Is Access To Blame For Amanda's Elimination?

Is it possible that because our cameras were present and we were doing interviews before and after the show that we distracted people from texting or dialing in? I mean, sure Amanda has picked up millions of fans while on the show - but her friends and extended family are the people she relies on to work overtime to keep her in the competition. I'm just saying. I hope none of the other contestants read this because we've got more viewing parties coming up this year. No way would I tell you who though!
 
Moving on. Here's what you really want to know - what happened inside Idol last night that cameras didn't see. It looks like that whole live phone call thing is here to stay. The only problem is that it's actually not live. Two weeks in a row it has been pre-taped. I arrived just in time to catch it this week. The contestants are brought up on stage and placed on the couch. If you were paying attention you would have realized that by the time this segment aired in the show, Carly and Kristy were actually sitting on the stools and Chikeze, Amanda and Syesha were still backstage. This is where they remained while the segment was played back to the audience as the show was going out live.
 
This week they had some technical difficulties and had to redo the phone call twice. This was the question where Simon was asked why he spends money on cars and not clothes. Right as he finished answering Ryan learned of the technical issues and quipped, "Well, this is typical, Simon is in trouble before we even start." Not realizing his microphone was open Simon muttered to Paula, "This is not good doing this a second time." The whole audience heard it. 
 
Also part of the pre-tape was Kellie Pickler, who I have to say looked slim and sexy and sounded great in the studio. Most of the contestants clearly are not country fans as the only ones who seemed into the song were Kristy, Brooke and Ramiele. Kellie came back when the show started and watched the taping with Nigel Lythgoe for awhile on one of the monitors. She left during a commercial break and walked out of the studio arm and arm with Simon, who I'm sure was going out for another smoke break.
 
The Idols cleared out and the judges left too, except for Paula who stuck around for a little while to sign autographs for little girls. Corey the warm up guy brings some people up on stage for a "Don't Forget The Lyrics" type competition. I mention this for two reasons:  One -- because there was a guy named Ed who looked just like Zac Efron and I wanted to scream out sing, "We're All In This Together!" Two -- because while you were settling in to watch the show (just 2:28 seconds before air) this contest was still going on and Debbie the stage manager was seriously stressing. 
 
Yet again, Amanda looked tortured during the medley. This morning on a conference call with reporters Amanda admitted that she did in fact hate the medleys.
 
Carly Smithson was very emotional about landing in the bottom three. She wiped away tears during the commercial break after she found out. Brooke and David Archuleta asked Nigel if they could go over and console her and he brought them to her. After a long hug, Carly was yet again crying and had to wipe her tears away. 
 
After the show, Simon waited patiently by the couches for Amanda to finish her interview with "American Idol Extra" and then approached her. Paula came up behind her as she was talking to Simon and wrapped her arms around her. 
 
No celebs were spotted in the audience tonight but I did see Kevin Covais (aka Chicken Little from season five). Make that soon-to-be movie star Kevin Covais. I think I told you this already that he has a movie coming out with Drake Bell (from Nickelodeon's Josh and Drake) called "College."
 
I'll be with Amanda Overmyer tomorrow as she performs on the Access Hollywood stage. So, check back for dish from that.