American Idol - FINALE!!

This is it! Who will be the 2009 American Idol?? Just under 100,000,000 votes last night! Whew! I'm not sure how much of dent my votes made in that.

Oh my.... they're making fun of Randy!! For you, for me, for you....! Chris has been doing that all season! Kara .... the "sweetest" one ... ha! And Paula.... I've commented on how she likes to use big words! And Simon ... he's not from this country, I guess it's OK if he doesn't understand us!

Okay, it's always nice to make fun of the judges!

It would have been nice of them to turn Kris and Adam's microphones!

A trip to the hometowns for each of them (Hi Carly! We've missed you!) and then back for the group sing... oh, how I've not missed these! Not nearly as cheesy as they normally are!

First guest performance of the night, the reigning American Idol, David Cook with his new song, "Permanent". Nice!! I have to admit I haven't heard much of anything he's done so far, but what I have heard, I've liked!

And now - one of my favorite parts of the entire season ... the Golden Idol Awards!!

Norman Gentle! Pleeeeease let it be Norman!! Errr... Nick. I'm so confused!

Oh, I think this really MAY be my favorite part! Oooh, Ryan with the glasses and headband is SCARY!

Next guest performance - Lil Rounds and Queen Latifah.

Jason Mraz! ... with Anoop and Alexis (and the rest as backup singers)

Next up - Keith Urban and Kris! Yea!!!!!!!!! A great song, for Keith, for Kris, or both! Wow, I'm loving this! I might have to download this one!

Ewww, I think I'd repressed the memory of Megan's voice, but there she is ...

I haven't seen Fergie with dark hair. I think she can do either look! I definitely like this song! (and it's not even country!)

Did they just censor an AI performance???!? I think that's a first!

Now for more Golden Idols! "Best Attitude" Oh, goodness ... it's Bikini Girl, with her "girls"!!!

Oh, that's hilarious! Kara DID outsing Bikini Girl! Yeah, Bikini Girl, keep smiling like a good beauty contestant, even when you know you're losing! I can't believe Kara flashed us, but I can believe she did it for a charity!

Next up - Allison with Cyndi Lauper. Oh, that's funny. Allison's hair is closer to what I still remember Cyndi's as!

A little check-in with the 'rents, and now Danny Gokey, and Lionel Richie! Great performance! Danny should tour with Lionel! ha!

Okay, 45 minutes to go, and we're finally talking about our finalists a little!

Adam's cage shoulder pads are scaring me a little.... love the song, "Beth" though - fitting entrance for KISS though!!!!!

I'm hoping that after the stage tried to fall apart earlier this season, they reinforced it in preparation for this performance! That's alot of craziness/pyrotechnics! Is it bad that I think Adam's wearing as much makeup as the members of KISS, just more natural colors?

This is a great choice for Adam's duet!

Next up, Carlos Santana with the Idol guys! Okay, and girls!

Yeah! David Cook surprised them! Of course, the final two always get the Fords, but at least they didn't know it was happening right then!

Okay, speaking of being taken by surprise ... next up, Steve Martin with Michael Sarver and Megan Joy ... and his BANJO!?!?

Who would have thought - it took the entire season before Megan FINALLY sang a song that didn't kill my ears! I think she's found her niche!

Another group sing and it's Rod Stewart! Unlike Lionel Richie, Rod has definitely aged!! I used to listen to "Maggie" on 8-track in my mom's Corvette.... she still has them both - the car and the 8-track!

More Golden Idols ... time for the girls! Of course, it's Tatiana! She just NEVER goes away... no matter how hard they try to boot her off the stage!

Another duet with Kris and Adam ... and Queen!! Oh, the boys are having a great time with this one!!! I love it!!!!! They ARE the champions! (okay, how cheesy am *I* now?)

Okay, can it FINALLY be time?

That was VERY nice of Simon to say! I actually believe that he meant it!

Yes, the almost-100 million votes was a world record...

Oh, I'm nervous!

It's .... KRIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't think it's hit him yet! I guess my text votes DID make a difference!!

I even hear fireworks! Either they're really overdoing it in Hollywood, or someone in my neighborhood is starting the holiday weekend early - I'm pretending they're for Kris!

It's been a great season - thanks for everyone who commented and/or read my blog!!

American Idol - Finale Performance!

Tonight is it!

Adam and Kris.

Kris and Adam.

Kradam.

Adis.

Why can't we all just be friends?

They're different enough that we could just have two Idols, right?

Or, as Ryan put it ... "the guy next door vs. the guy-liner".

Each one will get three songs tonight - their own favorite performance from the season, one chosen by the show's creator, Simon Fuller, and the winner's song written by Kara.

Adam is starting the night off with "Mad World" from the Year of Birth week.

Nice to see/hear Adam slow it down a little. I did like it! Judges did too. Very dramatic, in his usual style!

Adam is odd numbers tonight - 5701 for texting!

Kris will be singing/playing, "Ain't No Sunshine" for his personal pick. Goosebumps. I think what I like about Kris is that we know who he is, it's NOT all theatrics.

Wow - Randy copied me! Kara's finger-pointing scares me. And Simon has FINALLY gotten some sense in his head! Go Kris!!!

(Did Paula get a spray tan?)

Kris has the even numbers - 5702 for texting!

Round 2 - Simon Fuller's picks!

"Change is Gonna Come" for Adam. As Barney Stinson would say.... "Suit up!"

Well, I was wondering if he was going to get his screechiness in when this song started as it seemed too "sedate", but he did get it in the second half of the song. By far, not my favorite performance from him.

The judges and I don't seem to agree. I just don't get it! I agree it was good, but I wouldn't say it was his best. *shrug*

Kris - loving him as always. He's singing "What's Going On?" Judges were a bit mixed. Looks like Round 2 went to Adam. I wonder what Kara's written for them?

Hey look! It's the Top 12! Wave to the camera!

Kara's song, "No Boundries". Adam's up first.

Okay, I really hope Kris does a better job of it, because I really didn't like that at all. I really think it may be the song though. Oh, Randy's calling it pitchy. Good for Randy! He didn't scream though! That's a bonus!

Kris finishes off the night - I definitely think that Kris' voice better suited for this type of song. I see Kris doing more inspirational songs than Adam. I agree with the judges that the song was too high for Kris' voice.

So techinically, Round 3 probably goes to Adam, but again, I think it's the song more than the performers. I don't agree with the judges at all on this one.

Good perforances by both tonight - now it's time for the voting! I hope my phone battery holds up! And my fingers!

American Idol - Top 3 Results

Okay, so now it comes down to three. Who will be in the finale?

Well, hello! Ben Stiller! What are you doing here? Hmmm, Night at the Museum pitch ... well, of course! That makes sense!

And it's much better than the normal beginning, so I'll take it!

A little sad that the American Idol "desk" will be in the Smithsonion. What have we become?

Judges tonight .... Randy "needs to realize he's not as cool as he thinks" Jackson, Kara "should be punched in the face" Dioguardia (and don't care if I spelled her name right or not), Paula "needs to lay off the drugs" Abdul, and Simon "he can stay just the way he is" Cowell.

Jordin Sparks and Katy Perry perform.

Alicia Keys is here to talk about all the good we can do out in other countries instead of helping out the kids in our own country...

Fun night ahead! Woo-hoo!

Is this in English? Really? Did they get Alex Foley's jacket out of the Smithsonian for Noah to wear on the show tonight?

FINALLY - some results!

Danny's out first.... shall we take a trip home? Okay, that was nice. The pink plaid pants was kind of funny though!

Now let's go home to Arkansas with Kris!

Cheese dip. For LIFE.

Every man's dream!

Okay, Kris and Danny are back to the stage from home and have been sent over to the couch to await the final word. Jordin Sparks is up next after the break.

Jordin - not bad! I think that's one of the first times all season I haven't grumbled all the way through a guest performance!

Now for Adam's trip home to San Diego.... where apparently he got streaked...?!?!?

Oh my goodness - that little boy at the theater was adorable!

Now, a few recaps from Ryan, another break, another guest performer, and maybe THEN some actual resutls!

Why did she have Adam's name on her cape? That doesn't seem very fair.... and Chris assures me that this is one of those songs that sounds much better in studio version than live. I guess I'm not hating it live, so I'd probably be OK with the studio version!

Okay... FINALLY, so results!

First one into the finale....

KRIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy cow! I thought for sure they were going to put Adam through first to build up the suspense between Kris and Danny!

And who's it going to be?

Adam.

Shocker.

Hopefully Danny will go on to do good things! We'll see him on tour though!

American Idol - Top 3 Perform

So it's one week from the finale! Each contestant will sing two tonight - one judges' choice and one contestant choice.

Danny's judges' choice is "Dance Little Sister" by Terence Trent D'Arby, picked by Paula. Wow! Much better stage presence for Danny this week! I'm impressed so far! Overall the judges were too. Apparently, they don't want Danny to dance and just stand there and be boring. Whatever Kara and Simon!

Kris is up next with "Apologize" by One Republic picked by Randy and Kara. Hmm, good performance. Not straying far from the original, I don't think. Let's see what the judges say. Someone's going to say he's playing it safe.

Ha, Simon!! Way to tell Kara! I was thinking the same thing - she picked the song and then tell him he should've done something different.

That means Simon picked Adam's song - we'll see what he chose after the break!

Looks like he's singing "One" by U2!! I'll have to defer to Chris on this one for any comparisons. Chris, who states he was born to hate anyone else doing U2 songs, says that wasn't bad, other than a little screamy. I definitely liked the performance!! And yes, Simon's gloating ... a LOT! I'm just happy to see Chris not cringing over on the other couch!

Break time for commercial and Idol Gives Back.

Danny's up next with his own choice - "Your are so Beautiful" by Joe Cocker.

First thought - boring. I hope he opens up and let's us really here him later in the song! Good performance. Not great. But as Randy said, he *can* sing!

Kris will be singing "Heartless" by Kanye West. I don't know the original at all, but so far, I'm going to assume he's making it his own. I really liked it! I don't want to know the original!! Kris should definitely be in the finale!!

Adam will finish off the night with Aerosmith's "Cryin'". Love Aerosmith, almost-loved that performance. He's still screaming. Of course he did a great job.

Well, I have some voting to do to make sure my fave (who is NOT Adam) makes it through.

See you tomorrow night for the results!

Oh yeah, so my vote's for Kris. I'm sure Adam will get through. Danny just doesn't personalize the songs enough and, for the most part, all sound the same.

American Idol - Top 4 Results

And then there were three!

Performances tonight - No Doubt, Daughtry, and Paula!!!

Okay, enough with the group sings/lip syncing!!

Umm, okay Paula ... if you have the little headset mic, you don't need to use the stand. Oh wait. She's lip syncing too ... she doesn't need EITHER of them!

Loved the newspaper with Simon though!

Hey! Finally someone NOT lip syncing! Reminds me a bit of a Tae Bo workout! The push ups didn't help the image much...

Ummm. Drummer. Scary.

Okay - FINALLY. Some results!

Can. We. Talk. Any. Slower?

Yea! Kris is safe! Of course, very obvious now that Allison and Danny are the bottom two.

Up next .... DAUGHTRY!!!!

Next in the top 3 - Adam. Of course they were going to do that - must keep up the suspense!

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!! How in the world did Danny beat out Danny!?!??! That is just ridiculous!

I don't agree, but then again, I didn't actually vote, so I can't complain!

See you next week for the Top 3!!

American Idol - Top 4 Perform

So it's down to Adam, Allison, Danny and Kris! This week's theme is apparently ... the set is falling apart!

We can look forward to duets from the remaining kids tonight!

Guest mentor - Slash! I hope he can provide more actual musical input than say ... Quentin Tarantino!

Adam's starting us off with "Whole lotta love" by Led Zeppelin. Well, the Elvis lip is definitely coming out tonight!! I think he did a great job, but I'm really looking forward to the other kids perform! Of course, the judges are absolutely gushing all over him! Even SIMON!

Let's see how Allison follows Adam's performance. Her song is Janis Joplin's "Cry Baby". Good call to go to Adam's "hair girl" though! Wow, I don't know the original, but DAMN that girl's got pipes!

Kris and Danny are doing the first duet with "Renegade" by Stix. Not bad. Not sure I would have them do it again though. Are they even being judged on the duets?

Kris is up next with the Beatles' "Come Together". Oh, how cool for Kris! Playing one of Slash's guitars on stage WITH Slash! So far I'm liking it! It definitely has his own little spin/sound to it! Oh, the judges aren't liking it at all. Pooey on them!

Danny will finish off the solos tonight with "Dream On" from Aerosmith. Hmmm, first thought is not about the music ... it's why in the world would he a vest and dress shirt to perform an Aerosmith song? Okay, a little bored, and the end "scream" wasn't good. I honestly think I'd put him at the bottom of tonight's list. Blah. He should have had Adam do a guest appearance just to do the scream at the end....

I don't agree with Simon that Danny's going to be safe tonight. Not by a long shot!

We still have the second duet with Adam and Allison to end the night, with "Slow Ride" by Foghat. I think it's almost a little unfair to Danny and Kris to have Adam and Allison do a duet together for Rock Week. Heck, Allison could have done better with this as her solo than the Janis song!

My list for the night - Adam, Kris/Allison, Danny. I'm a little torn between Kris and Allison.