The “save card” rule to me appears to be less about the fans and artists, and more about predatory producers trying to snag a winner’s contract.
All of their examples were the “ones who got away” and have good sales outside of Idol.
I strongly suspect that ALL contestants sign their careers away to AI whether they win the whole shebang or came in 10th.
I’m not a fan of the new rule.
The new rule is so restricted that it’s virtually useless. I expected some sort of anti-Sanjaya backlash, but this just gives them one tiny backdoor. Let’s say the bottom 2 was Sanjaya and Michael Johns, and America voted to keep Sanjaya and boot Johns. The new rule would allow them to keep Johns for another week. That’s it – their power is gone for the rest of the season.
Ok, I haven’t read all the thread yet, but I simply must chime in here. In the cats household, Megan has been dubbed “Chicken Dance girl”. I hope she stays a long time, because I do find her subtle chicken dances very endearing 
If they voted on everybody, they would have sent Kanye West packing. Bad voice, no range.
I don’t get the dislike for Megan. She has a different voice and it suits some songs very well. Rockin Robin was a stupid choice . They chose wisely this week.
Not sure if anyone here is interested - but if anywhere on the Dope, probably this thread:
David Cook hasa new Vlog up: http://www.davidcookofficial.com/news/pork-beans-ep3-5-questions-with-terry
In it he portrays Terry the assistant lighting tech, complete with wig and beer gut. It’s part of a series of logs he’s doing on the road just for fun.
My issue isn’t the quality of her voice per se, it’s the fact that she just misses a lot of notes. They are off pitch or just plain wrong. It’s sloppy. Other singers who do that get called out on it a lot more than she does. It annoys me that she gets a free pass because, for some reason that I don’t get, the judges like her style. She’s a mediocre vocalist.
Mind you, marginal singing ability isn’t always an impediment to a career. There are a lot of people that sing terribly who have made it big because of other attributes. So she could go a long way and be quite marketable.
My personal bias is for singers with really good voices and great technique. This is why I don’t like Megan in this competition and roll my eyes every week she moves on. But I’m completely aware that this is my personal bias, and that other people look for different things in vocal artists. YMMV.
I read a comment on TWOP that really nailed the whole Megan deal. She is in an American Idol competition of her own. She was put through for being her own thing and that’s also what makes her likable. Basically, she is judged on merits different from the others. Rockin’ robin was a silly song choice, but she definitely got away with it.
Count me in as one of her fans though. I liked the cawing (though arguably not perhaps the most robin-like sound) and I like her dance. In fact, it doesn’t strike me as much as “current” that Simon says, but rather very retro-1960’s pop (*especially *the dance, it’s something I could see one of Anna Karina’s characters do after a couple of beers) with perhaps a touch of modern.