My Sincerest Regrets About Your Parents

I know I'm clearly supposed to feel sorry for some of the female contestants on Idol this year, you know, like Asia'h Epperson, whose father died right before her audition (and apparently bequeathed her an apostrophe). Or Syesha Mercado, who lost her voice during Hollywood week. Or Carly Smithson, who was an embarrassing failure as a recording artist had visa problems and couldn't compete two years ago. Or Kristy Lee Cook, who supposedly sold a horse? For reasons as yet unclear? And now has the flu. Also, this is news to me, but... evidently there's a strain of flu out there this season that causes one's eyes to bulge menacingly out of their sockets when singing high notes. Damn those drug-resistant bacteria!

But can we pause the pity party for a moment to consider some contestants who actually might deserve sympathy?

For one thing, it looks as if Alaina Whitaker could only afford a single sleeve for her shirt tonight. Clearly she was too proud to call attention to it, but you can tell this girl has struggled through adversity.

And let's please take a moment for Amy Davis. Okay, so her performance tonight was terrible. But she's doing the best she can, having been raised by parents who habitually go out in public wearing matching t-shirts featuring a hilarious old-timey vignette photo of her face.

And finally - although Kristy Lee Cook might feel like she got hit by a truck, Amanda Overmeyer was recently actually hit by a truck.