At last it's over. The only thing worse that Sanjaya Malakar's singing was everyone talking about his singing. If he had continued, Obama and Hillary would have had to address the issue. It could have become the key issue in the upcoming presidential race.

   Thankfully we have been spared this nightmare, and little Sanjaya was sent packing.

   Last week American Idol decided to feature both types of music: country AND western. Sadly, most of the contestants couldn't really cope with such simple fare and sang dismally.

   Unsurprisingly, Sanjaya gave a lackluster performance. Although with his tight jeans and bandanna, Sanjaya looked like a prison bride. Add a coat of lipstick and he'd make some lifer a very nice wife. In fact, Sanjaya looked so cute, Maxim made him "Girl of the Day" Wednesday. Unfortunately for him it wasn't a beauty contest. America voted and it was Sayonara Sanjaya.

   Phil Stacy opened the night with a song that proves why most people still haven't heard of Keith Urban. Hats off to the people who had to watch Stacy without a hat because he's freakish looking. He looks like an amateur actor portraying Uncle Fester in a dinner-theater version of "Addams Family: The Musical." Stacy's singing was acceptable, but his performance betrayed his roots as a talent show winner.

   Next up was Jordin Sparks in a dress that made her look like the pregnant handmaiden to Cleopatra. About halfway through her performance she went from sounding like a beauty pageant contestant to singing like a star. This kid could go all the way.

   Wearing a low cut dress and knee-high gold boots, LaKisha Jones looked like some sort of 1970's TV super-villain. I kept waiting for Wonder Woman to show up and deflect sour notes with her magic bracelets. LaKisha was out of her league singing country. So much for her being a good singer.

   Chris Richardson didn't really make much of an impression. Combining pitch problems with a nasal delivery, he just didn't give a very good performance.

   Even though her dress looked like a slipcover off a second-hand couch, Melinda Doolittle delivered a top-notch performance as always. She's even stopped looking surprised when the judges compliment her.

   Blake Lewis closed the night with what was arguably the best performance of the night. The voters on the other hand disagreed and put him in the bottom three. It was either his silly dance moves or his sweater sealed his fate. Only the voters know.

   The worst part of all this is, of course, the Ford commercials. The director of these travesties should be drawn and quartered for even contemplating the insipid ideas for these videos. With advertisements like theses, no wonder domestic auto sales are down.