I agree with your observations on the personalities. Thia must have a loyal fan base that will vote for her no matter what as do other contestants such as Lauren A. who continues to underachieve. Ashthon has what I would consider one of the best personalities of the finalists. Part of Scotty and Thia's personality issue though is immaturity - they're both still teenagers and haven't fully developed in that area yet. Two of my bottom 4 were in AI's bottom 3. Jimmy Iovine gets Berry Gordy to visit AI to scope Ashthon and she gets the boot? What's America thinking? It's all perspective and motives. I get the feeling that alot of the voting now isn't dependent on performance - but on popularity. Having said that, I also think the objective voter who may vary his vote each week is the swing vote that makes the difference. But any way you cut it, it's still a populaity contest. But then, the music business is too and that's why marketing is so much a part of it. Speaking of marketing, P. Diddy makes his annual visit to AI to feature another slumber tune.

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