There was lots of hemming and hawing last night among the lady judges on whether to throw the life preserver out for Scott MacIntyre, but in the end Simon stepped in and the right decision was made. Scott had miraculously dodged the cutting room floor for numerous weeks, and his wobbly talent finally caught up with him. As politically incorrect as this is to say, if he wasn't blind he wouldn't have made it anywhere near the top 8. America loves those overcoming all odds stories and tends to give the benefit of the doubt much more freely than they should. You could see it on Snoopy's face (Noop Dog) as he stood there in utter disbelief after putting in a solid performance to be this close to being shown the door in favor of America's favorite bleeding heart. Goodbye Scott. You should have performed minus the electric guitar because your closing salvo was ten times better than what was shoveled off on us last night. Now its time to handicap the remaining finalists to see who has a shot at Idol immortality and who is steps away from the glue factory.

Anoop Desai - Anoop is an interesting one. When we were pairing down to the top 13, I thought there was no way this goofy dude was going to crack the final count, but he persisted like crabs on a $2 hooker. His voice seems to mature each week, and that gives him new life. The problem is he has no rock star style, much less persona, and his musical niche seems to be somewhere between Barry Manilow and Boys II Men. The world never needed the originals much less a modern day incarnation. So Snoopy wipe that incredulous look off your face because next week you are going home.

Matt Giraud - What to make of Mr. Matt Giraud. He's definitely got the soulful groove thing down, but at heart he seems to want to be more Chris Martin than Stevie Wonder. Unfortunately, alt-rock just isn't that into him. Also his vocal talents are one of the weaker of the remaining Idols. If he continues to play up the JT angle, I think he can coast his way to this point before he runs into his limitations like a brickwall. Surprisingly, I think Matt has one of the best chances for fame post-Idol -- in the hands of the right producer.

Allison Iraheta - Allison is a talented young lady. She obviously is in her comfort zone with Heart and those 80s power ballads, but she has the quieter side cornered as well as we saw in Bonnie Raitt "I Can't Make You Love Me." The rather large question marks with her are does she have that star charisma to take the stage hostage and just exactly who is she? She's the only contestant who I can't really pin a life to. Everyone else has their particular niche and persona, but she's consistently slipped through the cracks in my mind. She could just as easy supersede Giraud for the gutter if she doesn't make America stand up and take notice in the weeks ahead.

Danny Gokey - The curious case of Danny Gokey. In the early days of this competition, I saw Danny just running away with this thing. His Robert Downey Jr meets Elvis Costello looks and powerful voice seemed just what America needed for its next Idol. He belted out the songs week after week, but annoyingly I've noticed they are the same songs. There's no range to Gokey. He's never going to surprise you and reinvent himself one week. He's running along that one steady baseline, devoid of chances, and I believe his safety and lack of diversity will trip him up right before we get to the finals.

Kris Allen - Kris has been a pleasant surprise. I was ready to boot him out when he delivered the forgettable "Man in the Mirror" performance, but he's light years away from that now. Every week he's brought his 'A' game and proved he is a force to be reckoned with. If he can maintain his high level of performance, he should have no problem edging out "plain Jane" Gokey for that finals spot. He'll find a spot in the music business as a John Mayer-type singer-songwriter. Nothing terribly flashy but solid talent who knows how to nail a performance in his sleep.

Adam Lambert - Standing ovation indeed. Adam Lambert truly is in a league all his own. When we started this competition, I labeled Adam as the weird one. He certainly had talent, but would his brand of theatrical presentation fail to mesh with the traditional vision of what we think American Idol is? Boy was that a dumb question. As of three weeks ago, he was preforming like he was already in the finals yet each progressive week since he's continued to raise the bar. Put a fork in it. This one is done. Adam Lambert will be season 8's American Idol champion. Now the real question becomes will he be able to parlay that win into fame and fortune ala Carrie Underwood and Daughtry or will he become the next Taylor Hicks? It depends on how watered down these AI pop producers make him. Should be interesting to watch though.