I CAN'T - just read what I wrote, because I can't talk about it

Did you do enough to keep your favorite in the competition? That was Ryan's opening question. I tried to -- 8 text votes for Carly, 4 for David Cook, 1 for David A. Before you all tell me you won't watch anymore or you can't believe this etc. etc. Let me ask you -- did you vote?

Not to be political, but especially this year, this show epitomizes this country. I do not want to offend anyone, but from a historical point of view, let me explain. I can't dare be that explicit, but offline if you want me to be, I can.

Season 1 -- Tamyra was the clear favorite with Kelly Clarkson in 2nd. Tamyra was voted off 4th and Kelly competed against loser Justin Guarini. Kelly won and proved to be amazing, but her first album was pretty lame and cheesy. It wasn't until she stopped being cutesy and got real and gutsy with Since You Been Gone that she became a Superstar.

Season 2 -- Ruben vs Clay. Clay was a little off the beaten path in his looks, outfits, etc. He got made over, so he got as far as he did but he clearly should have won. Ruben won. Clay sold tons of albums and Ruben didn't. Clay came out and now Clay is in Spamalot.

Season 3 -- Fantasia vs Diana de Garmo. Jennifer Hudson is kicked off, Latoya London is kicked off, only one diva is left standing. And I think because everyone was so fed up with her having to compete with a midget who could not sing well, she won. Thank god.

Season 4 -- Bo vs Carrie. Bo was the first COOL singer on Idol. He did rocker first with a southern rock twist. He had long hair, he sang amazingly well. Carrie was sweet Oklahoma, country girl -- fantastic voice who grew in the competition. I went to that finale and remember how blown away I was by her voice. She did deserve to win, despite him being cooler at the time, because I remember thinking "He is too cool to win this -- he doesn't need it." Ends up he did, but regardless, the country girl won and became the biggest selling Idol of all time. She stuck to being a country singer.

Season 5 -- Daughtry, by far the most real, genuine, talented contestant. He is voted off 4th and old man Taylor Hicks and pretty girl Katherine McPhee vie for the title. Neither succeed. Daughtry puts out a fantastic album the way he wants to and becomes the biggest seller of the year.

Season 6 -- No one is very talented. But the cool kid, Blake, cannot win because this show always forces a cheesy finale song which a beat box rocker guy could not possibly sing better than a 17 year old diva like female. Melinda is clearly the most talented, but she cannot get into the top 2. Jordin now can't sing because she busted her vocal cords.

Season 7 -- Clearly the most talented group which may be the problem with this season. There is not just 1 cool kid. There is David Cook, Carly Smithson, Jason Castro and yes, even Brooke White is cooler than any all other contestants in previous seasons with the exception of Bo and Daughtry. And so our votes are getting split. And so the uber cheesy like Ramiele and the uber bible belt like Kristy and the uber boy toy like David Archuleta will prevail longer than the rest.

Do I miss Michael Johns -- yes, but we can all agree that he was not always at the top of his game. However, I was shocked he left. He was Australian.

And somehow, although I fell off of my chair, I am not completely surprised that Carly, the Irish rocker, with tattoos and a husband with tattoos on his face cannot win American Idol -- despite singing Jesus Christ Superstar (get my drift?) she cannot. Because ultimately, this competition reflects the majority of this country. We are not NY and LA, we are everything in between, up and down and all around. And an Irish rocker with tattoos and a husband with tattoos on his face cannot beat gaspuleta who was born and raised on Star Search.

And how many of my 90 blog subscribers voted? I can say this right now. If you did not vote last night, do not discuss the results with me. Were the results wrong? TOTALLY Were the bottom 2 wrong? TOTALLY But did you do something to affect them? If not, then you can't really complain because these results are based on votes.

And if you did vote and are as shell shocked as me, remember these names -- Michael Johns, Carly Smithson, anyone else who has gotten into the top 10. If they are genuinely talented, they do now have the chance to record and sell an album that can be super successful. They do not need to win. But if they weren't on this show, and if you hadn't watched them, they would probably not have had a chance in hell.

We all know that the best do not always win. In the case of politics, the best do not even always run, but the American dream is not about winning, it is about being given the opportunity. And thus what American Idol provides these contestants -- an opportunity to get in front of 30 million viewers. You can choose to not watch anymore because of this, but then you are only hurting the opportunity for these contestants -- the ones you would have voted for, the ones whose album you would have bought, to show you what they can do -- to play out their American Dream.

I can't sign off.