The Only Surprise Would Have Been If She Lost

Videos updated, most are HD with excellent audio. Enjoy!

Least biggest surprise of the evening: Jordin Sparks won the title of Season 6's Idol.

Biggest surprise evening: A fairly entertaining show, one of the better ones if our opinion. Perhaps the producers should note that more Idols and less guest stars = better show.

Worst part/s of the show:
1. The Golden Idol Awards - We've seen enough clips of these idiot auditioners. We wouldn't have missed seeing them again.
2. Ashley "Crying Girl" Ferl - We've had enough of her, too.
3. Bette Midler a) What the hell was she doing there except promoting her coming Vegas show replacing Celine Dion (do we smell a prize here for this season's "So You Think You Can Dance?" winner) and b) Er, sorry, but she's really lost her voice.

Best parts of the show:
1. Blake Lewis and Doug E. Fresh - This may be a singing competition, folks. But this was the most rousing part of the show.
2. Tony Bennett - Forever a class act, plus he can still sing.
3. Jordin Sparks and Ruben Studdard - Duetting on "You're All I Need to Get By"
4. Kelly Clarkson - singing anything (but we loved "Never Again")
5. The Beatles medley

Enough already moment: Gwen Stefani

Huh? moment: Green Day on tape singing John Lennon's "Working Class Hero." It was good, but what did it have to do with the show?

Questions: Yes, we know he was the fodder that kept the show in the press all season, but it wasn't because he had a good voice. So why did Sanjaya Malakar get his own singing segment, when Melinda Doolittle (who did sing with BeBe and CeCe Winans, but not alone) and LaKisha Jones didn't?

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS


Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks duet on the first Beatles number of the evening, "I Saw Her Standing There." Well, how else could they get Jordin's age in at the top of the show: "She was just 17/And you know what I mean/But the way she looked was way beyond compare"

Watch video of Ryan Seacrest introducing the show and Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis singing "I Saw Here Standing There":



Gwen Stefani performs "4 in the Morning" via satellite from a concert she's performing.

Watch video of Gwen Stefani performing "4 in the Morning":



Kelly Clarkson knocks it out of the park with her new single, "Never Again." The camera pans to skeletal Clive Davis in the audience. He may be applauding, but we know they'd probably really like to throttle each other.

Watch video Kelly Clarkson singing "Never Again":



The first of three annoying Golden Idols segments, where we're forced to relive audition segments we'd rather forget. No. 1 is awarded to Margaret ("Big Bird") Fowler, who auditioned in Alabama. While on stage her cell phone started ringing. Ryan Seacrest answered it and told whoever was on the line to call back that Fowler was on national TV.

Watch video of Margaret Fowler receiving her Golden Idol Award:



Smokey Robinson performed with the top 6 guys. Numbers included "Ooo Baby, Baby," "Being With You" and "Tears of a Clown." Smokey looks as if he's had a great face-lift. Very few wrinkles, but it still looks like him.

Watch video of Smokey Robinson and Top 6 guys singing medley:



Blake Lewis and Doug E. Fresh rock out the audience of 3,000 in the Kodak Theatre with "The Show." Wild and awesome. If he was allowed to have performed like this the night before, instead of that treacly coronation song dreck, he probably would have beaten Jordin.

Watch video of Blake Lewis with Doug E. Fresh:



The second stupid Golden Idol Award is presented to Sholandric Stallworth.

Watch video of the Golden Idol Award for Best Performance:



Gladys Knight and her new Pips -- the top six ladies -- perform "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "I Feel a Song in My Heart" and "Midnight Train to Georgia."



Watch Gladys Knights and the Top 6 ladies sing a medley of Knight hits:





Tony Bennett, who missed his theme-week performance because of the flu, proves that no one, especially Michael Buble, is worthy of filling his 81-year-old shoes, when he performs "For Once in My Life" and hits an incredible money note at the end. Pay attention, kids.

Watch video of Tony Bennett singing "For Once in My Life":



Thankfully, the last of the Golden Idol Awards is presented to Jonathan Jayne and Kenneth Briggs. (Seriously, we would have preferred to rewatch Kellie Pickler's hilarious misadventures at Spago from the last finale show.)

Watch video of "Best Buddy" Golden Idol Award:



Melinda Doolittle performs "Hold Up the Light" with Bebe & CeCe Winans. It must have been a thrill for Melinda to singing with them, instead of backup for them as she used to do, but frankly we would have preferred more Melinda and less Winans.

Watch video of Melinda Doolittle performing "Hold Up the Light" with BeBe & CeCe Winans:



Ford music video is a collage consisting of outtake clips from all season set to the finalists performing "Time After Time" precedes Ryan presenting Blake and Jordin with new Ford Mustangs.

Watch the Ford video with the Top 12 singing "Time After Time":



Carrie Underwood performs "I'll Stand By You," the same number she was seen singing in Africa on the Idol Gives Back show. Good, but never as good as Chrissie Hynde.” Still, her cover sold well after the charity show.

Watch video of Carrie Underwood singing "I'll Stand by You":



Clive Davis presents Carrie an award for achieving sales of 6 million sales on her debut album, "Some Hearts." Eek, he creeps us out.

To further remind us of the Idol Gives Back drive, The African Children's Choir perform. The audience, and we, ate it up.

Watch video of the African Children's Choir perform:



In an evening low-point equivalent to the handing out of another Golden Idol Award, Sanjaya Malakar takes the stage with Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry to reprise his British Invasion Week number, "You Really Got Me." Of course, Ashley Ferl is in the audience crying. Funny, she wasn't crying on the red carpet. In fact, she was all tarted out.

Watch video of Sanjaya Malakar singing "You've Really Got Me":



In a taped performance, Green Day sings John Lennon's "Working Class Hero."

Watch video of Green Day singing "Working Class Hero":



Last season's winner, Taylor Hicks performs his latest single, "Heaven Knows," no doubt to Simon Cowell scowling behind the judges' table.

Watch video of Taylor Hicks singing "Heaven Knows":



In one of the night's better number, Jordin Sparks and Ruben Studdard duet on the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell classic, "You're All I Need to Get By." Release this as a single, please!

Watch video of Jordin Sparks and Ruben Studdard singing "You're All I Need to Get By":



Bette Midler proved that she can't replace Celine Dion in Vegas with her performance of "Wind Beneath My Wings." She's lost a large part of her vocal range and sounded croaky. The camera panned to Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul slow dancing. Simon Cowell was probably asleep. Frankly, this could have cost Midler Vegas tickets.

Watch video of Bette Midler singing "Wind Beneath My Wings":



A beautifully done Sgt. Pepper's Beatles tribute medley by former "American Idol" winners Kelly Clarkson ("Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"), Taylor Hicks ("A Day in the Life"), Carrie Underwood ("She's Leaving Home") and Ruben Studdard ("Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"), ending with the Top 12 singing "With a Little Help From My Friends."

Watch video of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" Beatles medley by Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Hicks, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard and the Top 12 finalists:



Before the results were announced, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell predicted that Jordin Sparks would win, while Paula Abdul refused to make a choice, though before the show on the red carpet she admitted that she thought Jordin had the edge. Ryan Seacrest announced that after a record 609 million votes over the season and a world record 74 million votes cast the night before, Jordin Sparks was the winner of American Idol 6.


Blake Lewis looked happier than Jordin. We think he really wanted her to win. He thanked his parents, an emotional Jordin said, "I can't thank you for keeping me around, and thank you so much for everything. Mom, dad, I love you," then sang her crappy coronation song as fireworks went off behind her. At the end, the other 11 smothered her in a hug.

Watch video of Jordin Sparks winning American Idol:



And remember, bookmark this site. We'll continue to report news and tour info throughout the year on all of your Idol favorites!

e-mail Idol Addict
© 2007

Haley Scarnato's Exit Interview

TVGuide.com: I know for the past couple of weeks, you were shrugging off Simon’s comments about just that. But deep down, was it bothering you each week that you weren’t getting much feedback on your voice, and on your vocals, but just about what you had on?

Scarnato: I little bit. They always say this is a singing competition, etc., but it is what it is. You just have to brush it off and do the best that you can do.

Zap2It.com: Do you think that not responding to Simon’s comments was the right decision?

A: That’s who I am. I’m on national TV and I don’t want anybody to think – I still want to stay on that frame of mind of, you’ve got to respect him. He’s Simon Cowell, and you’ve got to set an example. It does hurt a little bit, but you just kind of brush it off and try to get through it.

Zap2It.com: Last night you had your farewell performance, and you totally could have just stood there on the stage and just sung it; but you actually went out into the crowd and you played to the audience. It was very enthusiastic and energetic. Did you consider just doing it straightforward? Or did you always know that you were going to go and do the whole thing?

A: whether I’m wearing shorts or not, I’m not strutting around just because I’m in shorts. Do you know what I mean? That’s just who I am, no matter what I was wearing. I was wearing pants and I was still strutting around. That’s the style of the song. The song was about basically in your face, the rhythm, it’s funky, and it was Latin, so it is a sexy vibe. That’s just kind of what I was going for. But no matter what I was wearing, it was still the same vibe.

Zap2It.com: I’m just talking about last night after the elimination announcement. Often that ends up being a sentimental, sort of sad sing-off, and you made it into something much more lively than that.

A: Right. As a performer, when it’s time to sing, it’s time to sing. That’s my home. It’s like my second home. It’s very easy to clock in and get the job done. It was good to sing again and have fun with that song. It was easy. It’s not hard. I was still kind of tearing up, but I was just enjoying my moment.

People Magazine: What was it like to work with J-Lo as a mentor? What was she like in person?

A: It was amazing. She was great. She was very warm and comforting, and she had a lot to tell us. You could tell she really did want to help us. It was a very good experience on my part and I think everybody felt the same with it.

People Magazine: Did you get to spend a lot of time with her?

A: A little bit, it was like ten minutes, so it was good to hammer out the song and stuff.

People Magazine: Did you get to meet Marc Anthony at all?

A: Yes, we did. That was really cool, too.

People Magazine: What was he like?

A: He was great. He was really, really nice. He loves her and he adores her, so that’s really cool to see. They just look really happy.

Soap Opera Weekly: What challenge did you not expect in this competition?

A: That’s hard, there’s so much. You can’t prepare yourself for something like this. You expect picking the right song is a huge deal, but just making sure it gets cleared. I didn’t know it was going to be that tough to try and get the song cleared. That was pretty tough and it affected us a lot, because then if it didn’t clear, we had to change the song, and we had to pick another song. It would just hold everything up. That was pretty much it.

Soap Opera Weekly: Did any celebrity mentor give you good advice that we didn’t see?

A: No, not really. Lulu was amazing. That was all on TV. Her and Jennifer Lopez were great. I loved them. What you see is what you get. They try to put everything in as much as they can.

The Houston Chronicle: Who were some of the artists that influenced and inspired you, even before Idol?

A: Definitely Celine Dion, Martina McBride, I love her, Faith Hill. I’m trying to think of who else.

The Associated Press: When Simon first started commented on the way you looked, did you ever think about changing the sort of outfits you were going to wear, so that you wouldn’t play into what he was saying?

A: You get so much feedback from everybody, and they’re like, “Keep it,” I never really changed my look. Since Hollywood week, I showed my midriff a little bit and stuff like that. Not really, I want to stay true to who I am. It’s fun dressing up and playing the part of the theme week and the song that you’re signing. Like with Latin week,
it’s more of a sexier vibe. I don’t think I wore less clothes than before, so I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think I stayed true to who I am.

The Associated Press: Does it bother you that you got voted off before Sanjaya?

A: No, oh my gosh. Sanjaya is a great personality; he has a great energy backstage, and on stage. I think he did a great job last week. He’s a great kid and I wish the best for him and all of the other contestants.

Starry Constellation Magazine: The judges seem to give a lot of conflicting advice when it comes to your performances and, of course, Simon mentioning your legs all of the time. How do you adjust and correct your performances for the next time when it comes to those times when they give that kind of conflicting advice?

A: If I was still going to be here next week, I was going to wear a choir robe. I was going to be fully clothed. You just take it for what it’s worth and just try to brush it off, and just know that you still have to perform. I felt good about it, so I’m okay with it.

Starry Constellation Magazine: Now that the tour is coming up, what are you most looking forward to when it comes to the shows?

A: Just seeing the fans and the excitement that they get, and the excitement that we get from it, so it’s just going to be crazy. I can’t imagine the feeling that we’re going to all get from it.

Gannett News Service: They showed Tony Bennett giving a couple of people advice and the people ignored the advice. They went ahead and they did different fruit from Tony’s side and they did pretty well with it. You followed his advice, but I’m not sure if you wouldn’t have done well ignoring it. You had this funny, silly, vampy version that you wanted to do, “Saving My Love For You,” where it was kind of playful, and he told you to do it seriously, and you switched it to seriously. Do you think maybe your playful approach would have worked, too?

A: I think I still kept the playful vibe. I just didn’t do the you-and-you-and-you like he didn’t want me to do.

Gannett News Service: That’s what kind of made it humorous. Like I’ll be true to you in my fashion, kind of a humorous touch to it.

A: The version that I was leaning towards was the Broadway version. It’s more characters, and more cutesy kind of vibe. But he’s Tony Bennett, so you want to respect him. I took his advice, and took what I wanted, and still gave it my flavor.

Gannett News Service: One other thing, we get revisionist with Simon, and we think he always hated the look. But the truth is, he and everyone else seemed to really like the British invasion look when you had the shorts and you danced around. It seemed very fresh and youthful. I was wondering, how did that idea first come up? Did one of the fashion people suggest it to you, or did you come up with, "I want to wear the shorts and the high heels and dance around."?

A: I thought about the shorts because it’s more of an upbeat kind of song, and it would be comfortable to wear. Art just finished the style and he molded it together.

Edmonton Journal: First Simon, a powerful judge on the show, is telling you how great you look, and he’s praising you for your legs and stuff like that. And then this episode, he’s basically saying, “Geez, you’re showing a lot of skin in order to stay on the show.” Is this confusing? What do you make of what he’s saying when you’re taking this in?

A: You can’t please everybody. It’s just one of those things. I didn’t go shorter. I didn’t wear less clothes. I just did the same thing. It was going to happen eventually and I figured that. But I got a good vibe from the judges and I didn’t want to lose it because I didn’t really get any great vibes from them before. My stylist liked it and it just seemed to kind of work. Everybody was liking it, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Edmonton Journal: What did you think of his accusation that you’re basically showing off your body to get ahead on the show? When he said that, what did you think?

A: It hurts, of course. It’s just legs. It is what it is, it’s legs. I don’t even know what to say about it. It’s frustrating because I’m just trying to go out there and perform and entertain and sing. It is a singing competition and I wasn’t … to me anymore, but I’m okay with it.

Edmonton Journal: It’s not exactly strange for pop stars to dress like you were dressing, either. It’s the role you’re playing and then to get hammered for it.

A: Exactly, but that’s okay. You can’t please everybody, like I said.

The Virginian Pilot: What were you and Chris Richardson saying to each other when it came down to the showdown last night? Secondly, what do you think of him? Do you think now that he has as good a chance as anybody to win this?

A: Everybody is so supportive. It’s a great feeling to know that they’re there for us. It feels really good. We love each other and we want everybody to do well. I think Chris is going to do great in this competition. I think his chances are so great. I love him. He’s a great friend of mine. I hope the best for him and for everybody else.

The Virginian Pilot: Did you all talk to each other when you were standing there waiting for Ryan to give the bad news? Did you chat with each other?

A: I little bit. We just let each other know that we love each other and that we’re here. That’s pretty much all we can do when we’re standing out there in the middle.

The Virginian Pilot: Then when it was over, did he say anything to you?

A: Yes, of course. He was great. He’s a great guy and he has a great heart. He’s a really good friend of mine, one of my best friends here. He was great.

The Flint Journal: A question for you about when you were in the bottom three the first time, what goes through your mind when you first hear that? How does that affect your thinking going into the next week?

A: It’s definitely tough to be in bottom three. It’s emotionally just draining. You just have to get through it and know that you do have fans, and that they’re very loyal. I’m very thankful for that and completely blessed, so you just kind of keep going.

The Flint Journal: From this point on, besides the tour and the album, what is your obligation to Idol? Are there appearances that you’ve got to make, interviews, and things like that beyond today?

A: Yes, there are a few interviews and appearances. I’m excited and looking forward to it.

The Flint Journal: Just beyond that, do you have some free time before we have to prepare for the tour? Or do you have other Idol commitments you have to make?

A: I think I have some free time. I need to go plan my wedding, so I think I have some free time.

TMZ.comE Online: There was some reports earlier on in the season that people said the show stylist recycled the Katharine McPhee hair extensions. Do you know if you got old Katharine McPhee hair extensions yourself?

A: That I got ...

E Online: At one point early on in the season, they said that you were wearing hair extensions that have previously been used by Katharine McPhee on the show the season before, the hair stylist reused them.

A: Yes.

E Online: Did you know they were Katharine McPhee hair extensions at the time?

A: Yes.

E Online: Any particular thoughts on wearing old hair extensions? Did you think they’d bring you good luck? Did you think it was weird?

A: No, I think it’s cool. It’s fun. They can wash them. It was fun. It was kind of cool to wear Katharine McPhee hair extensions.

AccessHollywood.com: Usually after the show, the judges come up on stage and wish the people well. Did that happen and what did they say to you?

A: They were great. Did you say before the show?

AccessHollywood.com: After the show, after you were voted off.

A: Everybody is so supportive. We all love each other. It truly is a cast kind of environment. It was really nice.

AccessHollywood.com: What did Simon say to you?

A: I didn’t talk to Simon.

AccessHollywood.com: You didn’t talk to Simon. My other question is you said that you need to go plan your wedding. When is your wedding, and how stressful has it been being in this competition, knowing that you have that to deal with?

A: The wedding was November 10th, but we have to move it back because the tour is running into it, so we’ll see how it goes.

AccessHollywood.com: And it didn’t cause you any extra stress, knowing that you had to deal with that while you’re dealing with American Idol?

A: No. Because I pushed it to the side for a little bit because I planned a lot of it before, and then I have time to plan before the tour, so I just kind of pushed it aside and focused on American Idol.

MTV News: I just had a quick question, even with all of the negative feedback you got from the judges, are you happy that you were part of the competition?

A: Oh my gosh, yes, my life changed. It truly was a blessing. I’m very thankful, so definitely.

MTV News: Obviously, you had a pretty big fan base to take you this far in the competition. Did that help you get past the bad comments?

A: Definitely, it means a lot. The bad comments are hard, but it helps to know that there are people out there that do like me. I thank them so much for voting and supporting me. I couldn’t do it without them.

The San Antonio Express: After all of this excitement, is it going to be tough maybe coming back to San Antonio? Or do you not have any plans for your future here? Or would you like to just strike it out in Hollywood or New York on Broadway? You seem to have a Broadway vibe about you.

A: I’m open for anything that comes my way. This is such a great experience and great exposure, so I’m up for anything, definitely.

The San Antonio Express: What’s going to be your first thing you do when you get back to San Antonio?

A: What’s going to be the first thing?

The San Antonio Express: Yes. Did you miss anything? Did you miss the food?

A: I’m definitely going to eat Mexican food.

The San Antonio Express: Have you gotten any other opportunities yet, any other opportunities offered right off the bat?

A: I haven’t even slept last night. I have no idea what’s going on, so it’s just been crazy. Until I venture off, I don’t know anything yet. Hopefully, something will come in, but we’ll see.

The Oklahoman: I wanted to ask you about this latest part of the competition, the Latin music competition. There’s been a lot of criticism that it wasn’t a good fit for a lot of the performers. Could you address that? Was there a lot of tension among the contestants about whether or not they could really pull it off in the Latin music department?

A: We were all really excited about the Latin theme. The band sounded awesome. I thought everybody did a great job picking the right songs for each voice and just performing it well. I felt really good; I guess it just wasn’t working for the judges, but everybody did a great job and that’s all that really matters.

The Oklahoman: Now do you have any particular long term plans after the tour? Do you have things set up to where you want to go after the wedding and after the tour?

A: I would love to get a record deal. That’s exactly what we all want, so that would be a dream come true. Like I said before, I’m up for anything. I’ll try anything. We’ll see.

e-mail Idol Addict
© 2007

Cowell Once Competed as Well

One of the bad things about celebrity: Your past always comes back to bite you in the ass. Today's bitee is none other than Simon Cowell, according to HollywoodScoop.com. What pompous millionaire would ever want film to surface showing him before he had it over all the rest of us? Well, probably no one, but pompous millionaire Simon Cowell wasn't that lucky. It seems that before fame and fortune, Cowell was struggling to get some face time on air and made his first TV debut in 1990, on a British daytime game show called "Sale of the Century." Cowell, 30 at the time, was aiming to win a Fiat Uno. But all he went home with was a £20 ($39) set of kitchen utensils (is that even the equivalent of getting a Golden Ticket to Hollywood?).

Unfortunately for Cowell, fellow contestant Barbara Humphreys, 54, from the West Midlands, saved her appearance of the show for posterity and recently uncovered the footage while clearing out some old boxes. "Watching the video now I remember thinking Simon was quite posh and handsome. He had a good sense of humour but I would never have put him down as a future superstar. He prattled on a lot backstage about wanting a Fiat Uno, but it obviously wasn't the height of his ambition," Humphreys said. She also mentioned that she didn’t recognize Simon because he had a lot more hair and he "obviously had his teeth done."

"He was very pleasant and said he was a record company director," Humphreys continued, "But the main thing I remember about him is he couldn't answer one of the questions. He didn't know who Saddam Hussein was, but I suppose in 1990 a lot of people would have been the same."

Now if someone would only unearth some footage of Donald Trump on "Supermarket Sweep."




FOX DISCOUNTS THE POWER DIALERS

ABC's "Good Morning America" took a look at voting practices at "America Idol" and whether the results could be rigged.

"As a democratic society, we think that anything involving voting is going to be incredibly fair," said "Good Morning America" technology contributor Becky Worley. "With technology today there are lots of ways to subvert the system."

"American Idol" tells viewers to vote by calling or sending a text message, but thousands of people have found other ways to give their favorite contestants an advantage, such as with 'phone freaking.' Basically, [with phone freaking] you download a program from the Internet. … Your computer becomes a power dialer that can make up to 1,200 phone calls a minute," Worley said. "That can shut out a lot of other people."

Jim Hellriegel runs a popular Web site [DialIdol.com] that allows users to place thousands of calls for their favorite contestants with the click of a mouse.
"It's all about driving up as many votes as you can cast in a two-hour period," the computer engineer said.

Fox says the number of people who actually cast their votes this way is so small compared to the millions who vote each week that it doesn't affect the outcome one bit.

Some say an even bigger potential problem is computer hackers. "That would be a pretty elaborate process, but if we are talking about someone who has money riding on this, say with an online gambling site, you can see the incentive," Worley said.

IDOL ARRANGEMENTS

EW.com interviewed ''Idol'' composer/arranger Michael Orland, who you've seen on "American Idol" countless times but you probably don't know it. He's the guy sitting behind the piano while the contestants rehearse with the guest mentor. As Idol's official musical composer, Orland gets to work with each contestant on their arrangements.

On contestants' schedule for deciding on a song? By the Thursday before the Tuesday of the show, they know and we work out the arrangements. Friday they work on them again and perfect them, Saturday we meet with our guest mentor for the week, Monday we rehearse with the band, and Tuesday is the show. It's a quick turnover, especially when you realize people spend months working in a studio on a single song.

On whether he regrets Coldplay-ifying "Endless Love" for Chris Sligh: We will take the blame for an arrangement but a lot of times — and it's happened a lot more this season than seasons past — contestants have had exact ideas what they wanted to do. My mother called me after ''Endless Love'' and said, ''Why did you want to do that?'' But he came in with that arrangement. That was totally his idea and when they want to do something like that we cannot stop them. That song is so beautiful that, as Diana Ross said, all you have to do is sing the melody. At one point the contestants had this need to put their stamp on everything, not realizing it was changing the integrity of the song. They're all learning now that they can sing it straight.

On whether he coached Blake Lewis to stop beatboxing every song: As long as we're not picking a song for anybody, once the choice of song is made we're all over it. We help as much as we can. That's something Blake chose to do. He decided he could give it a rest for a couple of weeks.

On why this season's contestants [LaKisha, Haley, Phil] seemed to be ignoring the advice of the guest mentor Tony Bennett: Believe me, no one wanted to come off being disrespectful. I know the kids were just blown away by him. I was a wreck playing the piano in front of him. He just happens to be a real purist with the melodies. Unfortunately, because of the way they had the clips, it made the kids look like they weren't going to listen to what he said. But we tried it his way. I worked with Haley and LaKisha that week and we tried changing it up and playing it straight. We came back to the studio on Monday and said, ''Let's try it his way.'' It just didn't work. They have to do how it feels right to them.

On whether he encourages contestants not to change songs late in the game, as Chris Sligh did with ''Every Little Thing She Does is Magic'': You know what? We did something on "Access Hollywood" with Chris with just the piano after he got voted off and he was so great. Sometimes the big band and the lights and the pressure just gets to them. When we did it I was like, ''Oh my god. Why didn't you sing it like that?''

On whether the contestants have the option to ditch the band entirely and just have a piano on stage: Absolutely. I remember when Bo Bice did an a cappella song. It was so daring. We've done stuff with just a guitar. They can request whatever they want.

On whether there are ever moments when someone just can't seem to find a song: Everyone has a struggle with different themes for different reasons. A lot of them will be great for country week [April 17]. But sometimes you struggle because you've found five songs you like. I'll make the contestants sing through each one of them. We tell them to get on the phone with their mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, and ask them what to sing. And when somebody is really struggling, [executive producers] Ken [Warwick] and Nigel [Lythgoe] will sit there with their laptops and play song after song after song. That's what's so special about the show. They are so hands on from the top down.

On whether he ever wants to say, "Nooo! Don't sing that!'': Of course. A contestant might pick a song and I'm cringing on the inside but you gotta let them do what they gotta do. I wish someone had told Gina [Glocksen] not to sing ''Smile'' because I think going all sentimental was what got the rocker girl voted out.That is a gorgeous song. But remember the contestants come in and go, ''Oh my god. Do you know what the judges said to me last week?'' and ''Last week I did up tempo so this week I want to sit down.'' They second guess themselves and try to figure out what the judges or the audience wants to hear.

On coping with having to work with some singers who are so far superior to others: That definitely happens every year. Bo Bice and Taylor [Hicks] and Chris Daughtry would come in every week and say, ''This is what I want to sing,'' and those are people that make it easy. They also had a great work ethic. That's what makes the difference between someone really good and really great. But yes, some people need more help than others. It makes it fun, actually.

On the judges' criticism this year: I'm shocked and appalled by some of the judges' criticism. Take Phil Stacey. I wish they had seen his dress rehearsal this [Tony Bennett] week because it was better and Phil has a tendency to doubt that what he sings is enough so he keeps adding to it, but he has got such a great voice. Then they just started slamming him. You just never know what the judges are hearing and what they're in the mood for.

HARD CORE IDOL
TMZ.com says it's official: The "American Idol" sex tape is real ... real dirty. The Web site obtained the exclusive first images of the shocking video, featuring Season 2 semi-finalist Olivia Mojica. The video, which Mojica made with her boyfriend a month ago in her New York City apartment, is set to hit shelves on May 3, courtesy of Vivid Entertainment, the adult entertainment company behind Kim Kardashian's X-rated romp. Reps for Vivid, who claim they obtained the footage through an unidentified third party, are currently trying to contact Mojica to see if she will help promote the video and share in revenue from its sale.

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Idol's Rocker Chick Clipped

Well, we never saw it coming, not even after Ryan Seacrest announced that Haley Scarnato, Phil Stacey and Gina Glocksen, the last group of three contestants left on the stage who had reaped the fewest of the approximately 33 million votes cast this week, would end with Gina going home. Nearly everyone we knew and everything we read had agreed with us in predicting that it would be either Haley or Phil. So we were stunned when Ryan first released Phil to safety then announced that Haley was safe and would be back next week.

Both the women were teary-eyed before the axe actually came down, but Gina burst into sobs when the pronouncement was made, her face buried in Haley's supportive shoulder. The bleacher seats were also awash with tears, from Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle, to an actually shell-shocked looking Sanjaya Malakar. Even they appeared to have guessed wrong on the outcome.

It's really a shame, too. Not only because Gina wasn't the worst singer Tuesday night -- in fact, we and others ranked her as high as second best -- but also because she seemed to finally be coming into her own in the competition the past two weeks, letting her image soften with her song selections. And if you've seen real rocker chicks either in concert or on shows such as RockStar, you realized that Gina seemed more faux wannabe -- defined by her wardrobe, or more accurately her costume -- than by her actions. We never really bought into the image she tried to present, no matter how many net stockings, leather wristbands, laced-up dresses, purple nail polish or skull-adorned knee boots she donned. And perhaps that was part of her problem. America was still trying to figure out who Gina really was. It's sad that Gina went out wearing the worst assemblage of bad clothing we've seen on her to date: A strange empire-waist brown-and-taupe sleeveless knit dress that gathered at the thighs coupled with dark jeans and big-buckled black knee boots, with her green pickle good-luck charm (which she soon after tossed away) stuffed underneath one of the buckles. Has she learned nothing from the stylists?

Meanwhile, Haley continued to play the great body card for all it was worth last night looking sensational in a fitted orange top, teeny tiny white shorts and gold stiletto sandals. Guess she figured if it was her last appearance she would go out with a bang. Phil, once again, looked resigned to being sent home, but in what is becoming almost a weekly occurrence, appeared bewildered as he was sent back to safety. We can't help wondering each week whether Phil actually had the second or third least amount of votes. Ryan only tells you it's the bottom three, but except for the person eliminated, you never really know where the other two placed.

But we will remember Gina's tender renditions of both The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You" and Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," sung by so many greats, but especially associated with Nat King Cole and Judy Garland. In fact, as Gina poignantly sang her way off the show with a song whose lyrics eerily echoed her own feelings:

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky,
youll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you

Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile

for a minute or two we were actually reminded of Ms. Garland. No, Gina wasn't going to win this competition, but it wasn't her week to go, either. Sorry, America. You got it wrong.

The Ford commercial featured Bob Marley's "One Love" with the contestants first at a car wash that morphed into a rainforest scene then a hybrid car with Kermit the Frog inside.

The long-awaited songwriting competition also was finally announced. There is an appalling $10 entry fee (I'm sure Idol execs will say this is too discourage those who aren't really serious about the competition, but unless every cent is donated to "Idol Gives Back," it's just another ludicrous moneymaking scheme), with a team of A&R experts selecting a shortlist of the top 20 song submissions most suitable for Idol. The public will then vote for those songs online. The winning song will be performed live on the finale show and also will be released by this season’s Idol winner. For more details click here.

Michael Bublé, who performed "Just in Time" with Tony Bennett on the aging crooner's latest release, "Duets: An American Classic," wound up subbing for the ailing singer who Seacrest said had come down with the flu. Newsday's Dan Bubbeo described it best:

[Bublé's] "erratic performance of 'Call Me Irresponsible' made it seem as though he got hold of the wrong Diet Coke glass in the studio. He sounded unintelligible for most of the song and even forgot the lyrics at one point. He finished by joking to host Ryan Seacrest, 'So am I wasting my time by still voting for Antonella Barba?' -- referring to the 'Idol' semifinalist who became a media magnet after unflattering photos allegedly of her surfaced online.The audience failed to laugh."

Seacrest also announced that Jennifer Lopez will mentor the remaining eight contenders next week as they prepare for an evening of Latin music.



IDOL CLOSENESS

We've already heard from Chris Sligh how he developed close friendships with Gina Glocksen, Blake Lewis, Chris Richardson and Phil Stacey. Former Idol roommates and Season 5 finalists Kellie Pickler and Katharine McPhee also seemed to share that Idol bond. Some pictures sent to us by a friend yesterday, and supposedly snapped in Idol's red room on the sly, seem to indicate that Blake and Chris have also become tight:




CLASSIC IDOL VIDEO

Kelly Clarkson set the standard for standards with this unbelievable performance of "Stuff Like That There." As Simon says, it's absolutely brilliant. Don't miss it!



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© 2007