So I will close this season with my final review of last night’s show, which I will preface by saying that noting (and I mean nothing) could compare to last year’s finale show – I mean, how do you top Queen and KISS… and, of course, Adam Lambert?  With that said, however, I will make a few brief comments -- here we go…

The overall theme of the evening was the “living legends” of music, but I felt like (at least at the beginning) it was a scheduled outing from the geriatric wing at the local seniors’ facility.  Alice Cooper started things off – never thought he could sing, and nothing has changed in that regard.  Thanks goodness the Idols were drowning out his voice for the most part!  The remaining two Bee Gees came out – now that was just sad.  Michael McDonald performed and I though he sounded great actually – that former Doobie can still carry a tune!  Dane Cook came out for a “Simon Says” parody which I thought was rather lame – it had the potential to be so clever and funny, but it just wasn’t.  Christina Aguilera was there -- and while she is did not escape from the old folks’ home for the evening, she’s not exactly the “it” girl anymore either (although I am a fan).  And then came Hall & Oates.  Oh dear God!  Hall looked like a home grown terrorist with that full face of hair and uni-bomber sunglasses.  And the guy has totally lost his mojo with the singing.  Crystal got her groove on with Alanis Morissette, which I thought was fitting and very good – but here again, when is the last time Alanis had a Top 40 song?  Carrie Underwood was the one exception in the star power category tonight – she totally rocked “Undo It” which she co-wrote with Kara.  She was spectacular!  And then came, by far, my all-time favorite portion of the show… Casey singing “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” with Brett Michaels – double yum!  Well-executed, meaningful, and totally entertaining!  Lee came out with Chicago – the majority of the geriatric wing.  They can still perform instrumentally, but the lead singer was really just pitiful -- I felt sorry for that old guy actually.  General Larry Platt came out to do his classic original “Pants on the Ground” with hysterical, “baggy-drawer’d dancers… and he had some mad moves as well!    It was fun to watch until William Hung came out  -- you know the “She Bang” guy from long ago – which took the performance from current to irrelevant!  And then there she was – the re-emergence of PAULA!  She was less drunk than usual it seemed, but she was more taken with herself than anyone else was.  And then came the Past Idols Review – all in honor of Simon Cowell and his impending departure from the show.  Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Jordan Sparks, Taylor Hicks and Kris Allen all came out to sing in unison to honor the star of tonight’s show –Simon!  The only one missing was David Cook, but he had had already obligated himself to perform at a cancer charity event, and I respect him for keeping that promise since that cause that is so dear to his heart.  Simon came up on stage and gave a few fairly articulate words of departure, and tagging along was “that little one” – yes, Paula!  Good Lord girl – do you ever sit down?  And honestly, the fact that it was Simon’s last show totally overshadowed everything else last night – oh yeah, we still have to reveal the winner… almost forgot!  Michael, ummmm… I mean Janet, Jackson came out to do a little “nasty” singing and then some other song which I thought would NEVER end!  She can still move, but it appeared she was mainly doing some upper body grooving instead of fancy footwork these days, leaving most of that up to her backup dancers.  And then, the cherry on top, and closing the celebrity performance portion of the show was the one, the only, the “Weekend at Bernie’s” styled Joe Cocker – you can prop him up and still take him just about anywhere!  Really?  I mean that’s really the best they could come up with?  Overall, I felt like the line-up tonight (aside from Carrie and Brett) was comprised of “has-beens” who had no other offers to consider, and which Idol was able to schedule at a discount rate – and at the end of the show, I felt just a wee bit let down.

Finally – time for the results… I had to sit through all that other nonsense just to see this final 5 minutes of the show that I had been anxiously anticipating!  Lee and Crystal – standing on the stage in what was probably the longest two minutes of their lives!  Crystal was totally in a Zen place last night – I think she was happy that she had made it this far and is better off that she has ever been in her life.  And Lee – poor Lee looked like he was about to vomit right there on that stage!  But oh how precious he was when his name was announced!  I am delighted with the outcome and think he will serve the American Idol title well.  He was gracious and sincere as he thanks the audience, fans and his family – and I have to say, this kid has really grown on me!

So another year of Idol has come and gone – and the question of the day is “will it survive without Simon?”  I plan to keep watching until it totally bottoms out, and sincerely hope they replace Simon with someone who will keep our interest… like HARRY CONNICK JR.!!!  Shoe your support and join my FB group to help get HCJ on the show next year!!!  And just as  an aside, I will tell you all that my Casey signs, which we took to the Wildflower Festival a few weeks ago when Casey made his homecoming, and which were aired on the show on the night he got eliminated, are now in the 5/31/10 edition of PEOPLE MAGAZINE (pg. 114).  Now how awesome is that???  My goal for this summer is to get his autograph on the signs and in my magazine and to be on the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning show… or possibly BOTH!  (I know, I need to get a life!)

Until next season friends – thanks for playin’ along and happy summer to you all!!!