Last night the worship leader from Conway, Arkansas, Kris Allen, pulled off what might be the biggest upset in American Idol history when he beat out the glam rocker from San Diego, Adam Lambert for the title of American Idol. Allen spent much of the season in the shadow of fellow worship leader Danny Gokey, who was favored to go to the finals with Lambert. Gokey's poignant personal story - his wife passed away just four months before he auditioned for the show - helped propel him to the finals. Lambert was favored to win the competition, even getting the judges' endorsement when Simo...

It's hard to believe, but last night was the final night of performances on season 8 of American Idol. It came down to the aw, shucks worship leader from Conway, Arkansas, Kris Allen, and the glam rocker from Los Angeles, Adam Lambert. Or as Ryan Seacrest said, the guy next door vs. guyliner. The guys each sang three songs last night: their favorite song from the season, a song chosen by Idol producer Simon Fuller, and the Idol single co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi. Round one went to Kris Allen, who reprised his paino version of "Ain't No Sunshine." It was even better...

No, I'm not psychic, but I called tonight's American Idol results show - well, part of it, anyway. I knew Kris was going through to the finale, but whether he was going to be joined by Adam or Danny? I wavered, up until this afternoon. And in the end? It's Adam and Kris in the finale, next week on American Idol! And I'm predicting Kris to win. For Danny Gokey fans, don't worry. Getting voted off can actually be good for a contestant; he can do his own music without the Idol ball and chain dictating his every move. I'm sure there are several labels waiting to scoop him up. So...

Last night, the final three American Idol contestants - Danny Gokey, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen - performed two songs each and proved that it's still anyone's game to win. Despite what the judges think. Each contestant performed a song chosen for him by the judges, and then a personal choice. Clearly, these artists know better what kind of music they want to make; their personal song choices were much better suited to their vocal talents. For the judges' choice: Adam Lambert sang Simon's choice, "One" by U2 Danny Gokey sang Paula's choice, "Dance Little Sister"...

On Wednesday's results show, the only female left in the competition, Allison Iraheta, was voted off, leaving Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert to vie for the title of American Idol. Daughtry performed their new single live, and No Doubt performed "I'm Just A Girl." Even Paula Abdul got into the act, performing ... or lip synching ... her new single. I found out afterwards that both Paula's and No Doubt's performances were taped on Tuesday, with lots of takes and editing for airing on Wednesday. Yeeesh. I knew she wasn't going to actually perform live.  The...

Can you believe that we're down to the final four on this season of American Idol? Seems like just yesterday we were in Hollywood for the first week of auditions. Last night, Kris Allen, Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey sang rocks songs ranging from classic rock to pop rock, proving that Adam and Allison had a leg up with the genre. The guest mentor, Slash from Guns N' Roses fame, offered up advice and some guitar back up while the contestants practiced on the stage at the Roxy club to give them the full rock experience. During dress rehearsal, there was an accident ...

The remaining Top 5 American Idol contestants performed Rat Pack standards on Tuesday, and one thing was very clear: this is may be the most talented roster of contestants American Idol has had in a very long time. Kris, Danny, Allison and Matt stuck to the genre, crooining and belting out classy, jazzy hits - Kris sang "The Way You Look Tonight;" Danny sang "Come Rain Or Come Shine;" Allison sang "Someone to Watch Over Me;" and Matt sang "My Funny Valentine." Adam, as usual, added his own touch to "Feeling Good," but while it was a gr...

Greetings, all! I'm away this week in Nashville for Gospel Music Week, so we'll point you to The Huffington Post for a recap of the American Idol Top 6. Or check out my BeliefNet readers who tried to fill me in. We're getting down to the wire! I'll be back with the results on Thursday. See you then!  (Just for the record, I didn't write that post, LOL. At least not all of it. I've never read the Huffington Post Idol recaps, and Beliefnet is one word, with one cap. But thanks to whoever did the update while I was away .... Joanne) ...

Tonight, American Idol made history as the judges used their one and only save to keep Matt Giraud in the competition for one more week. Anoop, Matt and Lil were in the bottom three tonight, and when it came down to Anoop and Lil, Simon said he'd consider using the save on one contestant and it might surprise them to know which one. Well, we were surprised all right, because after Matt sang Simon told him that he sang better the night before and didn't have a chance of winning the competition. But amidst the crowds' chants of "Save! Save!" Simon said it was good news, a...

Last night, the Top 7 American Idol contestants performed songs from movies, with guest mentor Quentin Tarantino. I'm not sure what a movie director brings to a music competition, but Tarantino definitely had some good advice for the contestants, if only from a performance perspective. There was one quirky change to last night's show: since the performances ran long last week, putting the show past its one hour time slot, this week the judges gave feedback in teams of two. So each contestant only heard from either Randy & Kara, or Paula & Simon. Simon says the problem was the wo...