Voters don't care for Kelly Clarkson cover

LOS ANGELES -- For the second straight week on "American Idol," the kids were not alright. After getting low marks from the judges for trying to cover original Idol Kelly Clarkson Tuesday, the O.C. girl was given the gate Wednesday night.

Sorry. Did I say "American Idol"? I meant "American Ice Age," coming soon to a theater near you. Critics -- like, you know, Mandisa -- say "it's nice to see a good movie."

And is it me, or did one of the sets in Major Automotive Sponsor music video o' the week look an awful lot like the stoop on "Everybody Hates Chris"? Or maybe 20th Century Fox and Paramount just have similar New York sets.

Anyway, on to the show. Shakira sang "Hips Don't Lie," or at least I think she did. Me, I was mostly focused on the, uh, hips. And, halfway through, we find out Kellie, Mandisa, Chris, Taylor and Paris will be back next week. No big surprises there, although Kellie didn't particularly set the stage aflame Tuesday night (then again, neither did anyone else).

Lisa, who tried to out-Idol Kelly Clarkson with her song Tuesday, and Ace, who did a wan cover of "Drops of Jupiter," are the first two in the bottom three. But judging by the boos from the studio audience, Katharine's inclusion in the bottom group is a surprise. Here too -- her version of "The Voice Within" wasn't her best effort, but at least her lyrics were intelligible, which is more than can be said for Bucky, who stays safe this week.

I'm wondering what kind of royalties Daniel Powter is getting every week for his song "You Had a Bad Day" playing over the booted contestant's montage of their time on the show. Because the fact that Lisa is going home isn't all that surprising. She's clearly a talented girl, but it never felt like she was entirely comfortable in front of the big audience in the finals.

Next week: country. Bucky and Kellie must be thrilled, but having already Live-d up "I Walk the Line," what's Chris gonna do?