"We've got to cast the rest of the season," Simon Cowell said tonight.
And that, of course, is what we figured they'd do. These final picks -- the judges' wild cards -- are all about filling out what's missing.
We'd predicted Wednesday that the judges would go with Jasmine Murray, Anoop Desai and Megan Joy Corkrey. They did; they also threw in a surprise with Matt Giraud, expanding the field to 13.
Until now, the show oddly had only one black among nine finalists. It needed Jasmine -- who also happens to be cute, 17 and talented -- to balance the field.
And it needed more teen-pop appeal. Megan -- the beauty with one arm gaudily tatooed -- fills that; so does "Anoop Dogg," a guy who can work an audience.
And Matt? Well, he's just different. The show needs different, too. Here are a few of my comments, please add yours:
1) Oops, wrong night. Jasmine and Tatiana Del Toro both had big-voice, big-finish songs. Those have a killer impact when viewers are voting; they rarely do much for the judges, though.
2) Talking about the ever-changing Tatiana after her song, one judge said, "At least, she's not crying." Cowell's response: "She will." She did.
3) I really wasn't that impressed with Corkrey's rendition of a song with a very narrow vocal range. The judges loved her, though.
4) For years, Paula Abdul simply repeated -- in (barely) different words -- what Randy Jackson had just said. In the new system, she can't do that. She's had a few rough spots, but mostly she's done a better job this year.
5) It was kind of cruel to toy with Anoop that way. The last time "Idol" did that, it made Jordin Sparks think she was out. Instead, she went on to win it all; that could happen again.
6) In fact, the eight guys are the best male contingent the show has ever had. The five women are pretty good. This is turning into an interesting season.