This last week’s round was important, because the 12 remaining finalists get to do the tour when the show is over.

The American Idol voters were half-stupid.  They did the right thing by voting off Kinnik Sky and Will "Bobby Brady" Makar.

But they failed to vote off Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais and Melissa McGhee, the latter being the bigger error.

Instead, they voted off Gedeon McKinney and Ayla Brown (both  pictured here).  While neither had what it takes to be the American Idol, they both deserved a finalist spot.  More importantly, each one rounded out the pack in a unique way.

Anyway, with the exception of Covais and McGhee, I like the twelve finalists, and will be sad (at this point) to see any of them go.  I still think Taylor Hicks or Chris Daughtry have the best shots at taking the whole thing, but I wouldn’t count out any of the others (except — and I can’t emphasize this enough — Covais or McGhee).