There was a didgeridoo on The Show this week. There also was a bagpipe — the only instrument even more annoying than a harmonica — that was part of The Weirdest Ending To A Closing Song In The Whole Sordid History Of The Show. The didgeridoo was kind of cool; the bagpipe, not so much. (Side note: My friend Bill claims he’s going to have bagpipes played at his funeral so everyone else can suffer along with him.)

Still, Tuesday was the best program of what has been a very, very weak season of The Show. You can feel the chrome peel off of this particular tricycle after many years of success, and with Simon Legree about to take a powder, you take your victories wherever you can get them. But here’s the thing: The last four or five people in this year’s crop are going to kick butt. There is going to be some serious drama and a reason to just listen to the music for reasons of pure joy. But we’re not quite there yet.