Mindy Done

Okay, so either I'm still delirious from the food poisining, or I just watched Melinda Doolittle get the boot from American Idol. Since I otherwise feel perfectly well, I'm going to proceed under the latter theory. And that, I have to admit, leaves me at a total loss for words. Seriously. Last night, I just sat in silence.

If you'd told me 13 weeks ago that neither Melinda nor LaKisha would manage to crack the top two, I'd have accused you of having a wilder imagination than Paula. But in some ways, the downfall of Mindy Doo — perhaps the most consistent, solidly excellent singer this competition has ever seen — isn't completely surprising. Painful, yes. But surprising? Not entirely.

Here downfall was due to Jordin Sparks. She was the underdog that grabbed momentum week after week, ultiamtely surpassing Melinda. Also, week in and week out, she's been one of the two or three best performers, but not since her semifinal one-two punch of "I'm a Woman" and "My Funny Valentine" has she inspired the kind of watercooler buzz that turns casual fans into obsessive voters.

However I really thought that Tuesday night's episode clinched it for her. She nailed "Nutbush City Limits" and "I'm a Woman." I resigned myself to the fact she would win the show, as you know Jordin has benn my favorite and still is. Last night, I finally got a little emotional connection to Melinda that I'd been missing all season. Maybe it was because she didn't appear to get the hometown fan turnout that Blake and Jordin received. Maybe it was seeing her genuine tears of joy reconnecting with the folks from her hometown church. What happened?

It wasn't meant to be, I guess. But don't cry for Melinda. Hell, she didn't even cry for herself. Maybe, somewhere inside, she was smiling, thinking of names like Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson, hoping she'd follow their career trajectories instead of going the MIA way of previous third-place contestants such as Vonzell Solomon, Nikki McKibbin, and Jasmine Trias. There's no way the folks at 19 Entertainment won't pick up their option to sign her to a recording deal. So she'll get a shot at the big time.

Now the question is who will win it all. Inside, I'm screaming Jordin! Jordin! I really think it'll come down to how well each performs next week. Blake's hometown visit proved that the screaming-teen set is squarely in his corner, while Jordin's indicated she'll do well among pretty much all demos but Blake could sway some votes. But if she gets her nerves and lower register) under control next Tuesday, she's probably going to be coated in gold confetti 24 hours later. Unless Blake, a finalist unlike any other in Idol history, delivers a couple performances as audacious and unexpected as his "You Give Love a Bad Name" and leaves viewers feeling shot through the heart in the process.