American Idol
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If you’ve been wondering how Melissa McGhee is doing post-Idol, you should check out the BuddyTV interview. Highlights? She toured with Ruben Studdard after the show ended last year, and she’s recording an album next month.

They’re adding venues by the day, so check the list below to see if there’s a venue near you, then go buy American Idols Live concert tickets. They’ve finally added Texas dates, so they’re back in my good graces. Now, maybe I can go see the show since they’ll be right here in Houston.

Wed July 5, 2006 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Thu July 6, 2006 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Fri July 7, 2005 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Sat July 8, 2006 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Sun July 9, 2006 Hartford, CT Hartford Civic Center
Tues July 11, 2006 Albany, NY Pepsi Arena
Wed July 12, 2006 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
Thur July 13, 2006 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Fri July 14, 2006 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Sat July 15, 2006 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Sun July 16, 2006 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Tues July 18, 2006 Wilkes Barre, PA Wachovia Arena
Wed July 19, 2006 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
Fri July 21, 2006 Rochester, NY BlueCross Arena
Sat July 22, 2006 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Sun July 23, 2006 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall
Tues July 25, 2006 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Thurs July 27, 2006 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
Fri July 28, 2006 Washington DC Verizon Center
Sat July 29, 2006 Richmond, VA Richmond Coliseum
Sun July 30, 2006 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
Tues August 1, 2006 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Wed August 2, 2006 Columbia, SC Colonial Center
Thurs August 3, 2006 Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center
Sat August 5, 2006 Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
Sun August 6, 2006 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
Tues August 8, 2006 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
Thurs August 10, 2006 Nashville, TN Gaylord Entertainment Center
Fri August 11, 2006 Columbus, OH Value City Arena
Sat August 12, 2006 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
Sun August 13, 2006 St. Louis, MO Savvis Center
Tues August 15, 2006 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Wed August 16, 2006 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
Thurs August 17, 2006 Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis State Fairgrounds
Fri August 18, 2006 Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
Sat August 19, 2006 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
Sun August 20, 2006 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
Tues August 22, 2006 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
Fri August 25, 2006 San Diego, CA iPay One Center at the Sports Arena
Sat August 26, 2006 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Sun August 27, 2006 Anaheim, CA Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Tues August 29, 2006 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena
Wed August 30, 2006 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Fri September 1, 2006 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Sat September 2, 2006 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Tues September 5, 2006 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Thurs September 7, 2006 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Fri September 8, 2006 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Sat September 9, 2006 Houston, TX Reliant Arena
Sun September 10, 2006 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Tues September 12, 2006 Duluth, GA The Arena at Gwinnett Center
Thur September 14, 2006 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
Fri September 15, 2006 Norfolk, VA Constant Convocation Center
Sat September 16, 2006 Reading, PA Sovereign Center
Sun September 17, 2006 Syracuse, NY War Memorial at OnCenter
Tues September 19, 2006 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
Thurs September 21, 2006 Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center
Fri September 22, 2006 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Center
Sat September 23, 2006 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Sun September 24, 2006 Wilkes-Barre, PA Wachovia Center

The night started with Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee singing “I Made it Through the Rain”. They were then joined for the end of the song by the rest of the final 12.

Birmingham, Alabama was being covered by the O’Donohue twins. It was packed with screaming Taylor fans. Universal City was covered by Tamyra Gray. It was packed, but it was hard to tell if they were Kat fans, American Idol fans, or Taylor fans.

This year they allowed several contestants to sing with their American Idol. Paris Bennett started this off singing “We’re In This Love Together” with Al Jareau. Then Chris Daughtry sang with Live.

Unless I missed it when I was out of the room, I don’t think Kellie Pickler sang a duet last night. She did, however, do a series of silly skits with Chef Wolfgang Puck. Called Puck & Pickler, these segments featured Kellie sampling escargot and fending off a live lobster.

Katharine’s choice of duet partner was odd, in my opinion. She sang “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” with meatloaf. Now, I understand this song was made famous by Celine Dion and Meatloaf, but I just thought that Meatloaf didn’t sound that great and that his voice really clashed with Katharine’s voice. You could also tell that Katharine’s aspirations include acting, as she chose to “act” the whole song. Was I the only one who found this grating and irritating.

Then they did this odd segment (repeated throughout the rest of the show) called the Golden Idols. This consisted of reviewing some of the worst and most bizarre performers of the season—AGAIN. Most of these were just annoying, but a few bear mentioning.

Crazy Dave Hoover made a return, fell off the stage, jumped back on, and then I’m pretty sure had to be dragged off by security, but we didn’t get to see the last part since they went to commercial. Elliott’s Mom won the proudest family moment. They also had the really, really bad guy who sort of looked like Clay Aiken on. They even let him sing. This was really just a setup to get Clay Aiken on the stage singing. Of course, it took me a moment to realize that it WAS Clay— what’s up with the hair, dude? And, finally, in their tribute to male bonding, the cowboys from the L.A. auditions made an appearance singing “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”.

The guys from the final 12 sang a medley of songs, starting with “Taking Care of Business”. Midway through the performance, Taylor came out and played the harmonica with them.

Then, there was the obligatory Ford commercial. This one was a bit special, though, as it lead up to the reveal of Taylor and Katharine’s new Ford convertibles.

Elliott sang U2’s “One” with Mary J Blige. I thought this was a really good performance. Their voices seemed well-suited to one another, and Elliott sounded great.

Carrie Underwood sang her new single, which is a real tear jerker. She looked great and was coming off her wins at the Country Music Awards the night before. I had heard Bo Bice was going to be there for last night’s performance but, again, unless I missed it, I didn’t see him.

I don’t know what was going on with the finalists’ duets last night. As previously mentioned, I thought Meatloaf didn’t sound as good as he usually does. Then Taylor sang “In The Ghetto” with Toni Braxton, and she sounded horrible. She seemed more intent on prancing around the stage in a REALLY short skirt than on singing the song.

Taylor’s duet was followed by the girls singing their medley, which was full of “I am woman, hear me roar” songs, starting with “I Feel Like a Woman”. The girls all sounded really great.

Shortly after the girls’ medley, there was a tribute to Burt Baccarat. This was really good, too, except for Kevin Covais singing “Pussycat, Pussycat”. Eww. The medley was finished off with Dion Warwick singing two songs, including “That’s What Friends Are For”. I was reminded how good Melissa McGhee was and led, once again, to wonder how Kevin Covais managed to reach the final 12. A lot of times when you see people later, you think “Wow, they really ARE good”. Not so with Kevin Covais. He was just nowhere near the league of the other performers. They might as well have let Cowboy Garrett join the final 12.

That was pretty much it, except for the reveal of the winner. But there was one other surprise. In the most random move of the evening, Prince sang a couple of songs. Um, what? Okay, it clearly wasn’t for ratings because a) they don’t need the help and b) no one knew ahead of time. It wasn’t in relation to anyone else singing (which leads me to wonder the rumors about them trying to get him on the show were true— that he didn’t want to interact with the contestants). So, what the heck was Prince doing on the show? I can only assume it was an attempt to lure “cooler” acts for the future. Now, they can say to more modern performers, “You should do American Idol. Even PRINCE has been on American Idol.” I don’t know. It just seemed odd to me.

Then they revealed that Taylor was the winner, he sang his single, and there was confetti and hugging all around.

In all, I think it was a really good season. We’ll be covering Idol goings-on between now and next year when we start the process all over again. So, stay tuned.

Season 5’s American Idol album will be out next week, May 23rd. Among the songs on the album: Chris Daughtry singing Bon Jovi’s “Wanted, Dead or Alive” (which I think was one of his best performances) and Taylor Hicks singing the Doobie Brothers’ “Taking It To The Streets” (I really wanted him to sing “Levon”). If you’re a Kevin Covais fan, you’ll get to hear him sing Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall In Love”. I don’t know that I’m planning to buy the compilation album, as I’m saving my nickles to buy Taylor Hicks album What about you? Anyone planning to purchase the album?

The results were pretty mixed on your reactions to last week’s elimination. Most of you were at least somewhat surprised. But quite a few of you thought the results were right on.

What did you think about this week’s bottom three?
Right on!: 21% (8)
I’m not surprised.: 16% (6)
A bit surprised.: 34% (13)
Are you kidding me???: 29% (11)
Total Votes : 38

Tonight’s results show was a relief to me— finally, back to the thirty minute format. I’d take a five minute results show, if they could figure out a way to make that work. But we do record it, so I can at least skip through the recap of yesterday’s performance. I mean, really, did I forget what happened 24 hours ago?

I was not nearly as surprised as the judges that Ace was in the bottom three. I wasn’t impressed last week, and I wasn’t impressed this week. But he was NOT worse than Kevin Covais. Who lets those 10 year olds vote? Surely, that must be who keeps him around.

Last night I said that I wasn’t very impressed with Melissa McGhee, despite what the judges had to say. So, it didn’t shock me that she was in the bottom three. I think she barely escaped elimination last week. She just didn’t seem to have that “it” factor, as Simon is so fond of saying.

Lisa Tucker was a bit of a surprise for me. When it came down between her and Bucky Covington, I really expected that Bucky would be in the bottom three and that he would probably be going home. But I wonder if Lisa and Paris Bennett compete for each other’s votes. They kind of remind me of one another, style-wise.

So, in case you weren’t watching and you’re depending on me to let you know who went home, I’ll end the suspense… after the break. No, not really. I’ve just always wanted to say that. Tonight we said goodbye to Melissa McGhee, the fun girl from Florida. Out of the bottom three, I think that was probably right. But I, in no way, thought she was the worst person last night. Goodbye, Melissa, and good luck.

Tonight was Stevie Wonder night. I agreed with Randy’s assessment of tonight. He said he was really looking forward to it because he likes Stevie but was a little scared of how the performers were going to do.

Let me just say that I’m going to sum up Paula’s comments right here at the beginning. Of course, she loved everyone— except Kellie Pickler. She didn’t have a lot positive to say about that performance, which tells you a lot about how that performance went.

First up tonight was Ace Young, singing “Do I Do”. I had just written that it was “alright” when Randy said exactly the same thing, so I guess that summed it up.

Kellie Pickler sang “Blame it on the Sun”. She seemed to struggle with the song. I know it’s not her style music, but I mean she REALLY struggled with this song. The best part of the performance was her talking about her false eyelashes. It was really funny because I said I thought she sounded like Dolly Parton and then Simon said she LOOKED like Dolly Parton. So, I guess there was a Dolly Parton theme going on. Sweet Kellie— she apologized every time one of the judges said something negative to her, which means she apologized a lot.

I really expected Elliott Yamin, who sang “Knocks Me Off My Feet”, to do excellently. I thought he did well, but I’m not sure it was a fabulous performance. Randy said it was good but not Elliott’s best performance. Simon said it was the “best so far” but that it was “good, not incredible”.

Mandisa sang “Don’t You Worry About a Thing”. As usual, she delivered a really good performance. Simon summed up her performance with “now we have a competition.” I was really glad she took off her shoes (or had Ryan take them off), as I don’t think she would have performed nearly as well with them on.

I was really scared of Bucky Covington singing “Superstition”. I expected it to be really disastrous. But it wasn’t. It was actually qute good. Randy thought it was an enjoyable performance. Simon said it was one of Bucky’s best performances, but the “Jessica Simpson hair has got to go”.

Every week there’s a performance that I just wonder what the judges are listening to that I’m not hearing. Melissa McGhee’s performance of “Lately” was that performance this week. They loved it. I thought it was iffy, at best. She forgot the lyrics, and I just thought it was not very good.

Lisa Tucker sang “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”. Now, don’t get me wrong— I like Lisa Tucker. But usually I find her performances a little dull. Not this week. I really thought it was her best performance, to date. Simon thought it was one of the best of the night.

Kevin Covais. Hmmm. I usually really like to keep things positive, as much as possible. But the only thing I can say about “Part Time Lover” is “ugh”. Simon’s “appalling” pretty much summed it up for me.

Katharine McPhee had the first song that was liked unanimously by the judges (and me) when she sang “Til You Come Back to Me”. It was just a great performance. I’ve read on some other reality television boards that some people don’t like her voice. Are they nuts? These same people must be the ones who vote for Kevin Covais and who will probably force me to listen to Kevin (as nice as he might be) for weeks to come.

And then my favorite part of the evening— Taylor Hicks. I don’t really care what he sings. I wish he had gotten a chance to play the harmonica, as well. I’m clearly not the only one who loved his “Living for the City”, as he got a standing ovation. Randy called his performance “fearless”, and Simon gave the very definition on a backhanded compliment when he told Taylor that people liked him because he was like “every Dad who’s got drunk at a wedding and got up on a stage and sang. Except you can sing”. I don’t know how much truth there was to it, but Ryan said that the hairstylists wanted to color Taylor’s hair. They better not, or I may have to get a ticket to fly to California and hunt them down. They should just leave his hair alone. He’s just fine the way he is.

Paris Bennett sang “All I Do”. I thought this was a great performance. So did the judges. And I thought that they stylists did a good job of making her look more her age. She looked cute. She sang great. What more can I say?

As they often do, they saved the best for last (shhh, don’t tell Taylor I said that). But, truly, Chris Daughtry singing “Higher Ground” was the best performance of the night. It was a rock star tonight, and Simon was spot on when he said it was the “best tonight by a mile”. I don’t know about “by a mile”, but I will give him “best tonight”.

This was a very bipolar night. There were really good performances and really bad performances. The good performances were some of the best ever. The bad performances were some of the worst so far.

I hope you all were able to get through to vote for your favorites and that you’re happy with the results tomorrow.