Thank You, American Idol: Kristy Lee Cook Finally Eliminated

Honestly, I don't know how country-girl Kristy Lee Cook hung on as long as she did. Possibly because of her Barbie-doll good looks...but definitely not because of her talent. And we all know the former can only go so far, and American Idol voters proved they'd finally had enough and eliminated Kristy Lee Cook after the Mariah Carey song week.

I will admit that the ups and downs of Kristy Lee Cook definitely had me hooked for a brief moment. A record-breaking number of times in the 'bottom three,' yet still escaping elimination; her candid and embarrassing comments to Simon (i.e. "I can blow you out of your socks..."); and little hand-written notes predicting her seat during elimination night... Perhaps that had added to the number of votes Kristy Lee Cook had scraped in to keep her in the competition, helping her escape elimination by the skin of her teeth. But all drama aside, we have to remember that this is a singing competition, and true American Idol fans and loyal voters will eventually prevail when it comes to weeding out the hype vs. the talent.

Kristy Lee Cook's performance of "Forever" during the Mariah Carey song night was actually one of her stronger performances. She was able to show off her vocal range while avoiding off-key notes on the softer parts (even though Randy had a different opinion on that), and really seemed to connect with the audience by showing some emotion during the performance. Simon's critique was that Kristy Lee was "smart" but also that it "wasn't great." Regardless, her elimination was not a direct result from the previous night's performance, as many other contestants' eliminations are. Kristy Lee Cook's elimination was a result of an over-time loss of likeability and lack of true talent, and the fact that the remaining American Idol contestants are simply superior entertainers.

I will, however, commend Kristy Lee Cook's last performance. She started out her "goodbye song" sitting atop the judges' table, gazing deep into Simon's eyes, making him look quite uncomfortable as he sheepishly stared back at her with a nervous grin on his face. That was simply a priceless American Idol moment, and it showed a sarcastic sense of humor in Kristy Lee Cook that I would have actually liked to see more of.

I would have guessed that Kristy Lee Cook would be one of the ousted American Idol contestants that would quickly disappear after elimination, but perhaps she's not ready to be out of the spotlight quite yet. Major sources, such as E! News and US Magazine, are reporting that Kristy Lee Cook has just announced that she secretly got engaged back in March. Way to keep it interesting, girl! As for a long-lasting career in singing, I'm not sure if Kristy Lee Cook will be a chart-topper, but maybe she'll surprise us all and stick around in the entertainment industry a little longer than we'd all expect.