Simon Cowell made American Idol a national sensation, and don’t worry he’ll be back for AI3. In the meantime, he decided to blend the voting aspect of Idol with the dating aspect of The Bachelor with his new concept Cupid. The girl, Lisa Shannon, is portrayed as a goddess, which she is not. Her *censored*y friends are annoying as hell while trying to play female Simons and rip on the contestants. I wonder if anyone is whispering into their headsets to plant commentary. So read more for the overall scoop. After a pretty boring first few episodes, it was finally boiled down to 10 contestants chosen by Lisa with input from her two friends. Those friends would be ice queen Kimberly, who looks like a robot. I mean, this girl is nasty looking and *censored*y to boot. Her other friend is Laura, who sounds like Fran Drescher and colors her hair and skin in an effort to look hot. Sorry, keep trying sister, and drop the attitude because it isn’t working. Even worse, all three of the girls have awful hair and Laura earns a living as a hair stylist? Ugly.

Rob Wiles was the first casualty of America’s vote. He earned almost 100 bucks working people on the street, and spent it on taking her out to sushi on their only date. Who really cares if he overspent and didn’t tip all that much? We all know where I stand on tipping the wait staff, especially on big bills. So now he can take the short trek back to Hermosa Beach and return to selling uniforms.

Scott Schwartz was the next to go. He took her out to dinner with the money he earned on the street and used his second date trying to seduce her during lunch at a Hollywood studio lot. She was freaked out because she obviously wasn’t attracted to him. I guess this begs the question, if you’re not attracted to him, why is he in the final 10? I find it hard to believe there weren’t 10 attractive guys available, so I blame Lisa. Scott is a corporate strategist from New York, and seemed very incompatible with her so America did her a favor giving him the boot.

Paul Stancato, who has done some work at the Fringe Festival is his native New York was the latest to exit stage left. The playwright/professor claimed that he wasn’t on the show to promote his career. He hadn’t been in the bottom three until this surprising elimination, and Lisa was visibly upset over losing him. He had taken her horse back riding on their last date, and now he’ll take his crappy side burns back to the east coast.

Ken Jones was in the hot seat for the first two weeks, but after avoiding the dreaded broken arrow both times, he wasn’t even in the bottom three this week. His trip to the winery combined with dinner date was painful to watch in the opening week. The beach volleyball in the second week was equally dreadful. He seemed to win her over with the martini bar date, but now this week he was a catastrophe with the children. His idea of fun was having them clock him over the head. Do not be surprised if he drops back to the bottom of the pack after that. For the record, he’s an equity trader who calls Chicago home.

Renda is the nickname of Brian, whose last name hasn’t gone public. He is a street hustler and a poet, so it’s not hard to see why he has been in the bottom three for the past two weeks. Like Ken, he has Teflon skin, however, and as Laura cries out in pain that he can’t support Lisa financially apparently America thinks love is worth more than money. His street hustling skills aren’t very good because 6 of the other 9 dudes earned more money than he did. Worse yet, he used the money on afros and hot dogs. Then he showcased his other “skill” with a poetry session in the second date. He got even more eccentric with a trip to the candle store last week, and this week painted with the children. He seems out of his league, and it’s only a matter of time before Laura gets her wish and he goes back to the streets of New York.

Evan Hook almost got the hook this week, and based on his earnings as a volleyball player he better start trying harder. He’s a girls volleyball coach in Huntington Beach, so it wasn’t surprising that after he earned just 9 bucks in the opening week that he took her to the beach. He followed the typical routine after that, taking her ice-skating then to a restaurant in the subsequent dates. This week he taught the kids karate when he doesn’t know it himself. Nice bit of deception, and this guy is a little too much beach bum to go well with Lisa as far as I’m concerned.

Hank Stepleton is another options trader from Chicago, which begs the question of whether or not he has run into Ken Jones. He took her on a picnic, then trout fishing, and out to dinner before trying to teach the kids language this week. No question he’s at the top of the list and is likely to be around at the end.

Joe Nardulli makes a living as a real estate developer in, where else but Chicago. He scored points by using his street earned cash to give her a pedicure, and then took her to look at houses that he could never afford to buy on the second date. They went out on a boat last week, and this week he played house with the kids. Mostly, Lisa’s friends complain that Joe flashes money too much, but the reality is that the dude is not attractive enough for her taste. That’s the real issue, and Lisa would be ultimately disappointed if he stuck around much longer.

Robert Amstler is the only dude who has his own website and if you’re hot for his body click here for more photos. He’s a fitness model in Los Angeles, but if the dude isn’t a dead ringer for Arnold Schwarzenegger I don’t know who is. I’m curious why he’s screwing around pretending to like Lisa when he should be negotiating a deal to star in T-4. After their trip to the fair, bowling and lunch it was painfully evident that Lisa wanted nothing to do with him. Then he set up a puppet show with the children and orchestrated a kiss that made Lisa’s skin crawl. Now granted, there are probably millions of chicks that would want to make out with him (see pictures) but with his stoic personality she feels no connection. Thank you America for keeping him alive, I love watching Lisa squirm on their dates.

Dominic Mancini is the kid of the group at 21 and is a student in Chicago at present. He has taken her to the zoo, gotten her drunk at the bar and spent an evening with her at a hotel. Suspect behavior at best, although he won points with her by drawing with the children this week. Laura won’t let him off the hook on the age issue, and it’s entertaining to watch them bicker back and forth. With her against him it might be difficult for him to advance.

So there’s your group, 7 left out of 10 and I don’t have a clue who will go all the way. If I was betting, my money is on Hank. It would seem that Dominic and Evan should be doing well with voters. Ken and Renda have already been towards the bottom, so logically they are long shots. Robert is good looking with no personality. Joe is ugly with a great personality. Put them together and they’d win it all, but neither should make much more noise.

If you’re single, and any of these guys interests you, feel free to pursue a date with any of them because someone is going to get a date with each ditched contestant. That should be interesting given that the girls who win dates will probably be better looking than Lisa. I’m thinking since Lisa is a little snot, perhaps America is slanting the votes and Robert will win. Man, that would be the best thing since Darva Conger being forced to marry Rick Rockwell. On that note, I’m done for now.