TVSquad

Last week, Phil Stacey went home from American Idol in a "Blaze of Glory." Stacey's disappointed fans could at least take comfort in the fact that they would get to see him perform again, alongside the other ousted contestants during this summer's American Idols Live tour. However, now there's a chance that Phil may not be joining the tour.

"The last time I spoke to my commanding officer, things looked very promising that I'd be able to go on the tour," Phil said in an exit interview with AOL. "But it would break my heart to not be able to go. But I've got a duty and what's important is that I fulfill my responsibility to the Navy."

The self-proclaimed "King of All Media," Howard Stern, wants to "kill" American Idol, and Eric the Midget isn't happy about that at all. When Stern first joined Vote for the Worst to support Sanjaya, I really thought it was a one-time bit. But Stern seems committed to disrupting Idol's game and destroying the show's credibility. How far will Sanjaya get? I'm thinking Top 5. If Stern continues to rally his fans, Sanjaya could go all the way.

American Idol wins FAVORITE TV SHOW! At the Nickelodeon's annual Kids' Choice Awards. Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul showed up this weekend to accept the award, but Simon Cowell was a no-show. Too bad, if ever anyone needed to get slimed . . .

According to the Nielsens, the Kids' Choice Awards show was watched by more 6-to-11-year-olds than American Idol. Who says kids today watch too much TV?

(S11E06) Tonight we began in Mozambique, Africa. Teams flew to Tanzania where I swear we witnessed the weirdest race ever! First of all, three teams were nearly an entire day behind the other top teams as they were stuck in the Johannesburg airport. There were three-hour time differences between the racers who left to Zanzibar by boat. The teams didn't get to a challenge until 32 minutes in the show because so much of this week was spent just trying to get the hell out of Johannesburg!

At least both challenges were on the island of Zanzibar so not much more travel was required. The first was a quick little puzzle and the second was a really tough-looking axe-throwing challenge.

Without giving anything away before the jump, I wonder how next week is going to work out with such a huge difference in the finishing times between the teams. I think the final team is going to leave about 12 hours or so later than the first team.

*SPOILERS* AFTER THE JUMP:

(S11E03) This episode really had my heartrate going! When it came down to the end, there was a certain team that I wanted to be eliminated but they remain. Sigh.

The teams remained in Chile this week. Things went from tense (thanks to Mirna) to hilarious (thanks to Rob) throughout the episode. I think my favorite team so far is Rob & Amber just because they're so laid back. Everyone else is taking this waaay too seriously.

Spoilers after the jump:

(S10E13) Three teams, one last race. The teams are sent breathlessly hurtling around the globe, starting with Paris. For some reason this is the most boring finale I have seen in a long time. Truly. There are no big challenges, no real jaw-dropping moments and at the end, no real emotional payout. One of the reasons I watch the Race is for the cry-inducing finale. I'm going to have to watch the second half of that ABC home improvement show in order to get my supply of Sunday weeping.

(S10E10) Tonight's race takes us to Finland where we see a lot more talking about alliances and a lot less actual allying (finally). In the wake of the "six pack" the other teams attempt alliances but the whole race seems a lot less heartfelt without David and Mary in it. It's supposed to be intensity time but someone needs to tell that to the Cho brothers in this endlessly boring leg of the race.