American Idol: So Long, Legs

So much for a moratorium on Haley showing her gams and the judges talking about her appearance. She's gone now, and self-respecting women will no longer have to endure the queasy battle they had every week between hating the judges for objectifying her and hating Haley for refusing to demand that she be judged based on merit, while wearing the shortest shorts we've seen since those Nair commercials way back in the 80s. (Actually, being in Nair's latest ad campaign might be a good move for Haley now. Her squeaky cruise ship voice is perfect for singing "Who wears short shorts?" Does Nair even exist anymore?)

Last night the horror show of Latin week continued with a pitifully salsa-less version of Enrique Iglesia's "Bailamos," which capped it's reign of terror with Sanjaya whispering "Te Quiero" into the camera with his eerie bedroom eyes. Sanjaya also won the award for creepiest come-on to a judge ever, when he said that he'd like to get Jennifer Lopez's number and have a secret tryst with her, free of Marc Anthony's reportedly jealous gaze.

This beefed up hour long Idol also had some filler content that was actually pretty entertaining - man on the street interviews with Ryan Seacrest and Californians. One pervy looking guy said he remembered the girl who was barely dressed and not much else from the show the night before, and that gave me one more reason to cheer when Haley got the boot. The most adorable little girl in LA doesn't like anyone except for Sanjaya and LaKisha. And no one can pronounce Sanjaya's name.

Also, briefly, this episode of Idol featured Simon Cowell in Africa talking to children who will benefit from the Idol Gives Back extravaganza. This must have been an interesting thought experiment for the Idol producers. It's important to them, for ratings, that Simon is maligned. But this is an instance in which it's important that he come across as charitable. How to strike the balance? A self-deprecating boob joke, of course! They pulled it off.

Next week is country week, which I'm looking forward to whole-heartedly and not just because I enjoy Martina McBride. I'm looking forward to it because country songs are easy to sing and even the dubious remaining seven might be able to deliver some performances that will forever erase the memory of Season Six Idols shaking their congas.