American Idol Season 9: The Finale

Tonight, a new music superstar was crowned and introduced to the music world. After tonight, life will never be the same for the season 9 'Idol' winner. Also, it was the farewell episode for Simon Cowell. We will miss you, Simon!!

Performances:

Top 12 Finalists-"School's Out" with Alice Cooper and Orianthi on guitar

Siobhan Mangus & Aaron Kelly with the Bee Gees "How Deep is Your Love"

Michael Lynche and Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers-"Taking It to the Streets"

Girl Finalists with Christina Aguliera-"Beautiful" & "Stronger"

Christina Aguilera-"You Lost Me"

Guy Finalists-"I Could Go For That" and "Maneater"

Hall & Oates-"Daydream"

Crystal Bowersox-"Ironic"-Alanis Morrisette

Alanis Morrisette and Crystal Bowersox duet on "You Oughta Know"

Carrie Underwood-"Undo It"

Casey James and Bret Michaels-"Every Rose Has Its Thorn"

Lee Dewyze and Chicago-The Band-Chicago Hits Medley

General Larry Platt and William Hung-"Pants on the Ground"

Some of the Finalists and Janet Jackson-"Nothing"

Janet Jackson-"Nasty Boys"

Lee & Crystal with Joe Cocker-"With A Little Help from My Friends"

SIMON COWELL TRIBUTE

"Simon Cowell Uncovered" video

A Song Performed by Dane Cook Based on Some of Simon's Insults with an appearance by some of Idol's worst contestants ever

Ricky Geravis' Farewell Message to Simon

Paula Abdul returns to the Idol stage to say goodbye to Simon

Video Tribute-"My Way" by Frank Sinatra

Some of Idol's past winners and finalists performed "Together, We Are One"

Simon's Farewell Speech--He didn't cry

THE BIG MOMENT

AFTER 100,000 AUDITIONS, 18 ELIMINATIONS AND OVER 500 MILLION VOTES, THE WINNER OF AMERICAN IDOL 2010 IS......

LEE DEWYZE!!!

RUNNER-UP: CRYSTAL BOWERSOX!!

THAT'S IT FOR SEASON 9....THANKS FOR WATCHING AND VOTING...SEE YOU NEXT SEASON--SEASON 10!!!

SIMON, WE WILL MISS YOU AND GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEW SHOW STARTING NEXT FALL!!

American Idol Season 9: The Final 2

The big event has arrived. From 100,000 contestants to 2. After this week, the new American Idol will be crowned. One hopeful's dream will become a reality. It's the two finalists' final chance to win the judges and the nation over. America, this is your last chance to vote for your favorite this season. So, choose carefully. The Nokia Theater is jam-packed with celebrities and fans cheering the two finalists on.

The two finalists perform three songs each--their favorite performance of this season, producer's choice and their debut single released by the winner

Round 1-Contestants' Favorite Song from this Season

Lee Dewyze-sang "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel

Needs to be more energetic-Randy

Better than the first time-Ellen

Connected to the song-Kara

Needed more passion-Simon

Crystal Bowersox-sang "Me & Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin

Slow but picked up the tempo in the middle; stunning; has fire in her belly

Round 1 goes to Crystal

Round 2-Producer's Choice

Lee Dewyze-sang "Everybody Hurts"; played the guitar; better than his last performance; pitchy; Ellen wanted more; emotionally accesible; Simon wants a perfect performance in Lee's final song

Crystal Bowersox-sang "Black Velvet"-Alannah Myles

"Mamasox" is in it to win it; fantastic; brought it tonight; nailed the song

Round 3

Lee Dewyze-sang "Beautiful Day" (if Lee wins, that will be his first single); Randy called it good; Ellen was proud; swallowed up in the song according to Kara; what the competition is all about

Crystal Bowersox-sang "Up to the Mountain"; amazing performance; incredible; in a totally different league; emotionally connected to the song; outstanding; wished Simon luck on his future endeavors

American Idol Season 9: Top 3

This is it...the finale is one week away. The remaining three Idol finalists want to be on the Nokia theatre stage to compete for the title. The performances are more important than ever before because one sour note, one bad song choice, one poor performance...your musical career could come to an end. America, you've got an important job--vote like crazy to ensure your favorite competes in the finale. Everything hangs in the balance on these performances.

2 Performances: Judges' Choice & Their Own Choice

Round 1

Casey James-played the guitar and sang "OK It's Alright with Me" by Eric Hutchinson; OK with Randy; needs to bring more; forgettable; dull song choice but he sounded good

Crystal Bowersox-played the guitar and harmonica and sang "Come to My Window" by Melissa Etheridge; Randy did not like the arrangement; good vocal; hopes for a big vocal moment; Simon has respect for Crystal-made the right song choice

Lee DeWyze-played guitar and sang "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd; brilliant song choice; Randy feels that Lee could win it; showed everything he got; on the money; round 1 goes to Lee

Round 2-Judges' Choice

Casey James-sang "Daughters" by John Mayer (Randy and Kara's pick)

played the electric guitar; fits Casey like a glove; beautiful; showed his artistic side; much better than the first song but didn't have a 'wow' factor

Crystal Bowersox-sang "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney (Ellen's Pick)

great song; she's in it to win it; Ellen was proud; surprised the judges--no instrument; she's got soul; out of her comfort zone

Lee Dewyze-sang "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen (Simon's Pick)

played the guitar; stunning; epic moment; owned the entire night; Simon was proud and hoped that Lee will be in the finale next week

Results-47 million votes cast

Top 2: Just as I predicted--Crystal, Lee

Eliminated: Casey

Performances: Justin Bieber and Travis Garland

Next Week: Crystal and Lee battle for the 'Idol' crown and Simon Cowell's farewell show

American Idol Season 9: Top 4

Two weeks until the finale. The final four are in it to win it. The performances must be greater than ever before. The race to the finals is heating up so who will come out on top and become American Idol 2010?

Theme: Movie Songs

Guest Mentor: Jamie Foxx

2 Songs: Individual & Duets

Individual Performances:

Lee Dewyze-sang "Kiss from a Rose" from "Batman Returns"; played the guitar; OK performance; pitchy; wrong song choice; Ellen loved it; most difficult song; karaoke

Michael Lynche-sang "Will You Be There" from "Free Willy"; Randy didn't like it; lack of confidence; predictable; Kara didn't feel it; Simon was disappointed

Casey James-sang "Mrs. Robinson" from "The Graduate"; played a guitar that sounds like a mandolin; laidback; Ellen liked it; good song choice; Simon described it as "lazy" and "strange"

Crystal Bowersox-sang "I'm All Right" from "Caddyshack"; nice job; "Crystalized" performance; made the song better; back in the game

Duets:

Lee & Crystal-sang "Falling Slowly" from "Once"; amazing; billed as "The New Captain & Tennille"; Kara's favorite moment of the season; great chemistry; fantastic

Michael & Casey-sang "Have You Ever Loved A Man" from "Don Juan DeMarco"; nice duet; the duets were better than the solo performances

Results-37 million votes cast

Top 3: Casey, Lee Crystal

Eliminated: Michael Lynche

Performances: Fantasia, Daughtry, Bon Jovi

Next week, the top 3 battle for a spot in the finale!!

My Adventures in Chattanooga

Last weekend, I went to Chattanooga, TN for my niece's college graduation. En route I passed towns like Bucksnort--interesting hillbilly name for a hick town in Tennessee. The folks in Chattanooga are friendly and the women are nicer than the women in Memphis. On Sunday, I went to church on the UT Chattanooga campus. The graduation ceremony was good--the commencement speaker was a military man--he gave good points about what our country is going through right now. I met some of the graduates and congratulated them. After the graduation ceremony, I ate at a barbecue place called Famous Dave's. The food was good. I ate barbecue chicken, corn on the cob and a corn bread muffin. I got jealous because Chattanooga has more Wal Mart stores than Memphis.

While I was in Chattanooga, it was stormy in Memphis. Some parts of the city were flooded. It rained all day and all night on Saturday. Hopefully, everything will be back to normal. The rain and floods shut down I-40 and I-440 Nashville-Memphis because of the flooding. Luckily, it reopened when I came back to Memphis. The downtown area of Nashville is still flooded but it will dry out in a few weeks.

I had a wonderful time and I can't wait to come back to Chattanooga.

American Idol Season 9: Top 5

Three weeks of competition left until a new Idol is crowned. The five remaining have to give their all to make the final four. One bad performance...it's all over.

Theme: SONGS OF SINATRA

Guest Mentor: HARRY CONNICK, JR whose orchestra provided the background music for the contestants

Aaron Kelly-sang "Fly Me to the Moon"; did a great job; pulled it off; Kara wanted more chrisma; needs to breakout more; Simon called Aaron--"likeable"

Casey James-sang "Blue Skies"; worst performance ever; pitchy; stiff; lack of swagger; worst version of "Blue Skies" ever; out of control vibrato; awkward

Crystal Bowersox-sang "Summer Wind"; last girl left in the competition; is she the girls' last hope on Idol this season?: subdued performance; sleepy; Kara liked it; Ellen was impressed; Simon wanted better from Crystal

Michael Lynche-sang "The Way You Look Tonight"; unbelievable; he's in it to win it!!!; comfortable on stage; lot of chrisma; back in the race

Lee Dewyze-sang "That's Life"; Randy loved it; Ellen and Kara predicted the Lee will win the competition; best performance of the night

Side Note: Frank Sinatra's daughters Nancy and Tina gave Simon--who is a big Sinatra fan--a monogrammed hankie

Results

Safe: Lee, Crystal, Casey, Mike

Eliminated: Aaron

Performances: Harry Connick, Jr. and Lady Gaga

Group Performances:

Frank Sinatra Medley & Harry Connick Jr. Medley

Next Week, Movie Songs with Jamie Foxx as guest mentor

Shame On You!: Sarah Palin E-Mail Account Hacker

Today's Shame On You is for the guy who hacked into Sarah Palin's email account and probably costing her the vice presidency in 2008.

It was in the news...a University of Tennessee college student hacked into Sarah Palin's email account on his computer. He was put on trial in Knoxville this past week. The jury is still deliberating and maybe before this week ends the hacker will learn of his punishment.

I heard that he wanted to play a college prank. Personally, I don't find that funny one bit. If I ever found that someone tried to hack into my email account, that person will be punished severely and spend at least 60 years in prison. Sarah Palin was angry when she found out that someone hacked into her email account.

It is not nice to break into someone's email account--that's illegal and that could get you life in prison. I hope the judge gives Palin's Email Hacker 50 years in prison and forbids him from using the Internet again. That would be extreme but a lesson in respecting famous people's privacy.

You abused the Internet!!

Come on People--respect the Internet and don't abuse it!