Turn The Paige...Idol Summer Tour Is Set

America is 2 for 2.

I guess this isn't such a surprise. As in past seasons, the first couple of cuts in the Top 12 are usually the weaker contestants. Neither Paige or Lacey really had any business being there in the first place (did I ever mention how I thought Lilly Scott got a raw deal?).

Now, this 'season of the girls' only has four of them remaining. Albeit, the best two contestants (by far) are both female. However, the boys are getting votes...including the teflon pair of Tim and Andrew.

Of course I was thrilled to see that Andrew not only avoided the bottom 3 yet again, but also let Seacrest know that his musical strength is in doing acoustic songs. Duh! So, I'm hoping he listens to himself, ignores Usher and Simon, and does a completely stripped down version of a song by, say Chaka Khan ("Through The Fire" or "Ain't Nobody"), Terence Trent D'arby ("Wishing Well"), TLC ("Waterfalls"), Amy Winehouse ("You Know I'm No Good"), or even Joss Stone ("Put Your Hands On Me"). Yes, I want Andrew back. I want Idol back. I think he is one of the few contestants left that can bring some originality to challenge Siobhan and Crystal...and, yes, my pool hopes are riding on his back.

As for the pool, we now only have two perfect pools remaining. Gavin Fysh & long-time Idolite Beth Shanaman are two for two. They each have 20 points and hold a 3 point lead on the rest of the field. They each have Tim going out next week as well. Unless he continues to pull a Nikki McKibbon and survive the bottom 3 week after week, they could be building a sizable lead.

This brings me to a request of some of you. Many of you are new to the pool this year. Also, many have entered their own pools on the standings website with user names I do not recognize. In order for me to understand who has paid, as well as allow me to acknowledge throughout tthe season, can those of you that DO NOT have your full name as your user name, please e-mail me directly with both? (asoenkeruona@gmail.com) It would really be helpful.

Lastly, I have determined the payouts for the pool. We have a total of 93 entries, for a total of $930 in the pot. I have decided to pay out the Top 14 spots as follows:

1st Place - $300, 2nd - $150, 3rd - 100, 4th - $75, 5th - $60, 6th - $40, 7th - $35, 8th - $30, 9th - $30, 10th - $25, 11th - $25, 12th - $20, 13th - $20, 14th - $20

Until next week,

Pool Boy Out!