INDIGNITIES PILE UP, BUT STACEY HANGS ON FOR ANOTHER ROUND

Poor Phil Stacey. First he had to perform in that contrived Idol group sing Wednesday night. Then he had to shill for Ford. But the ultimate indignity had to be discovering he was in the bottom three, and then having to wait for the final result as Diana Ross mailed in her cover of More Today Than Yesterday. Stacey escaped once again (Brandon Rogers took the bullet), but he deserved better. Jacksonville must not have speed dial.

-- Snarky things you know were being said as Ross performed: "She doesn't just move like Anna Nicole on stage -- she sounds like her, too" ... "Don't her arms get tired from the way she celebrates each note she sings?" ... "Wow, some of those Idol contestants don't seem half bad now" ... "How many red sequins had to die for that dress?"

-- Cowellism of the (Sunday) night: "I think people should be given the chance to watch them -- why not?" Cowell on televising executions, from an interview on the next 60 Minutes.

-- The other one in the bottom three: Sanjaya Malakar, come on down! It looked like justice might prevail but his luck continued, and he knows it. He looks like the grim reaper every time he gets to sit back down. Cursed pink flip phone vote! (Thanks for that one, Jill Szaroleta).

-- Surprises: Haley Scarnato had the look of a gazelle peering into the lion's den until she heard that Malakar was the one in danger, not her. It was almost as shocking as Simon not wearing a black T-shirt. Which leads me to ...

-- Unpredictable: DialIdol.com could only predict that three contestants were safe this week ... and one of them was Malakar. So starting next week, I'm going with my own picks.