Carly's comments about sexism sound stupid, with so many women winning before her. But what people should really be comparing her situation to is how KLo and Trenyce were treated in the second season. Like this year, the judges desperately wanted a finale between 2 guys (Reuben & Clay then, the two Davids now). Anybody threatening this was criticized excessively, as Trenyce and KLo were, and Carly was considered the women most likely to break it up. Her singing never changed, but she was starting to develop some stage presence, dress better, cover the tattoo, and had finally stopped using her Morticia Adddams makeup kit. So they tried to get rid of her, and succeeded. It wasn't really sexism, just a desire to have a 7th season winner who'd be guaranteed (?) to sell lots of CDs.

Having said all this, her duet with Michael sucked. Her voice is totally wrong for duets.