Well, that was certainly surprising all around. I’m also slowly realizing that I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. I mean, I can theorize all I’d like about why things happened the way they did after they’ve happened, but predicting these things is a fool’s errand.

First: Simon apologized to Katharine for his initial judgment of her performance on Tuesday night. It’s not the first time he’s gone back and corrected an earlier opinion after hearing a performance on tape, but I think it’s the biggest dish of crow he’s eaten. He was outright apologetic for it.

Second: Randy and Paula quickly fell in line behind Simon. Cowards.

Third: Holy crap on a stick, Kellie Pickler is gone! I really didn’t think her fanbase would desert her so quickly. I was worried that I was able to get through to vote for Katharine as often as I did. Usually, that means people aren’t voting for her. I should have tried voting for Kellie — I bet it would have been smooth sailing to log votes for her.

Fourth: They didn’t have Kellie sing her horrible song after getting voted out. They gave her time to thank her fans. She might have requested that — she told Ryan that she thought she deserved to leave this week during the show. Give Kellie this: She never put on false airs of superiority or ability.

Fifth: They have a new version of that horrible Daniel Powter song they used under the “Journey” video at the end of the show.

Sixth: We learned a lot last night about voting order. The six contestants were separated into groups of two with the highest, lowest, and, er, middlest numbers of votes. Katharine and Chris got top votes. I’ll stand by my earlier assessment that the judges’ incorrectly negative comments inspired her fanbase to vote like never before. It worked on me. Chris was just spectacular and deserved all the votes he could get.

Taylor and Elliott were in the middle. Taylor got the third or fourth most votes despite another dreadful performance, while Elliot’s highly praised performance still couldn’t crack him into the top 2. Elliott might want to worry about that. Taylor needs to raise the bar to get anywhere near the category that Chris and Katharine are in.

Paris and Kellie were the bottom two. If I were Paris, I’d be worried. She’s been in the bottom three now a few times, hasn’t she? Unless she has a blockbuster performance next week, she has to be considered the next most likely to leave.

Seventh: I don’t know why I’m numbering this thoughts anymore.

Eighth: OK, time for your comments. Go!