Watching Scotty crow

Can Haley Reinhart, left, and Lauren Alaina
derail the Scotty Express? Tune in tonight.

When we last weighed in on Season 10 of American Idol the Sanctuary's Rapid Rankings looked like this:
1. Scotty McCreery
2. James Durbin
3. Haley Reinhart
4. Lauren Alaina
5. Casey Abrams
6. Jacob Lusk

We weren't surprised to see Casey Abrams and Jacob Lusk eliminated in successive weeks, but last week provided a true shocker when rocker James Durbin, the prohibitive favorite who said he only wanted to "give metal a chance," couldn't muster enough votes to hang around. That means the Final 3 includes two girls, both of whom have been impressive in recent weeks. (If this were a sporting competition analysts would be saying Haley Reinhart and Lauren Alaina are "peaking at the right time.")

But getting past Scotty McCreery won't be easy for the upstart girls. Even though two of the most talented and successful Idol winners have been females (Kelly Clarkson in Season 1 and Carrie Underwood in Season 4), there have only been three in all.  We're not even sure what became of the other one, Jordin Sparks, who won Season 6.

Do we really care?  No. To reference lyrics from a favorite song by the Vidalias, "we're just an innocent bystander Lord, waiting to take the next train out of town."  But it sure was fun using the Blogger strikethrough function and some color type.

If you do happen to follow Idol, we recommend checking out the coverage by Washington Post TV columnist Lisa de Moraes, whose online posts are more entertaining than the show itself.  See for yourself by clicking here.