Carly Smithson
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Life is pretty good when you're an American Idol finalist.

Season seven champion David Cook and fellow singer Carly Smithson hung out on the field with the New York Mets prior to an August 2008 baseball game. Both crooners look right at home in the uniforms, don't they?

Don't get Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Smithson wrong: each American Idol finalist is thrilled to be on tour this summer.

But each also confided to TV Guide that it's hard on their relationships.

Kristy Lee, who got engaged during Season 7 to Andrew Dobner, said she hasn't seen her man at all.

"I get to see him on the 10th, but I don't know if he's going to any of the other shows," she said. "It's tough. We've had a few 'moments,' because he doesn't understand what's going on, but he's starting to get the picture when I'm like, 'I can't handle this!' But he's getting the picture that he needs to be supportive. He's starting to come around."

Kristy Lee Cook is missing her man while on tour.

Smithson also admitted that her ongoing tour and rehearsal schedule has been hard for both her and her husband.

"The whole [thing of] not being able to hang out with him as much is just awful. For me, [L.A.'s] my last city where I'm going to get to see him," she said.

However, Smithson also sees the humor in some of the Idols' whirlwind lives: "He's been amazingly understanding. Like 'I can't talk to you right now. I'm putting on an eyelash.' Weird things like that!"

Carly Smithson recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly to discuss her experience on American Idol. Here are excerpts:

Entertainment Weekly: You were fantastic on Tuesday. What happened?
Carly Smithson: I have no idea. Who knows? It's American Idol, so I think I just have to kind of move on and have a good attitude about it. Everybody's going to leave at any time.

Entertainment Weekly: You seem to be taking it really well. You appeared to be in high spirits last night after being eliminated.
Carly Smithson: Obviously, I would have loved to go further. People are thinking this morning that I'm stoked to go home. That's not the case. I just feel like, what's the point in going out all upset and pissed off? There's no point. What happens happens. Everything happens for a reason. I truly believe when it's your time, it's your time, and I'm just excited now that I'm free to make a record. The show's only got a few weeks left.

It's not like I went out top 100 or whatever. I made the top 6. That's huge! I'm really, really pleased and very satisfied with that. I definitely think that's a huge achievement, and it's more than I ever thought I would get. So I'm stoked. I was stoked top 8, 7, whatever.

Read the full article now.

The most recent American Idol blog entry in The Los Angeles Times expresses shock and dismay over the elimination of Carly Smithson this week. Its general message:

It seems as though weekly performances don't matter at all. How else to explain Brooke White remaining on the show... despite having forgot the lyrics the night before? Here are excerpts from the insightful piece:

What we learned from this week’s results show isn’t pretty. The performances of any given week don’t matter on this season’s “Idol.” This is not, at this juncture, a singing competition. Nor does this season reward the virtues usually associated with champions -- courage, determination, a strong sense of self.

Carly Smithson’s booting is not simply unjust; it threatens to undermine the very premise of “American Idol.”

If this show is now officially about well-marketed personalities rather than vocal charisma or even dynamic performance skills, then why not make it a chronicle of the packaging of a pop star, more like MTV’s “Making the Band” or even (though I dread it) “The Search for the Next Doll”?

Read the complete article now - and let us know if you agree with it.

We still can't believe Carly Smithson got eliminated last night. Can you?

Sadly, though, the following American Idol video is proof of this shocking result. Check it out now:

It wasn't as shocking as the elimination of Michael Johns, but we didn't imagine anyone except Brooke White would get ousted from American Idol this week.

Instead, Carly Smithson was shown the door.

We're flabbergasted. It's nice viewers felt bad for Brooke after she forgot the lyrics Tuesday night and all, but come on - it was her time to go. Smithson's performance of "Jesus Christ Superstar" was inspired in our view.

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It was the end of the line for Carly Smithson tonight. Do you think she deserved to go?