American Idol Top 3

You have to wonder why producer Nigel Lythgoe even bothered to launch a country talent competition, "CMT's Next Superstar," on the CMT network this year. He already has a country talent competition. It's called "American Idol." Because its final two contestants are...country singers Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery. Yee haw.OK, I have nothing against country music, and I think both Lauren and Scotty excel in
their own styles within the genre and could have major careers in Nashville. But the elimination of raspy rebel girl Haley Reinhart this week means next week's finale is going to be a pretty ho-hum affair. Haley the wild child would have brought excitement--a duet with Gaga? a jazz jam with Casey Abrams?--not to mention a real element of suspense. A finale showdown between either of this season's chosen ones, Scotty or Lauren,
and underdog Haley would have been a fight of Lambert-vs.-Allen proportions (that is, excellent television), not to mention it would have featured a vaster array of musical styles. But now it's country vs. country, apples vs. apples. Is it really going to be all that thrilling to find out who wins next week? Let's just call it a tie, give them both the record deals we know they're going to get anyway, and watch "The Voice" instead.It's clear that this was the producers' plan from the beginning--Scotty was glowingly mentioned in some of Nigel's pre-Season 10 promo interviews, and Lauren was aggressively pimped throughout the season, ever since her first audition when Steven Tyler called her"The One." The powers-that-be really wanted these country kids, and I do mean KIDS--this year the age limit was lowered to 15 (the tender age Lauren was when she first auditioned), and in interviews Nigel frequently bragged about the caliber of this season's youngest singers. He also seemed to push Lauren and Scotty together every chance he got, having them sing cutesy duets and encouraging Ryan Seacrest to interrogate them about their (non-existent) romance. Meanwhile, Haley was thrown under the bus so much, I was beginning to wonder if this show was sponsored by Greyhound.So, Nigel has gotten his wish. An all-country finale, a 16-year-old versus a 17-year-old. Congrats, Mr. Lythgoe.