I’m sure dragging out the announcements stresses out the American Idol contestants and the producers seem to be trying to make things a little less predictable in mixing up the way they announce the bottom contestants. But to me it feels like they are just trying to fill up space. My question is why they don’t just make the announcement evening show 30 minutes long rather than trying to fill an hour… but I suppose that would not allow them to bring back former contestants to promote their albums. And speculations have been made during the past couple of weeks about host Ryan Seacrest – bloggers have commented on his seeming strangeness and awkward moments. He claims it is just fatigue, but I have to say the past couple of weeks it’s been really obvious that he is not at the top of his game. He has made the most inappropriate comments and I hope he gets back to being a little less “informal” in his hosting.

The shocker tonight was that Ryan didn’t drag out the announcement that Andrew Garcia was eliminated during the first 15 minutes of the show. With Andrew’s farewell, it was revealed that both Casey James and Aaron Kelly were safe and would be continuing on in the competition.

Former American Idol contestant Brooke White and TV star, Justin Gaston, sang a duet on the show. I’m not sure how they came up with the pairing but it didn’t really blend very well for me – strange combination of voices. But it was nice to see Brooke back on the Idol stage. I actually had to fast forward the performance, so maybe it got better but I couldn’t sit through it.

As the show continued, Ryan sent Crystal Bowersox to safety, followed by Siobhan Magnus, then he tortured Lee DeWyze by telling him that Chris Daughtry performed the same song the week he was eliminated…  before pulling him away from the other contestants and then finally announcing Lee was safe. This left the bottom three contestants as Michael Lynche, Tim Urban, and Katie Stevens. But of course, in true American Idol form, they made the contestants continue to wait through a break and performance by Adam Lambert.

I actually like Adam’s song “What Do You Want From Me” on the radio, but he’s just so over the top in everything he does I simply cannot watch him – just icky – sorry to all you Adam fans – and please don’t write hate comments. It’s just my opinion.

Sending Tim Urban to safety, Ryan left Michael Lynche and Katie Stevens as the remaining contestants – but he did make the announcement that one of the remaining was not even in the bottom 3 this week – which brought a huge sigh of relief to me as Michael Lynche was sent to safety and Katie Stevens was eliminated.

I think America got it right this week… what do you think?

Brooke White, who placed fifth in the seventh season of “American Idol,” recently released her debut album, “High Hopes & Heartbreak,” and will perform at a Salt Lake concert this weekend.

“It’s finally out,” said White during a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home. “And we’re getting ready to go on tour.”

The last time White spoke with the Deseret News, she was on the “American Idols Live” tour in 2008.

During that interview, White said she was looking forward to making an album.

Now that it’s been released, White reflected on the planning and recording process with fondness.

“I didn’t overthink it,” she said about the songs she wrote for the album. “I really started to get ideas when I was off the tour.

“I had time to unlock what I wanted after that. I have a hard time just sitting down and writing. So, I thought I would do some collaborating.”

She hooked up with producer Dave Cobb who, initially, was only going to be a writing partner.

“Dave and I clicked musically,” White said. “And after we wrote a few songs, he called and told me that he’d really like to produce. He said he had a good idea of where I wanted to go musically and he could help.”

The two wrote the lead single, “Hold Up My Heart,” and recorded it in five hours.

“That’s the way it was with the whole record,” she reported, saying the process was “natural” and “ongoing.”

“I don’t like to use the word ‘easy,’ but that’s kind of what it was,” she said. “We played all the songs as a band together, and it was in real time. Everything happened simultaneously when it came to the recording.”

With Cobb on as a formal producer, it was “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson who gave White some tips in his role as executive producer.

“We took songs to Randy,” she said, “and he would give us suggestions outside the studio. He was on the outside looking in.”

White was in Salt Lake City in August to do radio spots and an in-store performance at a Barnes & Nobles store.

“That promo tour was crazy,” she said. “I was on a plane every day and was so tired when it was over.”

White is grateful to her husband, David Ray, for being her main support.

“My whole family is really supportive, but he is always there, even when I’m sure he gets tired of it, or when I get tired of it,” she said.

After looking at the tour schedule, White said she found herself abuzz with excitement about coming to Salt Lake City.

“It was like when I was there for the ‘Idols’ tour,” she said. “Utah audiences are so enthusiastic. I’m excited to come and do a real show, and I want to see everyone there.”

What: Brooke White, Michael Johns, Benton Paul

Where: Murray Theater, 4916 S. State

When: Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.

How much: $20

Phone: 801-467-8499,800-888-8499

Web: www.smithstix.com