Replies

“This thread is the most fun on FR and this season is almost over.....makes me sad. :-( ”

the next Idol is only seven months away… we can meet again in January…:)

“Great! That’s what I wanted to hear.”

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This thread is dedicated to the one person who would have enjoyed it most

Tammy Gammon

We miss you, Tammy

You were a real Texas flower

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“Texasflower helped make the AI threads so much fun. She always made me smile. FR will not be the same without her.” ~ Retrokitten

“I simply adored her ability to butt heads and loved reading her posts. She was always there with the perfect hug or hatpin, whichever she felt was most deserved.” ~ Doodlelady

“The sweetest, funniest, kindest poster on the AI threads where I had the honor of ‘meeting’ her.” ~ Jrabbit

“Texasflower was an integral part of our ‘American Idol’ gang. She was always sweet and upbeat and kind to all.” ~ Palladin

“In the beginning of November I was thinking about her because the town I work in was having their elections and it reminded me about her Dad going to vote in the ambulance … I loved her and miss her.” ~ No More Apples

“She was unfailingly polite, and more than that. Kind, thoughtful, patriotic, encouraging. A blessing. She was one of my most favorite FReepers, and I do not say that very often. She was exceptional.”

“We never truly know how deeply our lives touch others. I certainly never communicated fully to Tammy how much her posts lifted me up, and I regret that. I assumed she would continue to be there and I would be able to keep responding to her appreciatively.

“We will know in heaven the effect of our lives, when everyone gathers around the Lamb's throne and all our hearts are open and all our secrets known, and we have till forever to tell one another how God blessed us through each other …” ~ GretchenM

Texasflower

Prayers & Condolences

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“She'll be a light here forever” ~ Doodlelady

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The Top 12

(In Alphabetical Order)

Paris Bennett

Paris began singing at the age of 4. She has performed in numerous concerts and has opened for many groups, including Bow Wow. Paris is a skilled dancer in hip-hop, jazz and modern African dance.

Kevin Covais

Kevin is a junior at Island Trees High School in Levittown, NY. He has been performing since he was 10 years old and has appeared in productions such as "Guys and Dolls" and "Godspell." Kevin also is a member of the Chorale in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and the Nassau/Suffolk Jazz ensemble.

Bucky Covington

Bucky lives in his hometown of Rockingham, NC. At the age of 19, he picked up a guitar for the first time and soon after joined his first band. About two years ago, Bucky switched to a country/beach/rock band and realized that his talent crosses many types of music.

Chris Daughtry

Chris discovered his singing ability in algebra class. A gifted guitar player and songwriter, Chris has already recorded a CD with his band Absent Element. For the past three years, Chris has been a service advisor for a car dealership in Greensboro, NC. In 2000, Chris married his wife Deanna and became a stepfather of two.

Taylor Hicks

Taylor is a blue-eyed soul singer who has played every honky-tonk imaginable. A talented writer and harmonica player, Taylor enters the competition with almost 29 years of singing experience, as he has been singing since he could crawl.

Mandisa Hundley

Born and raised in Citrus Heights, CA, Mandisa moved to Nashville to study singing at Fisk University. She has performed with such artists as Shania Twain, Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill and Charlie Daniels.

Melissa McGhee

Melissa was born and raised in Tampa. At the young age of 4 Melissa embarked on her performing career. A true romantic, Melissa enjoys singing, dancing and going to the beach in her free time.

Katherine McPhee

Katharine was born and raised in Los Angeles. She was exposed at an early age to the joy of singing by her mother, a vocal coach. After high school, Katharine attended the prestigious Boston Conservatory for one semester and majored in musical theater.

Kellie Pickler

Kellie is a waitress who currently lives in Albemarle, NC, and enjoys singing, dancing and shopping for shoes. Kellie has been singing for as long as she can remember, but only began performing for crowds four years ago.

Lisa Tucker

Lisa is currently a senior at Kennedy High School. She was the original "Young Nala" in Disney's Los Angeles production of "The Lion King" and was voted by Variety as one of the "Top Ten Talents to Watch." Lisa also plays the guitar and piano and is a songwriter.

Elliot Yamin

Elliott began singing at the ripe age of 5. His mother, who was a professional singer, is his inspiration and biggest fan. For Elliott, being on AMERICAN IDOL has allowed him to pursue his dream of singing professionally.

Ace Young

Ace is the youngest of five brothers. Ace grew up in Boulder, CO, and began his singing career at age 9. He started performing at 11 in local malls and recreation centers. Ace lives in Los Angeles and works in sales and home remodeling.

Click here for Pics & Bios of the Top 24

sweet! :)

Did John McCain shut down the original thread?

If you can, please center the table in post #1. Thanks.

Top 50.

Before we continue, let's acknowledge that the show has become such a cultural phenomenon that even Politicians are using this show as a metaphor in their political exchanges.

Consider :

Cheney to Democrats: "If they are competent to fight this war, then I ought to be singing on American Idol."
The Democrat response: "Simon Cowell is more loved than this administration and its failed Iraq policy. Cheney wouldn't last long on American Idol."

OK, let's forget politics for the meantime, back to the recap....

LET's SUMMARIZE: GOODNESS, GRACIOUS, I WANT MY ONE HOUR BACK NOW !! THE PERFORMANCES WERE MOSTLY FORGETTABLE.
I thought it made a lot of sense -- letting the Idols choose material from a century that will define their careers.

Not looking at the past, but close to the present. This theme is a gift the producers give. After two weeks of singing Stevie Wonder and 1950s songs, the show finally let the remaining 10 finalists pick any song from the 21st century ( something they should be familiar with). No more looking through the song catalog trying to figure out which song from the oldies station sounds less dated. Just turn on MTV or VH1, find something you like, get an arrangement down, and go for it. What could be easier than that ?

The problem is that this week the contestants weren't being compared to songs most viewers only hear at weddings and bar mitzvahs. It was a lot easier to judge the singers in comparison to what actually makes it to airplay, and the sad fact is that if these 10 were as good as the performers who made the songs famous, they probably wouldn't need "American Idol" to secure a record deal in the first place. But then, let's be honest... it's hard to judge "good" from "bad" in a venue like this one where you don't have original material to work from and don't have the benefit of "takes" in a sound studio.

Also take especial note folks --- THEY DON'T WRITE SONGS LIKE THEY USED TO. MOST OF THE 21st CENTURY SONGS WON'T EVEN BE REMEMBERED 10 YEARS FROM NOW ( AKA, there won't be any standards that people will want to remember if and when they do have say, American Idol 12 ). I AM WILLING TO BET YOU ON THAT. Where are the great writers today ? Where is the next Lennon-McCartney, the next Taupin-John, the next Bacharach-David ?

And oh SURPRISE, SURPRISE, The judges seemed to have an unusual fit of criticizetis tonight. Yes, the result is most contestants got criticism or lukewarm praise, and even Positive, Nurturing Paula was a little crankier than normal. Here's a surprise, Chris Daughtry, who could do no wrong in the first two months of the competition, actually got a bit of negative feedback. What ? No more pim-ping about how "original" ( note the quotes ) he is ?? Maybe the uproar from last week's "LIVE" rip-off got to the judges.

ON with the show....

Lisa Tucker, our dear sweet, teen cover girl.
Who does she decide to cover ? Well, she's trying to breakaway ( pun intended ) by DARING to make a comparison between her at 16 with the first American Idol when she was 20. That's right, Lisa decides to do Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You".

Well, what can I say ? It's becoming pretty predictable every week for Tucker ( AKA routinely boring).
She comes out, she sings a song pretty well, the judges criticize her, and she can't quite figure out why. They loved her at the auditions, they loved her in Hollywood, they loved her in the semifinals … and now, for whatever reason, they suddenly seem to grow cold on her. Sounds like a cheating boyfriend/girlfriend ? Well, now you know what poor Lisa must now feel.

Personally, I don't care what the judges say. It was one of the best vocal she's done since the finals began. ALAS and ALAK, she's trying to compare herself with an American Idol who went on to become a superstar and this performance shows that she's got ways to go.

The judges are lukewarm. Even Paula, trying her best to be nice, is lukewarm.

The judge's capriciousness should be a preview for the fickleness Tucker can expect from high-school boys when she gets voted off and becomes a normal student again. I'm afraid this might be her swan song.

But then again, she's going to be touring the country no matter what...

Every time I see Kellie Pickler, I don't anticipate what she's going to sing or perform but what silly things will be coming out of her mouth before or after the performance. THAT folks, is why I want her to stay some more...it's a simple, guilty pleasure on my part. Pardon my indulgence.

To the surprise of nobody, Pickler picks a country song, "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans. Sara is like Martina Mcbride. You HAVE TO DO HER JUSTICE TO MAKE PEOPLE FORGET HER. Carrie Underwood RIVALED Martina's version of INDEPENDENCE DAY. Will Kellie do the same on Sara's song ?

Sadly, I have to say it was just alright. No WOW. Kellie was trying to chase the backup instrumentals and had a hard time getting her tempo straight and never seemed to get into the performance. It probably won't matter. The judges criticized it, Pickler said "I'm sorry!" and the whole audience goes sweet on her again. She is a minx isn't she? She's like your pretty girlfriend who messes up and then sweetly, with her smile and pouty lips, apologizes to you, running her fingers on your chest oh so tenderly and all is suddenly well with the world again. BUT HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO PLAY THIS GAME BEFORE WE REALIZE THAT WE HAVE TO VOTE THE BEST SINGERS, NOT THE BEST A-- KISSERS.

BUT THIS SAYS IT ALL :

"The song wasn't exciting enough for your voice. I think maybe you're better than that." – Randy Jackson

Ace Young, my good old Boy Band lead singer. Will he do well this time ? Will he break out of his boy band mould ?
Ace chooses Train's "Drops of Jupiter" <--- GREAT CHOICE. Train is one of the better groups out there today who can write substantial lyrics. I admit that I hate this song with a passion of a thousand nuns who also hate this song. It was played to death for three years and that's the reason why I grew tired of it.

That said, I personally thought that the performance was acceptable. But then, is acceptable enough ? You're here to win aren't you ? There isn't really much to the 100 seconds they all sung tonight. It's really hard to do any song justice in that amount of time. My only problem with Ace is how literal he takes some of his performances. Just because the song says the word hair, it doesn't mean you have to touch your hair. For example, in the group song "TAKE IT EASY", he literally counts with his fingers when he sings : "4 who want to own me, 2 who want to stone me, 1 says she's a friend of mine.."

The only drama was when he revealed a scar on his chest ! WOO HOO, are we having a Baywatch moment here ?

Paula asked where he got it, which drew concerned comments from the other judges, but as it turns out it's just an old basketball injury — nothing that could get the controversial "Idol" judge mired in another Corey Clark moment for inappropriate dialogue with a hot contestant.

I'm getting worried for Ace. he visited the bottom 3 once. He could visit the bottom again this week. All depends on how Bucky does tonight.

It's not looking good when your fate lies in the hands of a bottom dweller and how he performs.

Taylor Hicks

Time to get serious for Taylor Hicks. At some point, people get tired of this dancing/performing thing and WILL REALIZE that this is at heart — STILL A VOCAL COMPETITION.
No one doubts that Taylor is a great performer. WE GET HIS POINT, but it’s time to settle down and do some serious singing that highlights your vocals ( the way Taylor did in the initial auditions (e.g., CHANGE IS GONNA COME ) ).
Simon of course is a sort of “put down the person” fellow who for the life of me can’t decide whether this is a performing show or a vocal show.

In the initial auditions in Vegas, he put’s Taylor down by saying : “It’s Not just about the voice and you proved that…”( whatever that means). He seems to concede then that Taylor has a voice but needs to show something more ( performing ?? ).

Then Taylor shows how entertaining he is by REALLY GETTING TO IT ( e.g. 3 weeks in a row — Takin’ It to the Street, Living For the City, Not Fade Away), and now Simon complains about drunk dancing.

So, Taylor has to get back to basics if he wants to win this — HIGHLIGHT YOUR VOCALS. After all, he did say initially that he WANTS HIS VOICE HEARD.

Give Hicks credit; he was one of the few finalists to try something new this week. I always knew that Taylor ( unlike Chris ), can be versatile. His years of performance experience prove it. He chooses "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne, a song that forced him to stand and sing in a stationary position rather than showcasing his manic dancing.

The vocals were nice. It would have been awesome had he not been limited to just 2 minutes ( this is really a 4 minute song ). It must have taken a lot of effort to just stand there and sing, but I give him props. TAYLOR SHOWED THAT HE ISN'T JUST A PERFORMER TONIGHT. HE CAN SING AND THAT's WHAT IT's ALL ABOUT.

Simon likes his vocals and called it "excellent", and then let's out his British trap by complaining about his styling --- it's very Clay Aiken.

What's he trying to imply ? That Taylor's gay ? or is he saying that's what Clay would look like if he had gray hair. Luckily, Taylor has a good sense of humor and simply laughs it off.

Mandisa chooses a gospel hit song by Mary, Mary --- "WANNA PRAISE YOU"

Mandisa is clearly throwing a big and implied HELLO to all of his Christian contemporary listeners out there. You know, the folks who enjoy watching guys like Kirk Franklin or Yolanda Adams perform.

Well, she sang it very well. Look, I go to church myself and can truly appreciate this music ( heck, I'd probably be clapping and lifting my hands if I heard this live). But the image was definitely church choir rather than pop stardom. It won't cost her anything this week, but she probably doesn't want to make a habit of it. After all, this isn't a tent revival meeting.

Wow, note this telling praise :

"All I know is there's a new religion, and 40 million people are now going to the church of Mandisa." – Paula Abdul.

MANDISA ISN'T GOING ANYWHERE FOLKS. Expect to see her next week

Now comes my favorite rocker/screamer/yeller, Chris Daughtry.

Are we going to see smoke and light and strobes again ? I hope not. This is getting to be a special effects show week after week.

But what do you know... Ryan Seacrest gave Chris a two-minute interview to acknowledge that yes, the version of "Walk The Line" he sang last week was the "Live" version, and yes, that's one of his favorite bands. OK, now that we've gotten that out of the way, call off the Senate investigation and tell Pat Fitzerald to go home.

What does Chris choose to sing -- AHA a CREED SONG -- "WHAT IF" <--- WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED ?

Simon Cowell is now becoming a parody of himself. This man is a total, walking, talking self-contradiction.
Just one week after saluting Daughtry for never compromising, he then attacks the show's designated rocker after his performance for GET THIS ---- not compromising !!

Hey Simon, MAKE UP YOUR MIND ! Do you want him to compromise and sing Dean Martin or not ? You can't have it both ways you know.

But let me tell you why Simon is rooting for Chris to win....let's remind ourselves of a previous post ( by me of course )...Here is what Gray Charles says :

On an MSNBC interview, Simon Cowell said the following to Rita Cosby:

Rita: Who do you think will win? What’s your prediction on who’s gonna win? Who’s gonna take it all?

Simon: I have a horrible feeling the public is going to vote for Taylor, and I’d prefer Chris.

Why would Simon “prefer” Chris? Easy, Simon’s job is to market and sell the winner of AI to the public. Is Chris marketable? Absolutely and easily. Remember that first and foremost Simon would like to make money off the winner.

With Chris, you have a performer that is easily packaged into a box that makes sense. Go ahead and try it for yourself - write a one sentence summary of Chris.
Alt-Rock Edge in “nice guy” package - that’s mine.
Now compare Chris to another band thats popular today - once again, it’s all too easy.

Now try and do the same with Taylor - it’s much more difficult. If you’re in Simon’s shoes, how do you go about “selling” Taylor to the public? Name another musician that is big on the pop charts today that you could compare to Taylor. See the difficulty? This is the challenge that Simon doesn’t want to face.

Does Simon prefer Taylor’s music to Chris? I would argue that, for the purposes of this competition - it’s irrelevant. Simon prefers to make money - Chris can easily be a money making machine - Taylor, who knows? Young folks, the sort who spend their allowances as soon as it arrives are the most avid CD buyers and most dig Chris' type of music, not Taylor's BLUES and SOUL.

Here is the real music to Simon's ears and here is how it sounds --- KACHING, KACHING !!

Well, who do we have next ? The sultry looking -- Kate Mcphee.

If there's such a thing as a judge's pet, Kate is rapidly earning that honor among the women — for two weeks in a row, she's been the darling of the three stooges. She decides to sing "The Voice Within" by Christina Aguilera.

Lets' put it this way .... I'm not even going to deal with that outfit. I'll just say it was a reason to focus on her face, which is just gorgeous. Kate Holmes, Catherine Zeta Jones, you name them, she's in their league in terms of looks. All she needs to do is hit the gym often.

Now on to the meaty part ---- This song swallowed the best parts of her voice. I didn't like the belting. Her voice is best jazzy, smoky, soulful not this straight pop. Christina has other songs she could have picked that would have been more singing (which she can do) and less belting (which less so). That beginning was quite weak. The first part of the song was not good, was not pleasing to the ear, was somewhat off in delivery...but I thought she recovered a lot in the Chorus. Yes, the Chorus was much better than the Verse. This is actually the first time in a long time she sounded forced and strained in her performance.

All three judges like her version of , despite the fact that while the vocals were strong, the overall performance wasn't all that extraordinary. Maybe they've caught the McPheever, which is rapidly gaining on "Pick Pickler" for the show's most overused contestant catch phrase.

Luckily, Taylor isn't aping his idol, Ray... I don't hear the phrase "Gray Charles" that much anymore.

But I disagree with the judges, Kate did nothing to make me forget Christina.

DID I SPY the lovable GEORGE HUFF IN THE AUDIENCE ?? YES, INDEED, IT's HIM. BRING HIM BACK FOR A SONG PRODUCERS. NOW THAT LOU RAWLS IS GONE, HE's THE DESIGNATED HEIR !!

Folks, this theme night was made for a guy like Bucky CONVINGTON. THE 21st century saw the coming of the great GRUFF, GROWLING Southern Country rockers. Bucky has tons of singing material to choose from and I am in NO DOUBT that he'll choose one perfect for his gruff, redneck demeanor.

Covington definitely picked the right song, going with Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man." It allowed him to dress the part of a country singer, and maximize his vocal attributes. The problem was the same issue Covington faces every week; his enunciation is terrible and he's very hard to understand. The music seemed to drown him out. But then let's be honest --- DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND half of Tim Mcgraw when he sings ? Maybe the charm of these type of music is the deliberate slurring of the words and poor diction so that it FORCES you to listen to try to understand what the heck they're singing about. Who knows ?

I tried to close my eyes and think about whether I'd like this song if I heard him sing it on the radio. Sounded OK. But not good enough to get him out of the danger zone IMHO.
"Definitely the right kind of song for you. You're definitely at home in your country suit." says Randy Jackson ( agreeing with my estimation ).

Next, we come to the girl who is MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR SPLITTING THE VOTE AWAY FROM LISA.... Paris Bennett

Bennett chooses "Work It Out" by Beyoncé Knowles, because she said it gave her a chance to look and act like a 17-year-old ( NOT ).

It worked out as far as that went — she definitely looked and sounded a lot younger than she has in recent weeks. Of course, the problem is that by sounding younger, she allowed herself to be compared to Beyoncé, who is 10 years older and she still has a ways to go to reach that level of maturity.

But it was a good, enjoyable performance anyway, and Bennett is one of the few likely to get a legitimate record deal somewhere regardless of how she fares in this competition. She did her best mini-Beyonce performance. I enjoyed her performance, which is more than I can say about a lot of them tonight. It's more of a concert type song, more for lip synching and dancing than actually singing it for a contest.

"That was fearless. It was the bomb" says Randy Jackson ( this guy has a limited vocabulary I'll tell you that. Between YO YO, CHECK IT OUT MAN and DAWG, all he has is DA BOMB).

Hmmmm.... What is Mr Tumnus, my favorite Amish farmer going to do for us tonight ? I've always said that Elliott was meant for LISTENING, not looking at. Get him in a studio, give him great material to sing, and I will be ready to be a patronizer. His voice is smooth and soothing, especially when you have to listen to some music in a long drive.

Eliott chooses Gavin Degraw's "I DON'T WANT TO BE". Remember who did this last season ? YEP, none other than the great Bo Bice.

In case it hasn't become obvious by now, the judges would REALLY REALLY like America to keep Elliott around despite the fact that he looks nothing close to what Hollywood would cast as an American Idol, is struggling to reveal a compelling personality, and dances like an awkward seventh-grader at the Teen Club Spring Fling.

Elliott looked and sounded a lot like Eminem tonight. Wow. Didn't think boring-boy had it in him. I gotta give it up to him just for making this song halfway enjoyable. I don't think it was his personal best vocal, and I do think he forgot some lyrics at the beginning, but still it was better than most tonight. His personal best were still his first two performances --- IF YOU REALLY LOVE ME, and MOODY's MOOD FOR LOVE ( the later, probably one of the top vocals this season ).

Elliott did well, but the judges' praises were a little over the top IMHO.

"I loved the arrangement, and I loved that you made it your own. You are one funky white boy."says Paula Abdul ( question, had Elliott been black, would it have been appropriate for Paula to use "funky black" in the same sentence ? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW. Should we ask Al Sharpton the question ?).

All the intangibles are stacking up in Elliott's favor; he sang last, he sang well, and the judges loved him. I think he has the same problem that George Huff had in season 3 - he doesn't quite realize yet just how good he really is. He has more pure, raw talent than anyone else there. All he needs is more seasoning.

OVERALL a CRAPTASTIC NIGHT WITH FORGETTABLE PERFORMANCES. Who woulda thought the first 6 years of the 21st century would produce such lean material to choose from ???

MY RANKING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

Taylor
Paris
Elliott
Chris
Katharine
Mandisa
Ace
Kellie
Bucky
Lisa

WHO SHOULD GO : LISA
WHO WILL GO : Bucky

Rough night.

Taylor--Honestly, the only performance that I'd care to listen to.

Elliott--Finally some life in the boy.

Paris--Thought she did a good job with that.

Katharine--Hate Aguilera. That type of singing is the vocal equivalent of a circus contortionist, somewhat interesting but ultimately pointless. McPhee did it pretty well though.

Chris--Keepin on keepin on. Getting tired of it, but he's still doing it well.

Mandisa--Too much yelling.

Ace--a'right

Bucky--a'right

Lisa--For some reason her performance is always worse than the sum of its parts.

Kellie--Suffers from being the only contestant whose song I'd heard before. I don't think she was singing it that much slower than Sara Evans, but it seemed a lot slower. Drained the life out of that song.

Lisa will probably get voted off tonight, but I'd rather it be the Gerkhin.

In regards to the performance in the Top 10 results night...

Apologies to SHAKIRA fans out there but

Is it just me ? or did anyone notice that Shakira seems to be lip-synching during her performance ?

It was just odd in parts.

Same with Wyclef. When he sang to Simon, his mouth didn’t match up at that time to what we were hearing.

Someone tell me that it ain't so...

STRICTLY FOR TAYLOR HICKS FANS ONLY :

Interview with Taylor's High School Prom date. Click here :

http://www.soulpatrolshirts.com/media/Brooke.mp3

Click on this site for pictures of his prom date and his high school pic :

http://www.graycharles.com/index.php/2006/03/29/breaking-news-taylor-went-to-the-prom-before-paris/#comments

STRICTLY FOR TAYLOR HICKS FANS ONLY :

This is a multi-media tribute to Taylor Hicks ready for download:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/yzqsll

Background music is Taylor's own composition -- HEART AND SOUL ( from his self-produced CD - UNDER THE RADAR )

http://www.celebrityspider.com/news/march06/article033106-31.html

Ryan Seacrest Confirms Teri Hatcher Romance 3/31/06

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has confirmed he is dating Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher.

The talent show host appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night (30MAR06) and Leno asked him about pictures of the couple kissing which appeared in an American magazine.

Seacrest said, "Yes, we're dating. She's fantastic, she's great. I think she's a beautiful woman, she's a great dresser.

He jokingly added, "We can share jeans, it's perfect."

Seacrest managed to side-step further questions about the relationship, but was put on the spot again when Los Angeles radio station KTLA's entertainment reporter Sam Rubin called him live on air.

Rubin also quizzed him about the photos, with Seacrest saying, "I think we can assume that we've been together.

"If I wanted to have my picture taken I would have gone to (popular celebrity restaurant) The Ivy, that (the restaurant where he was photographed with Hatcher) was far out of town.

"That was a surprise to me."

When Rubin asked if he was embarrassed by the photos being published in a national magazine, Seacrest replied, "I'm not embarrassed, she's beautiful."

When asked if the couple would be going on another date Seacrest quipped, "You'll have to ask her."

I got this from the American Idol Season 5 board where it was originally posted. Thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy, regardless of whether you agree with the poster or not.

Hello folks,

I am a recording artist, who has been on stage and in studios for close to 13 years now. I've sold almost 6 million albums in my career, so I'm not a superstar, and if I told you my name some of you would have never heard of me. But I thought I would let everyone know what a professional artist who has been in the biz for a while thinks of the Idols who are left. These are my thoughts and they are only opinions.

Paris- Paris is a love her or hate her performer. She sings the style of music and performs in a way that leaves no room between the two. She has a great stage presence and exudes confidence while she's up there, but she is young and it shows. There are times when Paris seems like she's trying to appear older than she actually is. Her voice is fine, however not very unique. Her personality off the stage, from what the show shows, is offsetting to some people in that she is too cutesy and giggly. But that, also, could be due to her age. She should have a very large fan base of girls and people into the R&B and pop scenes, and a lot of people will vote for her because they appreciate her vocal quality.

Kellie- Kellie, without a doubt will become a country performer. She, again, is not a unique voice, but she has a personality that appeals to tons of people. She's the girl next door, and is physically attractive. Her silly comments and the fact that she has a naive quality that people really find entertaining and fun, will take her a long way. Her stage presence is mediocre, but she has a big career ahead of her for sure.

Chris- Chris, again, has a voice that is not unique. But no matter what genre people are into, everybody likes rock. His stage presence is not quite as good as Bo from the year before, but he also has a personality and a confidence off stage that draw people to him. He's a man's man and a lady's man at the same time. Chris's bigges flaw so far in the season has been diversity. He hasn't had it. Rock is fine to do almost every time, but there are tons of different sounds in rock, and it seems like he always uses the same one. He has got to show more personality and creativity in his song choices and performances. Chris will sell millions of records after idol in the rock genre. There is no doubt in my mind.

Ace- I will not tell you what I personally think of ace, for his fans' own sake. But I will tell you a few things. Ace has a decent voice, again far from unique, but appealing to women. Women and gay men will love Ace mostly because of the way he looks. The problem is he knows this, and uses his sex appeal as if it is the only thing he has going for him. This very well may be true. I don't believe Ace is cocky, he just has a problem hiding the fact that he thinks he looks better than Brad Bitt. No straight men will vote for Ace, but I don't think most of them vote anyway. Ace may end up with a career in music, but I think it will be short lived.

Elliot- Elliot is one of the few people on the show who have a unique voice, and a good one. Everyone knows he doesn't have the look of a superstar recording artist, but he has the attitude and the swagger. I still haven't figured out what kind of album Elliot would make, but I get a Justin Timberlake or Usher type of disc in my head. Elliot has weak stage presence, but it seems to get better every time he sings. I think Elliot will eventually grow into a good entertainer and will have a decent, if not good singing career.

Taylor- Everybody and their mothers loves Taylor. He's what I like to call a good ol' boy. Taylor does have a unique(for this decade) singing style and stage presence. If we were in the 1960's or 70's he would not stand out as much, but he has the potential to bring that type of music back to this millenium. Taylor is an entertainer by nature, and that shows in almost every performance he does. He has a very likable personality off stage, but it also comes through while he's on. People will always love Taylor, and if his music style can make a comeback through him, he will have a great career.

Mandisa- Mandisa is similar to Taylor as far as career timing. She's got a retro voice and retro style that will appeal to a ton of people. Her voice is not too unique, but it is amazing. Women will love her because she is not another Beyonce or Christina or Britney. She actually has to be able to sing, and she can. She's also a spirit lifter, and just knows how to make people feel good. Mandisa will never be a super huge star, but she could have a very long career and make lots of money.

Bucky- Bucky's voice is not great, but it is the most unique, and sometimes that is more important. He sings in a manner that most people don't even have the ability to without killing their vocal chords, but he can still keep the key of a song. Bucky is too hick for a lot of people, but a hick is just what some voters need. He's the only male country or southern rock singer on the show, so any die hard fans of country (which there are way more than people think) or southern rock have only him to vote for. His stage showmanship is way too rehearsed and mechanical, but people give him credit for trying. With a lot of fine tuning, Bucky could be a really good performer down the road. And he may have a good career in country music. (Fun fact: Josh Gracin is the only Idol ever to finish outside the top two and still have a gold record)

Katherine- Katherine is a georgeous girl, who knows how to play the sweet seductress role on the stage. Her biggest problem is consistency. She sings right on the money sometimes, and not good at all other times. Her sweet demeanor (whether its real or fake) and her physical attributes are a perfect combination for her voice, and she would do amazing in a recording studio. People like Katherine, and she will have a career in music, but I don't think it will be a real long one.

Okay, thats it. Just putting in my 2 cents. I'll leave you with my predictions for the vote-off order for the remainder of the show. Thanks for reading.

Taylor- Winner
Kellie
Chris
Elliot
Katherine
Mandisa
Paris
Bucky
Ace

HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RECAP TIME ( with a little copying from various sources )

Remember the old Donny amd Marie song in their 1970's show ??

Well,

They're a little bit country...and Chris has lost his rock edge !

We've got Country Night - YEE HAW.

The first thing that came to my mind is this --- they're trying to build the advantage for their favored --- Kelli Pickler because of the many bad nights she's been having. And oh yeah, Bucky Covington too.

Question --- DID THEY EVER DO Carrie Underwood this favor last season HUH ? There was no country night then ? So, why
suddenly a country night now ??

For you folks in Asia, unfamiliar to this genre ( as Simon Cowell himself admits), Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music.

However today, country music is actually a catch-all category that embraces several different genres of music: Nashville sound (the pop-like music very popular in the 1960s); bluegrass, a fast mandolin, banjo and fiddle-based music popularized by Bill Monroe and by the Foggy Mountain Boys; Western which encompasses traditional Western ballads and Hollywood Cowboy Music, Western swing, a sophisticated dance music popularized by Bob Wills; Bakersfield sound (popularized by Buck Owens and Merle Haggard); Outlaw country; Cajun; Zydeco; gospel; oldtime (generally pre-1930 folk music); honky tonk; Appalachian; rockabilly; neotraditional country and jug band.

IN SHORT -- YOU'VE GOT A WHOLE HEAP OF ARTISTS TO CHOOSE FROM --- John Denver, Johnny Cash, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynnete, Martine Mcbride, George Jones, Willy Nelson and even Jim Croce. Heck, even Ray Charles did some country. We even have great coutnry bands like Alabama and groups like the Dixie Chicks.

Each style is unique in its execution, its use of rhythms, and its chord structures, though many songs have been adapted to the different country styles. With this, you should have a wealth of artists to choose from even if you hate one, you should be able to pick someone else.

Well, firstly it boils down to song choice. Some of these songs are horrible, and others, you can't do justice to given only 90 minutes to perform. The reason is a lot of country music tell stories. You can't do justice to them in under 2 minutes.

So, Has my world gone absolutely crazy? I think it has. Tonight, Ace Young had one of the best performances of the night. Taylor Hicks, usually among the top 4, had one of the worst. And Bucky got the Pimp spot!

Kenny Rogers helped the kids work on their tunes. He's 67 years old this year and boy, I think he's had plastic surgery...

ON WITH THE SHOW....

Taylor Hicks - "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver - BOY O BOY. Why this one ? This song has been oversung and overperformed by almost every amateur in town. Heck, I can sing and perform it myself, just give me a guitar, What was going on with Taylor this week? I have no idea why he picked this song, 'cause he didn't seem to enjoy singing it. Even Kenny Rogers sounded dubious about Taylor's prospects here. First, this jaunty John Denver tune isn't exactly "Idol" material. The song would really need a special vocal twist in order to make it interesting in 90 seconds. A good performance of this song would exude joy, but Taylor was flat--he seemed bored and distracted as he sang. He sped through it like he couldn't wait for it to be over. He was chasing the background instruments most of the time and by the time it was finished, you ask yourself --- THAT's IT ??

I knew the judges were going to nail him when he finished, and they did. Simon said, "I thought it was safe, boring, lazy. It sounded like you'd chosen that song 10 seconds ago...it didn't do anything for you, really." I agree with Simon. Taylor had a bad week.

There is something going on with Taylor Hicks... the past 2 weeks, he looks less and less like the exuberant, devil-may-care, spastic, quirky, Taylor Hicks I grew to like in the auditions ( you know, the one who played the harmonica in the doom room walk and the one who shouts an exuberant SOUL PATROL during his performances ). He looks like a lion de-clawed, a King Kong tranquilized.

WHAT DID THE PRODUCERS DO TO HIM ? I WANT MY OLD TAYLOR BACK !!! DURN IT !

And what's this back and forth banter between Ryan and Simon and the reference to a desperate housewife ?

Well, it seems that Ryan has been dating Teri Hatcher and she must love his beard because he's growing one.

But does Teri Hatcher love his beard, or is she the beard for Ryan? Only Simon knows for sure, since he thinks Ryan is a "Desperate Housewife."

I can hear Kellie saying --- Ya know, Kissin a mayn with a beeard is a lot like going to a picnic, you don't mahnd goin through a little bush to get theyre !

Enough of that before I get censored....

Mandisa - "Any Man Of Mine" by Shania Twain -
If Mandisa has any flaw, it is her low register. She has to show case her power and ultimately when she starts low, it always gives her trouble.

So much of this tune kept Mandisa in her weak, lower register.

What can I say ... It isn't working either.

Kenny said she had "spirit", but it sure wasn't on display here. This performance was slowed up and halting--it just klunked along. The last bit, after the key change, improved a bit. But, similar to Taylor, Mandisa brought no energy or joy to this song. It just plodded along until it finally ended. Randy liked the last four bars. Simon like the silence at the end. This lackluster performance could land Mandisa in the bottom 3 tomorrow. Oh, and I ain't no size 2, so I know from where I speak--Mandisa honey, dress to flatter the figure, OK? Thank yeww. ( and no more fat jokes from me I promise ).

Elliott Yamin - "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks -

So, Kenny reckons that Elliott likes to massage songs so that they have intricate notes where they don't exists and he tells Elliott that you just don't do that with country music.

Awww, ya know at the beginning of the song, when Elliot let go of his death-grip on the microphone to tug his ear? That was for his girlfriend. Sweet.  The bit of shake in Elliott's vocal, the two-fisted death grip on his mic, and the look in his eyes belied a nervous Elliott.

Nevertheless, Elliott has a warm beautiful voice, and his performance was just lovely in spots.  But, if he could have just relax, and allowed his honey voice to wrap around that beautiful melody, he would have killed. Still, a very good song choice for Elliott.

Holy cow, did anybody understand what Paula was babbling on about to Elliott? Something about "careless reckless abandon."  What? Somebody--hide Pauler's stash. Lastly, I gotta say, the stylists are doing an awesome job.  Elliott is looking downright handsome these days.
Best of the lot so far.

Paris Bennett - "How Do I Live" by Leann Rimes -
Pre-song interview with Ryan was all about the many hairstyles of Miss P. How fascinating.

Paris got off to a shaky start. At the beginning, she was a little flat and some of her lower notes got swallowed up. But she hit her stride toward the end of the song, reaching the high notes beautifully. Kenny said, "You really believe her when she sings this," and I have to agree. Despite the imperfect vocal, her rendition was moving. Randy and Paula were lukewarm, while Simon praised her--maybe a little too much. He compared her to a young Dionne Warwick. And yes! I can hear the similarities in their vocal tones.

Hummm... Paula being critical and Simon being nurturing ? What is the world coming to ???

Ace Young - "I Wanna Cry" by Keith Urban -

Who would have imagined Ace owning on Country night? Ace, sitting on a stool, canned all the corny mannerisms and delivered a straightforward, intimate and heartfelt performance. His vocals, rather than sounding breathy and weak were sweet and highlighted his earnest vulnerability. Despite a few pitch problems here and there, his vocal was good and he acquitted himself nicely on the falsetto parts. When Ace isn't self conscious or trying too hard, there's a real attractive sincerity that comes through his performances. He'd be fine if he relaxed, and allowed himself to tap into that quality.

This Ace, with all the pretension and awkwardness stripped away, is the guy who could advance deep into this competition.

At this point, it would be a shame if he got voted off on a night when he actually did very well.

SONG CHOICE FOLKS, SONG CHOICE. If Pavarotti sang Independence Day, he'd be a wreck too.

Randy thought the performance was boring, but Paula and Simon liked it ( or is Simon practicing reverse psychology again ?).

Next, we come to my favorite actress ( yes i said actress, not singer ).....

And what do you know, Ryan seems to realize that folks like me, who are beginning to see through her veneer do exist. He gives her some pre-performance time to explain her so called naive "calamari" statement. She doth protest too much, saying she ain't faking it. Should I believe her ??? I'll cross the bridge when I get there.

Kellie Pickler chooses "Fancy" by the red-headed Reba McEntire (written by Bobbi Gentry) - I had actually gotten to a point with Kellie where her presence didn't completely irritate me. It wasn't that she was so obviously fake that irked me, but that the judges were initially glossing over terrible vocal performances and pim ping her on this fake "personality". The past couple of weeks saw the judges picking apart her vocals, finally. Funny thing, the performances they were picking apart were actually better than her early outings, when all the judges had to say were "Kellie, yer just so gosh durn likable!" I actually started feeling a little sorry for her. But I'm right back to being irked.

Thanks to her pre-song interview with Ryan--a lame, scripted attempt to spin the bad press Kellie has been getting lately. "Ahhhh spend threeee hunnard dolllars fer mahhhh haairrr cuts but ahhhhh donno whaat Cah-lah-mah-ri is!" Sorry, still not buying it! Kellie's vocals were ok on this tune--all about a mother who turns her 18 year old daughter out for tricks--charming! Kellie's phrasing can be really strange, with a tendancy to swallow her words. She really doesn't have much vocal power where it counts. And as she performs, she lurches awkwardly around the stage. For Kellie, little country novelty songs like "Fancy" and last week's "Suds in a Bucket" are best--because she really is all about the "personality." This week, she's back in the judge's good graces--all three praised her performance.
You know, I have a strong feeling the powers that be are PUSHING for her to win because they see in her a potential star ( you know, a Jessica Simpson/Britney Spears type ).

Consider --- Jon Stevens never had a big band night, Carrie Underwood never had a Country Night. But here you are --- THEY HAVE A SPECIAL COUNTRY NIGHT FOR THEIR FAVORED ONE -- KELLIE "GHERKIN" PICKLER. Aren;t you suspicous at all ???

Whoopie and Chris Rock in the audience ???

Chris Daughtry - "Making Memories of Us" written by Rodney Crowell, performed by Keith Urban - Chris finally changed it up this week with a slow ballad. Obviously listening to Simon when he said last week after his CREED rendition -- "you can't be doign this week after week !". OK, so he doesn't. DID IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE ?

I'll say this dude can sing even when he isn't screamimg. Really. He should show off that softer side more often. This was a really simple, subtle, effective performance. No belting, no vocal tricks, no yelling, no gruff--just a straight up, emotional rendition of a sweet romantic song. I think Chris has great stage presence--he looks comfortable up there and easily commands the stage. And this performance proved he's versatile and not a one trick pony.

Simon thought it was boring. I thought it was one of the night's better performances.

I don't know how you can please Simon. You belt, he complains, you don't compromise, he praises you. You DO compromise, he complains. YOU JUST CAN'T WIN !!

Katharine McPhee - "Bringing Out the Elvis" by Faith Hill. Now I like the attire. No longer pregnant looking that's for sure ( after all, one pregnant Kate (Holmes) is enough ).

Katharine really knows how to work that stage and the camera. And tonight, her vocals were good. But the entire effect left me with a little quizzical look. Does not sound country to me. Sounds like a bluesified country song.

I don't think this was a really good song choice for her. But maybe not a good choice for anybody--"Elvis" isn't a great song. There was a lot of strutting around the stage, punctuated by Katharine belting out that chorus, "bringing out the Elvis in me." But I couldn't really hear the verse. I kept wondering who or what was turning Katharine into Elvis and why? Nice save, though. When Simon started out his critique negatively by saying he didn't like the song, Katharine shot back, "You just don't like Country music, Simon." That shut him up quick.
Yes folks, you don't expect a snotty Brit to get indigeneous American music. But then, why does my Asian friend get it ?

I'll explain why --- The Chinese came to America earlier than the British did and that's a fact. HEH HEH.

This night was made for Kellie and Bucky. It was designed to have them redeem themselves for any bad performances in the past.

Bucky Covington sings "Best I Ever Had" by Gary Allan - So.... Bucky ends the show with a ballad.

His weakness, at least on the show, are vocals that are sometimes hard to hear above the band. He doesn't have a powerful voice, and his raspiness really wears thin when he tries to push it. I don't think Bucky has ever given a bad performance, but he has yet to deliver a really great performance. Bucky is for me, the MOST CONSISTENT PERFORMER ... ALWAYS THE SAME. NO WOW, NO EMBARASSMENT.
JUST THE SAME, THAT's ALL.

So, what do we make of Bucky ? If I were in a bar having a beer or two, I wouldn't mind him singing. But would I pay to hear his concert or buy his CD ? NO.

This is Bucky's first shot at a ballad, and it's pretty enough, but as Simon would say, it lacks that "wow" factor. But I suspect, JUST MAYBE, once off the show and in a recording studio, or in a more intimate performance setting, Bucky could turn in that "wow" performance.
The judges critiques were generally positive. If Bucky goes out tomorrow, it will be on a high note.

Interestingly, the two country performers weren't the best. And the blues guy from Alabama really wasn't so hot. Tonight's better performances came from the Rocker and the Boybander--Chris and Ace. Good ones also came from Elliott, Paris and Bucky. The rest were meh. Didn't turn out at all like I expected.

FROM BEST TO WORST
Ace
Paris
Chris
Elliott
Kellie
Bucky
Katharine
Mandisa
Taylor

WHO SHOULD GO :

Taylor ( Totally unexpected, but there you have it. The man has been neutered for some inexplicable reason ).

WHO WILL GO : Bucky ( your time has come and it's time to go on a high note ).

Finally, a little complaint. NEXT WEEK, I hear is going to be QUEEN NIGHT. Yes you heard it --- the night for singing the songs of the band led by none other than the half man/half woman -- Freddie Mercury.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THESE PRODUCERS THINKING ? I THINK THEY HAVE A MIND TO SABOTAGE CERTAIN UNDESIRABLE PERFORMERS AND NEXT WEEK WILL BE THE CHANCE TO DO IT. Otherwise, why choose a theme whose songs are guaranteed NEVER to be performed by most of these singers in their career ???

I think the one with the best chance to shine next week with be CHRIS DAUGHTRY -- DUH !!

And if Kellie survives tonight, WHAT WILL SHE SING ??
Constantine kicked butt with BOHEMIAM RHAPSODY last season. I wonder who will even have the courage to try it next week...

Only in American Idol folks will you get to hear Ray Charles sing WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS and Stevie Wonder try WE WILL ROCK YOU.

Taylor STINKS and shoulda bin history long ago! He can't sing for anything.

Mandisa (Sp?) is quite talented and has a great voice. She's gone because she's fat.

I voted for Catherine and am glad she is still there.

STRICTLY FOR TAYLOR HICKS FANS ONLY....

HERE ARE MORE GOODIES FOR YOU …

I just want to share with everyone a post made on the Idol Boards by Sean Hicks, Taylor’s brother …..

———————————————————————
“So country theme week is over. Next up, Queen. My favorite type of music (please don’t crucify me) is heavy metal, and Queen helped pave the way for it. I have some great ideas for Taylor that I’ll share with him when I talk to him tomorrow.

Today was rough for him. He woke up and went to breakfast, and on the way back he was listening to Seacrest’s radio show and the only thing he heard was a caller saying she thought Taylor Hicks should be kicked off tonight. Then he got back and saw something like “Taylor Hicks Bottoms Out on Country Road” as a headline is USA Today. So he called me this morning and woke me up, talking in his sad puppy voice usually reserved for lamenting about girlfriends.

It’s not apparent from watching the show, but those contestants are on an island out there. LA doesn’t care much about Idol. Taylor really has no idea how popular he is. We tell him, but I still don’t think he gets it. I give him regards from the SP every time I speak to him, though.

And last but not least, THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR VOTING! These theme weeks are all about survival. Taylor is dying to get to the point where he can pick a song to sing and is given more than 80 seconds to sing it. If we have our way, he’ll get that chance!

“Goodnight everyone”

MORE GOODIES FOR TAYLOR HICKS FANS....

Here is Taylor Hick’s Audio interview on the radio before the Country themed show yesterday….

http://www.finebaum.com/media/interviews/20060404Taylor_Hicks.wax

AND YES, HE STILL PLANS TO REPLACE THAT OLD COUCH HE SLEEPS IN WITH THE MONEY HE MAKES IN THE SHOW.

Here is an interview with Taylor’s dad Brad Hicks ( also silver haired ) on the same show...

http://www.finebaum.com/media/interviews/20060329Brad_Hicks.wax

Listening to this tells you a lot about his family and their values, Taylor's personal interests, and the circumstances behind his audition for American Idol ( he almost became a victim of Katrina ).

The great thing about the Hicks is they are a patriotic family who show their love for America anyway they can.

Brad Hicks talks about his respect for our men and women in uniforms and speaks of soldiers who love his son's performances ( yes, they do show them in Afghanistan ).

He also says as a father, he feels for the fathers of the men and women in Afghanistan, whereas he only has to worry whether or not his son will perform well, the other dads have to worry whether or not their son will be safe. He then asks us to give our utmost respect and support for these men and women who are protecting our liberty. A TRUE SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN.

For that alone, I'll personally make sure his son goes DEEP into the finals.

FINALLY

Here is a video interview with Alicia Keyes regarding her view of American Idol. She says her favorite is TAYLOR HICKS :

http://us.video.aol.com/video.full.adp?mode=0&pmmsid=1506142&restartUrl=http%3a%\ 2f%2fus%2evideo%2eaol%2ecom%2fvideo%2eindex%2eadp%3fmode%3d1%26pmmsid%3d1506142&\ mode=1

Note : You must use INTERNET EXPLORER AS YOUR BROWSER TO WATCH THIS.

And oh yeah, Mandy Moore has also jumped into the Taylor bandwagon.

Not to beat a dead horse to death, I know this is past tense, but I just to share this message I got from the Idol Boards with you regarding Taylor Hicks last Tuesday...

I received this information from a Fox affiliate. I asked them for clarification on a story I heard. This is what the reporter told me:

“…he did pick a Hank Williams, jr. song…but…Idol couldn’t or didn’t get it approved…don’t know details… . He had practiced it and was ready to perform it until the Idol producers told him it could not be cleared (the song was on their list). He had to choose another one quickly...”

This confirms why it was quite OBVIOUS to everyone why he wasn’t into the song. Even Kenny said it. He practiced this song and at the last minute, had to change it to something he was just familiar with.

Taylor ended up singing a song he really wasn’t feeling.

Kudos to Taylor for at least trying. And, he really was not that bad on Tuesday. This story has already made its way out into the news airwaves.

ONE CONTESTANT WILL ATTEMPT "Bohemian Rhapsody" THIS TUESDAY.

Don't ask me who it is because I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine.

READ BELOW...

COURTESY OF EXTRATV

'Idol' Insider: Simon Breaks the Code of Silence
April 7, 2006

She may have bid farewell to "American Idol," but Mandisa says you haven't heard the last of her yet.

The bold voiced "Idol" hopeful even got some good news from our Terri Seymour Friday morning. "Simon goes around the house singing that song," Seymour revealed.

Ultimately, it wasn't enough for America, and now Simon Cowell says it's time for a wakeup call on "American Idol." "I believe every single week you've got to treat it as if it's the finals," he said. "You've got to go out there and bring three minutes of magic and if you don't, you're out."

Simon and "Idol" Executive Producer Ken Warwick cut straight to the chase when Terri sat down with them in between auditions for their new NBC show, "America's Got Talent." The twosome even revealed two more secret "Idol" guest performers.

"Rod Stewart," Ken said. "Andrea Bocelli, we're trying to get. That should be interesting."

But Stewart and Bocelli will have to wait. Simon says he's just looking forward to next week when the "Idols" tackle the songs of Queen. "If you choose the right song, and you're clever with that song, it's all about having that moment," Cowell said. "There's a moment where you go, 'Oh my God.'"

And here's a little tidbit even Simon didn't know: one of the "Idols" will attempt to sing Queen's complex signature hit, "Bohemian Rhapsody."

"Well, I am dying to know who's going to sing that one," Simon said. "Because it will make you or break you."

And if it doesn't break them, don't expect Simon to sit back and let Ryan offer up excuses.

"Ryan said to you the other night it's not about the song, it's about what you sing," Terri said.

"That's like saying Ryan would be a success without 'American Idol,'" Simon shot back.

Watch for more stinging Simon when the "Idols" hit the stage, Tuesday night on FOX.

Simon praised Kellie..... she did it! Crow for the naysayers.....large portions. Gerkins are too sweet for meals of crow.

I am culling different opinions that I AGREE WITH on various idol boards and posting them here I couldn;t have said them better myself.....These opinions are essentially mine ( as a Taylor Hicks fan ).

I’ve been thinking about Simon’s response to Taylor. (And I hope this isn’t redundant to something discussed earlier — in which case by all means ignore it!)

For starters, I don’t believe at all that Simon is stupid or lacks musical taste.

I do believe, though, that his musical taste is fairly narrow, because it is constrained by his business taste. I believe further that he often subordinates intelligence to cleverness, which aren’t at all the same thing. And as far as AI — and specifically Taylor — is concerned, I believe that he has become lazy.

Simon’s response to Taylor last night was, I thought, quite revealing. “That was just *ridiculous*” (or however he phrased it): it’s about as useful to a performer as something Paula would say in Backwards World. What I read into the response (unfairly maybe, because no one knows what’s in Simon’s heart/head for real) is that Simon has given up this season. He might just as well have waved a hand vaguely and said, “Whatever!” QUE SERA SERA.

Think about it. When he and his partner(s) came up with the UK version of Idol, they came up with a gold mine. Certainly Simon himself knows — or knew — the pop music business. And he knew how to milk the machinery that drives the business (witness the acts he produced and promoted in the early ’90s). The whole Idol franchise works on the idea that you can take that machinery and feed into it undiscovered talent, nominally “voted on” by the TV audience but in actuality packaged and delivered in a way to help ensure the “votes” would deliver the ideal form of talent. (That’s “ideal” in terms of what the machine can process.)

On top of the (future) income to be derived from the top “winners” of the “competition,” there was all the (present) income to be derived from a wildly successful commercial television venture.

I can easily see Simon and his partner(s) clapping their hands in delight at their own ingenuity — their own intelligence, yes, but primarily their own cleverness. What a wonderful wonderful idea they’d come up with! It would be self-sustaining! It would roll on forever! It would feed not just the machine, it would feed THEM!

Really, there was only one thing that could go wrong with the whole scheme. They had to have confidence in their ability to channel the voting in the desired direction, of course. But in order to maintain whatever credibility the quote-unquote “voting” might have for the audience, they had to report the voting results in an at least superficially impartial way.

(They made one other mistake, too, although there was no easy technological way around it: they allowed a theoretically infinite number of votes to be cast by every voter. If you’ve got five voters and can convince 3 that your contestant deserves their votes, your desired outcome is assured — unless the two other voters are able and motivated to vote as much as they want. Whoops.)

I can easily see, regarding Taylor Hick's style(s), the rightness of all the comparisons which people have made, from Elvis to really obscure (to me!) musicians at the other end of the scale.

I don’t, though, believe Taylor represents a musical revolution — something the world has never seen, something destined to alter the course of cultural history, and so on.

Rather, what I see in Taylor — and in all our responses to him — is the focus of a REVOLT: a revolt of an audience sick of being spoon-fed by an industry which appears to lack all sense of taste or discrimination. (Actually, make that two industries: music and TV.)

The Idol machine can’t deal with a revolt. It assumes the ongoing compliance (masquerading as “participation”) of the audience. In the face of a revolt, the best it can do is sigh, sputter, and with Simon exclaim, “Ridiculous !" ( ADD the DRUNK metaphor to it, whichhe used more than once in so many weeks already ).

You could almost see in Taylor’s face this week and with his quick response, after Simon finally shut his pie hole, of dial 07 that HE is getting sick of the judges and their inane inconsistencies.

I also LOVE the role that Ryan has taken; it seems to me he and Taylor have a connection. From the 1st song Levon when they did that wonderfully quirky little dance, to the Takin' It to The Streets signature move, to defending his fashion style after Simon mauled him after singing Trouble, Ryan has been Taylors defender and I suspect friend.

My impression from Simon last night was that he was saying “No matter what you do, and no matter what I say, America loves you, so what’s the point?! I praise you, and people vote for you in droves; I slam you, and they vote for you even more.” ( NOTE FOLKS --- Taylor has ALWAYS BEEN NUMBER 1 EVERY WEEK IN ANY PHONE CALL STATISTICS YOU TAKE -- DialIdol, Land Line from AT&T ).

I think this also carried over into his comments to Paris. I think that is why he was so terse with her. I think that he was still flustered by the audience’s response to Taylor. You’re right - he’s given up.

IMO, another thing that plays into that is that his chosen challenger for Taylor - Chris - is appealing to a narrower and narrower group, rather than a wider and wider one. He keeps wanting these others to have a “moment”…he wanted Chris to have one but he clearly didn’t. He tried to “almost” manufacture one for McPhee but it didn’t fly. To me, he was in effect saying, aren’t ANY of you going to sack up and try to take Taylor on? And they aren’t doing it.

So, it is Soul Patrol vs The AI Powers That Be. It remains to be seen who will win --- The Elite, or the masses.

Makes for very interesting reality show if you ask me.