Will Melinda Doolittle be America's lesbian Idol?

"As long as she needs me..."

She may not have much of a neck, but Melinda Doolittle again showed tonight that she's heads above the other finalists on American Idol. She's a professional. She makes a living as a background singer. She comes with a vocal coach and stylist. At 29, she's the oldest contestant, and despite her shy onstage demeanor, she obviously knows who she is. But how soon until America gets the hint?

In tonight's episode dedicated to the rock 'n' rolling British Invasion of the Sixties, Melinda chose an obscure showtune, "As Long As He Needs Me." But in the opening line, sitting on the lip of the stage, she quite clearly enunciated, "As long as she needs me," before switching back to "he" for the rest of the song.

Will America have its first openly-gay Idol here? A few weeks back, Melinda sang the gay anthem, "My Funny Valentine" and dedicated it her two "closest" female friends, whom she called her "Gayles"-- as in "gay girls"--or as she explained, "Gayle King," the woman long rumoured to be Oprah Winfrey's lover (Melinda said she's the Oprah in the triangle). And two weeks ago, she made her mark with a strutting "I'm A Woman."

Tonight, she laid it all out. And was that a (Oprah's longtime alleged boyfriend) Stedman Graham joke when she held onto the line: "I'll cling on... sted-fast-ly..."?

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But whether Melinda the professional is merely reaching for a voting demographic, has an Oprah jones, or playing it loud and proud... we'd say it doesn't matter! It's about time we had a gay Idol!

The real issue is whether Melinda, as a professional, should be in the contest to begin with. Because every time she sings, she's so much better than the others...

But how about that Sanjaya? He deserves to stay another week!