If you walked up to a random person with photos of all the "American Idol" contestants and asked them to put names to faces, I'm betting most couldn't get 100 percent. People who'd seen the show could probably identify Sanjaya -- even pre-Mohawk, and maybe a couple other singers. But if they'd seen the show even once, they could probably recognize Chris Sligh.

Sligh had a distinct look from the start. He didn't look like an "Idol," but neither did Taylor Hicks. Sligh was chubby, with a giant Afro, and glasses. A Hollywood stylist would probably have put him on a diet, cut his hair, and given him Lasik surgery before they'd let him perform on a concert stage.

But Sligh was proud of his look, and played it up. His fans were dubbed the "Fro Patro," mimicking Hicks' "Soul Patrol." He joked that he was "bringing chubby back," a la Justin Timberlake bringing sexy back. And it definitely was appealing to see a singer cheerfully going against the traditional grain, saying "Who says I have to look like a Ken doll? This is who I am."

Every season, fans comment on how the singers who get the most airtime early on go further than those who don't. Sligh piled up the airtime early and often. The "Idol" cameras loved Sligh, with his jokes about making David Hasselhoff cry, and of course, his hair (vote here on whether he should choose a different look). He not only got plenty of airtime, he got plenty of press attention, too. Articles were written about how he attended fundamentalist Bob Jones University but no longer sang only Christian music.

But in the end, his unusual looks and his "Fro Patro" weren't enough to keep Chris Sligh in the contest, even against a woman (Haley) so bland that both Simon and Ryan have had trouble remembering her name. Just one more sign of the unpredictablity of "Idol," a contest that may yet see a teenager named Sanjaya go further than anyone would have ever imagined.

Stay tuned. Something tells us this season has more than a few surprises left before the May 23 finale.

For a week now, viewers of "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" have been comparing the two shows' voting systems. On "Idol," the judges get to decide which singers make it to Hollywood to compete, but then the power moves to the viewers' hands. If the viewers decide they like Sanjaya better than Stephanie, then Stephanie goes home, and Sanjaya lives to wear seven ponytails in a faux-Mohawk.

On "Dancing," the judging would seem more fair. Three trained ballroom-dance experts dissect each performance, explain what was right and wrong about it, and even award numerical scores. But they don't have all the power. Part of the decision is still made by the viewers, some of whom undoubtedly know nothing about dancing but that they once threw out a knee doing the Macarena at Cousin Julie's wedding

"Would seem more fair" yes, but then we come to Tuesday night's "Dancing" results. Poor Paulina Porizkova. From all appearances, she was a classy contestant who moved elegantly, didn't make any big mistakes, and whose 1980s supermodel beauty had morphed into an age-appropriate elegance. She actually hit the 1980s nostalgia vote on two counts -- not only she was a supermodel during that decade, but she has been married for more than 20 years to Cars' frontman Ric Ocasek. (She was also the topic of the 1990s alt-rock song "Friends of P" by the Rentals, which probably earned her points with exactly one person other than me.)

Yet Paulina was the first one to get booted, joining such awful past dancers as Tucker "I'll sit in a chair the whole dance!" Carlson and Trista Sutter. Did that make a lot of sense? She certainly didn't have the lowest scores from the judges, so it was the viewers who weren't inspired to vote for her. But why not?

From all the nasty "golddigger" comments flying around, Heather Mills would seem to be the most disliked, though she may have earned points for kicking both legs, including her artificial one, up over her head in a backflip. Billy Ray Cyrus' first dance was the most embarrassing, his second only slightly better. Leeza Gibbons, at 50, the oldest woman to dance on the show, was game and perky, yet seemed awkward. And Shandi Finnessey, while every bit as lovely as a Miss USA should be, had to be the least recognizable name on the list. So what happened? How did "Dancing's" system of taking professional opinions and fandom phone calls and mixing them together flop? Or did it?

Porizkova said it best after she got the news: She just didn't have enough family and friends to call in and vote for her, she said with a laugh. Say what you will about Leeza or Billy Ray, their names are really well-known, even if you never watched "Leeza" and can't hum "Achy Breaky Heart." (And if you can't, know how lucky you are.) Paulina is gorgeous, but Shandi Finnessey is younger and blonder. And maybe being a 1980s supermodel and wife of a Car just don't rate in this very different era.

But mostly, when the judging of any contest is turned over to the general public, the results are going to be unpredictable. We've discussed this in the various "American Idol" threads -- anyone who thinks a TV talent show is purely about talent is in for a shocking revelation.

Personally, I still like the "Dancing" system of judging better than "Idol's." Even with the occasional oddball decision, it makes more sense to combine trained judges' observations with viewers' opinions. But anyone who thinks the "Dancing" system of judging would solve all of "Idol's" problems had a rude awakening after tonight's boot.

So "Idol's" system isn't perfect. "Dancing's" system isn't perfect. Maybe no system that involves public votes can be. But there's another option. Maybe it's time to try the same voting-system change that "Idol" viewers have been urging for several seasons now: Maybe viewers should be encouraged to call in for the worst performer instead of splitting their votes among several favorites. The "Idol" Web site "Vote for the Worst," which tries to circumvent the show by keeping awful singers around, would have to change its name to "Vote for the Best."

I've said it before and I still believe the shows will never do it -- it would make them look too outwardly mean -- but I'd sure like to see them try it, once.

Readers responded to my post last week about "Sopranos" and "The Shield" returning with about a dozen questions about when other shows will be returning. I can't answer every question you asked -- some shows are still in limbo -- but here's a quick calendar of those I do know about, mixed in with the ones I already listed last week, and some for which dates haven't been announced yet.

April 3: "The Shield" returns

April 5: New episode of "The Office"

April 8: "The Sopranos" returns
"Entourage" returns

May 22-23: "American Idol" finale

May 22: "The Lot" premieres

May 24: "So You Think You Can Dance" returns

June 10: "Sopranos" series finale

June 11: "The Closer" returns

June 12: "Rescue Me" returns

June 17: "Big Love" returns

June 25: "Hell's Kitchen" returns

Sept. 30: "Dexter" returns

Shows with unknown return date:
"The Wire"
"Curb Your Enthusiasm"
"Deadwood" (show itself is canceled, but two TV movies are planned, with no dates given)
"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
"Big Brother," likely to return in late June
"Rock Star," has not been renewed or canceled as of yet

Canceled but beloved shows:
"Carnivale"
"Epitafios"
"Rome"

Time again for Multi-link Monday, our week-starting quintet of work-distracting fun.

• On NBC's "Heroes," artist Isaac Mendez produces paintings that foresee the future. The real work is painted by artist Tim Sale, and starting today, you can bid on it online. Proceeds benefit the Epilepsy Foundation – Greg Grundberg, who plays cop Matt Parkman on the show, organizing the benefit in honor of his young son, who has pediatric epilepsy.

• Kusama's World of Dots is one of those goofy time-wasters that can become addictive. You kind of have to figure it out for yourself, but a few tips: Use the arrows on the sides of "rebel dot" to pick different style dots, and when you're bored with this room, use the arrows at the foot of the door or the TV to go outside and place dots there. Also, try putting a dot in the fish bowl. (Via Metafilter.)

• Speaking of dots, here's another dot-focused game. In this one, you place a dot by clicking on an empty space, and it fills in blank spaces that it touches. It's easy to fill in the spaces at first, but it gets progressively harder.

• USA Today offers a celebrity version of the NCAA tournament brackets. Instead of Midwest, East, West and South regions, they've divided up the celebs by Brains, Brawn, Beauty and Beast. I'm rooting for Lisa Simpson.

• Reader-submitted link. Says Kelly from Texas: "Here is another fun time-waster I found for those who think they are singers. I think this is where a lot of 'American Idol' contestants get their start."

I was about to give up on ABC's "Lost." I thought I'd reached my end when the show returned on Feb. 7 after a long hiatus with a horribly boring episode about horribly boring Juliet, one of the Others, and followed it up with an equally dull venture about minor character Desmond. Since then, the show has been hit-or-miss. But "Lost" may have saved its spot on my TiVo last night by focusing on one of the show's long-forgotten standbys, the cryptic John Locke. (Warning: spoilers for the March 21 episode follow.)

Locke has fascinated since the show's first season, when he discovered he no longer needed a wheelchair, that something on Mystery Island had healed him. He's the one who's developed some kind of weird synchronicity with the powers of the island, the one who was bound and determined to break into the hatch, the one who was dedicated to punching in Hurley's mysterious numbers. His character is written in a wonderfully mysterious way: Is he good? Is he evil? Does he have the best interests of the other castaways at heart, or is he all about the island and its secrets? One of the best things about Locke's character is that he's written in such a way that you could easily argue either position for hours.

AP

Terry O'Quinn

But no matter how well the character is written, much of the credit for his strange pull has to go to the actor who plays him, the talented Terry O'Quinn -- familiar from such other spooky shows as "The X-Files" and "Millennium." O'Quinn is a marvel.

It's odd to compare him to a comic actor, but he does much the same thing with his face as the talented John Krasinski does in his role as Jim Halpert on "The Office." Both men don't rely on their voice to act for them, some of their best moments come when they aren't saying a thing. Krasinski is now famous for his lips-pursed, much-put-upon straight-man face as Dunder-Mifflin Paper falls apart around him. O'Quinn has a way, too, of staring off into the middle distance after he delivers a line, as if challenging the viewer to determine if he just lied or told the truth, daring them to pick a side.

That was on display in full flower on last night's "Lost," when viewers learned (finally) about the fall that put Locke into his wheelchair. No shocker, it seems to have been caused by his evil kidney-stealing daddy, played by Kevin Tighe (Roy DeSoto from "Emergency!"). Is said Deadly Daddy the same con man who was responsible for the deaths of Sawyer's parents when he was just a boy? Heavy hints seem to have been dropped in that direction, since everyone on this show is connected in some weird way.

The episode ended with a true jolt: Creepy Other Ben promised Locke a look in a box that contained whatever one most desired. What did Locke want? Apparently, a shot at revenge on his creepy father, because suddenly, there was Evil Daddy, bound and gagged and looking a little the worse for wear.

Will Locke take out his revenge on the man who took his kidney, his legs, and his faith in people? Or will the calm, logical, good side of him win out, leaving the man to his own fate? Who knows, but it's got "Lost" viewers talking again, and that should be a lesson to the show's writers. You went ahead and got fans invested in the lives of your original crashees -- Locke, Sayid, Hurley -- and then you somehow got "Lost" yourselves, focusing on nameless, faceless Others no one cared about. If the show takes a roundtrip back to its core focus again, I may not feel so "Lost" after all.

Some suggestions for next week's song choice for Sanjaya Malakar. How about Elton John's "I'm Still Standing"? The lyrics include: "And did you think this fool could never win? Well look at me, I'm coming back again!"

Or maybe he could perform Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World." Or Bonnie Raitt's "Let's Give Them Something To Talk About." Or Kenny Rogers' hit "She Believes In Me," which he could dedicate to Ashley, the sweet little kid who was driven to tears by Sanjaya's performance this week.

Whatever he sings, you couldn't blame the teenager if he picked a song whose lyrics fired back in some way at his many detractors. It's true, he's just not in the same league as the many older and more experienced Idol wannabes when it comes to vocal quality, range, and performance style. But he's just 17, and not only has he had to hear about how terrible he is, he's had to hear remarks about his looks, insinuations about his personal life, and weirdly racist comments about his background.

Simon Cowell keeps saying that "American Idol" is a singing competion. But as readers of this blog keep pointing out, that may be the plan, but it's not exactly how it works out. Once the home audience gets to decide, the show becomes a blend of singing competition, popularity contest and social experiment. When people like Howard Stern are jumping on the Vote for the Worst bandwagon, directing the power of his massive audience, you know that singing talent is no longer the first thing being considered. Anyone remember when Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, a Stern regular, almost won the People.com online most beautiful person poll? The Internet makes it easy for people to unite and manipulate almost any voting campaign out there, and if you can't deal with that, you'd best not trust your poll/contest/TV show to the masses.

Last week's boot of Brandon Rogers was not as disturbing as this week's ouster of Stephanie Edwards. Edwards had a lovely voice and real charm, and was cited often and early by judge Simon Cowell as a contender to win it all. If singing skill were the only criterion, she would still be on the show.

Many of our readers would like to see the judges step back in, especially in the show's later rounds, and get the final word on who wins. But Fox likes to brag about how the decision is up to the fans, so the network is unlikely to make the change unless something really drastic happens -- say, Sanjaya goes all the way, defeating even Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones. That would definitely make the show reconsider its voting system.

But for now, maybe Sanjaya should show up next week and sing Deniece Williams' 1984 hit, "Let's Hear It For the Boy."

Didn't Charlie Brown once say the secret of happiness is having three things to look forward to and nothing to dread? As a TV editor, I like to put his philosophy into television terms. Even though the average American has more than 100 channels, it can be hard to find those three upcoming shows to look foward to. Here's where I'll be putting my TiVo to work in upcoming weeks.

April 3: "The Shield" returns, with Vic Mackey on the hunt for Lem's killer -- and with no idea just how close to him that killer is.

April 5: After weeks of reruns, a new episode of "The Office" airs. Here's NBC's summary: "Darryl decides to meet with Michael to negotiate a pay increase. Meanwhile, Jim deals with the consequences of Pam's confession to Roy." You know I'm most interested in that second bit, after Roy shrieking in the last new episode "I'M GONNA KILL JIM HALPERT!"

April 8: "The Sopranos" returns for its final episodes. ("Entourage" returns the same day.)Remember where we left off? Tony had managed to distract Carmela from her hunt to find out what happened to Adriana, Christopher was married and a family man all of a sudden, and AJ was dating a single mom and seemed to have found himself at long last. All this family peace cannot last.

May 22-23: "American Idol" finale, with performances on May 22, and the winner crowned on May 23.

May 22: "On the Lot" premieres. Yes, there are a million and then some reality shows, but this one, in which filmmakers compete for a million-dollar development deal, should be more interesting than most. Viewers will see some of the short films the competitors make each week. I'm betting this will pull in giant ratings, thanks to FOX scheduling it right after the "Idol" final performance show.

May 24: "So You Think You Can Dance" returns. This is the one with actual dancers, not country singers and Miss USAs learning to dance.

June 10: "Sopranos" airs its series finale. Will Tony or one of his family members be whacked? Or, will Tony survive, but head off to spend the rest of his life in jail? For ordering Adriana's murder alone, he has blood all over his hands.

I admit it, I watched Monday's premiere of "Dancing With the Stars," despite the fact that the show's about ready to be renamed "Cha cha chaing with the C-Listers." I mean, really, did you know who Shandi Finnessey was? Was anyone out there clamoring to see more of Leeza Gibbons? Are we anything but angry at Billy Ray Cyrus for bestowing "Achy Breaky Heart" upon us? And Ian Ziering?  Ian Ziering?

Viewers will have to wait a whole week to find out who gets voted off, although MSNBC.com contributor Linda Holmes has some pretty sharp guesses here. As goofy as the show is, however, it's somewhat soothing. The stars are millionaires whether they win or lose, for the most part, and they're generally pretty comfortable before the cameras. Nothing's on the line for them except a really ugly trophy. These are not the nervous teens of "American Idol" putting it out there every week. Even the judges and the hosts seem to know better than to take the show too seriously -- goofily accented judges Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli trade off trying to be goofily accented, caustic Simon Cowell, but neither of them have his harsh edge.

If I had to be serious about it, I'd note that Ian Ziering wasn't half bad, Paulina Porizkova is elegance personified, and Anton Apolo Ohno has, unsurprisingly, some really fast feet. If I had to pick who's likely to get booted next week, I'd say Billy Ray Cyrus or Leeza Gibbons. If I had to pick an early winner, I like Laila Ali's chances.

But I don't have to be serious, and so here, then, are some of my own personal highlights -- and lowlights -- from the "Dancing" premiere.

Dorkiest outfit, celebrity version: Heather Mills' weirdly two-toned raspberry and vanilla dress, which even she admitted made her "feel a bit like an ice-cream sundae."

Dorkiest outfit, pro dancer version: Two-time champ Cheryl Burke appeared to be wearing a fishing net covered with those googly eyes you buy in a craft store.

Unwisest choice of music: Ian Ziering and Burke cha cha cha'd to "Mony Mony," which has been known to spark an obscene chant when played in public.

Funniest age joke: Paulina Porizkova's partner, Alec Mazo, told the classy supermodel that "my dad has a lot of pinups of you."

Age joke that backfired: "Cheers" legend John Ratzenberger, almost 60, joked that he's about to turn 72. No one in the audience thought he was kidding.

Dance move that most resembled domestic violence: Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus had to make multiple attempts before successfully, and scarily, ripping a fake mullet off the head of his partner, Karina Smirnoff.

Worst nickname: Joey Fatone's partner, Kym Johnson, helpfully chirped of the former boy-bander, "Joey Fat One's not going to be his nickname any more!" OK, but Fatone didn't help his cause much when he followed up her statement by yelling "I need a bra!"

Last week was almost all "American Idol." Let's start off this week with our usual contingent of Monday randomness.

• How much is "The Brady Bunch" house worth today? (Mike and Carol could sell his architectural treasure, one bathroom and all, for a cool $1 million) How about Meredith's Seattle home on "Grey's Anatomy"? ($1.2 million.) Even Archie Bunker's Queens home goes for half a mill. Zillow.com offers a fun roundup of prices for the houses whose exteriors stand in for TV characters' homes.

• Have you heard of Peggle? It's from PopCap Games, the folks that created Bejeweled, and it's every bit as addictive. It's kind of like pinball, but with some funky twists. Give it a shot.

• Looking ahead to our summer commercial contest, I wanted to link to this AdFreak list of their top 10 ads featuring people dressed up like food. I'm pretty sure you can guess who's number one.

• "Lord of the Rings" fans, want to exercise and have some Tolkien-related fun? Keep track of the miles you walk or run, and enter the number into this site. It'll translate your distance into how far you'd be on Frodo and friends' path to Rivendell. Combine it with this site for more "LOTR" walking fun.

• Our Tech section published a list of fun time-wasters for those who hate March Madness. I've popped the Virtual Bubble Wrap before, and highly recommend it as a stress buster.

I posted last night about how "American Idol" can be compared to the NCAA tourney brackets, but let's take that a little further. If the "Idol" contestants were going head-to-head in individual matchups, who would be the Cinderella, and who'd be an upset victim? Here's my take.

Say this all began before Brandon's elimination. Here's how your singers are seeded; obviously, you may disagree with some of the rankings, but it's as good a guess as any.

#1: Melinda
#2: LaKisha
#3: Jordin
#4: Stephanie
#5: Gina
#6: Chris Sligh
#7: Blake
#8: Chris Richardson
#9: Phil
#10: Haley
#11: Sanjaya
#12: Brandon

First round: #1 Melinda faces off against #12 Brandon, and her powerhouse voice blows away the background singer. #2 LaKisha takes on #11 Sanjaya, and all the fan bases and "Vote for the Worst" campaigns in the world can't save him there.

#3 Jordin takes on #10 Haley, and this could be a Cinderella upset. Jordin is amazing for a teen, and Haley's had her problems, but she's moving up fast. Give this one to Haley just to shake things up.

#9 Phil takes on #4 Stephanie, and it's not that much of a contest, Stephanie wins. But #5 matchups are legendarily troubled, and Gina struggles and finally gets eliminated against #8 Chris Richardson.

That leaves a battle of the boys: #6 Chris Sligh vs. #7 Blake. Chris's fans (who call themselves "Fro Patrol," after his bushy hair and Taylor Hicks' Soul Patrol) turn out in force, but it's Blake who moves on, in an extremely close contest.

FIRST-ROUND SUMMARY:
ADVANCING: Melinda, LaKisha, Haley, Stephanie, Chris Richardson, Blake
BYE-BYE: Brandon, Sanjaya, Jordin, Phil, Gina, Chris Sligh

SECOND ROUND
Lowest-ranked Haley takes on Melinda, and it's still really no contest; Melinda wins.

Second-lowest-ranked Chris Richardson battles LaKisha, but she, too, glides into the final three.

In the most interesting battle of the round, #4 Stephanie takes on #7 Blake. Let's call this one for the Cinderella team: Blake's beatboxing (judiciously used, of course) and originality helps him pull out a shocker of a win over the talented Stephanie.

SECOND-ROUND SUMMARY:
ADVANCING: Melinda, LaKisha, Blake
BYE-BYE: Haley, Chris Richardson, Stephanie

THIRD ROUND
Three singers are left, so top-ranked Melinda gets a bye. It doesn't really matter, because Blake has gone as far as he can go. He loses to LaKisha, and it's really not even close.

THIRD-ROUND SUMMARY:
ADVANCING: Melinda, LaKisha
BYE-BYE: Blake

CHAMPIONSHIP
It doesn't always happen in the NCAA, but it happens here in our fantasyland: The two top-ranked singers meet in the finals, LaKisha vs. Melinda, mano a mano. In the closest finale since the Clay-Ruben contest that's still being debated fiercely, Melinda draws on the maturity and experience she's developed through the competition and pulls out a victory.

Melinda Doolittle is your NCAA champion -- I mean, "American Idol."

Well, that's ONE way it could go. What are your scenarios?

"American Idol" held its first finalist elimination Wednesday night, and the bottom three singers were really no surprise. Or were they?

If you'd just watched Tuesday's performance show and then shut yourself in a lead-sealed capsule until the elimination was announced, you wouldn't be shocked at all that Sanjaya Malakar, Phil Stacey, and Brandon Rogers were the three lowest vote-getters. They just didn't sound that great. The six men in the contest have been almost universally decried as being much less talented than the women, so it's no surprise that half the men ended up in the bottom three.

Brandon  forgot the lyrics to a very familiar song, "You Can't Hurry Love," and his dancing was called "terrible" by Simon Cowell. Sanjaya's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was proclaimed "almost unlistenable" by Randy Jackson -- and he's not even the mean judge. Phil Stacey may have been a bit surprised that he was in the bottom three, as Chris Sligh received crueler comments from the judges than Stacey, but Sligh is recognizable and has a bit of a fan base.

But the people who were even more surprised about the bottom three were those who relied on the Web sites Vote for the Worst or Dial Idol. If you made your picks based on those sites, you likely picked Stephanie Edwards to go home (based on Dial Idol's prediction) and you almost surely didn't place Sanjaya in the bottom three. Vote for the Worst was actively campaigning to keep him, and Dial Idol thought he had the third-largest amount of votes, after singing powerhouses Melinda Doolittle and LaKisha Jones.

The sites have been eerily accurate at some points in the past, so why were they so far off? Despite all the attention such sites garner, there's still millions of homes that have never heard of them, and while Dial Idol's method of measuring busy signals is novel, it is far from complete.

But more than that, the more publicity Sanjaya gets, the worse for him. If no one was complaining about how he doesn't deserve to stick around, he might be able to fly under the radar for a little while. He's become famous for being bad. You feel sorry for him in a way -- it's a lot of pressure for a teen, belting out songs every week against older, savvier singers, some of whom have spent years performing live in bands. He should be back at his high school, starring in the school musical and performing solos at assembly.

The NCAA tourney starts up tomorrow, and one of the unwritten rules of bracketology is that it's sometimes quite smart to pick a #12 team to beat a #5, but it's almost unheard of to pick a #16 to beat a #1 seed. Melinda and LaKisha have been front-runners -- #1 seeds -- pretty much since they showed up to audition.

But Sanjaya, for many reasons -- inexperience, youth, and shyness among them -- is "Idol's" equivalent of a #16 seed. He doesn't have to go head-to-head against Melinda or LaKisha right away -- he gets the benefit of performing in the same big pool as everyone else. As it is, he can pull a few Cinderella upsets, stick around a couple weeks longer than expected, and shock plenty of viewers. But eventually, his clock is going to strike midnight.

As you've read in the comments to previous posts here, "American Idol" viewers are clamoring for the show to change its voting system. No one can quite agree on how exactly to do so, but almost all can agree that the current one is a mess.

Some want the number of votes limited per caller or phone number. Some want the decision as to who gets sent home to be 50 percent the callers' decision, 50 percent dependent on what the judges say.

But my favorite suggestion  is one that will likely never be implemented. Instead of voting for the best singer, what would happen if callers called in for the singer who performed the worst that week? (Some would note that many callers are already doing this, either because of the Vote for the Worst Web site or just to be funny.) Instead of splitting the fanbase into all kinds of groups supporting this singer or that singer, there would only be one decision to be made each week: Who was the absolute worst singer of all the finalists?

Think how interesting that would be. I'm sure there would still be some bizarre plotting and conspiracy theories -- fans of Singer X might surely find ways to convince themselves that kicking off Singer Y would help or hurt their cause. (Think "Survivor," when all the alliances band together to get rid of someone who's a bigger threat to them.) Vote for the Worst.com would have to transform itself into Vote for the Best if it wanted to keep whatever level of power it has.

The change could have a negative effect, too. Singers might even feel that they didn't have to try that hard each week, that all they had to do was sing a little better than the worst one or two others. Like the joke about the two people who suddenly find themselves trapped by a grizzly bear, and one of them starts putting on running shoes. The first man says "Are you crazy? You can't outrun a grizzly bear!" And the other responds "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you."

It would be an intriguing and novel change -- viewers could find out if enough people really do agree each week on who the worst singer is. But "Idol" will never go for it, and here's why. The show views itself as wholesome family entertainment, despite the ever-present scandals. Some of its singers are just 16 or 17. It's one thing for a teen singer to console himself by realizing he just wasn't as good as a powerhouse like LaKisha or Melinda, it's another thing for that same teen to be told, essentially, that Americans actively called in not just to support other singers, but to say "You were awful."

Simon Cowell says that same thing to numerous "Idol" wannabes pretty much every week, but he gets paid for it.

Some readers have complained that "American Idol" is beginning to dominate this Weblog. Sorry about that, but it's likely to play a prominent role in posts here until the show's May finale. It's the 800-pound gorilla of TV right now, and with stories such as the Mario Vazquez lawsuit, the show just keeps pushing itself into the news.

But let's take a quick break and discuss some of the other TV and entertainment news of the moment.

SEE YA, ROMBER
• Rob and Amber Mariano, practically professional reality-show contestants, were surprisingly knocked out of "The Amazing Race" Sunday night. Some conspiracy theorists are already claiming the couple lost intentionally, but the Marianos themselves told CBS' "Early Show" that they just made too many mistakes.

BRAVO, TWoP
• Television Without Pity, the popular and hilarious TV commentary Web site whose founders have been regular and valued contributors to MSNBC.com, has been purchased by Bravo. Their official announcement of the deal promises the "same no-holds-barred commentary and critique" as ever.

TIME TO GET 'REAL'?
• I've dogged MTV's "Real World" in the past for its horrendous decline from an interesting docu-soap about kids with dreams to a drunken melee of perfect bodies and below-basement-level IQs. Could the pioneering show be returning to its smarter roots? The casting Web site for Bunim-Murray Productions now claims "we are searching for cast members with career and life goals that they want to pursue in a major metropolitan city." Could we be returning to the days of Norm, Julie and Heather B., and away from the days of Trishelle and Tyrie? Seems too good to be true. (Link via Reality Blurred.)

NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS
• I fear that Betty Hutton's death will get lost in all the more salacious news stories of the day, and I didn't want the news to pass by without noting that as a kid, I had this poster from her production of "Annie Get Your Gun" on my bedroom wall for years, and her version of "His Rocking Horse Ran Away" still makes me laugh. (If you've never heard it, at least read the lyrics, but if you can find a copy of the song, do listen to it. It's a funny and sweet domestic picture that's chockfull of vintage details -- G-men and girdles and more.)

Hutton's Associated Press obituary sums up her charm well, noting "Unlike other actresses who have been called 'blonde bombshells,' Hutton had a screen personality that had more to do with energy and humor than sex." That's a great tribute to her firecracker screen personality, even if her life offscreen was reportedly often troubled.

Update: I didn't know Hutton had a variant of poker named after her! "Betty Hutton" apparently is the name for "seven-card stud, with nines and fives wild." (Via Metafilter. )

Last week's 50-state quiz was the most popular Multi-link Monday offering ever, with 250+ comments, and counting. This week, we've got a quiz that's sure to stump even those of us who were pretty proud of our state knowledge, plus more work-procrastinating fun.

• 50 states was just a warmup. This quiz (once you click through, the timer begins) gives you 10 minutes to type all 192 UN member states. They want their official names, too, so "United Kingdom," not "England," and "Korea" is not going to be enough. I knew going in that there was no way I could get them all, but I was surprised by how much fun it was to try and remember as many as I could. Suggestion: Get a co-worker or friend and tag-team it, shouting out countries as they come to your minds.

• I could link to something about "The Office" every single week, because I adore the show and there are plenty of great sites out there for it. My favorite recurring plot is the pranks Jim plays on hapless yet lovable Dwight. (Sending him faxes from the future, convincing him it's Friday when it's Thursday). Here's a fun list of the pranks. Perhaps you'll get some ideas to liven up your own co-worker relationships. HR would most definitely not approve.

• For the third week in a row, I'm grabbing a great link from USA Today's Tech Space. "Lord of the Rings" fans, this is for you: The Battle of Helms Deep recreated in candy. Go, you little sour patch kids, beat those mean ol' gummi bears!

• Every product out there has contests, and I usually ignore them, but Wonka candy is giving away a trip to the "American Idol" finale in May. Talk about a golden ticket. Go to their site, click on "Sweepstakes and Giveaways," and then on "Golden Ticket." You can get a free game piece without buying candy, but honestly, what fun is that?

• How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The correct answer is, of course, ah-one, ah-two, ah-three, CRUNCH! But if you can't count to three, or if you're not so quick to crunch, here's the world's silliest product: A Tootsie Pop Lick-O-Meter keychain.

Predicting who will go home on the "American Idol" results show each week can be tough. It's a challenge because you can't simply choose the worst singers -- you have to picture the voting audience and try and determine whose fans will be out in frantic force.

Our office predictions tonight were unanimous on only one singer: Jared Cotter. It was no surprise to us when he was the first to be cut. He just didn't stand out, to us or to the judges. When even gentle Paula delivers almost nothing but negative comments, you know you're in trouble.

I also felt that Sabrina Sloan would be packing her bags. Her singing voice was fine, and judge Simon Cowell put her among his top four women in a strong field, but he also compared her song to those heard in "a hotel resort performance." One wonders how many hotel singers Simon has heard in his life -- he's always comparing someone's song to a bad lounge singer, yet really, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to hang in the Duluth Radisson, waiting for the after-dinner entertainment. While Sabrina's voice alone would beat out such singers as Haley Scarnato, she didn't make her personality stand out. Charm: 1. Vocal chops: 0.

I honestly didn't believe Antonella Barba would go home, but for all the wrong reasons. Has any singer this season received more press attention, even if most of it was unwanted? The racy photos that are supposedly of Barba have people buzzing. Her name recognition alone has to be about the highest among the current crop of "Idol" wannabes. The fact that she did get booted, and not Haley or Jordin Sparks, makes the conspiracy theorists in all of us come out. Could "American Idol" be messing with the results, thinking they didn't need Barba on the show, especially now that people are pointing out the double standard that kept her on the show and booted Frenchie Davis? Inquiring minds do wonder. Her leaving was deserved, but it was still surprising.

The other shocker from Thursday's results show involved the men. Sundance Head, he of the chin-fro and self-deprecating jokes about his weight, seemed like one of those singers who could coast on his personality and fanbase for weeks to come. Don't forget that much was made at the auditions of the fact that he has a famous father, singer Roy Head. But even if he didn't, there's that memorable cowboyesque nickname (his real name is Jason). Anything that helps your name stick in fans' minds these days gains you votes. Does Brandon Rogers have more of a fanbase than Sundance? Does Phil Stacey?

Apparently, because the sun went down on Sundance. Which meant that 17-year-old Sanjaya Malakar, whose voice is obviously weak, had a groundswell of fans who turned out to vote to keep him around. It's not that hard to understand, really. No one can text-message and dial a phone faster than teenage and preteen girls, and no singer on the show is better suited to be beloved by young women than Sanjaya.

But Sanjaya would do well to remember another young "Idol" male: Kevin Covais from last season. Covais had similar charms to Sanjaya -- he was young, cute, and eager, although his voice couldn't stack up to the older singers. Covais made it to the final 12, and then shocked many by making it to the top 11. (Some credit "Vote for the Worst.com" with keeping him in that long.) But he was gone the next week, and before he left, had to endure some caustic comments from Simon Cowell that could not have been easy for anyone, let along a teen, to hear in front of millions of people.

Sanjaya is still singing, but his road is only likely to get tougher from here on out.

"American Idol" is in the middle of whittling down its singers to 12 -- six women and six men. And therein lies the problem. Anyone who's watched the show knows that whoever the six men are, as many as three of them will have earned their spot in the final 12 at the expense of women who are more qualified and better singers. Our own contributor, Craig Berman, noted it here in his summary of the women's Wednesday night performances.

On Tuesday night, Ryan Seacrest even straight-out asked the judges how many men should move on. Paula and Randy thought four, Simon, being Simon, said three and a half (is that a short joke?).

Many fans, especially of the women singers, are bluntly stating, on online bulletin boards and in other places, that this is a lame way to choose an "Idol.".t might make sense if the show ended up with two Idols -- one female and one male. That way, the men would be competing only against the other men for their title, as would the women. But that's not how it works.

"Idol" tends to attract finalists in clumps. Viewers see that a country-music singer, such as Carrie Underwood, can win it all, and then country singers flock to audition. Rockers, like Bo Bice and Constantine Maroulis, do well, and then their clones show up. That's part of why the participants who really seem to stand out, like gray-haired soul singer Taylor Hicks, make such a splash when they do well -- the show simply hasn't seen their type before. This year, the show seems to have attracted a number of powerhouse female singers, for whatever reason.

What "Idol" doesn't get enough of is pure talent. Not so this year, at least on the women's side of the room. A number of the women -- LaKisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle, Stephanie Edwards, and Sabrina Sloan come quickly to mind -- have shown  they're going to be tough to beat. They're unlikely to go home this week, but "Idol" would look pretty silly if it sent one of them home and kept a less-qualified male singer (don't get me started on young Sanjaya Malakar having lasted this long).

It's funny, because yesterday I wrote about how Fox needs clear rules that show which scandals would get a contestant kicked off.  Can't use that "no clear rules" argument here. The show definitely has clear rules for who makes it to the final 12: six women, and six men. But is that a smart rule, or should the show choose only the most talented 12 singers, regardless of gender? Rules, after all, are meant to be changed.

There are a few certainties about "American Idol." Simon will be booed by viewers for stating what's clearly obvious to anyone with working ears. Paula Abdul will act loopy, convincing viewers that there's something other than Coca-Cola in her red plastic glass. And of course, one or more of the "Idol" wannabes will see a scandal from his or her past surface and threaten to knock them out of the competition.

This year, two minor scandals bloomed forth even before their singers got very far in the contest. Akron Watson was disinvited from the Hollywood round for no apparent reason, leaving most to assume it's because of the marijuana bust in his past. Ashlyn Carr, memorable because Simon and crew first disinvited her to Hollywood, then called her back, apparently once confessed to dumping sugar in an ex-boyfriend's gas tank. But Akron's dismissal was quietly shoved under the rug, and Ashlyn didn't last long enough for her sugary-sweet past to become a worry.

They're hardly the first "Idol" wannabes to have run-ins with the law. Perhaps the most famous is Bo Bice, who almost won it all in 2005. The long-haired rocker was arrested twice in the four years before his competition, once for felony cocaine possession. He completed a drug program and had that charge dismissed. When The Smoking Gun dug up the charges, Fox was almost snippy about defending Bice, calling the site "salacious" and saying that Bice had been honest with the network show about his charges.

A more uncomfortable moment ensued when finalist Scott Savol turned out to have a domestic violence arrest in his past, allegedly shoving the mother of his son and breaking a telephone on her. (Telephones are made of pretty sturdy stuff, so, ouch.) Again, Fox said Savol had been honest, and he stayed on the show.

Compared to drugs and domestic violence, current "Idol" singer Antonella Barba's reported risque photos seem pretty mild. Some say she's not even the person in the racier photos, and even if she was, what's her crime? She was young and stupid and someone had a camera. Viewers can't help but remember Vanessa Williams, Miss America 1984, who had to give up her crown thanks to naughty photos, and went on to be recognized as the most talented Miss America ever.

"American Idol" producers have been ignoring Barba's photos, and that seems like a fairly sensible decision, especially considering she does not possess one of the show's strongest voices and is unlikely to go far. But there's one problem with the producers' sudden attack of logic: Frenchie Davis.

Davis was booted from "Idol" in 2003 because she'd posed for racy photos on a Web site. She was paid for her photos, while Barba (if it is Barba in the questionable pics) appears to have been just goofing around. But Davis was kicked off the show, while Barba was not. Was the fact that she accepted money for her photos the difference?

Since Davis is black and Barba white, some are calling it racism. Davis isn't among them. She doesn't think race has anything to do with it, but from interviews with her, it's clear that she does see a double standard. And she claims she was clear about her photos before going on to the show, just as Savol and Bice reportedly were about the issues in their pasts.

Davis went on to find Broadway success, and is currently singing in the musical "Rent." She's hinting that she wouldn't mind a monetary settlement from the show, saying she is owed more than an apology, which is absolutely the wrong thing to say. The ground she's standing on would look a lot more firm if she simply went forward and saying "I don't want money, I just want someone to explain the difference."

"American Idol" is a family show, no question about it. Obviously, the show producers would love it if all their contestants came to the stage fresh from feeding the hungry and building homes for Hurricane Katrina victims. But these singers are at varying stages of life -- some are wide-eyed and 16, others are married parents, aged 27 or 28.

And the show is kidding itself and its audience to pretend that the music scene that its contestants desperately want to enter is just one step away from the convent. When Bo Bice's drug arrests became public, savvy observers laughed at the idea that a guy who's been playing music in bars for years was expected to have never come in contact with drugs.

It's not that Fox should let a serial killer into its tidy little contest -- no one's asking for that. And most people don't think Barba's photos (again, assuming they are of her) are worth kicking her out over, either.

But if the show wants this Barba-Davis issue to go away, someone at Fox needs to step up and address the issue. This is very unlikely to happen, considering how secretive the show is about things such as vote totals and phone-line glitches, but here's how I'd like it to go down.

A show spokesperson should speak publicly and explain why Davis was kicked off and Barba hasn't been. Maybe hand out a chart: Domestic violence: OK, if it doesn't involve anything heavier than a phone. Drug arrests: OK, if you get treatment. Racy photos: OK, if you're not paid for them. Or make a blanket statement: If we know about your issue ahead of time, we'll take it on a case-by-case basis, but if if we're blindsided by the tabloids while you're on the show, you're going home.

Whatever their explanation is, if it rings true, viewers will know. If not, then the show has deeper problems.

It's Monday, again. And I'm procrastinating, again. Why is it so hard to leap into another week's work? Here's a batch of five fun links for those times when you just can't look at another spreadsheet or file another document.

• Here's a fun online quiz, but before you click this link, you need to know how it works. Once you click though, a 10-minute timer will start, and you'll have that time to type in all 50 state names. Spell them correctly, of course, and hit "enter" after each one. When you've typed them all, or your 10 minutes is up, the game is over. I began by thinking of states that I'd visited or where friends lived, then trying to fill in the rest from my mental map of the country. My husband did it by trying to fill in one complete region of the country completely before moving on to another. However you do it, it's pretty interesting to see what states come first -- and last -- to your mind. Are you ready? GO! (Via Metafilter.)

• Everyone has one: A book, usually from childhood, that you remember vividly, with one exception...the title. For a long time, I remembered a book where kids ate magic fudge that turned them into cats and dogs. I finally found out it was Ruth Chew's "No Such Thing As A Witch." If you've got a question of your own, you can post details of the book at "What's That Book?" and ideally, someone who knows will provide the title. (Via USA Today's Tech Space.)

• Do you know about Hand Puppet Movie Theatre? Hilarious movie parodies featuring cute l'il hand puppets spouting the lines. Even a hand puppet of George Lucas makes an appearance in the "Star Wars" films. "Serenity" and "Spider-Man" are my favorites.

• We always have had to live with our pets for a few days or a week before we're able to settle on an ideal name for them. We thought our tortoise-shell cat was a Cinnamon, but she turned out to be a Crunch. But if you're really stumped, Iams pet food has a site that will suggest names based on your pet's personality. I have to say, I think their names are pretty simplistic -- I mean, Bingo, Bo and Boots? But it's still fun to play with.

• Don't need a pet name? How about a monster name for yourself? I'm G.A.E.L. -- "Grim Abomination from the Enchanted Labyrinth." My husband, Rob, is R.O.B. -- "Ravenous Ogre of Brutality." Hmm, I think his is scarier.

A week ago, when I wrote about how ridiculous the whole Anna Nicole Smith fight was, I never thought seven days would pass and the poor woman still wouldn't be buried. We need a whole level of vocabulary beyond "ridiculous" to describe the case at this point. Thankfully, it looks like she will finally be buried Friday,  in the Bahamas, with pink flowers and a custom-made gown and a rhinestone blanket covering her coffin.

Did anyone get anything out of the weeks of wrangling, besides the lawyers who grew richer? As a nation, are we better informed for the useless and gratuitous detail the cable networks threw at us? We know more about Anna Nicole's various court trials than we do about the current situation in Iraq, more about the details of her funeral than about the wills and funeral plans of our own loved ones. If anything good comes from this media circus, perhaps it will be that -- maybe regular people will look at what a mess this is and think "I didn't think I needed a will, or a funeral plan, but I do."

Virgie Arthur, Smith's mother, keeps appealing, trying to get her daughter's body buried in Texas, but as the comments on this Weblog attest to, Arthur has got to be one of the most reviled women in the nation right now. Even those who are normally sympathetic to grieving mothers don't cut her much slack.

After all, Anna Nicole was a grieving mother, too, who lost a son far too young, a son who, whatever Smith's faults, she apparently loved with all her heart and soul. It's a stark contrast to the relationship Anna Nicole apparently had with her own mother, who hadn't seen her in a decade.

If her mother failed Anna Nicole while she was alive, she was far from the only one. Whatever substances Smith was on, someone was prescribing them, someone was getting them to her, someone was enabling her. Because of her beauty, her fame, and her tie to late husband J. Howard Marshall's billions, people surrounded her who wouldn't have given her the time of day back when she was Vickie Lynn Hogan, an eighth-grade dropout working at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken.

If you ever saw "The Anna Nicole Show," Smith came across childlike and naive, often seemingly incapable of facing the regular challenges of a normal day.

She confessed to a panic attack at the dentist. She visited a pet psychic. She failed her driving test. She decorated her house with leopard prints and pink, announcing that she didn't have a childhood, so she was indulging herself now. She needed people around her, and most if not all of those people had agendas that had nothing to do with Smith as a person.

In one of the episodes, her son Daniel, a teen at the time, told his mother he didn't want to participate in her show any more. He didn't want to be famous, he said. Although that must have been shocking for Anna Nicole to hear -- she, apparently, wanted nothing more than to be famous -- she immediately  told her son that all he had to do was ask, and now that she knew his feelings, he didn't need to appear on the show again. For all her problems, you have to give her that. Fame was vital to her, but it didn't outweigh family.

How ironic that, in the end, she was perhaps the only one who thought that way.