STACEY SNEAKS INTO FINAL 12

There's I-just-made-it-through-that-yellow-light relief, and then there's I-just-made-it-to-the-rest-stop-in-time relief. I'm thinking Phil Stacey was feeling something more like the latter Thursday night when he found out he'd made the top 12. He said he was very nervous going in, and when he was awarded one of the honorary clear, commodelike chairs, he couldn't even show his eyes. The good news is that his mini-solo during the group song at the top of the show sounded worlds better than his previous outing. His part in Stuck in the Middle with You consisted of the words "Please, please, please." How appropriate.

-- The top 12: Stacey, Blake Lewis, Brandon Rogers, Gina Glocksen, Chris Richardson, Haley Scarnato, Jordin Sparks, Chris Sligh, LaKisha Jones, Stephanie Edwards, Melinda Doolittle and Sanjaya Malakar.

-- Stacey makeover: A little free advice for Phil, and that's about what it's worth. 1) No more LeAnn Rimes tunes. Ever. 2) Rock out. We know you can; the Navy has the tape to prove it. 3) Bald is beautiful; skip the hats.

-- More crock tears: The judges once again blamed America for voting wrong and sending Malakar on through. Once again, I'd like to remind the judges that they're the goobers who wrongly chose Malakar for the semifinals in the first place.

-- Cowellism of the night: "The volume was turned down?" Answering Ryan Seacrest's question about why Sundance Head was eliminated.

-- Predictable: DialIdol.com predicted all four eliminations when the margin of error is factored in. That makes the site 11-for-12 this season. Then again, how hard was it to predict that Antonella Barba would get bounced? And America did her a favor. She doesn't have to stick around for Diana Ross week.