Country-western music is not my thing, but it sure produced a beguiling development on "American Idol" Tuesday night: People, we have a contest.

With 11 singers left, the Grand Ole Opry theme leveled out the playing field. Front runners stumbled (Adam Lambert, what was that mess you made last night?) while one guy who faltered badly last week redeemed himself (Anoop Desai).

Randy Travis was the guest coach (Geez, did you see how thin that guy is? Someone needs to ply him with some steaks, stat!), and he didn't seem to help much. Which may be why Tuesday's performances were, at times, off kilter. Several singers sleepwalked through the front parts of their songs and then tried to salvage them by blasting through the second parts. Not impressive.

The best of the night? Matt Giraud (seen here), who is fast becoming the dark horse in this race. He's someone I couldn't have picked out of a lineup two weeks ago but he's winning me over with his versatility and voice.

Here's my rundown on Tuesday's show. What did you think?

It is if you believe what you read in the New York Daily News "Gatecrasher" column. A big mouth "American Idol" staffer is running around saying the Final Four will be Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace, Adam Lambert and Lil Rounds. The staffer is quoted as saying this:

"Adam Lambert and Lil Rounds are better singers and musicians than Gokey and Grace, but they're too much like past winners and 'A' successes ...Adam's too close in style and sound to Chris Daughtry, while Lil Rounds is a dead ringer for Fantasia. Even their background stories are similar! ... The producers really want it to be Danny or Alexis. They think they're very commercially viable, have a good image and a great story."

So, now that new rule -- which lets the judges save a contestant before the series whittles down to the last five singers -- becomes much more interesting.

As in "can you say manipulative?" interesting.

But Paris Hilton might.This robot soon is going to be a model on a catwalk in Japan. It's just a gimmick event to display scientific wizardry. But Ms. Robot does display more facial expressions than automaton Paris Hilton and most of the gals on "The Hills." Maybe she's got more of a future in Hollywood than Milan.

Here are the sights and sounds that caught my attention in recent days:

• Jim "Mad Money" Cramer must be a masochist. Jon Stewart (seen here with Cramer) has been hammering the business cable personality Cramer and CNBC for their look-the-other way financial reporting the past year. Then Cramer decides to go on Stewart's show. Guess who won.


• Rats, I totally forgot to catch George Clooney's return to "ER" Thursday. Thank goodness for Hulu.


• Maybe it's just me, but Olympics titan Michael Phelps' appearance on the "Today" show this morning to explain the bong incident wasn't very convincing. He still won't directly say he smoked anything. Shoot, even A-Roid admitted he took steroids. Phelps better hope he comes across a lot more sincere on the full-length "Dateline" interview Sunday.


• Are you an iPhone/iPod Touch user who's also an "American Idol" fan? This app's for you.


• And, finally, Michael Jackson has sold out his 50 concerts slated for London this summer. I'm betting he actually performs nowhere near 50, more like 4 or 5 ... Or maybe this is a huge hoax. Like the show's mostly dancers, videos and voice-overs and he makes only a cameo appearance and calls that a concert. Either way, it's a waste of money.

UPDATE: People magazine and other outlets reported March 13 that there was no duet recorded last month. Unfortunately, this won't be the last twist in the Rihanna/Chris Brown story.

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Incredible. Chris Brown has recorded a song with Rihanna -- the woman he allegedly beat up Feb. 21 -- just days after he was charged with assaulting her.

CNN.com says that's confirmed by record producer Polow Da Don, who worked with them on the recording. It's a sad and alarming turn in this story. Yes, there are those who say we don't know all the facts of this case. But we do know what the police report says happened that night. And we've seen the photo taken of Rihanna's face after the incident.

Rihanna's turmoil is playing out in public, but there are so many other women who are victims of domestic violence every day. Adding to the disturbing nature of this saga are the young fans of both performers. They must be wondering what the heck to make of all this. Or, worse, they're getting mixed signals of what's allowed and what should never happen.

For anybody with even the slightest doubt, this is the rule: A man should never hit a woman. Ever. Period.

Oprah Winfrey, who devoted an entire segment of her show this week to "dating violence," put it best: "If a man hits you once, he will hit you again."

PREVIOUSLY ON THE BEEHIVE
- Rihanna doesn't appear to learn lessons easily
- Chris Brown's apology vs Rihanna's beaten face: Which makes you more sick to your stomach?
- Just when you thought the Chris Brown/Rihanna thing couldn't get uglier

Photo: Matt Sayles/AP

At least no one among the 13 finalists dared sing Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

The "American Idol" producers' decision to highlight songs Tuesday from the King of Pop's catalog produced a weird evening. For one thing, the songs are iconic, too closely identified with MJ. It also didn't help that the judges were in a demanding mood. Even Paula Abdul voiced some negative opinions.

None of the singers totally clunked in the singing department. No screechy or missed notes. No one tripped, although a couple unsuccessfully tried to dance. Yikes. So it came down to presentation. Adam Lambert (seen here) ruled the night. The rest of the show mostly bogged down. I will say this: the guys way outperformed the gals this week.

On tonight's show, there's some kind of surprise change in the rules. I hope it's not some lame gimmick.

As for Tuesday night's performances, here' my take. What did you think?

Beehive colleague Rick Bentley today already posted about the two dancers who will fill in for recently injured hoofers on "Dancing with the Stars." (Is this show cursed when it comes to injuries?) I just had to add my two-cents worth about Monday's Season 8 premiere:

• Lil' Kim undoubtedly achieved a first for the show: She dedicated her debut dance to the inmates she shared prison time with at the Philadelpha Detention Center. The rapper in 2005 was found guilty of conspiracy and lying to a federal grand jury. We don't know if the gals at PDC saw the show.
• Melissa Rycroft, unceremoniously dumped by still-a-jerk Jason Mesnick on "The Bachelor," gets a rousing welcome as a last-minute replacement for an injured Nancy O'Dell. With maybe 48 hours of prep time, she delivered a lovely waltz with partner Tony Dovolani.
• I'm guessing pro Karina Smirnoff knew she had a dud in Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (he earns a few points for pure exuberance). How else do you explain her barely there black lingerie costume? Maybe the strategy was to get people's eyes off Wozniak. Doubt it worked.
• Finally, we need to vote for Gilles Marini (seen here with partner Cheryl Burke). He's not a star, but he had a memorable role in last year's movie, "Sex and the City." He actually can dance but, even if he couldn't, keep him on the show, America.

The 13 finalists for the "American Idol" crown begin their quest Tuesday, and Scott MacIntyre of Scottsdale, Ariz. will have his own cheering section in the central San Joaquin Valley. Turns out that he has a big extended family in Kingsburg, Selma and other local communities.

Family members will be gathering Tuesday evening at a Kingsburg home for the Top 13's first competition, in which the contestants have to sing a song from the Michael Jackson catalog.

His aunt, Christine Statton of Selma, is the sister of Scott's mother, Carole MacIntyre. Needless to say, Christine and the dozens of other relatives (who include great aunts, great uncles and second cousins) are thrilled by Scott's adventure in Idol land.

"We're having a lot of fun with," Christine says.

In case you missed it, here's a skit from this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson that fans of "The Incredible Hulk" should especially enjoy.

There's no escaping the onslaught of lousy economic news, but here's what else caught my eyes and ears in recent days:

• Twitter is all the rage these days, from teens to politicians. But this MSNBC columnist is having none of it and calls it the "the Snuggie of social networking."
• I wonder how Octu-Mom is going to have time to care for 14 kids when she's so busy with her daily video diary on radaroline.com and other interviews. What's a mother to do?
• "Sleepless in Seattle" as a musical? As much as I enjoyed the 1993 Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie, I don't see how a stage shows works when the two protagonists really don't meet and talk until the end of the story.
• The cast of "Seinfeld" will reunite for a guest appearance on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" this fall. It's all so, you know, yada yada yada.
• Finally, M.I.A. (seen here) has reportedly named her baby boy ... Ickett. That's right. Ickett. As in stick it. And you know what the kids in school are going to call him: Icky. Why do celebrities burden their kids with these weird names?