I'm not much of a Barry Manilow fan, which made tonight's episode of American Idol pretty dull. Barry was in the house as guest judge, and didn't add anything too insightful. He did work with the kids during the week, setting up personal arrangements and such.

This seemed to work for most contestants, but it worked really poorly for George, who oversang things. Thanks, Barry. Oh, glory notes were required for all female contestants as well. Thanks again, Barry.

Even with the overall better female performances, I expect Diana and Jasmine to go back to the bottom three. Not sure who'll join them. Maybe John, who did a reasonable cover of "Mandy" (reasonable for him, really)? Sure, why not.

Oh, and after weeks with Barry Manilow, Elton John, and Motown, I fully expect the song book of Sammy Cahn or Gilbert and Sullivan to be upcoming themes. Or maybe just a night of music in the public domain; I imagine someone would clean up wailing out "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

The most entertaining part of the night was the first 4 or 5 minutes, when the audio and video didn't synch. The kung-fu dub effect is only second to a man getting hit in the crotch by a ball in terms of funny media gags (OK, the thing where you play tape at double time forward or backwards is pretty cool, too).