A Decade of American Idol!!!

Can you believe in 2010 we will be starting the 9th Season of American Idol? Here we are as 2009 comes to an end we also reach the end of the first decade of the 2000's. Billboard has released their ranking of the top artists, songs and albums of the decade and it's no surprise that many of our favorite Miss American Idols showed up on many of the charts.

The #1 song for the entire decade is the huge smash by Mariah Carey that spent 14 weeks on the top of the Billboard HOT 100 singles chart in 2005, We Belong Together. The only single by an Idol finalist to rank along side Mariah on this chart is the Season One Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, with her 2005 mega hit Since U Been Gone coming in at #47 for the decade.

Billboard's HOT 100 Artists of the Decade List ranks artists and takes into consideration all of the songs that have charted from 2000-2009. On this chart, Usher comes in at #1 and once again the highest ranking Miss American Idol Finalist is Season One winner Kelly Clarkson coming in at #9 for the decade. Other Miss American Idol finalists making this chart are The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four Winner Carrie Underwood at #65, Season Five 3rd runner up Chris Daughtry at #87, and Season Six Winner Jordin Sparks at #91.

When it comes to albums, the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood ended up having the #1 Country Album of the ENTIRE DECADE with her debut release, Some Hearts. This hit-filled, multi-platinum album ends up at #14 on the comprehensive list of top albums of the decade. Also on the top comprehensive albums of the decade list at #29 is the Grammy winning pop album Breakaway from Season One winner Kelly Clarkson. The debut album from Chris Daughtry lands at #48 and the second album from Carrie Underwood, Carnival Ride comes in at #132 for the decade. (Carnival Ride is #26 on the list of Top Country Albums of the decade.) Rounding out the top albums for the decade, we find the debut album, Measure of a Man, from Season Two Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Clay Aiken, at #170.

On the Top Albums Artists list which takes into consideration all of the albums that have charted from 2000-2009 Billboard places the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood at #42. Season One Winner Kelly Clarkson is at #50, Season Five 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry is at #99 and Season Two 1st Runner Up Clay Aiken is at #120.

What an impressive record of success on the Billboard charts!

Carrie Underwood
Kelly Clarkson
Chris Daughtry
Clay Aiken
Jordin Sparks

2009 Year End Charts

The #1 album on the Billboard charts for all of 2009 is Fearless by Taylor Swift. None of the Miss American Idol finalists managed to get into the top 10 on the year end albums chart, but it's somewhat of a surprise to see who got closest...

Coming in all the way up at #13 is the debut album from Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook! Who would have thought that his album that failed to generate any hit singles would end up selling this well and staying on the chart for so many weeks?

Further down at #33 for the year is the fun and hit packed release by Season One Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted. The second album by Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up Chris Daughtry, Leave This Town, lands at #37 while the debut from Season Seven Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, David Archuleta, ends up at #59 for the year.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood, places two albums on the year end chart with Carnival Ride still going strong at #60 and her latest release, Play On, coming in at #73 after only a few weeks on the chart during the year.

Rounding out the top 200 albums of 2009, we find Jennifer Hudson's album at #103, Chris Daughtry's first album sticking around at #130, and the album with the super fun hit single, The Best Days of Your Life, Kellie Pickler coming in at #152.

The Top 5 singles for 2009 are only by three artists! The Black Eyed Peas come in at #1 with Boom Boom Pow, Lady Gaga takes both #2 and #3 with Poker Face and Just Dance and then the Black Eyed Peas return at #4 with I Gotta Feeling. Taylor Swift manages to squeeze in at #5 with Love Story.

The American Idol finalist who makes the highest showing on the year end singles chart is Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson at #23 with her #1 smash My Life Would Suck Without You.

Also landing in the top 100 songs of the year is Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks at #57 with Battlefield, Chris Daughtry at #63 with No Surprise and then Kelly Clarkson comes back at #91 and #95 with her follow up singles, I Do Not Hook Up and Already Gone.

With all of this Miss American Idol success on the albums and singles charts, they also did very well on the Billboard 2009 Top Artists of the Year chart: #14 - Kelly Clarkson, #33 - David Cook, #35 - Carrie Underwood and #37 - Daughtry.

SUPREME Miss American Idol....

It's official American Idol Fans!!!

Season Four Miss American Idol winner, Carrie Underwood, is indisputably the Supreme Miss American Idol!

She has won 4 Grammys including the honor of 2006 Best New Artist and she is the 2009 ACM Entertainer of the Year.

But with regard to overall sales, Carrie was just a little bit behind the Season One Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson.....until now...

Kelly is holding steady at 10.4 million in sales of her four albums: Thankful, Breakaway, My December and All I Ever wanted.

With just three albums released: Some Hearts, Carnival Ride and her latest, Play On (which is still in the top 10 this week selling over 100,000 more copies) Carrie Underwood now has total sales over 10.7 million!

So it's official. She really is the indisputable SUPREME Miss American Idol!

Carrie Underwood!

The Billboard chart gets GLAM!!!

In a week when the reigning Miss American Idol's debut album plummets from #11 all the way down to #35 people can say that the Idol magic is gone. While that may be the case for the Season 8 winner, Kris Allen, it's not the same in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. This week there are two Miss American Idol finalists showing strong sales and having some magical impact.

The Supreme Miss American Idol, season 4 winner Carrie Underwood sold another 124,000 copies of her latest release Play On and she's at #9 on the chart this week.

Meanwhile, there's some very Glam action happening at #3 where the Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Adam Lambert makes a strong debut with his release For Your Entertainment. He sold 198,000 copies in his first week in the stores.

Idol Grammy Nominations

The Grammy nominations were just announced this week and there will be no new Miss American Idol names added to the list of winners this year. Both the Season Seven Miss American Idol winner and first runner up, David Cook and David Archuleta were completely overlooked.

There were only a small handful of American Idol related nominees this year and they are both previous winners. Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson could be adding a third Grammy to her collection if she wins this year for Best Pop Vocal Album for her fun and catchy collection All I Ever Wanted. This is a category where she has won before for her 2005 album Breakaway.

And of course, the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is getting recognized once again by the Academy. For the fourth year in a row she is up for the Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She's won it three years in a row, but this year her competition is from that teenage award winning dynamo Taylor Swift so the streak could be broken. Also, she's up against Martina McBride for her performance of I Just Call You Mine which is one of my favorite songs. Carrie is nominated for Just A Dream which is a totally award worthy song, so she has a good chance of overcoming the competition again this year.

Carrie is also nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for her duet of I Told You So with Randy Travis. If she wins in these two categories her total Grammy wins will be at six! But let's not get ahead of ourselves....

Hitting the BULLSEYE!

Look at the last page of this week's Entertainment Weekly with the Best of the Decade on the cover. You will see that right in the middle of the page it reads:

27 million albums sold, 7 Grammys and 1 Oscar: Our life would suck without them.

And pictured above this caption is Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd runner up Chris Daughtry, Season Three finalist Jennifer Hudson, Season One Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson and front and center, of course, is the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood.

Incidentally, of the 7 Grammys, one of them went to Jennifer Hudson, two were won by Kelly Clarkson and the remaining four were all awarded to Carrie Underwood including the 2006 Grammy for Best New Artist.

Personal Top 10 of 2009

What are your Top 10 songs of 2009? I'd love for you to share them with me. Here's mine:

Obsessed - Mariah Carey : She's the biggest pop superstar of all time who has set the standard for what all Miss American Idol finalists strive to achieve. Mariah has been in the music business for 19 years now and she can still crank out the hits that are getting huge sales and airplay along side the current crop of new artists who will be forgotten by this time next year. The single for Obsessed sold over a million copies and became yet another catchy sing along smash for Mimi.
Fire Burnin - Sean Kingston : With an urgent and exciting beat Fire Burnin demanded airplay on the dance floor all year long. It is undeniably fun and entertaining and the perfect example of what a great pop song should be.
I Know You Want Me - Pitbull : Having all the entertainment value of Fire Burnin, I Know You Want Me also became required music for every dance party. While the lyrics are somewhat suggestive, it was easy to overlook them as they were sung in Spanish so one could easily claim they did not realize what they were singing along with. Regardless, it was obvious that a good time was being had by all when this song was being played.
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum : The country radio airwaves were dominated all year with three smash hits from Lady Antebellum's debut album. But it wasn't until the first single from their second album, Need You Now, came out that they would hit the top 5 of the Billboard HOT 100. This song is a wonderful introduction of Lady Antebellum to the mainstream pop audience. Who cannot relate the the longing expressed in the lyrics, "It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now"? And it's a wonderful song to do a two step with while holding a special someone close to you.
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift : She became the best selling artist of the year by releasing catching songs like You Belong With Me that fans young and old can relate to. It also helps that when you play it loud while driving in your car you can sing along to it and have a blast!
Battlefield - Jordin Sparks : The Season Six Miss American Idol winner released another collection of great songs in 2009 including the title track and first single, Battlefield. It's a fantastic song that allows Jordin to command the stage and belt out power anthem notes that showcase her full vocal range. It became another top 10 hit for her proving that she is continuing to be a player in the tough game called the music business.
Love Sex Magic - Ciara : Teaming up with Justin Timberlake, Ciara released this infectiously catchy dance groove. Just try to hold back from shaking your hips and moving to the music when this jam is playing.
Just Dance - Lady Gaga : Just Dance was the first of a string of hits that has made Lady Gaga the heir apparent to the title of Best New Artist of the Year. She brings a unique brand of performance art to everything that she does, while at the same time ensuring that the music is fun, catchy and accessible to a mainstream pop audience. This song made us want to see what she was going to do next and we were not disappointed.
My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson : The Season One Miss American Idol winner became the first Idol finalist to hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 with a song that wasn't their American Idol finale single. My Life Would Suck Without You burst onto the scene early in 2009 and has stayed stuck in our heads ever since. It's the perfect example of what the fans want to hear from Kelly.
I Told You So - Carrie Underwood : Only the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four Winner Carrie Underwood could take an old country ballad and make it sound fresh for a new generation. Her fantastic vocals elevated the song, originally recorded by Randy Travis, to a new and vibrant place. Randy himself stated that her vocals are much better suited for the song than his.

Kris Allen takes the record for.....

Kris Allen's self titled album Kris Allen debuts at #11 on the Billboard 200 album's chart with first-week sales of 80,000. It's the first debut album by a Miss American Idol winner not to debut in the top 10. This also makes Kris Allen the new record holder for the lowest first-week sales tally for an Idol winner's debut.

So now the sweet and wonderful Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks doesn't have to hold onto that record anymore when two years ago she debuted at #10 with sales of 119,000.

The Supreme Miss American Idol Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is still in the top 10 this week with with her album Play On garnering more sales than Kris.

Is all the recent publicity going to be enough to get this year's 1st runner up, Adam Lambert some huge sales numbers? We'll know next week....

American Music Awards 2009

Overall the 2009 American Music Awards was quite a lot of musical entertainment. There were hot performances by the biggest hitmakers of the year including Lady Gaga and the Black-Eyed Peas.

Miss American Idol Season Five 3rd runner up Chris Daughtry performed, but he ended up going home empty handed. Even the Supreme Miss American Idol Season Four winner Carrie Underwood, who provided one of the best performances of the night of her current smash hit Cowboy Casanova, had to allow the reigning artist of the year, Taylor Swift, to accept the award for favorite Country Female Vocalist. After Carrie has won it for the past three years, it's acceptable for her to pass the torch to the young woman who would be nothing if she hadn't blazed the trail for her in the first place. One of these days it would be nice if Taylor thanked Carrie when she's up there accepting an award for paving the way and making country music popular with young people again.

Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson was also on stage performing her latest hit, but they truly saved the best for last when Season Eight Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Adam Lambert gave the first live performance ever of his new single For Your Entertainment. He gave us all the glam we've come to expect from him with his energetic and showstopping over the top vocal extravaganza. His new album is in stores tomorrow. The perfect holiday gift!!!

Season Eight Miss American Idol winner Kris Allen did not perform, but he was there to present an award. His new album hit stores last week, so we'll see how many copies it sold and where it's gonna land on the charts very soon.

Carrie Underwood back at #1

Carrie Underwood's "Play On" bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart this week, shifting 318,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It's the country star and former "American Idol" champ's second album to top the Billboard 200, after her sophomore set "Carnival Ride" bowed in the penthouse with 527,000 in 2007. Underwood's debut effort, "Some Hearts," started at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 2005 and at No. 1 on Top Country Albums with 315,000.

"Play On's" 318,000 sum is also the largest sales week for an album by a woman in 2009.

This debut at #1 arrives on the same day that the Season Four Miss American Idol winner co-hosts the CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. She performed her smash hit Cowboy Casanova which has been the #1 video on CMT's Top 20 countdown for three weeks now.

The big winner at the CMA's turned out to be the young woman who has been following in Carrie's footsteps all year. 19 year old Taylor Swift ended up winning the awards for Female Vocalist of the Year as well as Entertainer of the Year. Just like Carrie did earlier this year at the ACM's, Taylor ended up snagging the biggest prize of the night from the old boys club.

The next big award show of the season will be the American Music Awards Sun. Nov. 22nd. Once again Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry are the only Miss American Idol finalists who managed to get any nominations. Neither of last years top two, David Cook or David Archuleta, have made a ripple in the music awards season so far. The glaring omission from the 2009 American Music Awards nominations is Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. She had a huge #1 smash early in the year with My Life Would Suck Without You and it is certainly deserving of recognition.

This year's top two, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, are right at the beginning of their opportunity for ongoing success in the music world with new albums coming out this month. We'll just have to wait and see what happens....

Ellen DeGeneres is New Judge on 'American Idol'

American Idol has found its new Paula: Ellen DeGeneres.
The Fox series has announced a deal that would make the talk show host/comic the new fourth judge on America's top-rated show. She would replace Paula Abdul, who quit "Idol" over the summer due to a salary scuffle.
"I'm thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol," said DeGeneres in Fox's news release. "I've watched since the beginning, and I've always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I'll save from not having to text in my vote."
"I could not be more excited to have Ellen join the American Idol family," said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. "Ellen has been a fan of the show for many years, and her love of music and understanding of the American public will bring a unique human touch to our judging panel. I can't wait for this next season to begin."
"We're all delighted to have Ellen join our ninth season of American Idol," said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. "Beyond her incredible sense of humor and love of music, she brings with her an immense warmth and compassion that is almost palpable. She is one of America's foremost entertainers, and we cannot wait to have her join our team."
DeGeneres has been a major "Idol" fan, featuring contestants from the show on her daytime chatfest on a regular basis. She also came close to guest co-host the show's "Idol Gives Back" charity special last year, but dropped out due to a scheduling conflict.
More recently, however, DeGeneres served as a guest judge on "So You Think You Can Dance," the sister show to "Idol" that airs in the summer.

SOOOOOOOOO Much Idol news!!!

There's quite a bit going in the world of our Miss American Idol favorites:

We already know that Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks and Paula Abdul will be performing at this year's VH1 DIVAS Concert, but there has been a new exciting addition. Turns out that Season Three finalist and Oscar winner, Jennifer Hudson will now be joining them. Looks like when VH1 can't get Legendary Divas like Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross or Mariah Carey for the concert the next best thing is our fantastic Miss American Idols. :)

The only addition left that would elevate the VH1 DIVAS Concert to an even higher stratosphere would the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood. Even if that doesn't happen, Carrie is keeping herself quite busy finishing up her tour and gearing up for the release of her third album, Play On, on November 3, 2009. The first single from the new album, Cowboy Casanova, was sent to radio this week and it is already blowing up big. She collects the highest debut by a female artist this year on Billboard Country Songs chart, as "Cowboy Casanova" ropes a debut at #26. It's a very fun up tempo toe tapper that is sure to keep her millions of fans happy.

The nominations for the CMA Awards were announced today and Carrie is once again in the running for the Female Vocalist of the Year honor. She has already received this award in 2006, 2007 and 2008 so this could become her fourth win in a row. Carrie is also nominated along with Randy Travis for the Vocal Event of the Year honor for their performance of I Told You So. The winners of the CMA's will be announced on November 11, 2009 with Brad Paisley will hosting the show along with Carrie Underwood.

The only unfortunate omission from the CMA nominations is that Season Five finalist Kellie Pickler was completely shut out even though her smash hit Best Days of Your Life is one of the best songs of the year.

Carrie Underwood - LIVE In Concert!

While the Miss American Idol positions on the current Billboard charts are somewhat less than stellar, that is all soon to be changing as the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood is putting the finishing touches on her third album. It's going to hit stores on November 3rd and it will be called Play On. It is sure to continue the record breaking multi-platinum success of her previous releases, Some Hearts and Carnival Ride.

As the excitement builds toward this highly anticipated release, Carrie is finishing up her nationwide live concert tour. I am very happy to report that I was able to fully experience the entertainment talents of the Supreme Miss American Idol on Monday night August 31, 2009. She had two SOLD OUT performances at The Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL.

This was the culmination of months of anticipation after the tickets went on sale back in April. If you have never been to Ravinia, it is a spectacular outdoor venue where Carrie's amazing music could be enjoyed in the fresh air under the stars. The show started at 8:00 PM, but in order to stake a claim on prime picnic area it was best for us to arrive when the gates opened at 5:00 PM. The multitude of fans started lining up outside the park at 4:00 PM, while the elite fans who had purchased "priority" tickets were allowed in early. At 5:00 PM the friendly Ravinia staff started to take tickets and we spread out our blankets on some prime picnic real estate just behind the pavilion. By 5:15 almost every piece of lawn was covered with eager fans.

The next three hours until show time was pure enjoyment while friends relaxed with wine and food as the anticipation escalated toward Carrie's grand entrance to the stage. Discussion included guessing what song she would open with (I guessed All American Girl and I was wrong) and games of Carrie Underwood trivia (Answers: She was the winner of Season FOUR - American Idol, Inside Your Heaven was her #1 hit on the Billboard HOT 100 and So Small was the first single off of Carnival Ride).

Surely the Ravinia Festival has never been as filled to capacity as it was for these two nights. The lights flashed indicating that it would soon be show time and the families living in the neighboring homes had to hear the volume rise as the crowd cheered joyfully.

It was finally time for the lights to go down and the video screens to display a lovely desert sunrise with the beautiful Carrie Underwood dressed in a glittering black cat suit emerging through the dust and wind. The lights on stage flashed frantically as the real Carrie rose to the top platform and the band played track one from Carnival Ride, Flat On The Floor!!! (It was so easy, I can't believe I didn't guess that one) She looked stunning in her skinny fit jeans and easy breezy tan blouse.

She sounded pitch perfect as she sang all of the fan favorites including Jesus Take The Wheel, Some Hearts, Don't Forget To Remember Me, I Told You So, Just A Dream and Last Name. I was especially pleased to hear her belt out my favorite track from Carnival Ride, I Know You Won't. It's a lovely ballad that genuinely showcases her impressive vocal range.

She changed clothes a few times looking especially spectacular in a playful little yellow skirt with cowboy boots. In addition to performing all of your favorite hits from her albums, she threw in some fantastic covers of Guns and Roses and Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way.

The fans sang along, cheered, clapped and danced for her entire set. It culminated with her closing song, the huge multi-format smash, Before He Cheats. Carrie Underwood brought her unparalleled talents to her ever growing base of fans and provided what can only be described as the BEST NIGHT EVER!!!

It serves as an illustration of why she was named the 2009 ACM Entertainer of the Year. With her new album just around the corner the Supreme Miss American Idol is sure to have even more huge successes in front of her while her fans can enjoy it all with her.

DIVA Idols

The action on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart has all been downward lately. Season 5 Miss American Idol 3rd runner up Chris Daughtry is making the best showing this week as he's hanging on in the top 10 at #9 with his latest release, Leave This Town.

This aren't looking so well for the latest release from Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks. After only five weeks on the chart she has fallen all the way down to #63 with Battlefield. Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, is at #80 with her former #1 album All I Ever Wanted, but that's not so bad after 24 weeks on the chart.

Over on the Billboard HOT 100 Singles chart, Jordin is still putting in the best showing of the bunch with her single, Battlefield, logging in at #16. Turns out that her peak position with this track so far has been #10 a few weeks ago.

Chris Daughtry had to settle for peaking at #15 with his single, No Surprise, but this week it is slipping down to #23. Kelly Clarkson's 3rd single from All I Ever Wanted, Already Gone, is taking a very slow climb up the chart resting at #65 this week. Another Idol represented on the Billboard HOT 100 this week is Season 7 Miss American Idol winner, David Cook. His single, Come Back To Me only managed to peak at #63 and this week it has dropped down to #80.

My favorite Idol song still making a splash is from Season 5 finalist, Kellie Pickler, whose incredibly fun and catchy Best Days Of Your Life is just behind David Cook at #81.

I have to strongly recommend checking out the latest from Jordin Sparks and Kellie Pickler. These are both great representations of the finest in pop music!

While the action on the charts isn't the most stellar news, the VH1 Divas concert is shaping up to be quite the American Idol extravaganza. Kelly Clarkson is already announced as the headlining diva, but she will now be sharing the spotlight with both Jordin Sparks and Paula Abdul!!!

Paula may have been dropped as a judge on the next season of Idol, but VH1 Divas has asked her to be the host of this year's concert. It's turning out to be a CAN'T MISS night of Idol DIVA entertainment! Circle September 17th on your calendar and set the TiVo to record this show you will surely be watching again and again.

Big chart Jumps for Jordin!

The Season Six Miss American Idol winner made a big splash on the Billboard charts this week. Her smash hit single, Battlefield, made a huge jump from last week's #25 position all the way up to #10 this week. With the huge sales and airplay gains she made this week, this could become the biggest hit of her career so far.

Her album of the same name made its debut on the chart this week at #7 with first week sales of 48,000 copies. That means there are two Miss American Idol finalists in the top 10 on the Billboard album chart this week as she joins the Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd runner-up, Chris Daughtry. His album Leave This Town which was #1 last week drops down to #2 with second week sales of another 101,000 copies.

Idol ACTION this week

Season Six Miss American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is still at #25 on the Billboard HOT 100 with her latest single Battlefield. It's continuing to make sales and airplay gains so it should get some more upward action in the coming weeks.

Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson has dropped out of the top 40 with her second single, I Do Not Hook Up, and is starting to work the third single from her album, All I Ever Wanted. It's getting more recognition for sounding like Beyonce's Halo, than sales and airplay at this point, but let's keep watching for Already Gone to have some chart impact in the coming weeks.

Apart from her recent chart performance Kelly Clarkson is doing much better these days with the announcement that she will be a featured performer on the VH1 Divas concert coming up on September 17th. She'll be joining a fresh young group of Divas for the concert including Leona Lewis, Adele, and Miley Cyrus. It's not really the group of legendary Divas the concert has had in the past, but if you can't get Barbra Streisand, Mariah Carey and Diana Ross, it's a pretty good line-up. It looks like the current chart-topping female vocalists Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift weren't available. Personally, I think the Divas concert would be amazing with a set list of all Miss American Idol finalists: Kimberly Locke, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, The Supreme Miss American Idol - Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, and Jordin Sparks. It would be great to throw in two of the best Divas of all, Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert!

On the Billboard Album chart it came as no surprise that Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd runner up, Chris Daughtry, made a very impressive debut at #1 with his second album called Leave This Town. His first album was the best selling album for all of 2007 and this new one started out with one week sales of 269,000. The new album by Jordin Sparks will be making it's debut on the charts very soon, so we'll see how she compares....

Idol struggling chart action

Here we are almost two months after Kris Allen was crowned the Season 8 Miss American Idol winner. He had his initial explosion on the charts, but he is now no where to be found. The Season 8 Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Adam Lambert is also absent from the charts. Adam may show up on the charts in the near future with the unauthorized release of a single called Want that he recorded back in 2005. He has gone on the record stating that he is not supporting the promotion of this release, so it is quite possible that his fans will also not support it. While Adam is not on the charts, he is getting plenty of press as the cover boy on magazines such as Rolling Stone.

For months now the Billboard HOT 100 has been ruled by the huge smash by the Black Eyed Peas, Boom Boom Pow, that spent 12 weeks at #1. They are so hot this summer that they successfully achieved the very rare feat of replacing themselves at #1 with the follow up single, I Gotta Feeling. With all of this Black Eyed Peas domination, the American Idols have been struggling to make a dent on the Billboard HOT 100.

This week the Season 6 Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks is making the best showing of the group with her first single from her second album. It's called Battlefield and it's at #30. I expect that it will climb higher in the next few weeks as it is quite catchy and showcases her great voice. The video is in heavy rotation on VH1.

The Season 1 Miss American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson is sitting at #32 with her latest single, I Do Not Hook Up. Unfortunately, it is on the way down on the chart after peaking at #20 a few weeks ago. In an unexpected surprise, Season 5 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up, Chris Daughtry is floundering with the first single from his second album. The song No Surprise is all the way down at #47 this week after recently peaking at #15.

My favorite song by a Miss American Idol finalist on the Billboard HOT 100 this week comes from Season 5 finalist, Kellie Pickler. Her song The Best Days Of Your Life is at #50 this week. While it only peaked at #46 last week I encourage everyone to check this song out as it is lots of fun to sing along with and two step around the dance floor with.

Without the American Idols represented on the charts lately they should take a lesson from the following stellar pop gems that are my personal favorites and also dominating sales and radio airplay:

Sean Kingston is at #6 this week with Fire Burning
Pitbull is at #8 this week (after peaking at #2) with I Know You Want Me

These songs are just an example of the kind of material the American Idols should try to release if they want to remain competitive on the Billboard HOT 100. I have a lot of faith that Adam Lambert is going to be able to be a contender.

Finally, the legendary Mariah Carey has just released a new single called Obsessed that should be making a significant impression on the charts in the coming weeks. She is continuing to set the standard for musical success by releasing catchy material that is relevant even after 19 years in the business.

Another year without a #1

For the first five seasons of American Idol, shortly after the glittering coronation ceremony, there was a new #1 song on the Billboard HOT 100 from one of the Idol Finalists. Kelly Clarkson hit the top in Season One with A Moment Like This. Season Two Miss American Idol 1st Runner Up, Clay Aiken, hit #1 with This Is The Night. Fantasia topped the chart in Season Three with I Believe. The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood had a #1 smash with Inside Your Heaven and the Season Five winner, Taylor Hicks continued the streak of #1 hits with Do I Make You Proud.

Season Six winner Jordin Sparks marked the first time for the winning single to not hit the top of the Billboard HOT 100. Her song, This Is My Now, didn't even make the top 15 and it dropped off the chart quickly. The Season Seven winner, David Cook, managed to get up to #3 with The Time Of My Life, but this year's winner, The Season Eight Miss American Idol, Kris Allen will also have to settle for a chart debut outside of the top 10. His single, No Boundaries, has made it's chart debut this week at #11 selling 134,000 downloads.

While this may seem like it's bad news for the future success of the Miss American Idols, all of the other chart news isn't so bad. Turns out that seven (7) songs in the top 40 of the Billboard HOT 100 belong to American Idol finalists.

Three of the seven songs in the top 40 this week by American Idols belong to Kris Allen. Along with his No Boundaries at #11 he has his version of Heartless at #16 and his cover of Ain't No Sunshine at #37. The Season Eight Miss American Idol 1st runner up, Adam Lambert, was able to sell 115,000 copies of Mad World for it to land at #19.

Last year's winner, David Cook, performed his new single, Permanent, on the American Idol finals and it propelled the song to debut at #24 this week. Kelly Clarkson is continuing to enjoy success with the singles from her latest album, All I Ever Wanted. Her former #1 smash hit, My Life Would Suck Without You is still at #30 this week, while the follow up single, I Do Not Hook Up is at #32.

It may come as a surprise that Adam Lambert, who many regarded as the finalist with the most potential, only had one song in this week's top 40, but there's one other bit of information that cannot be overlooked. An i-tunes album called Season Eight Favorite Performances was made available for both Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. While Kris' collection of songs made it's debut on the album chart at #50 (10,000 downloads), Adam's collection came in all the way at #33 (16,000 downloads).

In the weeks ahead we'll see if their songs drop off the charts quickly or if they have some staying power....

The Season 8 American Idol is....

We've known for a full week now that Kris Allen managed to capture the Season 8 Miss American Idol crown. It was quite the unexpected surprise, but the dust has settled and I finally have some free time to review the fun musical festivities that lead up to his coronation. It was jammed packed with ten big #1 hits!

The season 8 top 13 finalists opened the show with a preview of what they will bringing on tour this summer. They brought an exuberant version of Pink's #1 smash from earlier this year, So What, to the stage to get things started with some energetic fun. Last year at this time, the audience was surprised to hear that the Season 7 Miss American Idol crown was being awarded to David Cook. In the 12 months that have followed David has struggled to make a dent on the Billboard Hot 100. He started out strong with his winning song, The Time Of My Life peaking at 3, but none of his other singles, Light On or Come Back To Me, came close to matching that success. So he is here tonight trying again to see if donating the proceeds to finding a cure for cancer will help make a hit out of his new song, Permanent.

Season 8 finalist, Lil Rounds then took the stage and never sounded better as she belted out like the true R&B diva that she is along with Queen Latifah. If Lil had done more performances like this every week, she might have made it to the finals. This amazing performance was followed by Jason Mraz singing his recent top 10 hit, I'm Yours, with finalists Alexis Grace and Anoop Desai. It just reminded us that Alexis and Anoop never really were that good anyway.

Awesome country music superstar, Keith Urban joined Kris Allen on stage to perform his latest single, Kiss A Girl. While Keith was incredible as always, nothing about this duet indicated that Kris was about to take the title. Kris was drowned out and overshadowed by Keith the whole time. Kris simply doesn't have the voice or the stage presence to hold his own next to a truly accomplished professional.

The string of #1 hits went into high gear when the top 5 girls then had some fun singing the song that Fergie took to #1 for 2 weeks in 2007, Glamorous. They followed it, along with Fergie herself, on her other #1 song from 2007, Big Girls Don't Cry. After such a hot solo album, Fergie has gone back to the Black Eyed Peas and now they are currently in their 7th big week at #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 with party anthem Boom Boom Pow.

The party then went back to 1984 for a some classic #1 hit duets with the original artists! Season 8 Miss American Idol 3rd Runner Up, Alison Iraheta, gave a heartfelt rendition of Cyndi Lauper's #1 song (2 weeks) Time After Time. The time warp continued as Season 8 Miss American Idol 2nd Runner Up Danny Gokey butchered Lionel Richie's classic ballad, Hello (2 weeks). Lionel then joined him on stage to prevent his tropical dance jam All Night Long that spent 4 weeks at the top of the charts from falling victim to Danny's inability to sing.

The crowd then got their money's worth when Adam Lambert took the mic and showed off his vocal skills with the 1976 top 10 hit power ballad from Kiss, Beth. The stage then erupted in an explosion of high energy fire and power as the classic glam rockers themselves showed up in full make-up to back up Adam singing Detroit Rock City and Rock and Roll All Night. Everything that Adam did on stage exclaimed WINNER and hit maker, but we all know how that ended up turning out....

There was then this weird banjo collaboration that put finalists Michael Sarver and Megan Joy along with comedian Steve Martin. Thankfully it was followed by more #1 hits courtesy of guitar legend, Carlos Santana. Finalist Matt Giraud didn't completely destroy Black Magic Woman, but knowing that it was inevitable if he kept singing solo, the rest of the top 13 joined him on the mega huge smash from 1999 that spent 12 weeks at the top, Smooth. The top 8 boys had some fun with the song that Rod Stewart took to #1 for 4 weeks in 1978, Do Ya Think I'm Sexy. Rod then performed his very first chart topper that spent 5 weeks at #1 in 1971, Maggie May.

Kris Allen and Adam Lambert then took the stage together to declare that We Are The Champions. This outstanding song by Queen went all the way up to #4 in 1977 and the band joined the top two finalists for an exceptional rendition. Seriously, though, Adam completely owned this song while Kris almost disappeared into the background. This is a fact that Kris openly admitted just after Ryan read his name as the winner of the Season 8 Miss American Idol crown. Kris stated, "Adam deserves this" while he was in disbelief with the rest of the audience.

Kris then struggled his way with his limited vocal abilities through the winning single, No Boundaries. For the first 5 seasons of American Idol, they were able to generate a #1 chart topper on the Billboard HOT 100, but that changed with seasons 6 and 7. Does Kris or Adam have what it takes to turn things around and have Season 8 hit the top again? We'll know soon....

The Season 8 Finals!

I knew from the beginning that Adam Lambert would be here in the Season 8 American Idol finals, but Kris Allen has risen above all the others to surprise us and take the place right next to him. They are going to sing three songs each tonight to win our votes...

The first selection from Adam was his rendition of the Tears For Fears song Mad World that he did earlier in the competition. This time it was even bigger and better than before. We were treated to another grand entrance down a dramatic staircase and the stage was covered with fog. He wore an even more over the top glam rock, goth ensemble and his vocals were just has spectacular as we have come to expect.

Kris is going to have to step up to the challenge of following the Adam Extravaganza all night and for this first round he decided to resurrect his performance of Bill Wither's Ain't No Sunshine. He sat at the piano and brought his subtle style to this wonderful song. While his vocals have never been his stand-out feature, he still can entertain in a way that is appealing to the mainstream. He re-created this song just enough making sure not to offend anyone.

The second round features songs selected by the American Idol creator, Simon Fuller. For Adam the choice was Sam Cooke's 1965 hit A Change Is Gonna Come. This song allowed Adam to interpret a different kind of song than usual: the social anthem. He once again demonstrated that he can elevate a song to a new and exciting place with his exceptional vocal skills. He seriously commands the stage and provides pure energy and entertainment.

Marvin Gaye had his own social anthem with What's Going On that peaked at #2 in 1971. Kris Allen decided to use his acoustic guitar this time around and delivered his watered down version of the song. With his pretty face and light vocals the vibe at this protest/demonstration was very laid back.

And now the time has come to debut the inspirational first single for the American Idol winner. This year the song is called No Boundaries and it's a message that Adam Lambert has exemplified every week. He brought his complete originality to what could have been something very sappy. Instead, he made it so much more than inspirational. It was a driving force of immediacy and motivation!

Kris Allen had to then take on the same song, No Boundaries, but there was definitely a problem. Without his piano or guitar he only had his vocals to take on stage with him and that left him with one huge boundary. His vocals aren't nearly impressive enough to inject the necessary inspiration into the lyrics.

One of these young men is being sent Home Sweet Home tomorrow night while the other will be crowned the Season 8 Miss American Idol. In order to provide an example of the standard of excellence that has been set, The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood, graced the stage to demonstrate what Adam or Kris must live up to. She performed her stellar rendition of Motley Crue's power ballad to close out this fun night of musical entertainment.

The prediction for who will get that crown tomorrow night is easy. It completely belongs to Adam Lambert. He has the impressive vocal range and totally fearless stage presence to rise up to the standard Carrie built. Kris is very good, but safe. He breaks no barriers and pushes no envelopes. The American Idol winner should do all that and more and Adam Lambert far exceeds expectations.

On an editorial note...

Turns out I will not be home to watch the show live tomorrow night and see the glitter shower down on the winner. My full review of the performances will, therefore, be posted late.

The Results - Judges Choice

Multi-platinum selling #1 hit maker and winner for the 2001 Grammy for Best New Artist, Alicia Keys graced the American Idol stage to raise some more awareness about the great work being done with the funds raised from Idol Gives Back. A very talented young man from Africa then performed his energetic pop song to show what can result when someone is given the opportunity to reach success.

Danny Gokey was the first to take center stage with Ryan and relive his home visit to Milwaukee. The best thing to come out of this was the slogan "SCREAM ON" that simply and directly illustrates what listening to him has been like all these weeks. It, of course, comes from the completely dreadful rendition of Aerosmith's Dream On that he completely butchered. The other special moment was the reunion with his boyfriend who was by his side for the entire visit.

Kris Allen was welcomed back to Arkansas by thousands of fans who were thrilled at the chance to hear him sing live for them. He was surrounded by his incredibly proud family who couldn't hold back the emotions they felt for this charming and talented finalist.

The Season Six Miss American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, enjoyed a wonderfully successful 2008 landing three smash hit singles in the top 10 of the Billboard HOT 100. She came back to the American Idol stage to show she has every intention of continuing the hits into 2009. She completely took control of the stage in a glittering little black dress looking totally fabulous and sounding as great as ever on her latest single Battlefield.

Adam Lambert went home to San Diego and his visit was highlighted by the time he spent with the theater group he started with as a young boy. He took his own advice and never gave up on practicing to reach his current well-deserved status as the next big thing. Adam is an inspiration to to us all.

Including Katy Perry, who performed her latest single, Waking Up In Vegas. She was wearing a slick and satiny cape with the name "Adam Lambert" written across it. After spending four weeks at #1 in 2008 with her catchy hit I Kissed A Girl she has demonstrated that she knows how to combine her vibrant personality and stage presence with great songs. Adam will easily be able to join the world of chart topping hits, while Danny won't have a clue out there.

The first person to make it to the finals is Kris Allen! and standing next to Kris will be Adam Lambert. America has finally gotten it right and Danny Gokey is out of the competition. Just to remind us one more time that he never belonged here, Danny destroyed You Are So Beautiful for the last time.

The finals next week is sure to be a night of great music and entertainment with Kris and Adam going head to head!

The Top 3 sing the judges choice

For the first time in 8 seasons of American Idol, three boys have made it to the top. Here's what they did to prove they are worthy of wearing the Miss American Idol crown this season:

Danny Gokey went first singing a song selected by Paula Abdul. In 1988 Terence Trent D'arby hit #30 with his hit Dance Little Sister. It's a fun and energetic song that Terence brought his unique style to. Danny got up there and screamed like he usually does with absolutely no style or stage presence. There is nothing special about this finalist.

Kris Allen then performed his song that was selected by Kara and Randy. One of the biggest hits of 2007 spending many weeks in the top 5 on the Billboard HOT 100 was Apologize by One Republic. It's a haunting ballad with a hypnotic beat. Kris sat at the piano and mesmerized the crowd with his skillful and talented interpretation. And it goes without saying that he looked better than ever in the spotlight.

Adam Lambert was next singing his song personally chosen by Simon Cowell. U2 released One as a single in 1992 from their album Achtung Baby and it peaked at #10. Adam took this great song and made it even better. He brought even more emotion and more passion with his exceptional and unique vocals.

In case you were wondering when the Idol Gives Back show was going to be this year, we learned tonight that there isn't going to be one. The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood went all the way to Africa to provide an update on how the millions of dollars raised have been spent. A lot of great stuff has been done with the support of American Idol fans.

For the second round tonight, the top three finalists were able to select any song of their choice. Danny Gokey decided that he would take a stab at the top 5 classic ballad from 1975, You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker. The original version was such a huge success because it paired a simple sentiment with Joe Cocker's notable stage antics that were often described as spastic. Danny just sat there while his rendition of this amazing song provided nothing of note. His vocals were boring and his stage presence is non-existent.

Earlier this season Kanye West performed his recent #2 hit, Heartless, on the American Idol stage. I went on the record stating that his live performance was a mess and that Kanye cannot sing. Tonight Kris Allen demonstrated how this catchy pop hit should have sounded all along. He turned the song into an acoustic guitar extravaganza with smooth buttery vocals that just pulled in the audience and left us all wanting more.

The last performance of the night was Adam Lambert's thrilling interpretation of the #12 hit from 1993, Aerosmith's Cryin'. As the cover boy on the current edition of Entertainment Weekly, Adam is already the proven stand out star of the season. He has earned this position from his outstanding vocal range that he showcased tonight like he has every week so far. He genuinely takes command of the stage every time he steps up to the mic. He oozes star quality with every note he sings and every step he takes.

The prediction for who should be in the finals is a complete no brainer. Kris Allen has gotten better every week showing that he is so much more than a pretty face. He's a multi-talented musician with incredibly smooth vocal skills. Adam Lambert is already destined to hit the top of the charts with fresh and energetic hot hits. His voice and face demand to be on the radio and in videos. And then there's the lump named Danny Gokey. The judges have inappropriately showered praise on him all season and he's fallen for it. He thinks he's a great singer, yet he's only been able to scream and shriek week after week. Danny should spare himself the embarrassment and hope he doesn't make it to the finals next week. Let the talented finalists, Kris and Adam take that special place and give the fans a very exciting show.

The Results - ROCK!!!!

Slash was a great mentor last night really bringing out some rocking energy from the Top 4 finalists. To open tonight's results show, he played guitar while they performed a fun version of Alice Cooper's top 10 hit from 1972, School's Out. Just like the performances from last night, the weak link in the group was Danny. He's just so out of place when compared side by side with the others who can simply sing better.

Even if you don't have the best voice in the world, you can still be a successful recording star and live performer if you have an exciting style and stage presence. Paula Abdul didn't become a chart topping, award winning, multi-platinum superstar because of her multi-octave vocal range, that's for sure. She knows how to put on a very entertaining show. She's a very accomplished dancer and choreographer and tonight she demonstrated on the American Idol stage that even 18 years after her last #1 hit, she can strut her stuff better than the rest. Her new single is called I'm Just Here For The Music, and who knows, the fans might bring her back to the charts...

Another artist, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, are also a little weak in the area of vocal range, but they can deliver a great performance with a combination of funky fashion and catchy beats. They performed one of their oldies, I'm Just A Girl, since they don't have a new album to promote. No Doubt will be hitting the road for a reunion tour now that Gwen has decided she has had enough of the solo spotlight.

Having No Doubt sing after Paula was all a way of trying to drive the point home to Danny Gokey that he has nothing going for him and he'll never be a successful recording star. He has no vocal range and he has no stage presence or style to fall back on.

Chris Daughtry ended up as the Season Five Miss American Idol 3rd Runner-Up. While he never got a chance to wear the crown his reward ended up being the fact that his debut album turned into a 5-times platinum album that was the best selling release for 2007. The follow-up will be coming out this July and he returned to the American Idol stage to sing the first single, No Surprise. It's sure to be added to the string of even more hits for him.

Tonight's results show was pretty much a non-stop concert of entertaining music, but they finally got to some results and Kris Allen was the first of the finalists to be informed that he is safe. He was followed by Adam Lambert and for some crazy reason, Danny has also made it to the top three. That means the last remaining girl, Allison Iraheta, is the lowest vote getter of the week and she is going home.

There goes the hope of an exciting finals face-off between Adam and Allison. At least there's still a chance that Kris will join Adam in the finals. Danny doesn't belong in this competition any more. We've seen everything he can do and it hasn't been any good at all.

The Top 4 sing ROCK!

As the lead guitarist of Guns and Roses, tonights mentor, Slash, hit #1 for 2 weeks in 1988 with Sweet Child O' Mine. He then topped the charts again for 7 weeks in 1991 as the lead guitarist on Michael Jackson's Black or White. He clearly has the credibility to teach these finalists a thing or two...

The real Robert Plant may have moved on to winning Grammys for making country music with Allison Kraus, but the rocker who hit #4 in 1970 with Led Zeppelin on Whole Lotta Love was brought back in the form of Adam Lambert on the American Idol stage. This performance was live music at it's best. Adam has raised the bar so high above the other finalists that he should be unreachable. His voice resonated with passion, power and energy and he looked completely convincing in the role of glam rocker.

Janis Joplin ended up being a one hit wonder on the Billboard HOT 100 with her #1 smash Me and Bobby McGee hitting the top after her untimely death. Allison Iraheta has definitely brought the spirit of Janis to the American Idol stage every week, but tonight she literally channeled her with her rendition of Cry Baby. The vocals were raw and ached with an emotional punch. Allison never sounded better than she did tonight.

Danny Gokey and Kris Allen joined forces to sing the classic rock anthem Renegade that Styx took to #16 in 1979. The smooth vocals from Kris easily saved this from being a total mess. Danny was just screaming as usual and Kris added the exact right sound of harmonies to keep the melody listenable.

Kris Allen then had the chance to take the stage on his own with his version of Come Together (#1 for 1 week in 1969) by the Beatles. In just six years the Beatles accumulated 20 #1 hits on the Billboard HOT 100 and this song choice allowed Kris to show a different side of himself. He used an electric guitar and took it up more than a few notches than usual. While he was a little out of his element, he managed to save it with inherent talent and respect for the music.

With Danny Gokey's opportunity to sing solo on Aerosmith's #6 hit from 1976, Dream On, all of his shortcomings were pathetically exposed. The judges have built him up all season to make him think he can do anything, so you have to admire his effort. But he missed the mark on every aspect. He looked totally dopey in his little vest and suit pants. His voice completely lacks the range necessary for this kind of song so the high notes were just unpleasant shrieks and the rest of the song was just his usual screams. The last note was seriously embarrassing.

Foghat took Slow Ride to the top 20 in 1976. Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta showed us with their duet of this song that they know how to see how high the bar has been raised and reach for it. Their vocals were a masterful blend of enthusiasm and talent. Wonderful rock and roll entertainment.

Adam genuinely set the bar very high with his performances tonight and Allison showed that she is up for the challenge to get up there with him. This theme was a little rough for Kris so he should end up in the bottom two with Danny. If people are voting to keep the talented singers with stage presence and recording star quality on the show, Danny Gokey should be the odd man out and he should finally be going home.

The Results - Rat Pack

The results show opened with fun little group performance of some more pop standards. It wasn't quite as much fun as Danny had celebrating his birthday last Friday. True to is image of being a screaming doofus, he turned baking a cake into a messy food fight. He was presented with the $6,000.00 bill that the maid service charged to clean it up.

Ryan put Adam in the middle and made him choose who he belonged with: either Allison and Danny or Kris and Matt. Adam decided to go stand with Allison and Danny, but he was wrong. In a very unpleasant twist, Adam had to join Kris and Matt as the bottom three.

In 1975, the daughter of Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole was honored with the Grammy for Best New Artist. At that time she was singing disco influence R&B hits. It wasn't until 1991, when she decided to do an album of pop standards influenced by the music of her father, that she became a Grammy darling again winning Album of the Year for Unforgettable. After another dry spell of over 10 years, Natalie released an album in 2008 called Still Unforgettable and walked away with the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. She graced the American Idol stage tonight to gave an example to Danny Gokey of how to sing with style and energy without being a screaming doofus.

The Season Five Miss American Idol winner was the leader of the Soul Patrol, Taylor Hicks. In the time since he was crowned he hit #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 with his first single, Do I Make You Proud, but disappeared from the charts after that. He's got a new album coming out called The Distance and he performed an energetic, bluesy song from it. One of Taylor's best qualities throughout Season Five was his genuine passion for performing and making music. It was that sincerity that ensured he would take the top prize at the end of the finals and he still exudes the same enthusiasm.

Back to the bottom three, Kris Allen was sent back to safety leaving Adam and Matt as the bottom two.

The latest single by this week's mentor, Jamie Foxx, is at #7 on the Billboard HOT 100. It's called Blame It and he took the American Idol stage with his distortion microphone and tried to convince the crowd that he's one of the cool kids.

Thankfully, it was revealed that Adam is safely coming back next week and Matt Giraud was given his long overdue walking papers. The bad part was having to suffer through Matt's "nails on a chalk board" version of My Funny Valentine one more time.

This week I only got one of my predictions correct, but at least it was the one who is going home. I feel like I have to take a little bit of credit for Adam ending up in the bottom two this week because I didn't get a chance to call in any votes for him. I usually vote for him a few times, but I wasn't able to watch the show live last night and I missed the voting period. Believe me, that will never happen again!

The Top 5 sing the Rat Pack

Why in the world did they call this "the rat pack" week? Tonight the top five finalists are singing pop standards, some of which may have been performed at one time by members of the Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. etc. in addition to numerous other artists having nothing to do with the Rat Pack. And why is the mentor for this theme Jamie Foxx? He's never done an album of pop standards. I guess when you won an Oscar for Best Actor playing Ray Charles, you have a hit single, Blame It, in the top 5 on the Billboard HOT 100 this week and your movie, The Soloist, is new in theaters this week you can rationalize that it's a good fit.

Kris Allen was first selecting to sing the tender ballad, The Way You Look Tonight, that Fred Astaire took to #1 all the way back in 1936 - long before the Rat Pack era. Kris gave a very sincere and straightforward rendition of this song. While gazing into his dreamy eyes is all that some may need to become completely entranced, his vocals were quite pure and on the mark. I've said before that he doesn't have the greatest voice in the world, but he continues to make up for it with his winning personality.

Allison Iraheta, who just turned 17 yesterday, performed Someone To Watch Over Me. This was a huge departure for her that allowed her to show she can do more than just sing everything with a hard rock edge. This mature ballad allowed her actually sing a full range of different notes we haven't heard from her before. She belted them out with a rawness and intensity that was still very true to her personal style her fans have come to love and expect from her.

Matt Giraud demonstrated once again that he should have gone home weeks ago as he took on a song that is way too big for his limited abilities, My Funny Valentine. The first three quarters of the song was just painful to listen to as every note sounded flat and emotionless. The big notes he threw in at the end were simply too little too late.

After hearing his version of Come Rain or Come Shine I am left once again asking how in the world Danny Gokey has made it this far in the competition. He has no star quality whatsoever. It's like watching some drunk doofus get up on stage at your cousin's wedding every week. While in that environment his limited vocal range that is really just different levels of screaming might be considered mildly entertaining, here on the American Idol stage it's just insulting.

Adam Lambert has star quality in every sense of the word. He genuinely has stage presence and he can take command every time he stands up there. You can tell that he has a passion for providing entertainment that is worth paying for. His vocal range is everything you would want it to be. As he showcased with his performance of Feeling Good, he can go from low notes to beautiful high notes effortlessly. In addition, when he belts out the big notes, he has mastered the art of making it sound like SINGING and not just screaming like a doofus.

The four American Idol judges serve no purpose at all. They gushed praise all over all five finalists tonight. It's as if they weren't listening to how awful Matt and Danny were at all. My prediction for the bottom three is Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta. I don't really think Allison belongs there, but unfortunately she has been struggling to get votes every week and she's been there before. If things go as they should, Matt should finally be the one going home.

The Results - DISCO!!!!

Before she became an American Idol judge she was a chart topping hit maker hitting #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 six times from 1988 to 1991. And before that she was the most sought after award winning choreographer. Everybody wanted their video choreographed by Paula Abdul. Tonight, while the top 7 finalists performed the Jacksons top 10 smash from 1979, Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground), they danced to smoking hot disco dance moves provided courtesy of Paula Abdul.

Lil Rounds was the first finalist to learn that she is one of the two finalists to be going home tonight. She performed I'm Every Woman one last time.

Freda Payne hit #3 in 1970 with Band of Gold. She came out to the American Idol stage to start a medley of dance hits. Freda was followed by Thelma Houston who spent one week at #1 in 1977 with Don't Leave Me This Way. After singing her chart topper Thelma introduced Harry Casey who is better known as KC from KC and the Sunshine Band. From 1975 to 1980 they had five huge #1 smash hits on the Billboard HOT 100. With so many hits to choose from he decided to entertain the crowd with the one that started it all, his first one - Get Down Tonight.

Kris Allen then learned that he is safely returning next week to perform again. We can also look forward to another exciting musical interpretation from Adam Lambert. Unfortunately, Danny Gokey is going to come back to torture us again next week. Anoop Desai got the news that he is once again in the bottom three. In an unpleasant turn of events, Matt Giraud, who should have gone home last week, managed to get enough pity votes to keep him safe for another undeserved week, putting the very talented Allison Iraheta in the bottom three with Anoop.

In another example of what should have been, the finalist who was robbed of the Miss American Idol crown last year, David Archuleta came back to the American Idol stage to sing his latest single, Touch My Hand. David is even more charming, adorable and talented than he was last year and this song is a fun, uptempo slice of pure entertainment. If you haven't checked out his self-titled debut album, you have to hear what you're missing.

Turning things around, we don't have to complain about what should have been tonight. Anoop is finally going home tonight after consistently being one of the lowest vote getters every week. His dreary rendition of Dim All The Lights closed out the show.

This week I got two out of three predictions correct, but only was right about one of the two going home. Matt is over staying his welcome for another week. With just five remaining, who is going to be good enough to stand next to Adam in the finals?

The Top 7 sing DISCO!!!

With no celebrity mentor to introduce and seemingly in an effort to try and get all the performances done on time the disco party got started immediately:

Lil Rounds has an outstanding voice and a great look and style. Every week she has demonstrated that she has a natural vocal talent. Unfortunately, she has not found a way to showcase that talent with her unique and personal stamp. Tonight she sang the anthem I'm Every Woman, that Chaka Khan took to #21 in 1978 and Lil once again transformed herself into just another disco diva rather than a spotlight superstar. And I didn't put this prediction in writing, but at the lunch table last Thursday I successfully predicted her song selection for tonight's theme!

While the disco era had already reached its end at the start of the 1980's, the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, was still having big hits like She Works Hard For The Money that hit #3 in 1983. Kris Allen sat with his guitar and rearranged this song into a Latin flavored festival of fun. This risky interpretation totally worked. He showed that he isn't going to be lazy and rely on his good looks to coast through the competition. Even though he doesn't have the greatest voice in the world, he's showing off that he does have some impressive talent behind that pretty face.

Earth Wind and Fire took September to #8 in 1978. What a nightmare that Danny Gokey decided to take on this fantastic song and add his dreadful vocals to it. Making it even worse was having to watch the awkward and clumsy train wreck happen on stage as he fumbled from one side to the other.

In 1979 when Donna Summer spent three weeks at #1 with Hot Stuff, it was always regarded as her successful fusion of rock and disco. Alison Iraheta took that hard rock spirit one step further and blew the roof off the American Idol stage. She stayed true to her personal style and showed off her great raspy vocals while dressed in a fabulous glittery ensemble.

Yvonne Elliman's version of If I Can't Have You, that spent one week at #1 in 1978 came from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that completely defined the disco era. Adam Lambert threw the original BeeGees production out the window and gave us yet another outstanding and exceptional performance. He stood in a spotlight center stage and performed it as a vulnerable ballad. Every lyric was an expression of raw emotion. Every note was clear and pure. And to top off all of that, he looked incredibly handsome and polished like an American Idol winner.

Matt Giraud was the lowest vote getter last week and he shouldn't even be here tonight. But since the judges had some kind of aneurysm and decided to save him we had to suffer through his sloppy version of the BeeGees huge smash, Stayin Alive, that spent four weeks at #1 in 1977. His vocals were just as flat and bland as we would expect them to be. His dance moves were silly and unoriginal. Matt has already peaked in this competition. He has nothing new or interesting to show us.

Donna Summer hit #2 in 1979 with Dim All The Lights. Anoop Desai completely butchered the arrangement of the song by slowing it down from the uptempo original. His vocals were done as though he was singing a lullaby. Anoop once again showed that he has absolutely no stage presence whatsoever. This was just as bland and boring as usual. Not even his pink sweater could save the audience from falling asleep.

Where are the judges coming from as they continue to shower praise on Danny Gokey and save Matt Giraud? Who do they think is going to buy their albums? Don't they remember Taylor Hicks? The best performances of the night came from Allison and Kris while Adam is continuing his rise apart from all of the others. That leaves Danny, Matt and Anoop who are repeatedly failing to impress me. Sadly, Lil also seems to be using up her chances not to her advantage. My prediction for the bottom three is Matt, Anoop and Lil. With two people going home this week, it should be Matt and Anoop.

The Results - Movie Music

In 1983 Flashdance became a surprise hit at the box office. Much of it's success has to be attributed to the soundtrack that was jam packed with smoking hot smash hits. The finalists opened the show with one of those #1 hits. He became a one hit wonder, but Michael Sembello spent two weeks at the top of the charts with Maniac. While this performance was fun, it was much more exciting to learn that the finalists all went to the premiere of the new movie 17 Again which opens this Friday. The star of the movie, Zac Efron, was in the audience watching the results show tonight. Seriously, with Zac sitting right there, who can pay attention to anything else...

Adam Lambert and Alison Iraheta are safe while Anoop is in the bottom three again this week. I wonder what Zac Efron thinks of the results so far?

Just about every week it has to be mentioned how Carrie Underwood is the Supreme Miss American Idol selling millions of albums and accumulating a huge collection of awards. The only other American Idol finalist who comes close to Carrie's accomplishments is the amazing Season Three finalist, Jennifer Hudson. While there are a few other American Idols who have a Grammy like Jennifer does, it's doubtful that any other American Idol finalist will ever be able to be called an Oscar winner. The winner of the 2007 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress performed her latest single, If It Isn't Love, from her Grammy winning album. Let's hope this exposure on the American Idol stage will lead to an impressive bump in sales and airplay. How cool that Jennifer had the chance to sing for Zac Efron!

Kris Allen is safe while Lil Rounds had to join Anoop in the bottom three. Danny Gokey is safe while Matt Giraud is also once again in the bottom three. In a very disappointing twist, it turns out that Anoop is safe leaving either Matt or Lil as the lowest vote getter. I wonder what Zac Efron thinks of this turn of events.

One guess as to who the musical guest would be on the Movie Music Theme night. It's the artist who stars in the #1 movie at the box office last weekend and she is sitting at #10 this week with her hit single from the movie on the Billboard HOT 100. If you guessed that the Hannah Montana Movie starring Miley Cyrus is the #1 movie you'd be right. Miley performed her song The Climb for the fellow Disney star Zac Efron and the rest of the American Idol audience.

Thankfully, Lil Rounds is safe and Matt Giraud weakly screeched out his song Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman to see if the judges would save him. It was even worse than last night and for some reason the judges decided to use their one and only save so he is coming back next week.

This means that two finalists will be going home next week and there isn't a "judges save" that can be used any more. As for my predictions, I got two out of three correct this week. I can already predict that I'm going to predict that Anoop, Matt and Danny are going to be the bottom three again next week. It's doubtful that any of them will miraculously get some talent in one week, so hopefully we'll be getting rid of two of them next week.

The Top 7 sing Movie Music

Quentin Terentino, the director of movie hits Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, is a HUGE American Idol fan and he worked with each of the finalists as they prepared to perform music from the movies.

Alison Iraheta chose to sing the song I Don't Want To Miss A Thing from Armageddon that Aerosmith took to #1 for four weeks on the Billboard HOT 100 in 1998. It started out kinda slow, but as it went on she proved she has one of the strongest voices in the competition. I would have liked to hear her sing a different more interesting song, but she really made the best of the material.

Anoop Desai chose to sing the song Everything I Do, I Do It For You from Robin Hood that Bryan Adams took to #1 for seven weeks on the Billboard HOT 100 in 1991. As we have heard in the past, Anoop has a pleasant vocal quality, but the fact is that he has no stage presence whatsoever. While it sounded nice, there was nothing special about it.

Adam Lambert chose to sing the song Born To Be Wild from Easy Rider that Steppenwolf took to #2 for three weeks on the Billboard HOT 100 in 1968. Week after week Adam has stepped apart from the crowd with his dynamic and energetic style. Whether it's a ballad or a rock anthem, like it was tonight, he has complete command of the stage and totally entertains.

Matt Giraud chose to sing the song Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman from Don Juan DeMarco that Bryan Adams took to #1 for five weeks on the Billboard HOT 100 in 1995. Matt sat at the piano and brought his strained and weak vocals to this song that isn't very catchy to start with. The combination of his boring song choice with his drippy vocals made for a very forgettable effort.

Danny Gokey chose to sing the song Endless Love from the movie of the same name that Lionel Richie and Diana Ross took to #1 for nine weeks on the Billboard HOT 100 in 1981. It's such a huge hit and popular favorite that Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey brought it back to the charts in 1994 taking it all the way up to #2. Danny is so far from being in the same league as these accomplished artists there was no where to go but down with his version. It was boring, flat and uninteresting. He brought nothing except bad vocals and dreary stage presence to this wonderful love song.

Kris Allen chose to sing the song Falling Slowly from Once that won the Oscar for best Original Song in 2008. He has the same things working for him every week. He looks great and he brings a warm sensitivity to everything he does. This song is very low key, so it didn't give him much to work with. His limited vocal range ended up becoming a more prominent factor as a result, but he can still out shine much of the competition.

Lil Rounds chose to sing the song The Rose from the movie of the same name that Bette Midler took to #3 on the Billboard HOT 100 in 1980. Just like I never want to hear Lil do another song by Celine Dion again, I never thought I'd hear her do Bette Midler. The fact is that Lil can do these songs very well, but you don't necessarily imagine them being on her first album. With this adult contemporary ballad, she added some more gospel and R&B style than Bette Midler ever could. It worked out pretty well, but her chances to really steal the competition are running out.

My favorites are continuing to impress me while the others are sinking deeper and falling flatter. While they should be stepping up and offering some surprises we are getting more bland efforts. The biggest culprits who seem to be the laziest are my prediction for the bottom three this week. They just seem to be coasting at this point: Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai and Danny Gokey. None of these three have done anything exceptional so far and all should be afraid that this week could be their last. I predict that Anoop will be the one sent packing

The Results - Beginnings

Last night the finalists all sang a song that was a hit the year they were born. Tonight the show was opened with the song that was #1 on the Billboard HOT 100 the date that Simon was born. Frankie Avalon spent five weeks at the top of the charts with Venus in 1959 and he was there live on the American Idol stage to reveal to the world Simon's real age. The finalists then performed a song that was a top 5 smash from 2002, the year that American Idol started. That's when Australian artist Kylie Minogue came back to the American charts after a 14 year absence with Can't Get You Out Of My Head.

Adam Lambert was the first to hear that he is safe. Kris Allen is also safe while Anoop Desai is the first to be in the bottom three.

The #1 song for all of 2008 was Low by Flo Rida. Now we are only a few months into 2009 and Flo Rida is already the top contender for the biggest hit of this year as his latest smash Right Round is dominating sales and airplay. He brought the party to the American Idol stage as he performed it live complete with energetic dancers, streamers and confetti.

Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud are safe while Scott MacIntyre had to go join Anoop. With only the two remaining girls left turns out that Allison Iraheta is not in the bottom three while Lil Rounds has to go there for the first time.

Kellie Pickler competed in the Season Five Miss American Idol competition and has done a great job capitalizing on the success of the Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood. Kellie really has made the most of her opportunity releasing some very fun country songs and appearing at many high profile events. While she didn't win any awards like Carrie, Kellie also performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards. The same song, actually, that she sang tonight, but this time it was better because Taylor Swift was no where to be found this time around.

Thankfully, Lil was sent back to safety leaving just Scott and Anoop as the lowest vote getters of the week. Unfortunately, the sweet and charming Scott MacIntyre was left standing alone and needing to sing The Search Is Over one more time in the hopes that the judges would save him. It was very clear that serious consideration was given to saving him, but the final decision was to not use it.

I only got one of my predictions correct this time around. Anoop is clearly the weakest link in the competition and he barely squeaked by to come back next week. The loss of Scott MacIntyre changes the show completely. Few of the other finalists demonstrate his genuine love and passion for making music. And he did it every week with a rare and genuine sincerity and vulnerability. The show must go on next week, but the emotional heart and soul isn't going to be there. :(

The Top 8 sing their Beginnings

The finalists will all sing a song from the year they were born:

Danny Gokey is 28 years old and was born in 1980. Country singer Mickey Gilley became famous when his nightclub, Gilley's, was featured in the movie Urban Cowboy. His version of Stand By Me, which was also in the movie peaked at #22 in 1980. Danny did his best with his limited vocals to make an impression. The best I can say is that he didn't scream the whole song like he usually does.

Kris Allen is 23 years old and was born in 1985. Don Henley continued his solo success from the Eagles in 1985 when he peaked at #9 with All She Wants To Do Is Dance. Don Henley's version was always kinda bland even though it's a song about dancing. Kris did a great job mixing things up and making the song so much more vibrant and energetic than it ever was before. Combine the jazzy horns with his handsome face and smooth vocals and we are left with a great performance.

Lil Rounds is 24 years old and was born in 1984. Tina Turner enjoyed one of the best comebacks of all time when she won the Grammy for Record of the Year and spent three weeks at #1 with What's Love Got To Do With It in 1984. Lil has once again demonstrated that she has a wonderful voice and that she can sing anything exceptionally. But at the same time while proving herself as a gifted musical chameleon, she is missing out on her remaining chances to step away from the crowd as a unique artist. Still one of the best in the competition, though.

Anoop Desai is 22 years old and was born in 1986. Cyndi Lauper spent two weeks at #1 in 1986 with True Colors. Anoop Desai has been struggling every week to decide what his true colors are. Sometimes he's a complete hot mess trying to be an uptempo soul singer, but he's usually better when he does a simple ballad. But when he does a simple ballad, like he did tonight, he is so boring he puts everyone to sleep. He has yet to learn how to do a ballad with any style or personality.

Scott MacIntyre is 23 years old and was born in 1985. When I was in high school concert choir I was required to take voice lessons and perform a solo for the rest of the choir. The song I chose was the #4 smash by Survivor, The Search Is Over. Scott stepped away from his piano, picked up his electric guitar and did this song a million times better than I did. This different setting exposed some vocal limitations but nothing can take away this young man's genuine sincerity he brings to everything he does.

Allison Iraheta is 16 years old and was born in 1992. Bonnie Raitt took I Can't Make You Love Me to #18 in 1992. While Allison is the youngest finalist in the competition she was able to take this very mature song and be completely convincing. Ignore the pink hair and the youthful fashion sense so that you're not distracted from the great voice that lies beneath.

Matt Giraud is 23 years old and was born in 1985. Stevie Wonder continued his decades long hit making streak when he hit #1 for one week in 1985 with Part Time Lover. Matt took this fun and bouncy dance jam and completely sucked the life out of it. His vocals were totally generic and the beat felt slow and cumbersome.

Adam Lambert is 27 years old and was born in 1982. Before Tears For Fears became chart topping hit makers in 1985, they were a totally cool alternative band that released a song called Mad World in 1982. Adam Lambert took this new wave synth pop song and performed it as a haunting ballad with his flawless silky tenor voice. He needed nothing but a spotlight on him and he commanded the stage with a completely showstopping rendition.

Adam has very clearly stepped WAY ahead of the others as the only stand out finalist and he is the clear and obvious front runner. He is the only one who is completely safe and on a clear path to the finals. All of the others are at risk of ending up in the bottom three. As I have stated in previous weeks, I don't really expect to get any of my predictions right any more. The ones who are falling completely flat to me are getting high praise from the judges. It makes no sense to me. So going completely against the judges, I think the bottom three will be Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai and Danny Gokey. This should finally be the week that Anoop goes home.

Entertainer of the Year!

The Supreme Miss American Idol, Season Four winner, Carrie Underwood has done it again!! She is continuing to add more and more awards to her collection. Tonight it was on the Academy of Country Music Awards.

She performed on the show twice and she had three costume changes. The first time she sang All American Girl in a beautiful short white dress that showed off her amazing legs. The second time she exuded class as she flawlessly performed her current hit single I Told You So. She stood center stage dressed in a grand red gown that surrounded her like fabulous rose petals.

After these two showstopping crowd pleasers it's no surprise that Carrie was first called up to the stage to accept the award for Female Vocalist of the Year. The next time she graced the stage I'm sure it came as a surprise to some. With top notch competition like George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Keith Urban who would have thought that Carrie Underwood would rise above them all and be named ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR!!!!!

I had no doubt in my mind that she would win. :)

Carrie continues to set the standard and raise the bar for all American Idol finalists to live up to. It's unlikely that any will ever get close to achieving her status, but let's hope they never stop trying!

The Results - itunes

After peaking at #9 in 1981, Journey's Don't Stop Believing really has become one of the most downloaded songs of all time. Here we are 27 years later and this classic song is currently #83 on the itunes Top Songs list this week. So tonight the finalists actually gave a literal interpretation of this week's theme and performed this favorite song.

Ryan put the finalists into three groups of three:

Group One: Kris Allen, Meagan Joy, Matt Giraud

Group Two: Lil Rounds, Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta

Group Three: Scott MacIntyre, Danny Gokey, Anoop Desai

While the finalists had to wait to find out which group was the bottom three, The Season Seven Miss American Idol winner, David Cook, came back to the American Idol stage hoping to finally have a hit. His first single, Light On, never really managed to get enough airplay or sales to reach the upper portion of the charts so he's hoping the exposure of this live performance of Come Back To Me will ignite some significant action. The good news is that in just three months his debut album has gone Platinum (sales of 1 Million copies) and he was presented with a shiny plaque.

Breaking the finalists into three groups is just as much of a sloppy mess as the lame "itunes top downloads" theme was. In group One, both Kris and Matt are safe while while Meagan is in the bottom three. In group Two, both Lil and Adam are safe while Allison had to join Meagan. In group Three, both Danny and Scott are safe while Anoop rounded out the bottom three.

Lady GaGa spent three weeks at #1 in January on the Billboard HOT 100 with her debut single, Just Dance. This week she has accomplished the rare feat of having her second single, Poker Face, also reach #1. Only artists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera have managed to do this in the past. Mariah and Christina also went on to win the Grammy for Best New Artist. Lady GaGa brought her exciting and entertaining performance art to the American Idol stage and brought the house down. Could she be on her way to a Grammy?

Allison Iraheta and Anoop Desai were sent back to safety leaving Meagan to perform for the last time. The judges even went so far as to say that they had no plans of using their Judges Save tonight before she sang.

This week I got two out of my three predictions correct. While I thought Anoop would be going home, I'm not surprised that it ended up being Meagan. Do you realize that Season 8 is now left with 6 boy contestants and only 2 girls!?

The Top 9 sing the Top itunes downloads

The top 9 finalists had the chance to visit with Ryan in the radio studio this week as he counted down the Top 40 hits of the week. The top 40 is tabulated by combining the songs with the most radio airplay with the songs with the most sales into one comprehensive chart. Sales and Airplay is what it's all about in the music business and that's what these finalists hope to achieve. Here's how they sound trying to sing the songs that are currently the top selling downloads at itunes:

Usher hit the top 10 in 2006 with Caught Up from his top selling multi-platinum album, Confessions. Anoop Desai wants so much to be in the same league as Usher, but this performance showed very clearly that he is not. While he has demonstrated his ability to sing some nice and soulful vocals, his stage presence is simply not up to par.

I'm not really sure how Bob Marley's Turn Your Lights Down Low qualified as a top download, but Meagan Joy performed it somehow. It was more of the same bouncy quirky essence that she delivers every week. If you are a fan you will like it, but if not, you are ready to see her go.

Rascal Flatts had a huge #1 Country Hit in 2006 with What Hurts The Most. Danny Gokey has already shown us that his limited vocals are perfect for butchering a Carrie Underwood song and tonight he has done the same to Rascal Flatts. Every note was strained, weak and so much worse than the original.

It was 1995 when No Doubt dominated the airwaves with Don't Speak. Alison Iraheta made her big pink hair even bigger as she played her guitar in accompaniment to her rocking vocals. She did a great job adding her raspy edge to this great song. Very well done.

In 1978 Billy Joel won the Grammy for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Just The Way You Are after it peaked at #3 on the Billboard HOT 100. (I'm really not understanding the theme this week) Scott MacIntyre sounded great with this piano anthem. His vocals were very strong and he continued with his signature warmth and sincerity. Last week he allowed his people to dress him in pink pants and tonight he let them give him a big moussed up 80's hairstyle. It's kinda funny, but he needs no gimmick to shine - his genuine talent is all he needs.

You Found Me by The Fray is currently #23 on the itunes Top Songs chart. Matt Giraud seems, like me, to have taken a more literal interpretation of this week's theme as he played his piano in the middle of the audience and performed this hit. This week he didn't make a fool of himself as much as he did last week, but with only his vocals to consider, they just weren't that good. Boring and bland is all that can be said.

In 2002 Celine Dion released I Surrender on her album A New Day Has Come. In addition to showing us a new hair style every week, Lil Rounds makes a genuine effort to give us something different every week. Tonight it was a straight up adult contemporary power ballad. Her vocals are far superior to most of the other finalists, but it would have been nice if she had served us a current hot selling hip hop song. We know she can do it, but she's not illustrating it every week. I don't ever want to hear her sing Celine Dion again.

Wild Cherry became a one hit wonder after spending three weeks at #1 in 1976 with Play That Funky Music. Adam Lambert decided to try and take this classic oldie and make it sound current and fresh. Every week he has shown us that he is not going to play it safe and tonight this rendition was captivating and energizing. He leaves us looking forward to what unexpected and exciting thing he's going to do next week.

Bill Withers peaked at #3 in 1971 with Ain't No Sunshine. Kris Allen put down the guitar, sat at the piano and showed that he's so much more than a pretty face. This completely different arrangement would make a video that is worth both watching and listening to. An excellent presentation.

So this Top itunes downloads theme ended up being an unfocused sloppy mess, but there were still some good performances that came out of it. My top five continues to be Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta. The others are simply failing to impress. While Danny Gokey is an over-rated tragedy on stage I'm going to stop predicting that he will end up in the bottom three. That leaves my prediction being Anoop Desai, Meagan Joy and Matt Giraud. I think Anoop will be going home.

The Results - Motown

For the second week in a row, Season One Miss American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's new album, All I Ever Wanted, is the best selling album of the week and at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. Meanwhile, the Supreme Miss American, Season Four winner Carrie Underwood, leaps into the top 10 this week at #9 with the duet she performed on the show last week with Randy Travis, I Told You So.

The Top 10 finalists opened the show with a medley of Motown hits. Basically, the rest of the finalists served as background singers for Lil Rounds and Adam Lambert who did a great job as usual.

Hoping to enjoy the same "American Idol Bump" as Kelly and Carrie, Season Two Miss American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard came out of hiding to perform his new single. He's still that same very talented velvet teddy bear that we remember, it's that he's struggling to find that perfect catchy song that can bring him back to the charts. This was OK. We'll have to wait and see if this is the bump that he's looking for....

Adam Lambert is safe, but Matt Giraud learned that he is the first person in the bottom three. Kris Allen and Lil Rounds are safe and Michael Sarver had to join Matt in the bottom three.

Not only has Smokey Robinson written 4000 songs and charted 38 songs on the Billboard HOT 100, but he's also had a huge hit song written about him! British pop group, ABC, took When Smokey Sings to the top 5 in 1987. Smokey's voice is smooth and silky and he showed off that he's still got it on a duet with Joss Stone tonight on the American Idol stage.

Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey and Megan Joy are all safe leaving the wonderful Scott MacIntyre to round out the bottom three. Thankfully Scott did not need to join Michael and Matt for long as he was quickly sent back to safety.

Another Motown legend took the American Idol stage to sing a medley of his many hits. Stevie Wonder hit the Billboard HOT 100 46 times including ten #1 smash hit chart toppers. He included My Cherie Amour, Superstition and Overjoyed in this entertaining musical revue.

Ryan then revealed that Matt Giraud is safe leaving Michael Sarver to sing for his life. He did is best to show that he ain't to proud to beg for the love of the judges, but it didn't work - he's going home.

This week I only got one of my three predictions correct, but it was the one who is being sent home. I'm not surprised that Matt's embarrassing showing last night landed him in the bottom three, but it makes no sense at all that Scott was there. I'll just have to call in more for Scott next week!