K-Lo is coming on strong!

You go girl with your bad self! Visit K-Lo's official website to keep up on the news on her single, upcoming album and upcoming appearances.

The diva is with Curb Records and the song is produced by a Nashville native newcomer. 8th World Wonder is quickly moving up the radio play charts. You can increase that radio play by requesting the song on your local radio station. There is a link on the official website that will take you to a listing of your major stations and their request lines. Start requesting people - Hook a sister up!

I have preordered her single "8th World Wonder" from Amazon.com. It has a release date of March 9th. The CD has a release date of May 4th.

We'd like to hear from you if you're hearing it on your station. Tell us what you think of it.

and the first scandal is....

Did anyone else notice that George Huff will be performing with the next group of 8?

Anyone but me remember that he was CUT in the judges final cut? Maybe ya'll just weren't diggin' you some George like I was. The judges were all "you're old" and he was all "I'm young, I'm young!!!" And I didn't care I just loved his voice. So how did good old George get the resurrection? HHmmm...... good question. And I intend to find the answer. Shonda knows I can't let a mystery go unsolved. My investigation began first thing this morning.

I awoke early and went straight to one of my very reliable sources. What I immediately learned was that one of my other favorites Donnie had been booted from the show! Hello?!? First crazy scandal begins huh? Donnie, who was to perform in the next round was arrested monday night for driving while intoxicated - and he is underage. Producers felt that was enough and sent him packing. My source was absolutely right. Once the story finally broke today a few articles surfaced. Read more here...

Well.... here we go again. Anyway, George somehow got the call and he will replace Donnie. I will not rest until I find out how or why they decided to call up George and fill the spot at all - even though I'm so happy for George.

O.k. to the producers credit this time this was not something they just missed in a background check situation. They could not foresee this kid behaving like an idiot on the eve of his biggest break ever.

Alright - let's move on for a minute because I HAVE to say this:

SHONDA!!!!!!! How dare you vote that boy into the top 3 and ruin My Parents Are Pop Stars and So It's My Destiny's chance at one of the spots center stage. I loves me some Bodyguard Whitney and all - just downloaded some on my service in fact (whatever, say what you will people) - but I can admit that the girl wasn't horrible. She wasn't trying to sing that song like Whitney of old. I think she was thinking of the Crack-Ho Whitney and wanted to pay tribute to the queen in the state she's in now. Yeah, that's it. Vegas lounge singer... hmph. PROVE SHONDA WRONG LEAH!!!!! When the judges bring you back in the wild card round we'll see.

o.k., I've had my say.

I'm out.

See? I Almost Snuck Sleepy Church Boy In...

Thank you redial button!

Sleepy was in the top three and I accept all the accolades -- and all the blame. I do apologize if I denied one of the other mediocre singers a spot in the final three. Okay, I don't apologize. I revel in Sleepy's near-success. Not that it matters. The two singers who should have won did win. Which makes me happy in a "the world is finally spinning like I want it to" way.

Not so happy was Leah who wiped away tears of bitter rage as LaToya sang in glory. I don't like Leah but I do pity her. First of all, she's a kid; her Bulgarian pop star mama (and just how big of pop star can one be in Bulgaria?) should have prepared that girl for the fact that this might happen. Leah did not even seem to realize that even if the judges were behind her, America could still turn against her. She's sitting up there thinking she's the next Beyonce. (Hmph. Like ANYBODY is the next Beyonce.) That poor child's got a future of resentment and lounge singing in Vegas ahead of her, if you ask me. But I could have told her: Hell hath no fury like a pre-Bobby-Brown Whitney fan. Singing Whitney is just asking for the smackdown.

But happy were the victors LaToya and Amy. Amy, who did a wonderful impersonation of a drag queen with her scary makeup job, was beyond excited. LaToya chose to go the underwhelmed, less than bouncy route which you can only pull off if you are extremely talented. I wish them both luck.

The first half of the final twelve is set. It's gonna be an interesting competition!

This is Shonda, reporting live from my yoga mat.

A Star Is Born...

Before I EVEN talk about this evening's one shining moment, let me admit in the interest of full disclosure...

I have called in and voted for Sleepy Church Boy (aka Pen Salesman aka Jon Peter) about 672 times since the voting lines opened.

Yeah, I said Sleepy Church Boy.

That's right.

SLEEPY. CHURCH. BOY.

You wanna make something of it? 'Cause I'll fight you if I have to.

I will KNOCK YOU OUT.

Look, the boy's performance tonight was nothing short of mediocre. I know that. I'm not deaf. But I can't help it y'all. I love me some Sleepy Church Boy. I think I now know what was wrong with all those crazy fans who voted for Marine Boy or Kim Lite over and over again: they was CRA-ZEE. 'Cause that's what I am. Crazy for Sleepy Church Boy. I'm all "you jump/I jump" over Sleepy. I'm all swelling Celine Dion song-"Jack, I'm flying"-My Heart Will Go On in love with Sleepy. Don't know why. He's no Ruben. Hell, he ain't even a Clay. But he's Sleepy and he's Church-y and he's mine. Go figure.

That said, there was only one reason to be watching your Tivo tonight and that reason was LaToya, a girl sadly named after the worst, freakiest, least talented of all the Jackson clan. But no one on Earth will be confusing her with her whack-weave-wearing, so-much-plastic-surgery-having-that-her-face-is-a-quilt namesake. No, no, NO.

Because this LaToya can SANG.

I was not expecting it. No one was. She got no play during the audition episodes and she did look a bit "mumsy" to quote Simon. But then she got on stage and, not only did she sing one of my all-time favorite songs, she sang it like nobody's BIZNESS. She had all the skill of Kelly C. and all the audience appeal of Ruben S and all the talent of somebody completely new. It was all good.

This competition is all about Fantasia and LaToya. Two women with the good sense and the confidence to turn their backs on the weave world and sport supershort FAB 'dos. Two women with voices. Two women of color. I can say it right now: this season is gonna be GOOOOOOOOOD.

LaToya was the best of them. Now for the rest of them.

Elizabeth: She has a good voice. But I wasn't down with the booty-hugging dress or the wild dance moves. I don't think America will be down with it either.

Yodeler: You ain't Clay. You can never be Clay. You can never be Clay's boyfriend. Please stop the falsetto and go on back home where you belong.

Amy: Note to Amy -- lose the pink hair. It clashed with your makeup. Wait? You say you are a makeup artist? Wha...? Well, then what happened to your face? Wait? You say you were TRYING to look like a hooker? Oh. Okay then. You succeeded.

The thing is, she's got a great voice. I even liked her. But the makeup? My eyes, dear God, my eyes....!

Sleepy: He was GOOD, okay? He was. He really was. Okay, he wasn't. But I don't care. As Mrs. Shonda Church Boy, I cannot speak against my husband. When he makes it to the next round (dear God, please!), he will show you what he is made of. I know that is my blind spot talking but a girl has got to try.

Dances with Bad Vocals: Oh, Charly. My poor baby. That was not good. And I had such high hopes for you. Here's a rule to remember: Don't sing Aretha unless you actually ARE Aretha. And don't wear pink ruffle dresses unless you are Cyndi Lauper circa 1985.

Hawaii 5-0: Dude, go back to free stylin' and save us all the pain.

Bulgarian Diva: Watching Leah, one thing became perfectly clear -- Leah loves her some Leah. But here's the thing: to us diehard AI fans, Trenyce's performances are still too fresh in our minds for this kid to be trying to break out with the Whitney. The only people who can sing Whitney without me thinking they are on crack are Trenyce and...

(...well, these days we're all wondering if Whitney herself is on the crack so...)

...just Trenyce. Don't try to bring it with Whitney because you will never measure up. But honestly, I think the audience might vote Leah through anyway. There is no accounting for taste.

What made the show good was that it closed on LaToya. Now, listen to me, people: I wasted all my time voting for Sleepy. That means SOMEBODY has to pick up the slack. And that somebody is you. That's right. YOU. So get to your phones. Hit the redial over and over. And put our girl in the Final Twelve!

This is Shonda, reporting very much alive from my sofa.

Holy Crap...

That's all I could say the first time I heard contestant #8 Latoya London's performance tonight. I've now played back quite a few times and I'm still saying it.

I have nothing to say about the other contestants tonight. NOTHING.

Alright, if I must...

It started out alright I guess. If I'm being honest, I just wasn't blown away by any other performance. And that's not just hindsight. I watched each performer and thought "hmm... well that was good. Alright. But nothing spectacular". I was just cruising through the show thinking that they could have all been a little better. And everyone had poor song choices with the exception of Amy and Latoya. *I will not discuss Latoya in this portion of my review. She shall not be compared to the other mere amateurs masquerading as singers tonight.

Elizabeth - terrible arrangement of that song. I actually like her but I thought it sounded oversung. Too much belting instead of singing here. But vocally she is very talented so it was still alright. She comes off as a too ... something though. I don't know. Hated that dress. Do not sit down and cross your legs in anything that short Liz. The shot the camera got of those thighs on the couch was not flattering girl. A dancer huh? Hhhmm...

Eric Clay Yoder - Poor song choice in my opinion and I still don't see this Clay thing. But he was also alright. He isn't bad. I'm just not feeling ya' Dawg.

Amy - Pink's less trashy sister. I really like this girl. She sang the perfect song for her voice. And she was pretty good. I think she should definitely be in the top 3. I do have to say this though: How frightening is it that this girl is a makeup artist?!? The good hair stylists and makeup artists always look the worst don't they? Hhmmm.... wonder why that is?

Sleep Church Boy - well Shonda... again poor song choice. He sounded fine, but it wasn't anything to remember - which is dangerous in these rounds. And boy you still look like a pen salesman. That's all there is to it.

Charly - oh I wanted her to say "Do over!" run off, choose another song and come back. Very poor song choice. She just didn't sound good singing it at all. Chain of Fools... well Charly... which chain of fools picked that sherbet pink strapless number you wore? Here's what struck me about her performance: The song didn't match her vocal ability, tone or style and the flowy, pastely gown thing just didn't match the song. It was all discombobulated. ANYWAY... she was once again - ALRIGHT. You know what I did like? Her straight hair in the video.

So by now I'm tired of the just alrights... still better than last week's horror show, but not too exciting.

And then we had Beat Box Hawaiian. This was the one bad performance of the night. Truly bad. Stick to MC'ing.

Russian singing family girl - I really liked her too. Once again another poor song choice. I will say this: I loved her performance and I'll tell you why. I like the tone of her voice, her presence and all. And you have to be bold AND good to just stylize some Bodyguard Whitney. O.k. it was no diva Trencye performance. Trenyce and Whitney could have a throw down with that one. But come on. She realized what no one we've seen (try to ) perform that song realized. You cannot sing it like Whitney so just make it your own - don't try. And that's what I liked the most.

And then we had Latoya. Alright. I was thinking who is this girl? Where the heck did she come from? And then she opened her mouth. And all I was thinking was WHO IS THIS GIRL?!?! WHERE THE HECK DID SHE COME FROM!?!?! - Holy Crap you go girl. Blow them away. She was so poised, pretty, soft spoken but confident and a great performer. I loved her. Do I have to mention the voice? HELLO!? Her cute family rooting her on. Mama in her Oprah red suit (ya'll know she been watching some Oprah who always remarks about the women in red getting on camera) and her proud uncle cheering her glory notes. Well, I don't even know what to say if you all don't think this girl should be voted through to the next round.

I'm revived by the talent tonight!

I'm out.

Enter a newcomer...

I just have to say this: one of the contestants in tonight's group is a "nobody" - another name and face we have yet to see... until tonight. A little teaser for all you latecomers on the west coast (cause I am BURNING just sitting on this one) -

Don't go anywhere at the end of this show!

I'm out (until I can legally post without death threats for ruining the show)

Here we go again...

Okay. Moments before the East Coast airing, I'm going make the prediction that Sleepy Church Boy, Leah, Charly Lowry and Amy blow this thing out -- and for once, it will be a real competition and a true nailbiter to see who makes it into the Final Twelve.

A girl can dream...