Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Well, Kristy Lee Cook is heading home, hopefully for a happy reunion with her horse.

For those who don’t know the story, country gal Kristy Lee sold her horse to finance her trip to the Idol auditions. Now the guy who bought the horse doesn’t want to sell him back.

Idol did it’s best to pressure the guy into changing his mind Wednesday, which provided a pretty big clue as to how the night might end.

Kristy Lee deserves some sort of Idol survivor award. I mean, here’s a contestant who barely made the final 12, who appeared to be on the verge of elimination week after week.

But she made it to the final seven, outlasting David Hernandez, Amanda Overmyer, Chikezie, Ramiele Malubay and Michael Johns.

Don’t feel too bad for Kristy Lee. She’s attractive. She’s got spunk (love the way she sang the start of her farewell song sitting in front of Simon, her most vocal critic).  She improved over the course of the competition. And she’s a country crooner.

Nashville just loves former Idols who are country crooners (see Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bucky Covington). So I doubt very much we’ve heard the last from Kristy Lee.

Now, on to this week’s rankings …

1. David Cook: In my mind, he’s widened the gap between himself and David Archuleta to the point where he’s this season’s clear front-runner. While others fizzled, he sparkled on Mariah week, which is a credit to his ability to mold a song to his abilities.

2. David Archuleta: I wasn’t thrilled with his performance of “When You Believe,” but he got rave reviews from the judges, and there’s no doubt he can hit the big notes. Solidly entrenched in the number two spot.

3. Jason Castro: If nothing else is certain on Idol performance night, there’s this: We’ll get another laid-back performance, a few of those charming smiles and a lame interview from Jason. If the gap between the top two is widening, the gap between the top two and the rest of the field is growing even wider.

4. Brooke White: Brooke might be the best of the ladies, but I’m losing hope that she’s capable of putting together the run of strong performances she needs to challenge either David for a spot in the finals. She just avoided elimination last night.

5. Syesha Mercado: In terms of talent, Syesha and Brooke belong ahead of Jason on this list. Problem is, this competition is as much about popularity as it is about ability.

6. Carly Smithson: How she managed to avoid the final three Wednesday … well, I find it mind-boggling. She can certainly hit the big notes, but she’s proving that ability doesn’t necessarily translate into a stellar performance.