5/13/10 Today I'm thinking of Big Mike. Here is Ellen's reaction to Michael Lynche getting voted off American Idol:

I'm with Ellen. I'm glad the judges saved him too. He lasted 5 weeks beyond that night and he got a chance to show us more of his talent. I like Big Mike I think he's a big teddy bear and I just wanna hug him.
After saying goodbye to Michael Lynche we are down to the top 3; Casey James, Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze. The top three get to visit home with a camera crew and a huge homecoming party. Lee is heading back to Chicago and very excited to see his friends, Crystal is excited to see her family and Casey is happy to be going back to Texas where he can hear a lot of people say "y'all".
I think Casey will be the next to go and Lee is going to put up a fight, but Crystal will still walk away as Season 9's winner.
I have heard many comments from people about their disappointment in this year's contestants. In my opinion it's not that the contestants are less talented than they have been in past years it's just that they're different. None of them are pop stars, Katie Stevens was the closest thing to a pop star this season had seen. The rest of the contestants are more alternative for the lack of a better term. I like that. I think it just shows the show's diversity that it can be a starting point for a career no matter what kind of music you want to perform. Crystal Bowersox will probably win, but she won't sell as many albums as Kelly Clarkson because she's not going to be catering to the same audience. She'll have a successful career because of a core group of fans. Lee DeWyze will probably be a rocker like Daughtry and Casey will probably go country so he can hear people say y'all.
At this point the show's future is still up in the air. The producers are saying they don't intend to announce Simon's replacement until after this season wraps in a couple of weeks. The ratings for the show have been disappointing compared to previous seasons so maybe they'll just call Season 9 the final Idol season. I guess we'll see.