My predictive powers went nowhere again. I said Team Shelton would be out but it was Team Bolton instead. That military/country vote power trumped the Bolton fans.

And oh, how the mighty have fallen. I was disappointed with Patti LaBelle’s choir. Sure, she just tore the roof off that mother on “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” but that was all Patti. I’m off Patti’s train and have jumped onto Nick’s. His often risky song choices, his nifty choreography and his ability to entertain should mean $250,000 for his hometown Cincy and those sick kids at the local children’s hospital..

II was out late so I was able to fast forward through a lot of the chaff — and there was plenty. Sure, it’s all for charity but man, the gushing was a bit much!

And despite the fact most of you have panned the show, it held its audience Tuesday, with 7.7 million viewers and virtually the same number of 18 to 49 year olds as Monday.

Each choir got to sing three times. The first was any song, the second was holiday themed, the third was a song with the celebrity from their songbook Here’s my rankings for the three remaining choirs and videos of some of the songs. (Thank you dJslim again!)

1- Team Lachey with “Flight of the Bumblebee”//”All I Want For Christmas” (Maria Carey)//”What’s Left Of Me”: Nick is taking the biggest chances and this one was so out of left field, it worked. No guts, no glory! The feint up front was cute and the performance was pure fun. His choir experience showed.

His second tune was the amazingly delightful Mariah Carey tune. It’s hard to lose with this chipper classic (if you want to call a 13 year old song a classic). Nick’s first kiss gal was hot!

Nick used his choir effectively for his solo hit ballad “What’s Left Of Me.” Again, he put together a wonderful, engaging arrangement and sang from his heart. Bravo!

2- Team Shelton with “Home” (Marc Broussard)//”Joy To The World”//”This Can’t Be Good”: He really took a chance with a foot-stompin’, bluesy tune and pulls it off. They did it with conviction. The harmonies on the upper end didn’t meld but that female soloist midway through raised the roof. This was easily Shelton’s best performance.

He played it safe going with the standard “Joy to the World,” a song that choirs actually do sing. I did like he threw in a bit of the Three Dog Night song, too.

Then Blake did one of his own songs, one I’ve never heard of. The break when the choir scatted a bit was great. He utliized the choir fairly well and they added some extra energy to the tune.

3- Team LaBelle with “Jesus Take The Wheel” (Carrie Underwood)/ “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Andy Williams)//”Somewhere Over the Rainbow”: The lead singer who took on Carrie Underwood’s instant classic was just decent. She simply couldn’t hit the big notes with real authority. For the second night in a row, Patti didn’t make it much of a team effort and it hurt. I wasn’t moved.

The holiday song was just okay, almost boring. Where did the mojo go, Patti?

Fortunately, the choir did finish up strong with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” though that was almost singularly due to the magic of Patti at the mike. Who needs the choir? She is just amazing, even at her age. Off with the shoes! Here it is:

And since this is an “Idol” blog, here are some “Idol” related bits:

Idol sales were big this week as Christmas nears (thank you Idol Chatter over on the USA Today site!). Carrie’s “Carnival Ride” sells another 138K and is past 1.4 million while Jordin moves another 62K and exceeds 283K. Daughtry moved another 60K and 3.47 mil total (2.29 mil so far in 2007, No. 3 best-selling CD of the year.) Blake Lewis, in his second week, quickly fell behind Jordin and Daughtry with 58K and is up to about 156K. Carrie’s “Some Hearts” sold another 31K and is up to 6.12 million. Kellie Pickler is No. 200 with 8K sold and 679K total. Taylor selling 500, is at 698K. The gap between those two is now just 21,000. Elliott, at 465K, is closing in on Fantasia at 498K. Kelly Clarkson’s three albums are at 2.7 mil, 5.91 mil and 721K repsectively. Bo is 30K, Mandisa is at 62K, Clay is at 521K and Bucky, 307K while Kat is at 363K. Ruben is stuck at 236K, Constantine at 22K, Paris 20K and Kimberley 17K.

Okay, if you knew RJ Helton from Cumming, you may or may not want to see photos gleaned from the vile Perez Hilton Web site here.. If anything, it’s not the Helton you may recall from his “Idol” days.