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I think Alex has the best chance of winning at this point. Caleb blew his chances and TPTB have been shoving Jena down the audience's throats for weeks. That usually backfires when they try to pimp a certain contestant and when they are very clearly bussing another. The results usually work out the opposite of how TPTB want them to. I predict Caleb will go this week followed by Jena because the public doesn't seem to like their attitudes. And then we'll have a Jessica/Alex finale and Alex will probably win.

Jessica is not my favorite and I don't think she's as good of a singer as people say she is, but I am really rooting for her to squeeze her way into the finale at this point. TPTB deserve it for bussing her all season for no reason. And Jessica deserves it for working so hard even before Idol and dealing with the undeserved criticism really well. Her original song was very well received and did well on iTunes. She needs to open up more as a performer but I think she has a lot going for her right now. She seems very nice and loves to talk with her fans on Twitter. She could turn out to be one of the bigger success stories from this season. She is a writer so she already has that going for her. I would like to see her and Alex in the finale and either one could win and I'd be happy. I think America would be happy with a Jessica or Alex win too.

Social media reactions seem mixed as far as I can tell. Some fans are more forgiving than others. Some have decided they don't want to be a fan anymore. Some like myself have decided we still appreciate his talent but he needs to grow up and mature and doesn't deserve to win at this point. It's a mixed bag.

Well thank God they stopped doing THAT. At least the voting thing was anonymous. If the media went around asking the contestants how they voted, they should have just declined to answer. Alex was the only one who did not reveal the way he voted and that's what all the contestants should have done. It was anonymous for a reason. Anonymous voting for the contestants to stay together or for one to leave is cruel but it's not nearly as cruel as making a contestant choose which group they belong in or choose which group they think is the bottom 3.

Yeah it sure does suck. Like I said, he's easily one of the most talented contestants left and in my opinion one of the most talented to ever appear on the show. If he just adjusted his freakin' attitude, he could win. It is sad to see someone so talented self-destruct. But unfortunately there is nothing I or any of his fans can really do. He's going to do and say whatever he feels like and hopefully he will learn a lesson in all of this. If he somehow manages to escape elimination next week, he better thank his lucky stars and get his act together. I'll probably always appreciate his talent but I don't think I'll ever be able to see him in the same way. He used to make me excited just to watch the show every week and I always felt something when I watched him perform, when he'd hit all the high notes and just knock it out of the park every week. Now I just see a good performer but I get a pit in my stomach, remembering how rude he was to fans like myself. It's not the same anymore. :/ I'm not sure they will address it directly on the show. They will probably just sweep it under the rug like nothing ever happened and get on with the show. FOX may release some public statement saying they don't condone the use of the R word and leave it at that. If anything will be discussed, it will probably be the usage of the R word but not the rest of his statement regarding hookers or drugs or the way he disrespected his fans. And about the whole "hookers and cocaine" bit, well I think it was a dumb thing to say even in jest, but I tried not to take it that seriously and understand he's joking- even still, it's not the kind of comment a potential American idol should be making. What he lacks in common sense he makes up for with talent I guess. Good Lord someone help this man.

Essentially this comment I found on the article on MJ's Big Blog sums up my feelings pretty accurately: Before I also wanted Caleb to win. I think many people thought he would, or that he was the most deserving, talent wise. Even though no matter how shitty an attitude he may have or what he says in interviews, I still think and will always think he has an amazing talent. But he no longer deserves to be the winner. This was not a one-time incident. This was more like the straw that broke the camel's back. He has said various other things in interviews where he acted disrespectfully and he has said other comments that people found offensive. This is not what our "American idol" should be. He could be the winner of The Voice, but not an Idol. The winner should be someone who is kind and caring and someone that our country would be proud of to have representing us. I don't believe that Caleb is like the most evil person on the planet or anything but he does need a serious attitude adjustment and needs to understand the impact of the things he says. He can't take back his remarks but his opportunity to make it right was with his apology, which it seems he probably wrote in 5 minutes then forgot all about it and went on with his life. He should have shown it to someone in PR to make sure it was okay before sending it out. The dude just seems to have no common sense. The thing that annoys me the most is that he's such a genuine talent, he could have won the entire thing. He auditioned 3 freaking times and finally made it to the lives, smashed it almost every week and never hit the bottom 3. And now he just throws it away because he became careless. He's really talented but he shoots himself in the foot with the way he acts and the things that he says. He could have possibly won and now he's screwed up his own chances. But it's probably for the better anyway, as Interscope would have no clue what to do with him. Any of the contestants this year who don't win will be lucky to score a record contract, since not even Kree from last year got one, the first runner up in Idol history to not receive a recording contract. I'll probably still like him for his talent and his performances. But I probably will not vote for him next week or pay money for his iTunes song. It's not because he used the R word. It's because he blatantly disregarded his fans about what they want to hear from him, thinking he knows it all and knows what's best, and smarmily declared that he will do whatever he wants and we just have to roll along with it, whether we like it or not. I can't bring myself to vote for or support a person who acts that way towards their fans. He claims in his apology that he loves his fans and appreciates us, and I'm sure that he does. But the video speaks for itself more than some written words do. Some other media sites are getting wind of this and I hope a PR person catches it quickly and gets Caleb to write a REAL apology. He can't take back what he said, but if he came out with a real, sincere, thoughtful apology and acknowledged that he acted in a way that was not appropriate and that he was sorry for doing so, I could bring myself to support him again.

I'm talking about in general though. For example, I'm not even a fan of Jena, but when I see comments like "She's such a spoiled brat!", "She is so full of herself!", etc., it makes me feel sad for her. None of us knows what she or any of these people are like in real life. She might come off like a spoiled brat or like she's full of herself, but that's all just perceptions and assumptions we're making from what we're shown on an edited reality show. When people make fun of her pronunciations and onstage antics, that's funny. But calling her a spoiled brat or otherwise judging her personality just seems uncalled for, in my opinion. We should be more respectful that there could be people here who like Jena and probably don't enjoy reading comments like that. I just don't think it's cool at all to judge people you see on some reality show that you don't know in real life. Judge them for their singing and talent and just try to avoid making assumptions about people. I don't care that they are contestants on a reality show- they're still people and I don't think we should be allowed to just say anything we want about them. Again, that just seems like it's promoting hatred to me and I don't like that at all and don't think it should be allowed anywhere.

But most people who do audition probably know they won't win or don't expect to. I auditioned this year but didn't even make it past the first round. Any exposure an artist get from this show is a good thing. The last 2 times he auditioned he only made it to the Vegas rounds. He probably wanted to at least make the tour and from there may not have cared in what place he went home. He built up a fan base and made it to the live shows, that's enough for a record label out there to decide they want him even if he didn't win. We've seen in seasons past you don't have to win this show to make a career. I suspect he'll go out in Daughtry position and then do what Daughtry did, form a band. That's probably what he really wants anyway, not being a solo artist. I agree with your second point though- the R word, the joke about hookers and cocaine I can get past, but the way he disregarded his fans by saying he's just going to do whatever he wants whether we like it or not is just so disrespectful to us. I spent my money on his songs and spent time voting for him and for him to have such a flippant attitude like what we do for him amounts to nothing is infuriating and hurtful. And I'm sorry if I called you pathetic before, I didn't mean to say that it was pathetic, but that I don't think it's necessary for people to be spreading this article around. It's sort of been taking care of itself on its own, just today Lyndsey Parker wrote an article on it for Yahoo and it's already gotten nearly 3,000 comments. I understand we all have the right to our opinions here but I don't believe people should be allowed to make such harsh comments that it makes fans of that artist feel uncomfortable. After all, we don't know any of these people in real life and anything people say regarding their personality is just an assumption. I don't really enjoy seeing people make such harsh and judgmental comments about any of the contestants, sometimes it's funny, but other times it's just not funny and it's hurtful and we should respect that there are people here who may be fans of those contestants and that they might feel insulted seeing their favorite being bashed so unfairly. Bash them all you want based on their talent, not for whatever kind of "persona" they're putting on for the show. Because in the end, we don't even know any of them personally and I think if it gets to a point where fans of them are starting to feel upset or uncomfortable, the bashing needs to stop. Nobody should be allowed to just say anything they want, there should be at least some limits to what we are allowed to say here. I don't think any of the people posting here would like it very much if random strangers were making assumptions about THEIR kids, so don't say it about someone else's kid. I just simply don't like seeing that type of stuff here, it's promoting hatred. Snark is fine- snark is funny. Harsh and hateful bashing is not funny and it's mean and shouldn't be allowed on any type of Internet forum.

Where are those spiritual advisors when you need them?

ALL the contestants said they hated the twist though. TPTB can't bus all of them. Or maybe they will and the winner will just be Grumpy Cat with Terry Bradshaw as the runner up.

Maybe he never wanted to win. He had a band back home and many people think he's had it waiting in the wings all this time. When he got the exposure he wanted, he'd be out. I'd rather believe he is intentionally trying to lose than that he is just this clueless and dumb. Even so, it's a poor strategy.

I don't think the show wants Caleb as their winner anyway- we all know they have been pushing for Jena. Even if this incident hadn't happened or if Caleb was the nicest guy in the whole world, I don't think Idol wants him to win because they wouldn't know what to do with him. His style is regarded as too outdated. It's been Jena for awhile now, since Majesty left and nobody got onboard the Sam love boat. I will laugh if Jessica wins, the one person TPTB have it for for pretty much no reason. I hope she wins, actually, just because they don't want her to. She's probably as deserving as anybody else is. I'd like to see a Jessica/Alex finale and either one of them could win and I'd be happy for them. I think Caleb will get the boot next week and then Jena may leave in third since people don't seem too keen on her attitude either. Also, how cool would it be if Jessica and Alex were the final 2 and they got to both reprise their original songs? That'd be a first. And whoever wins could sing their original as their coronation song (although that'd be a weird song for Jessica to do if she won) Maybe they should let the final 2 help write their coronation songs this year, since they are all writers.

I don't think anyone is condoning his usage of the word. I've had a physical disability all my life and in preschool I was placed in a class with other kids who had physical or mental disabilities. I knew a few kids in high school who had mental disabilities. There was no excuse for him to use this word, but I have the feeling it was said out of anger over the Aerosmith song that he openly stated he hated, and that he was using it in the same way young people always use words like this ("I raped the replay button on this video", "Dude, you were acting like a retard last night!") Considering this isn't the first stupid and offensive thing he's said, I think it still hasn't clicked with him that everything he says is recorded somewhere and the whole nation sees it. He hasn't realized he needs to watch what he says and how he says it. I wouldn't be surprised if he's always been free with his speech and now he's having a hard time realizing he needs to filter himself more. I believe he used the word because he was angry over what happened with the song choices, I seriously doubt he actually has anything against people with mental disabilities. To me, what it sounds like he probably meant to say, is that one thing he hates about social media is "haters" and then a second thing he hates is when people tweet him song suggestions. Sometimes we say something and think we said something different, perhaps this was just an instance where he thought he had made the distinction between the two and then when he wrote his "apology" it seems he didn't remember what he actually said. He should watch the interview back and realize what he said and write a better apology. He made it seem like all along he was referring to "haters" when he never brought that word into the conversation at all. There's definitely no excuse for using that word or for hating on his fans, no matter how angry he might have been, but I think "spreading the article everywhere I can" and "I hope he crashes and burns" is not exactly any better behavior than his. The answer to fighting hate is not with more hate. As I said, I sincerely doubt Caleb has a problem with people who are mentally disabled. It was a poor choice of words in a moment of anger, something which we've all been guilty of doing at one point or another, and nothing more. I think some people are just majorly overreacting about it, acting like he's Hitler because he used the R word and deserves to be taken down in some Internet rampage. I read a comment from MJs Big Blog that someone said their godchild has mental disabilities and they were not really that extremely offended by it, probably because they knew he didn't mean it literally. I just think calling him names, insulting him, and trying to spread the negative article around to every person you can is no better than him using the R word and insulting his fans. And it's not just you that I've seen do this, but I've seen others resort to calling him horrible names. As I said, he will have punishment enough when he will probably be voted off next week and he will have a difficult time winning fans back. Frankly, even if the R word hadn't been brought into it, I'd be pissed that he insulted his fans the way that he did. That's a bigger issue to me than because he used the R word. As with every other offensive thing he said, some people found it offensive and took it literally, and others weren't offended or didn't take it as seriously. I don't know if I can support him any longer because I would feel weird purchasing songs and voting for a person who blatantly disregarded his fans the way that he did (not because he used the R word). If he comes up with a better and more sincere apology, then maybe. But for the time being I think I will just no longer support him and that's the end of it for me. I don't really see the need to spread the hate around even more though. I can completely understand people who wish to stop supporting him (I've seen several comments on his Facebook of people saying they don't want to support him anymore after this), but it should just be left at that. Don't like him, don't support him.

Haha I was thinking the same thing. Ironically TPTB want to get rid of Jessica for some unknown reason (though she's had her share of social gaffes in the past), yet she is the only one right now that nobody is mad at. Though she's not my favorite, I could see her fitting the "idol" bill perfectly. She seems overall like a nice person and she loves tweeting with her fans. She didn't do anything to warrant TPTB bussing her so hard. She is able to speak her mind honestly without offending anyone or using poor word choice. And she's worked hard at music for a very long time. She had to put up with all that shit handed to her in Hollywood Week. She deserves the win. I wouldn't be mad if Alex or Jessica won at this point- they both seem like nice, hardworking people and deserve a big break like this. They are people that I would not be embarrassed of for representing our country as our "American idol."

Mostly on Twitter, I'm assuming, since Sam addressed it on his Twitter.

I agree what he said was atrocious and that his so-called apology doesn't seem all that sincere- but to intentionally spread this article around, ari, is no better. I know you've always hated him, but I feel like you're only choosing to spread it around because you hate him and this just gives you a reason to hate him even more. The article does not need to be spread around any more than it's already been and people who choose to waste their time sending it out to everyone they can is just pathetic. You could do something more meaningful with your day than spreading some dumb article around. By doing that, you are just as bad as he is. What he said was awful, but he doesn't deserve to have people who are just sitting behind their computers at home making it worse by spreading it to every person they can. That just seems pathetic, to be honest. He will probably get punishment enough by being voted off next week. He has no chance of winning at this point. And as 4leafclover said, I can't imagine there is any record label or management agency out there who would want to deal with someone like him who consistently makes offensive, stupid comments that he later ends up having to apologize for. They don't want to have to do damage control 24/7. I think what he'll end up having to deal with for this is punishment enough. What he said was inexcusable but ari, the way you always speak about him in such a nasty and hateful way is absolutely no better, and intentionally making sure more people hear about this is no better than what he did either. He apologized, such as it was, nobody gives a shit about Idol anymore anyway. It's better to just let it blow over and then by next week, he'll probably get voted off anyway. I'm not happy in the least with what he said but I don't think he deserves to have people spread this around even more and just rub salt on the wound- he will receive enough punishment by being voted off and he'll have a hard time winning fans back or getting a record label to want to sign him.

Yeah I saw that video. At first I thought he was going to say "retards" as in the people who just tweet negative stuff to him. But he meant it as people who suggest songs for him to sing on Twitter, which are basically his fans. He should know better by now that nobody uses the word "retard" anymore, especially not to describe stupid people. Second, there's absolutely nothing wrong with fans tweeting suggestions. They may think of something he wouldn't have otherwise ever thought of. "Whether you like it or not I'm going to pick all my songs!" That's fine if that's what he wants to do but don't insult your fans, dude. I like Caleb a lot and think he's one of the biggest talents to ever appear on the show but damn he needs PR training. I don't know honestly why people hate so much on what Jena says- sure she makes some ditzy comments every now and again but she's 17. And they're mostly innocent comments that she probably doesn't realize how they come off sounding. Caleb is older and he should know a lot better. The things Jena says aren't half as offensive as the things Caleb says. At least the things Jena says are mostly in reference to her own self, she doesn't go around basically insulting her own fans or using politically incorrect terms. That little comment from him really made me like him a lot less. He needs to watch what he says more or else he'll lose all his fans in no time. He's an idiot, honestly. He probably just bought himself a plane ticket back home. Unless he's trying to lose on purpose because he doesn't want Interscope screwing with him if he won, then he's doing a fantastic job making sure he gets the boot next week.

I'm talking about in general, as Sam referred to. I'm not saying anybody here was bashing them.

That's why i don't waste much time voting. I use the Supervote thing on AmericanIdol.com and give all the contestants I like 50 votes and that's it, move on with my life. Who knows if our votes are even really counted at all for anything. I feel bad for Jena and Alex because they were just trying to keep the integrity of the show, yet people are bashing them because they act like they are responsible for Sam leaving (even though he probably would have just gone the next week) or people viewed their decision as "selfish" and only thinking about themselves. It IS a competition and both of them felt they had strong nights so they voted no.

I also don't like the double episodes. I'd like it much better if they showed 2 episodes from different restaurants back to back. But when it's the same restaurant it just makes it feel drawn out. Last night I sat on the couch actually thinking "When will this be over already?" I too think the other shows like this are probably the cause for such a short season this year, because maybe not as many people are calling KN and are going to other shows. Last night my mom was complaining that the music was too loud and she couldn't hear what anybody was saying. Once she said that, it made it hard for me to not notice it. It's totally true- why do they have to play Jaws music over everything? Whoever did the audio mixing did a horrible job. The music is overpowering the dialogue. Even I could do a better job.

I too am tired of the double episodes. It feels drawn out. I was actually sitting on the couch thinking "When will this be over already?" That's not a good sign. Maybe the problem is that there are other similar shows like this out there so they have competition and not as many restaurants are calling KN.

I like Jessica's hair. It's one of the few things about her I find interesting. I could see it being a "thing" for her fans to copy, I could see all the girls showing up at her concerts with a fake pink hair extension in their hair or something.

Caleb and Alex remain the only contestants to have never been in the bottom (at least the way it was revealed to us) Jena was chosen as a wildcard by the judges originally and then I think the following week she was in the bottom, but hasn't been since. Jessica has been in the bottom twice. Obviously from this week we have no idea who the other bottom person was, could have been either of them. But what's been made known to us is that Jessica has been in the bottom twice, Jena once and was saved as a wildcard, and Caleb and Alex have not been in the bottom yet. I think Alex will win at this point. I see Caleb maybe making Top 3 and Jena will be in the finale with Alex. Alex is a more marketable artist than Caleb, has done very well on iTunes, and people dig his original material. I would not be mad at all to see Alex win.

Post your favorite performances from any stage of the competition from this season. Who had a "moment?" Which performances will be remembered years down the road? Which performances will be immortalized in Idol history? Some of my favorites: Violet Hill, 1234- Majesty Story of My Life, Fairytales, Every Breath You Take, The A Team, Say Something- Alex White Flag, Blue Eyed Lie, Call Me, Jolene- Jessica Pressure and Time, Skyfall, Dazed and Confused, Faithfully, Still of the Night- Caleb Lucky Man, One Mississippi- Dexter Lego House, Babylon, We Are Young, Sail Away- Sam Decode, Rolling in the Deep, Creep- Jena Soulshine- CJ All of Me, Make You Feel My Love- MK Take Me to the King, The Long and Winding Road, Ain't No Way- Malaya Duets: Just Give Me A Reason- Alex and Jena It's Only Love- Caleb and Jena

I wish the media hadn't asked the contestants how they voted. It was anonymous for a reason. People (mainly Sam's fans) started spewing unnecessary hate towards Jena and Alex just because they voted no. Both of them had strong nights (I personally think Jena was just okay but the judges made her believe she had a good night) and Alex had a pretty solid night overall, so it's obvious why both would choose to vote no. They also voted no because they thought it was a stupid idea to make the contestants pit themselves against each other like that and that it would ruin the integrity of the show- the point is that it's America's vote, so choosing for everyone to stay is basically disregarding America's vote and they didn't believe in doing that.