American Idol Season 8

Just in case you're finding this blog via search engines or old links (P.S. We know you are!), this blog has moved to http://www.newsday.com/idol.

Our new "American Idol" is... DAVID COOK!!!!

Here we go - it's time for the results...

The judges say a bunch of nice things about them and I can't believe it - Simon is actually apologizing to David Cook his comments last night, saying it verged on disrespect. He says they both tried their best and for the first time ever, he doesn't really care who wins, because they've both done terrific.

Just seconds away now...

Our winner, by 12 millions votes, of "American Idol" is.... David Cook!!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Finally, America got it right - I hope his brother is in the audience to see him win!!!

And to my cousin, Christian, I TOLD YOU SO!!!

Until next season everyone...

George Michael, baby!!!

For the last time, the top 12 are performing. The top 6 girls, dressed in black, come out singing "Faith," and then the top 6 guys come out, in suits, to sing "Father Figure." Is George Michael coming out next? Can it be??? Not yet - they all sing "Freedom" next. Where is George Michael?! They can't possibly be singing a medley of his songs, without having him come out and sing himself. C'mon - I want to see George Michael!!!

YES!! here he comes!!! This is almost as good as when Prince performed!! I mean, who doesn't love George Michael?

He sings "Praying for Time" and he sounds just like he did 20 years ago when the whole world was in love with him, before his arrests, before the drama. He looks older, obviously, not as sexy as he once was, but I still think he's awesome. The past hour and a half has been totally worth it just to watch him perform - just wonderful.

I'm kind of in awe right now, maybe even a little speechless. I know many of you will think I'm gushing, or that he wasn't good, but I so love George Michael - this is about as close as I'll ever come to seeing him in concert and it's just amazing. I wish he had done one more song.

Wait!!! He's gong on tour! I cannot believe this - I'm so going to that show! Unbelievable!!

The Pips and Carrie Underwood

So it's true... I had that they were going to do like a spoof with Gladys Knight, having Jack Black, Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr. pose as her Pips. I thought it was too stupid to be true, but here we are and that's exactly what's happening right now. I suppose it's funny because of its silliness, but really, it's just filler. the one good thing about it is that the money raised by the downloads of that video will go to charity.

Next up, of course, is Carrie Underwood. She's singing "Last Name." It's getting to the point where it's not a season of "Idol" without a Carrie Underwood performance. Not that I'm complaining - I think she's awesome. And she looks beautiful tonight.

I've been fast-forwarding through most commercials, but I just caught one with David Archuleta mimicking the "Risky Business" Tom Cruise scene, I guess advertising for Guitar Hero or something. It was cute.

One Republic and Jordin Sparks

Oh my goodness - does it get any worse than this? That guy who auditioned with his own song - the one who sang "You are my brother, best friends forever..." Remember him? Well they actually brought him to the stage - he's wearing the same outfit with the winged hat and everything - just beyond ridiculous. They even get USC's marching band to accompany him - seriously? Can I change the channel?? Please?

One Republic is up next, singing "Apologize." Finally, a song I can get into. I love this song. They must have known how stupid the last segment was - they had to make up for it. Well, they've got Archuleta singing along now. Where's David Cook? I'd like to see what he could do with this song. Huh - I guess it's just an Archuleta number. Very nice. I suppose it's only fair that he get a song by himself - David Cook had ZZ Top.

And now it's Jordin Spark, singing "One Step at a Time." I have to say, she's way more successful than I thought she would be. I thought she'd have maybe one big song and that would be it, but she's had a few hits already - perhaps it's just the beginning for her.

ZZ Top for the older crowd and Jonas Brothers for the kids

Next up is David Cook performing with ZZ Top, singing "Sharp Dressed Man." I don't know if David is a fan of theirs, but even if he's not, how cool to sing lead for such a famous band?

Brooke White comes out next to sing with Graham Nash. They perform "Teach Your Children." It's a good thing they started off well - can you imagine if she had stopped and asked to start again?

I have to be honest - we're about an hour in now and I'm starting to get bored by all these performances - I hope the next hour goes by fast - I just want the results.

Well, the next performance is clearly meant for the younger crowd. The Jonas Brothers come out and sing "S.O.S." I tried to get into it, I really did, but no, I'm no longer 12 and their appeal is lost on me.

In case we didn't get enough of the crappy auditions that went on for like a month at the beginning of the season, they are now playing a video of some of the worst auditions. Yawn... wake me up when it starts to get interesting.

Jimmy Kimmel and Bryan Adams

Jimmy Kimmel comes out and does a comedy thing. He's actually pretty funny. I'm usually waiting for him to be annoying, like his girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, but he did a good job.

The top 6 guys are next, singing "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams. I understand now why David Hernandez didn't quite make it to the end - he's awful and has shown no improvement since his ouster. Jason Castro had a minor slip-up (a little out of tune, OK... a lot out of tune) but there's need to dwell on that.

They have the Davids come down the steps, almost like royalty, to sing Bryan Adams' "Heaven," which can only mean that in moments, Bryan Adams will come out onstage, too, perhaps to plug a new song or album.

Yup, here he comes, to sing "I Thought I'd Seen Everything," and then "Somebody." I remember, way back in like, 1986, before Bryan Adams was really, really huge, my babysitter, Beth, was crazy in love with Bryan Adams and had actually met him at some local show. Who knew he'd end up being so big?