Idol Chatter: Midseason Paula!

Yay, we've finally evolved to midseason Paula, where her fashion choices and commentary become even more insane. Last night we got fingerless gloves with lotsa jewelry, as well as an unhemmed beaded medieval tunic thing? And Simon has started his lounge where he holds the back of her chair with his hand, which I used to think was Simon just sprawling in a "I'm soooo above all this and soooo bored with all you wankers" kind of way, but I not realize is to prevent Paula from going ass over teakettle on the judges' platform.

Oh wait, this is about the music. Yes, yes it is.

The children - and since the vast majority of them were born in the '80s, dear God, I use that term without irony - get to pick a song from the year they were born. In some cases, the song suits the singer quite well: Syesha and "If I Were Your Woman," Brooke and "Every Breath You Take," and Michael Johns with every Queen song ever written in all of eternity.

Everybody else? Not so much with the love. I don't understand when you have a full year to choose from, why you would pick a song that isn't super, super even-the-dark-corners-of-America-like-South Dakota-has-heard-of-it famous. Jason Castro? I like Sting, and you managed to pick a Sting song I hadn't listened to in two decades.

But the biggest mystery will be why David Archuleta picked "You're The Voice," and even the judges had to suss out among themselves who sang it. (The answer? "Some Australian." Not an American. Ah, midseason Paula.) I like Simon's aside that he didn't think David actually picked this song himself, which makes me wonder if that was a snark at the "Idol" powers that be or on David's parents.

My predictions? Kristy saved her butt with her mostly in-key interpretation of Lee Greenwood, which leaves Ramiele in the tank. Critical error? Singing a song Carly would hit out of the park, causing everyone in the audience to think: "Wow, Carly could hit this out of the park. But not Ramiele."

If you're looking for a (marginally) more scientific prediction of who is going to get the boot, check out Dial Idol, which monitors the number of busy signals callers get when calling in for their favorite contestant. They think Chikezie is on the gangplank.

And the song JI would perform from the year of my birth? David Bowie's "Fame," totally.  How about you?