American Idol - The Finale!!

It's started!! Ryan and Simon bicker for a few seconds and then almost immediately, Blake and Jordin are singing "I Saw Her Standing There". Blake has terrible shoes on again.

Ryan throws it over to Gwen Stefani on tour. Mia thinks she's lip synching. It's hard to tell! Something's definitely off.

Kelly Clarkson!! Looking good in over the knee boots and a short dress!! She sounds fantastic!

Group song! Sanjaya still can't sing. All the guys are wearing white suits - I hate that look. Phil was allowed to take off his Navy uniform for tonight - that's a relief.

Ugh, Blake is rapping with some guy. Awful.

Now the girls! All in white as well. Gina's had a new haircut!! Haley's legs are still long.

Tony Bennett is well enough to perform and sings "Once In My Life".

Yay - Carrie Underwood is singing "I'll Stand By You". Carrie is my favorite Idol. Although she looks a bit odd wearing a long dress over jeans! Carrie is so gracious -thanks Idol and all her fans. She's very smart not to forget where she got her big break!

Sanjaya is getting his own segment - and oh my god - he's performing with Joe Perry from Aerosmith!!! What?????

GREEN DAY!!! Fantastic. The rumors were true. They sing "Working Class Hero".

The wizards at Idol have managed to coax Rubben Studdard out of hiding to sing with Jordin. Rubben still sounds great.

Poor Taylor Hicks - he had to follow Green Day.

Bette Midler - fabulous - wait - she's singing - Wind Beneath My Wings. Nooooooo. Mia and I are wondering what she's doing there - I suggested Bette needed a night out?

9:50 - only about 8 minutes left before we find out who wins.

American Idol tribute to Sgt Pepper!! Kelly Clarkson comes out first and sings Sgt Peppers, then out comes Hicks - enough said. Then Carrie again - looking so much better in a lovely short black dress and singing "She's Leaving". Suddenly she's being backed up by the Idols. They appeared out of nowhere. Rubben shows up and sings Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Is this medly ever going to end? It's 9:56 and still no winner. Now the Idols are singing "I'll get by with a little help from my Friends".

9:58 and there's a commercial. This doens't leave much time for the winner to sing "This is my Now" and sob.

10:03 - It's finally time. Ryan tells us there were 74 million votes. Simon and Randy both think it's going to be Jordin.

Dim the lights - it's JORDIN.

The crowd goes wild. She's excited. Blake doesn't really look that unhappy. Jordin expresses her love for everyone! It's over for another year!!

Does Anyone Care Anymore?

Dial Idol is predicting that Jordin Sparks is well ahead of Blake Lewis in the vote for the next American Idol. But, according to Reality Blurred, Blake is ahead in internet searches.

Hitwise’s Bill Tancer breaks down the search data for Time, finding that Blake’s
lead has decreased, at least among searchers. He “is edging out 17-year-old
Jordin Sparks by just 25%. Compare that to his searches for the prior week,
which were 270% more numerous than Jordin’s.”

I can explain the 270% ahead from the prior week. It was because of this report. It was off the charts in searches on just one day!

Also, I heard a report on MSNBC today that Blake hopes that Jordin will win tonight. I'll bet he does because he thinks he's going to be the next Daughtry.

Personally, I think that this has been the most boring season of Idol ever, and I'm glad it's all going to be over tonight, and we can start concentrating on Pirate Master

This Is My Now

It definitely was Jordin Sparks' NOW last night, as she out classed and out sang and out dressed Blake Lewis every step of the way during American Idol.

The winning song from the writing competition "This is my Now" wasn't too bad at all and Jordin sung it with such passion that she couldn't even hold it together at the end and started to cry. Blake couldn't hold it together for other reasons, it was obvious he hated the song and didn't really put that much into performing it. He was probably mesmerized by his own hideous gold shoes. Where did he get those?

Overall Simon said that Blake performed the first song the best, but Jordin "wiped the floor" with him in the the singing department. Paula loved everyone equally, and Randy, dressed as some throwback from Sgt Pepper, liked Blake but gave the night to Jordin.

Ryan made a point of mentioning Paula's broken nose and then called her dog a bitch, but implying that he was really talking about Paula. She took it well.

Jordin to win it all!!

Paula Breaks Her Nose

Paula Abdul has broken her nose trying to stop herself tripping over her dog!! Her dog is a Chihuahua. Abdul wasn't admitted to the hospital, so she's probably not in bad shape, and her publicist has confirmed that Paula will be at tonight's performance of American Idol.

"I took a nasty fall ... trying not to hurt my dog. I bruised myself on my arm ... my chest, my waist all the way down to my hip. All from my little chubby Tulip," Abdul said.

Paula probably did this on purpose so she'd have an excuse to get loopy on painkillers so she can get through a whole hour with Blake Lewis singing three songs, and keep a smile on her face when he yodels the required treacly ballad. Jordin's yodelling will be much more bearable.

I can't wait. I'm sure Paula will provide us some unintended comedy tonight.

source

Oops - Bad Call America.

Melinda Doolittle is out of the running to be America's next Idol. This is not a complete shock, as her personality is a little bit flat, even though her voice is spectacular.

So, that leaves Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis in the finale. I can hardly stand it. I think this means that Blake will win the whole thing. Jordin is just a bit too inconsistent and young. And Blake has his vast army of fans and his sobbing father on his side. (After last night's visits home, don't you find it a bit weird a grown man calling his father Daddy?)

Melinda took the rejection well, no sobbing on stage . My Tivo cut out before I could hear what Simon had to say about the whole situation, so if anyone heard it, please tell me!

The only highlight of the evening for me was Jackie Collins in the audience!! Maybe she's writing a novel about tacky reality shows?

Brace yourselves for next weeks saccharine and lengthy offerings from Idol!!

Who Will It Be????

I have no idea who is going to get through to the final two in American Idol, after last nights performances. All three were pretty evenly matched if you look at the big picture, and Dial Idol has them neck and neck.

Overall, I still can't stand Blake but he did "bring it" last night with all three songs, and Meldina's voice can't be beaten, and Jordin has the best personality.

Jordin sang "Wishing on a Star" by Rose Royce - Simon's choice, "She Works Hard for the Money" - producers choice, and her own choice was "I who have nothing". Overall everyone thought she was great, fantastic, hot and Simon said he didn't like the arrangement of the Rose Royce song, and that he felt I Who Have Nothing was too old for Jordin to be singing. She'll get the sympathy vote for Simon's comments. Ryan tried needling Simon, saying that Simon didn't even like the song that he chose.

Blake sang Roxanne - I hated it. Paula loved it. He then sang some Maroon 5 song which was OK and then some terrible Robin Thicke song, which he clearly stole from Beethoven. Hated that too. Paula said Blake was "in his element". I said "Blake, you should watch yourself in a mirror when you do those irritating moves - then maybe you'll quit".

Melinda aced a Whitney Houston song, Nutbush City Limits and I am Woman. All good, with a smidge of personality creeping out in each song.

Prediction: Melinda/Blake final two. Hope: Melinda/Jordin final two.

Lakisha Goes Home.

In an expected turn of events, Lakisha Jones was sent home last night on Idol, and Blake Lewis made it into the top three with Jordin and Melinda. People out there in TV land sure like their beat boxing.

Barry Gibb showed up with his shirt tucked in and his hair brushed, a vast improvement on the night before an sang something. I fast forwarded through it. Sorry, Barry.

The best part of the filler full hour was a short clip of the Idols talking about their childhoods, and their dreams. Strangely, three of the four are only children. I don't know why that's strange, it just is. Another great moment was Ryan Seacrest talking to random people at the Farmers Market and these two girls spontaneously gave imitations of Paula clapping like a seal. It was hilarious.

Ryan Seacrest had a strange moment hiding Jessica Alba behind him, and then Jessica hogged the microphone giving Fabulous Four a lengthy plug.

Only two weeks to go!! What a ride it's been, mostly downhill.

Stayin' Alive

Barry Gibb. Oh. My. God. When Barry first appeared on the screen as a "mentor" last night I wondered who it was! Time has not been good to him. I never would have recognized him if I saw him in the street. And having said that, Barry was the most interesting thing about the whole American Idol last night.

Melinda was up first and mechanically sang her way through a Bee Gee's song. It was OK. No one liked it, basically because half way through the song, you forgot what she was even singing. Her second song was a bit better, but I still can't remember what it was.

Blake should be off that show tonight if there is any justice in the world. The beat boxing has to stop. I'm sure it's great for 12 yr old girls, who have no clue about he songs he's ruining, but for the rest of us, to take these extremely well known songs and just randomly beat box through them is a crime against music in general. He has to go.

Lakisha. I thought that she was the best of the night last night, while hating what she did to Stayin' Alive. She might go home because of her stubborn refusal to ever take advice from any of the mentors, and the fact that she changed the songs up too much.

And finally Jordin. I'm sure she's safe because he first song was so good and she has a fantastic personality. Barry Gibb liked her the best as well.

All in all, another b-b- b-or-ring Idol.

Phil and Chris Go Down In A Blaze of Glory

The gamble paid off for Blake Lewis this week, and he's safe! Phil and Chris went home in a double elimination. There were lots of tears from everyone,and interestingly Carrie Underwood's version of "I'll Stand By You" was played during Phil's send off, and Chris got the usual Daughtry "Home". Hmmm.

So America, your final four are, Blake Lewis, Lakisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks!

The best part of the night for me was Bon Jovi performing. Isn't Jon Bon Jovi still the hottest thing on two legs? Sambora's a bit puffy in the face, but Jon still looks fantastic.

Next week - disco with Barry Gibb. Yikes!

Blake Lewis: Worst Rendition of Bon Jovi Ever

From what I've been seeing around and about today, it looks like Simon was right - everyone is divided over Blake Lewis' performance of "You Give Love a Bad Name" last night on Idol. Personally, I hated it and I think Jon Bon Jovi probably did as well, with his veiled reference to "people who don't want to see this song messed with".

Dial Idol has Jordin and Blake as safe and everyone else as a possible elimination. I think that Jordin got the massive sympathy vote because she admitted that she did a horrible job with "Living on a Prayer".

I think that Chris Richardson and Lakisha are going home tonight in the double elimination, but I'm secretly hoping it's going to be Blake.

And in case you missed it - here the horrible beat boxing performance.

Blaze of Glory

Hands up if you think that Jon Bon Jovi is hot! And an all round great guy! I'm amazed that he didn't punch Blake Lewis in the head for beat boxing " You Give Love a Bad Name". Simon was right - I'm in the half of the audience that hated it.

Phil sang "Going Down in a Blaze of Glory". Prophecy? Jordin was miserable singing "Living on a Prayer", which she might be doing after last nights performance. Lakisha sang "This Ain't a Love Song" and Simon liked it so much he jumped up and kissed her. Chris Richardson did "Dead or Alive" and it was OK, and Melinda was just like a young, stumpy Tina Turner performing "Have a Nice Day".

It was one of the better episodes of Idol this whole season, but the main draw card was Bon Jovi himself - yummy!

ps. Antonella Barba was in the audience!

Idol Gives Back - The Recap!

Ryan Seacrest announces that not only did they get 70 million votes last night, it was going to be the most shocking elimination EVER!!!! OMG!! Is that a suit Simon is wearing??

Hey - it's Ellen De Generes - who asks if she is getting kicked off? I think it's going to be Melinda - that would truly be shocking! Ellen introduces Earth, Wind and Fire. Is that the original guys? They don't look too bad, and they sing a medley!

Quincy Jones mentors the Idols and writes and anthem for them - Time To Care!! Then Quincy conducts and the Idols sing their caring anthem. Blake still looks irritating.

Ben Stiller!! I love Ben Stiller!! Ben sings and threatens not to stop until $200 million has been raised. We are only 30 minutes into the program and already Ryan is torturing the contestants with safe/not safe. Melinda is safe. I was wrong. Blake is safe. This elimination is turning out not to be so shocking after all. Unless of course it's Jordin - gasp!

Jack Black! Jumps on stage and sings Kiss From a Rose - he's fantastic!! Simon says he's better than Sanjaya (whose in the audience - and so is Seal!!) Seal loves him too. Carrie Underwood sings "I'll Stand By You" while they show a montage of Carrie in Africa! She sounds fantastic. Rascal Flatts sing.

Phil is safe!! That means Lakisha, Jordin and Chris are the bottom three - WHAT?? Jordin??

Ellen personally donates $100,000. Then Josh Groban sings "You Raise Me Up". Everyone is getting teary. Kelly Clarkson wearing some kind of Janis Joplin mumu thing, sings Up to the Mountain. The crowd goes nuts.

Lakisha is safe. What's going on here - this leaves Chris and Jordin. I'm not getting a good feeling.

Celine Dion and Elvis. Elvis is in the building - I'm so excited. It's hologram Elvis!!!! It's bloody brilliant. Elvis is really standing there next to her. They are singing "If I Can Dream". I LOVE it.

Finally the elimination - it's NOBODY!! Everyone is safe!! How cruel. Jordin is in tears. Next week two people go home. Yikes. Total let down. Bono finally shows up!! Idols sing "American Prayer". It's all over.

Dial Idol - Will They Be Right Again?

Dial Idol has Chris Richardson with the lowest number of votes!!! I'm dying to find out who goes home tonight - it really could be anyone except Jordan. I still think it's either Lakisha or Chris, although I'd love it if it was Blake.

Tonight on American Idol it's going to be quite the extravaganza. Kelly Clarkson will perform, there will be footage of Carrie Underwood in Africa, and the moment I can't wait for Celine Dion and Elvis Presley performing a duet!! Yes, THE Elvis, through the miracle of modern technology, back from the dead! Ellen De Generes is hosting on the Kodak Theatre stage, and Ryan Seacrest in the regular studio. Make snacks!! It's two hours long. See you on the other side!

Idol - Gives Back!!

Last night's American Idol was quite the mixed bag. Bono was announced by Ryan Seacrest as the mentor, but was never seen. Maybe he has nothing to plug. The six performances were interspersed with footage from Africa and all around America of needy children. It was all very moving, and I do think that Idol is trying to be genuine with this fund raising effort. One of the best pieces was Simon going to a huge food bank in LA and meeting the volunteers. He proclaimed "I've never met nice people before!". Maybe that's part of his problem? Ryan also informed us that NewsCorp (Fox's parent company) would be donating 10c for every vote called in up to 50 million votes - that's $5 million dollars. So everyone was endlessly encouraged to vote and often!

The performances were ordinary except for Jordin, who stole the show with "You'll Never Walk Alone". She was amazing. Blake Lewis sang a flat and uninspired version of John Lennon's "Imagine". Lakisha murdered Fantasia's "I Believe". I can't remember what Chris Richardson sang. Melinda gave a nice performance of a Faith Hill song and Phil did quite a good job with Garth Brooks' "The Change".

My prediction - Idol will get 50 million votes and make $5 million from NewsCorp and either Blake or Lakisha will get the hook.

America's Love Affair with Bad Singing is Finally Over

Wearing a brown t-shirt that said "Life is Beautiful" and sporting a curly bob - Sanjaya sobbed on Lakisha's sholder when Ryan Seacreast informed him that he was going home! I'm really shocked that he took it like that. I thought for sure he was expecting to be getting the boot every week, but it looks like Sanjaya thought he was in it for the long haul. I guess that explains all the cockyness. Sanjaya managed to pull it together to give us another horrible performance of "Something to Talk About" changing the words at the end to "Let's talk about hair, hair hair". Good one.

Inexplicably, Fergie was allowed to "sing" one of her songs. She's awful. How she got to where she is today is totally beyond me, although she was wearing interesting shoes.

Martina McBride sang, she was fabulous, but her daughter stole the show chatting with Ryan and answering questions meant for Martina, and generally being adorable.

Ryan Seacrest split the Idols into two groups and then asked Melinda to choose which group she thought was safe. Melinda wouldn't do it and sat down in the middle of the stage. Totally predictable move on her part. She probably didn't want to formally acknowledge that Jordin is her biggest competition.

Randy Jackson was the worst dressed of the night - wearing a pink t-shirt and a horrible hat that was too small for him, decorated with white skulls. Get a mirror, dawg.

So, Dial Idol did get it right! Blake Lewis is safe - but for how long?

I Hope Dial Idol Gets It Right

Dial Idol is is predicting that Sanjaya Malakar is the lowest vote getter from last night's American Idol, and Blake Lewis is the second lowest. They have Phil Stacey as "Safe" and Jordin Sparks coming second.

While I find Blake massively irritating, if he gets the boot tonight, I can only believe that the whole voting thing is rigged and that Idol producers are keeping Sanjaya around to milk the buzz and the ratings as long as possible.

Simon Cowell made it pretty clear last night in his comments that he's fed up with Sanjaya and his magical publicity machine and it's time for him to go. Simon probably would have really started to get brutal with his comments, but Ryan Seacrest stepped in and stopped Simon. Does Ryan know something about Sanjaya's fragile mental state that we don't know?

Finger's crossed, everyone!!

And I didn't even see this go down last night!!! I'm sure Simon is telling the truth, because he made his own comments about Virginia Tech at the end of the show!

Killing Me Softly With His Song

Sanjaya did it again, but this time with a red do-rag on his head. Sanjaya sang "Let's Give them Something To Talk About" and my husband wandered through the living room right about then and said "let's talk about sending you home!". Simon said it was "horrendous" and it was. Boring, flat and totally uninspiring. Hopefully that was Sanjaya's swan song. Bye bye.

Phil Stacey was a huge surprise this week, singing a Keith Urban song, and singing it well. I think country is his thing! Lakisha was average with "Jesus Take the Wheel", totally forgettable, and Melinda sounded great, by my mind started to wander in the middle of her song. The judges loved her.

Chris Richardson was just horrible, he sounded weak and out of tune, and I don't' think it matters what Blake does - I just can't stand him.

The best performance of the night was Jordin Sparks, who sang Broken Wing, and just did a fantastic job. Simon said with a performance like that she could definitely be the next American Idol. I think so too!

And Martina McBride was charming.

American Idol News Round Up

Tonight on American Idol is "Tony Bennett - American Classics". Not only do I predict this to be boring, but everyone except Melinda, Lakisha and Jordin are going to murder all the songs and make horrible song choices.

Speaking of Jordin, Ryan Seacrest is tipping that Jordin Sparks is going to be the next American Idol. Ryan says: "She's non-threatening, cute and attractive. Plus, she has this sincere likeability that is rare and genuine." I have to agree with him. Although Melinda Doolittle is a fantastic singer, her personality isn't really that sparky and I'm sure that people are going to get very tired with her "aw shucks" attitude, or just not vote for Melinda because they think she is safe.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief as the Sanjaya hunger strike person has decided to eat again and is just going to concentrate on getting Sanjaya voted off. Good Decision. He's not worth dying for.

Is Sanjaya the most hated American Idol contestant ever?. Probably. Unless you are a weeping 10 year old girl. I think that Votefortheworst.com is definitely ruining this season of Idol, although most of the contestants are managing to do that for the viewing public without any outside help.

Click here to see TMZ's video of the Idols eating lunch

Simon Trys to Out Ryan

Last night's American Idol will probably be remembered most for the exchange between Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell, which I'm sure was totally scripted. Ryan was interviewing Melinda Doolittle before she sang and she said she didn't like her high heels. Then Ryan and Simon had the following exchange:

Ryan: Any advice on the high heels, Simon?

Simon: You should know Ryan. (audience screams on cue)

Ryan: Stay out of my closet.

Simon: Come out. (eye roll)

Audience and Melinda Doolittle freak out. Scripted. I'm sure of it. It was the eye roll that gave it away.

Other than that, it was a totally boring except for Melinda Doolittle, who made Paula cry with her rendition of "Home", Lakisha Jones and Jordin Sparks, who were all exceptional. All the men sucked, and the rest of the women were only OK, and Diana Ross' hair was bigger than Texas.