the american idol finale this year was miles better than last year's and 2004s...
instead of throwing in artistes they could find at last minute or featuring the ones that wanted the most publicity, this year's was what it should be about - past idol winners and finalists, legendary performers and the right amount of allthatjazz...
almost every performance was something to look forward to...
i thought the buildup to sanjaya's performance was hilariously good...
melinda was the only other finalist to get her own set, and it was pretty nice..
jordin and ruben studdard's duet was a perfect example of soul pop...
taylor hicks new single was really fun...
green day's cover of working class hero from the album instant karma was the ubiquitous but extrememly moving think-of-the-world track...
the african children's choir met really good audience response...
clive davis' honouring of chris daughtry, jennifer hudson and carrie underwood showed just how successful this show is...
kelly clarkson looked sufficiently angry through never again...
loved the past idols' medley featuring 2002's kelly, 2003's ruben, 2005's carrie and 2006's taylor...
the top 12 combined performance was a nice end before the results, espeically when they stood on stage with the past 4 idols... really missed 2004's fantasia!
the top 6 guys' set with smokey robinson was amazing...
but they were outsung by the top 6 girls' set with gladys knight...

but my favourite by far was tony bennet's for once in my life..
it was simply sung, had a big ending, and showed why he's the legend he is... i was in awe...

oh and jordin is the new american idol...

like it says on the class blog -
thailand ain't gonna know what hit her...

jlc(aines).