Well, last night's face-off between Hicks and McPhee was pretty anticlimactic. Katherine got "slaughtered" in the first round of songs, then turned the tables in part two. The worst part of it, though (other than seeing Chris Daughtry sitting in the audience) was when they each sang their special new "singles."

Who writes these songs? Lyrically, they both seemed to come from the cutting room floor of every other sappy sentimental ballad. Musically, they were mismatched from the finalists. Katherine's wasn't in a good key for her, and the results elicited cringes from me and my roommate. Taylor's was obviously written and arranged by someone who either had no knowledge of or concern for his unique style and strengths.

In the end, I made a few attempts to vote for Taylor, but quickly quit trying when–as usual–I couldn't get through. He doesn't need my vote, anyway. He's never been in a bottom group and if the crowd in the auditorium was an accurate sampling of America, he's the guaranteed winner.

Just hurry up and announce it so Chris can make a CD already.