I, too, am loving the real challenges, although it makes me fear for the Cowboys and the Globetrotters, neither of whom are all that good at real challenges. That said, the Cowboys made quite a little comeback.

Ron and Christina bug, but I really would like to see Margie and Luke go before them. Did Luke really tell his mom to just leave the kangaroo foot? I really wish she'd have listened to him just to enjoy the sight of Phil sending them back and then them getting Philiminated. They cannot leave soon enough. And then Ron and Christina can go next. That would leave two appealing parent/child teams in the mix. I'm worried for Mel and Mike, though. I don't see how they can make it the entire race.

Oh yeah, the foot thing. Aside from Margie almost not going back for it, Mike and Mel could have really screwed them up there by picking it up. I think they were trying to be helpful (also not the greatest race instinct) but given that, what if they hadn't run into the team who lost it?

I kind of wish they weren't allowed to use Google to figure out the clues, but I'm a hardass that way.

Sadly, I forgot to tell my Tivo not to erase TAR when setting up the season pass, so when I went to watch last night, it had already been replaced by repeats of Law & Order and Criminal Intent.

I have no one to blame but myself.

The no-pitstop marathon (after the long flight to Australia) really took a toll on the teams. This may yet be the toughest season we'll see.

Christian Siriano's line for Spiegel.

Judas Priest song on Idol. I'm a happy girl.

That was awesome. He really controlled himself, too, with the screaming.

I loved "Maggie May," too.

Haven't gotten there yet...but good to know it didn't get butchered.

On AI: How is JLo still so beautiful on the live show? It seems unpossible. However, I must give her tiny points off because no 40 something year old woman should be rocking the half up/half down hairtstyle.

Performances thus far:

Junbug is up first. Singing Superstition. Oh, wow. Junbug. You do not have the chops for this song. He really thinks he sings much better than he actually does. And oh, he is so far off the pitch. Sharp, sharp all over. And he’s trying to funkify it and do all the R&B runs and it’s just, no. His voice has a weird nasally thing. The “hey, hey, hee-ey” scream was the best part, the end was just yowl-y crap. Let’s see if the judges call him on it. I’m sure Steven Tyler will love it. I agree with JLo that he seemed really nervous. It must be hard to go up first. Randy is and idiot, but I agree that the performance wasn’t karaoke. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t karaoke either.

Jovany and Jordan. Oh swell. Let’s get all the hating over and done with all at once.

Jovany Barretto – Needs to go home immediately. His clip package was ass. And he broke out one of the most overused Idol songs of all times. I’ll Be? What is this, season 4? This is who he is. Nothing but muscles and cheese and a face not nearly as cute as he believes it is. His voice is so weak and non-descript. I think I’ve heard dockworkers singing in the bathroom on their break who sound better than this kid. Go home, you big headed fool. You can’t sing. JLo only put you through because you kissed Marc Antony’s ass and she kinda wants to fuck you. And only Randy brings the realness? What? It was karaoke. Sounds like the original but not as good. Exactly. There’s no "A" for effort. Did Steven Tyler just tell Randy, “Dawg, you been eating too many biscuits”? He’s wrong in this instance but I love his crazy ass.

Jordan Dorsey – Also needs to go home immediately. And to think, I used to really like this fool. But I must give him mini-props for singing a current song. Usher’s OMG. But he does know that Usher can’t really sing, right? And that this song, while a dance floor anthem, is not a singer’s song? No matter how he tries to jazz it up. And by going off the melody, he just makes it sound odd. So many key changes. Wait, make that unnecessary key changes. It was just a weird performance. Look at Steven Tyler’s face. Priceless. JLo also nails it by calling this fool out on being fake. Of course he didn’t hit the falsetto well. And then he agrees that it’s not him. So he acknowledges that he’s fake. Alright, then. You know what? I’m done with this one. Done.

Tim Halperin. Hmmm. I don’t know this song at all, so immediate points for bringing something new to the Idol stage. It’s kind of low key and it sounds like the song may be pitched a little low for him and therefore he has to do a lot of sing-talking, which I don’t enjoy. He’s just a little off the notes in some weird way that is making me uncomfortable. And the chorus kicks in and I recognize this song from, like, commercials for ABC shows or something equally cheesy. And yep, I just don’t like it. Darn it. And I really want to like him. Tell it, Steven Tyler. The song did not do him any justice. He didn’t do it well, JLo. (Note: Doin’ It Well is JLo’s best song. Discuss) He has been better. I agree with the judges. He just didn’t nail it. Bad song choice. Bad arrangement. And no, Tim Halperin. Do not defend the shoe to me and America. Bad, Tim. I hope your cute enough to pull you through to next week.

Brett Lowenstern of my heart. I wanted to hate you but you made me love you. Now bring it. Light My Fire. This is actually a really good song choice for him. The dancing is heinous and the hair flipping. Oh, it is just going all the way off the rails now, isn’t it family? The voice is good OK but the performance quality is so, so uncomfortable. Oh, it’s bad. Watch from the hall bad, y’all. Clearly, this kids is not ready for prime time. Still, on vocals alone, I think he’s probably been the best of the night so far. And JLo calls him on the hair tossing and it’s great. And I believe that he didn’t realize he was doing all the hair tossing.