Shoebox: Did anybody else, after hearing Ben tell viewers to offer somebody 'the one-fingered salute', turn to the person they were watching with and wonder aloud "Does he even know what he just said?" And they replied, "No...because he's so stupid?" Congratulations, Benedict, you managed the near-impossible feat of ticking off Shoemom the Seacrest fan first go.

Joe Dwarf: Gah. Sea of meh. Nobody inspired me enough to pick up the phone. Crappy performances, crappy song choices, zero Cancon, melisma out the wazoo - with Byrd in, CI sounds just as shitty as AI. Fire her, and fire the new piano player too. CTV made a serious error here. I don't believe Canadians want an exact clone of the American show.

Shoebox: Wordy McWord to the nth degree of Wordiness. The individuality and intimacy I love about CI - the stuff that distinguishes it from AI - all gone tonight. Everybody was shouting at me, everybody was melisma-ing where personality should've shone through...and the song choices. Dear Roman, the song choices...

Interesting, I thought, that the judges picked up on all of this too, and hated it. I wonder how much input they have vs. Byrd's?

Annabelle? Bleah. The most obvious victim of the Byrd-ization. Showed decent personality in the boot-camp shows and zip tonight. Gone.

Joe Dwarf: She might slip through, which is unfortunate because she'll bore the shit out of us for however long she sticks it out.

Shoebox: Josh...I wanted you to show me you could really bring it tonight, wanted a reason to be glad the teeny-power-voting-boppers were going to shove you through. Then you give me the mouse song. Which you don't know how to sing. Plus, you screw up the words. Gone, except not.

Joe Dwarf: Josh looks like a five year old, shuffling from foot to foot and staring at the ceiling. Mrs. Dwarf couldn't get past the pink shirt.

Shoebox: Kyla has lots of potential as a sort of cabaret Clooney but didn't show it off much tonight. Nice dress, though...even if she was apparently compelled to drape seaweed across her neck for some reason. Gone, probably.

Joe Dwarf: I'm hoping for Annie and Kyla, because I think they have the most chance of doing something interesting. Kyla's a pro - if she gets in, she'll do much better as a finalist.

Shoebox: Annie...uh...the hell? Seriously, what was that? You wanna belt, love, there are literally dozens of marvellous old standards that would show off your fantastic jazzy tone and passionate style...and if Man of La Mancha made it on there, they most assuredly were. I'd put her through on potential and I rather suspect Canada will too. Stays.

Joe Dwarf: I fear that Annie might never get past her nerves. She'll be like Julie DeMato in AI2, just a steady downward spiral of increasing nerves and worsening performances until she's mercifully killed. That's the nightmare, anyways. The daydream is that she gets confidence from making top 10, ignores everything Byrd tells her, and lets that tone and emotion through on some decent songs.

Shoebox: Jessica's severely ugly tattoo doesn't go well with the pretty pink top. Just thought I'd mention that, inasmuch as it's what I remember most about her performance. Although I do agree with Zack (nice to see our psychic connexion is working fine again this year) that if she hadn't been trained into a Pop Star-bot she probably coulda tore it up. Gone.

Joe Dwarf: Jessica was the only one who was any good. Problem with Jessica is that I think she's blown her load - I don't believe she has anything better in her.

Shoebox: Raj...damn you again, Sleepsincar, for denying this kid his well-earned spot. For the first time tonight a song is sung with emotional fervour and understanding. I was totally onboard for that whole performance. Stays, if only in my dreams.

Joe Dwarf: Raj did OK but frankly I'm [Ben]oversick of overjoyed[/Ben].

Shoebox: Andrae, Andrae, Andrae. Love the look. But as someone said above, if you can't bring Luther...don't try. Also, don't miss the top notes. Thank you. Next.

Joe Dwarf: Mr. Ice Cream Suit made the mistake of vanity ("Canada's Gentleman", twice mentioned no less) without the talent to back it up.

Shoebox: Brandy...yeah, feelin' the hate here. Great voice, but the 'tude...she's singing The Greatest Love of All because it expresses her deepest innermost feelings. Go away, Brandy. Gone, except she might edge past Annie for the 'potential' vote.

Joe Dwarf: And as far as Brandy is concerned - OK, I'm off the PC wagon here - when you're that unattractive, you'd better bring the voice, and she left it in the trunk back on the coast. Mrs. Dwarf's comment about Brandy was "how's she going to get up on that stool?"