Baka laka daka. Durka Durka!

We've got special guest and former Idol Survivor, Shannon Griesel in the house tonight, watching the show with us. I am preparing myself for her LARGE opinions on all the candidates, but we'll steer through it.

And how 'bout tonight's theme??? I fully expect this to be a night of pure torture - British invasion??? Lulu??? PLEASE...................

Haley Scarnato - The eye candy factor might have kicked into high gear this weekend. You know what I'm saying? You feel me, right, dawg? You naughty girl!

Chris Richardson - I don't like his 2-sizes-2-small Mister Rogers sweater. No bueno. Good performance, though.

Stephanie Edwards - What the hell is the chainlink fence necklace all about? I like her with a hat on.

Blake Lewis - танцуйте бибоп ba pch waka waka pcha pcha - бибоп ba. You know what that says in Russian? It says, "Hi, i'm Blake. I'm a human beatbox, YAY!!!"

Lakisha Jones - I'll give it up for Lakisha - tonight she found a look that works. She gets big votes this week, although I wasn't crazy about the song. "The diamonds were blingin' - the dawg wears the diamonds." My only question is - why does she get the million dollars in diamonds when Haley's wearing Old Navy shorts???

Phil Stacey - I saw the BUSH twins up on stage tonight. Watching him made me want to eat some BUSH baked beans. I fell backwards into a BUSH as I ran home from work to watch A.I. I watched Deep Throat last night and couldn't get over all the BUSH. How 'bout trimmin' those eyebrows, buddy?

Jordin Sparks - She may be the darkhorse.

Sanjaya Malakar - I haven't watched him perform yet, but I'm scared. And now that I'm watching him perform, I can't believe what I'm seeing. Who planted the crying pre-teen in the audience?? By-the-way, those are totally fake tears. I smell a set-up. And for Ryan to send him down into the audience to hug his fan?? How do you spell "bias?" I think that's b-i-a-s, by-the-way. I can't believe My Pretty Pony's going to make it into the Top 10.

Gina Glocksen - I read an internet rumor that she's going on tour with Pat Benatar. Remember, friends - Hell. Hell is for Children.

Chris Sligh - Who saw that sign in the audience!?! BRINGING CHUBBY BACK! I love it.

Melinda Doolittle - a song from Oliver!?! "Can I have some more porridge, please, sir?," asks the crying girl up front. I do like her vocals, though. My parents listened to a lot of Gladys Knight and the Pips when I was little - this chic is ON IT.

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Lines are open. Get those picks into me by 3pm Pacific. I'll get the sheet updated on time this week.

I may be headed towards sucking...

I batted 75% in my Top 12 Prediction. No bueno.... Then again, I made those predictions before I realized that SUNJAYA was going to step up as Idol's next BIGGEST FUCKING LOSER (i.e. Anthony Fedorov, Kevin Covais) and that all the old women were going to vote for Haley Scarnato - for chrissakes....

Mom - no offense - you're not an old woman, unless you, uh, voted for Haley Scarnato by chance? ;)

You gotta be commited

So yeah, I'm in and all on this Survivor Pool, but this first week has made me realize what a complete friggin' loser I am for watching all this television. So lame. I watched the guys and the girls shows tonight on Tivo and as a result I didn't get a damn thing done besides that. I will tell you this - without dvr/tivo this pool doesn't happen. My wife, Preggers, who's a lean and mean 27-weeks into it (and, I will proudly remind you, came in first last year but lost in a tiebreaker) - I'm not sure she's totally commited this season. Tonight, for instance, while I was fully commited to doing the Idol thing, Preggers was wasting time posting family vacation pics on the web, getting Julian ready for bed, and doing some laundry. She needs to get her priorities straight. She's the defending came-in-first-but-lost-in-a-tiebreaker champion and she needs to start ACTING LIKE IT!!!

And with that I present to you my prediction for the top 12. Let the comments rip! Just a few more weeks until this thing starts up!

Like I wasn't going to do it this year....

Year 3 is great for so many reasons. NFL Receivers, for instance - Eric Moulds, Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne, Javon Walker - all had breakout seasons in Year 3. Or my son, Julian. This year he mastered algebra, can spell his name backwards, and sings an amazing aria in Italian. That, in essence, is why the A.I. Survivor Pool lives on into Year 3. We are ready to take over the world with the greatest (only?) A.I. Survivor Pool ever. A new blog, online spreadsheets, bigger pool, and a few minor rule tweaks to keep it real.

First off, this blog - http://idolsurvivor.blogspot.com. Burn that one into your memory because that's where I'll post the picks. It's also how you'll razz your competitors and friends when they announce who got eliminated an hour before the West Coast sees the show...

Schedule: The Top 24 were announced tonight. Voting rounds begin next week. The pool will be narrowed to the Top 12 contestants on Wed, Mar 7.

We will begin our Pool the week of March 11.

RULES

1. Each week, you pick a contestant who you predict will not be eliminated during that week's competition. If your contestant is eliminated, you are out of the game. If your contestant of the week makes it, you've safely survived to the next week. Here's the trick: you cannot pick that contestant again for the rest of the competition so don't pick your future Carrie Underwood too early.
2. If you make it through to the Final 4, you will be "reset." That means you'll be able to pick any of the four remaining contestants even if you previously picked one (or several) of those people.
3. You must submit your pick of the week to mastrine@gmail.com no later than 3:00PM Pacific on the day of the elimination show (the 2nd one). I'll send out a complete table once the Top 12 are finalized.
4. The entry fee is $25 each. Personal Checks can be sent to Jason Mastrine, 2136 NE 50th Ave, Portland, OR 97213. Cash in person is fine, as well. Paypal's in the amount of $28 can be sent to direct.access.live@gmail.com.
5. Deadline for entry is end of day on Sunday, March 11, but if you know right now that you want to be in it, tell me. Either way, your first pick won't be due until later that week (see #3 above).
6. Winnings:

• 1st: ~80% of pool
• 2nd: ~20% of pool
• 3rd: Entry fee is returned

I'll finalize the winnings once I know how many people have entered.

TIEBREAKER

In the event that more than one survivor picks the next American Idol, the Survivor with the highest number of "unpicked" contestants at the beginning of the Final 4 wins the pot. If it is still a tie, we will have co-champions of the American Idol Survivor Pool and the pot will be split evenly.

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In '05, Jenny Waldkirch won $220. Last year, Dena Pullar got $460. There's no reason this shouldn't be a $1,000 pot this year. FORWARD TO YOUR FRIENDS.

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