My sister and her boys are in town visiting this week for spring break. We've literally been counting down the days for months until they got here (especially our kids). It's been a lot of fun!

One thing we did tonight after the kids went to bed was to sit down for our weekly dose of American Idol. My sister had actually never seen the show, so it was fun to watch it with her for the first time & a little insightful. We had to set up each singer in the competition so she would know a little history of who they were, how they were doing, how much we hate Sanjaya, etc.

It's interesting to hear someone's take on performances when they don't have any attachment to any of the competitors. Melinda did a great job, as usual, but there were others of our favorites who didn't have a stellar night, necessarily. I found myself wanting to defend them, "They're usually a lot better than this," "It must have been the song," etc.

Reminds me how much American Idol really is so much more than a singing competition. You get attached so your favorites and I find myself voting for some of them (like Chris tonight) who don't have as good of a week just because I want them to be around another week.

On a side, but related, note - Elliott Yamin released his new self-titled debut CD today. I've had a chance to listen to several of the tracks & I'm really liking it! I can't remember the last time I bought an R&B album, but I may have to get this one. Andrea & I are definitely Elliott fans :-) AOL has the entire CD streaming from there site here if you want to take a listen: Elliott Yamin - Listen to the CD.