--Clive Davis waxed wildly enthusiastic about Idols past and present, and their record selling prowess. He praised Chris Daughtry's success (over 6 million in sales), and Fantasia's (being more adult and gracious than she is, apparently), as well as Jennifer Hudson (who was in the audience), Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Catherine McPhee and Taylor Hicks and, finally, the wild success of Carrie Underwood. An impressive tally.

--Tony Bennett sang "For Once in My Life" with more riffing on the melody than I'm used to hearing him do, and he seemed to have a blast.

--Bette Midler's appearance startled me since she's one of those who once derided the Idol trip as cheesy, but it was neat that she directed The Wind Beneath My Wings to the audience.

--Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight were good though they're too Vegas for me. Gwen Stefani's pre-taped number bored me.

--Green Day rocked with a bit of furor for "selling out" but getting a huge audience and let's face it they want to sell cd's, too.

--The African Children's Choir was the fantastic and crowning glory.

--Season 1's Kelly Clarkson showed her awesome voice once again and now she's got style to boot. She sang her new angry-girl single and belted out a tribute to Sergent Pepper (why?). I doubt she can hit a false note.

--2's Fantasia was in absentia cuz she's on Broadway in The Color Purple.

--3's Reuben Stoddard looked positively dapper in a fantastic black pin-striped suit and he sang a couple of nifty numbers.

--I'd never heard 4's Carrie Underwood for more than a few moments before tonight so I was apprehensive especially with all the hoolpa, but I was impressed (despite more false eyelashes and mascara than I've ever seen in one place). At the beginning of each song she seemed surfacy but once she got going she was great.

--5's Taylor Hicks sang a couple of good songs but he's not in Kelly's and Carrie's league. Plus, he messed up the lyrics on his Beatles song.

--Lakisha was terrific and dressed better than for most of the season and with most of her confidence restored. I guess the pressure was hard for her. She has a good career ahead of her.

--Melinda continued her unbroken run of superficial phoniness; an interviewer asked her how she felt when the audience chanted "Melinda, Melinda!" and she answered, "Oh, really, did they?! Wow!" as if she hadn't smiled and waved at them at the time. Then she sang with the Winans, in case anyone forgot that she was their back-up singer. Duh, sure her voice is good since she's a trained and practiced professional (and thus should've been ineligible), but she's stodgy and phony.

--A huge highlight was Sanjaya singing and Joe Perry playing, all energized trip and well done, believe it or not, doing the Kinks' "You Really Got Me."

--Blake was gracious and upbeat. He's got a big niche career ahead of him, probably more easily than if he'd won.

--The evening was capped off by Jordin in a cool dress as she won the title and her parents and grandmother beamed from ear to ear.

Labels: a.i., a.i.6