their favorite... than props to that contestant for having the ability to create such a loyal fan. they deserve to be on American Idol.
i mean, yes, AI might say things about this being a singing contest... but in reality it's not. it's a popularity contest. being an idol is all about popularity. who cares about the singing? (well i care about the singing, but most of America does not. just look at Britney or Madonna. okay don't flame me, but they are mediocre singers and yet they're huge idols...)
btw, in Camille's defense, i don't think she's making "angry" or "mean" faces... i think she is petrified with stagefright. she's a really pretty girl who has a voice with a lot of potential, but just can't seem to loosen up and stop being nervous. i agree completely that this competition is not right for her at all. but i don't hate her, or think she's being angry on stage.</font>