Special guest stars included Alice Cooper, a couple of Bee Gees, Michael McDonald, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Gervais, Hall and Oates, Alanis Morissette and Carrie Underwood.

The song with Crystal Bowersox and Alanis was choreographed so badly that the two of them looked like they were just running all over the stage and not even paying any attention to the song.  I found it very frustrating to watch.

I have to say, as I’m watching the show, I’m wondering if I’m going to regret choosing yesterday’s show over today’s show.  So far, I don’t regret my decision.  The famous singers are okay, but nobody that I really had to see.

I loved seeing Brett Michaels come out and sing with Casey James.  This was my second favorite part of the entire show.  You’ll know my favorite later.  I still love Casey and I hope he goes on to have a great career.

Lee Dewyze performed with Chicago.  I can’t help but compare Crystal’s song with Lee’s song.  Lee sang with Chicago–a great band.  He was able to stand still, sing and play his guitar.  AI had Crystal all over the place totally NOT enjoying her number.  Hmm.

What American Idol show would be complete without some crazy, failed contestants?  Of course, it wasn’t surprising to hear Larry Platt sing “Pants on the Ground” again, but having William Hung come out and stick his two cents in?  American Idol, you are starting to look a bit desperate.

The send-off of Simon Colwell was touching.  I loved seeing all the Idols up on the stage at the same time.  I did check…David Cook had a charity event in Kansas City that he couldn’t change.  Too bad he wasn’t there, having all the Idols on the stage at the same time would have been a special event.

Next surprise star was Janet Jackson, minus her hair.  For a minute or two I wasn’t sure if it was Janet or her sister Latoya.

Finally, we are at the moment that everyone is waiting for…the crowning of this year’s American Idol.  Here in California, it’s 9:53 p.m.  I know who wins because I checked on the Internet earlier tonight.  It’s the bad part about living in California–everything is taped and old news.

Oops, nope still not time.  First we have the two finalists singing with Joe Cocker “With A Little Help From My Friends”.  This was my favorite part of the show!  Even though Joe Cocker is old, he’s still a legend and that song is a classic.

Now it’s 10:00 p.m., I guess American Idol is going into overtime.  Here we go…Lee is already crying.  Finally, after torturing the crap out of the two of them, Ryan announces that the winner is Lee Dewyze.  I’m not surprised, but I have to agree with a lot of you.  Crystal follows in Adam Lambert’s footsteps.  I think Lee Dewyze is a great guy and he’ll make a good American Idol.

So that’s it!  I just want to take a moment to thank BBBlogger for giving me the opportunity to find my voice through his blogs.  I love you BB!  Thanks to everyone who helped me keep this blog going!  Love you all…Bloggergal1

Outside the Nokia theater were a number of tents set up for media interviews.  I was able to see a lot of the old American Idol contestants.  Amore, I finally saw Justin Guarini close up and he STILL is as cute as he was all those years ago when he was on Idol.  I couldn’t take pictures because we weren’t allowed to bring cameras or cell phones and our car was too far away.  I was also able to get to see close up Michael Lynche, Brooke White, Blake Lewis, Anoop Desai, Constantine Maroulis and Allison Iraheta.

We had good seats in the 26th row.  I was surprised to see Justin Guarini sitting just a couple rows in front of us!  The theater is huge!  I was surprised at how big that place is.  There were 7,000 fans packed in there!

I’m sure everyone watched the show, so I’m not going to review all the performances.  A few things I noticed while in the audience…

When Lee sang his second song, Simon watched the entire number on the big screen to his right rather than straight ahead on the stage.  I think he wanted to see how Lee came across while performing.

All the judges got up during every commercial and left the stage.  One good thing was each one of them took the time to shake hands and greet fans.

It was disappointing that the other American Idol contestants walked in to the theater but not by way of the stage, so we weren’t able to get a good look at the them.  At the very end of the show, all of them were called onto the stage, but they were bunched together and I still didn’t get a really good look.  Casey does tower over everyone and he’s awfully cute in person.

Both Lee and Crystal sounded great in person.  They have great personalities and take the time to connect with the audience.

Speaking of the audience, it seemed really mixed between Lee fans and Crystal fans.  I did notice that Crystal’s fans were a bit more vocal!

This marks the first year that the final two contestants sang different songs (to be recorded).  Word at the show was that it was NOT fair to have Lee sing a Bono song because he was competing with Bono and Crystal.

There were a lot of teases about who will appear on tomorrow’s show.  Carrie Underwood is a definite.  I’ve heard some murmurs about Lady Gaga, but I don’t know how true that is.

So if you want my personal opinion, Crystal Bowersox was the clear winner tonight, but that doesn’t mean that Lee Dewyze won’t be the next American Idol.  We’ll see tomorrow…good night…Bloggergal

Counting up the votes for who will win American Idol was pretty easy.  I don’t think any of the comments has Crystal as the winner.  Overwhelmingly, Lee Dewyze is the choice–at least on this site!  I do think that Crystal is a better all-around talent than Lee, but like everyone who commented, I think Lee Dewyze will be the next American Idol.

I was able to get tickets for Tuesday’s show, so I’ll be there live and I’ll report back to ya’ all on Wednesday morning.  I’ve never been to the finale and I’m looking forward to it!

So, stay tuned…Bloggergal

The finale pits Crystal against Lee.  Your paranoid blogger (Me!) thinks that American Idol took very good care of Lee Dewyze to get him to the final two and possibly the American Idol spot.  Could it be that he is a little easier to work with than Crystal?  I get the feeling that she has definite opinions about things and is not afraid to stand up for what she wants.  Reminds me of…hmm…who?  Oh, Adam Lambert!  Don’t get me wrong, I think Lee Dewyze is a nice guy who can sing and play guitar.  Will I run out and buy anything he records?  I doubt that.  I didn’t buy Kris Allen’s music after he left American Idol.

This will be only the second time I won’t attend the American Idol concert.  The first time was when I moved from Pennsylvania to California.  This time, I am just not interested enough to go.  I do look forward to seeing Crystal Bowersox in concert someday.

So, here we go…Let’s get those comments coming with who the winner of American Idol 2010 will be…Crystal Bowersox or Lee Dewyze.  I’ll stop by and count the votes before next week’s show.  Have a great weekend everyone….Bloggergal

We are down to the final three contestants in American Idol.  Tonight each contestant sings two songs.  One song is chosen by the contestant and the second song will be chosen by the judges.

Up first is Casey James with “Okay, it’s all right with me”.  Well, it wasn’t all right with any of the judges.

Crystal Bowersox chooses “Come to my window”.  The judges said she did good, but they were a bit disappointed that it wasn’t better.  Simon says he respects her for always staying true to herself.

Lee Dewyze sings “Simple Man”.  Did you see the sign in the audience?  “Lee is the De Wize choice”  Cute, huh?  The judges loved him.  They think he’s ready to win this competition.  He won the first round of tonight’s competition or as Simon says “he crushed the competition”.  Yikes!

The judges choose “Daughters” for Casey James.  He does a better job with this song than his first.  Simon doesn’t agree with the arrangement and he blames Kara and Randy. Casey looked pretty upset after his performances.

“Maybe I’m Amazed” is the choice for Crystal Bowersox chosen by judge Ellen.  The judges loved her.  Simon complimented Ellen on her song choice and Crystal on her performance.

Simon picks “Hallelujah” for Lee Dewyze to perform.  It is such an amazing song, how can he go wrong?  Simon sure took care of Lee, didn’t he?  I think that tonight he won American Idol.  I haven’t been a big Lee Dewyze fan, but his humility and amazement at his success is charming.

Have a good day tomorrow…Bloggergal1

This week American Idol will follow the three finalists back to their hometown for some cheering.  This week will also have the judges picking songs for the Idols to perform.  Bloggergal1

Lee Dewyze was up first singing “Kiss From A Rose”.  Randy thought he should have done more with the song.  Ellen loved it.  Kara said he had some “out of tune issues” but that you can’t take away from him that he is great.  Huh?  Simon said it was verging on karaoke and Lee was trying too hard to sound like the original.  I thought he sounded totally out of tune.  But, hey, what do I know?

Michael Lynche chooses the Michael Jackson song “Will You Be There”…the Free Willy song.  Randy, once again, doesn’t think it was the right choice.  Ellen says with a gospel chorus behind him he couldn’t go wrong. Simon wanted to know what or who Willy is.

The first duet of the night was Crystal Bowersox and Lee Dewyze singing “Falling Slowly”.  Randy loved it.  Ellen said they were like Captain and Tennille.  Kara said it was the best moment of the season.  Simon said it was a “fantastic song”.

Casey James sings “Mrs. Robinson” from the oldie, but goodie The Graduate.  Randy teases that he sang the song to Kara.  Ellen liked it.  Kara thought it was a good choice, as the teasing continued.  Simon didn’t think the song or the performance had the substance required for him to win.

Crystal Bowersox chooses “I’m All Right” the Kenny Loggins song from Caddyshack.  Randy said she did a nice job trying to switch it up.  Ellen said she took a song and made it better.  Kara agreed with Ellen.  Simon said that after this performance she is back in the game.  Was she out of the game?

The second duet “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman” is sung by Casey James and Mike Lynche.  Randy loved it.  Ellen said, “As a matter of fact, yes, I have really loved a woman.”  Simon got a kick out of that!  I thought it was a bit strange to see the two of them singing that song together.

Tomorrow night, we are down to three contestants.  It’s anyone’s guess who that will be.  Have a great night…Bloggergal

This week, we said goodbye to Aaron Kelly.  I don’t think he was quite ready to be the American Idol, but I was surprised to see him eliminated last night.  I thought he had another week or two in him.  Our informal vote had Aaron leaving next week and Michael Lynche leaving this week.

Didn’t Harry Connick Jr. do a great job as a mentor?  I wonder if he would consider taking Simon’s place?  I wouldn’t mind looking at him every week.  Although I guess he’s a little too nice to replace Simon.

Aaron was interviewed after his elimination.  He’s pretty much finished with high school now and he wants to record an album after the American Idol tour.  He says he loves to write his own music and wants to incorporate that into his new album.

Have a great weekend…Bloggergal

First up is Aaron Kelly singing “Fly Me To the Moon”.  Ellen and Randy loved it, but Kara and Simon thought it was a weak performance.  Once again I must say, he’s a cute kid and who doesn’t like him?

Singing “Blue Skies” was Casey James.  Ouch, he didn’t have a good performance.  I think he was way out of his element and knew it.  None of the judges had anything positive to say.  What disappointed me the most about his performance was his lack of connecting his body with the song.  He was singing, but his body was robotic and not at all involved with the music.  Doesn’t look good for you, Casey.

Crystal Bowersox picks “Summer Wind” for her song tonight.  She can sing anything, can’t she?  Randy didn’t like it.  He thought it was too subdued.  Ellen and Kara liked it.  Simon said it was “too indulgent”.  He thinks she has had two “okay” weeks and she needs to step up if she wants to win.

By the way, do you remember at the beginning of this season of American Idol everyone thought the women were going to rule.  Interesting that the final five contestants are four male and only one female.  Is this because the males are better performers and singers or is this because more women vote for males than for females?

“The Way You Look Tonight” is the choice of Michael Lynche.  I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping for “My Way” or “New York, New York”, but oh well.  This kind of music suits him perfectly and the audience loved him.  Randy says “Mike is in it to win it”.  Ellen thinks Mike has an ease on stage that will take him far.  Kara loved it.  Simon said he was the first performer tonight to do well.

The final performance tonight is by Lee Dewyze.  He picks “That’s Life”.  Randy loved it.  Ellen said she thinks if this was the final night, he would win the whole thing.  Kara tells him he needs to believe that he can win, because he can.  Simon thinks that Harry brought out Lee’s confidence and showmanship.  Simon says it was the best performance of the night.  It was definitely my favorite.

Have a good night…bloggergal