American Idol 2009 Shocking Result

America has spoken!

After months of competition — and a jam-packed finale — Kris Allen and Adam Lambert performed on the Idol stage at the Nokia Theatre Wednesday night in a musical spectacular before learning the results of a little less than 100 million votes.

Keep reading to find out the winner of American Idol.

David Cook, on the verge of relinquishing his title Wednesday night, told Ryan at the start of the two-hour finale: “I don’t know that America can get this wrong.”

Actually, America’s decision will be a point of considerable debate in the next day and maybe even days beyond that — with just under 100 million votes cast, dark horse Kris Allen beat out Adam Lambert, who for weeks has been considered the all-but-inevitable champ.

This is the biggest upset in eight seasons. The result was an even bigger surprise considering that — as even Kris’s supporters would concede — Adam gave the stronger performance on the Tuesday performance show. Simon anointed him a “worldwide star.”

Apparently stunned by the news of his victory, Kris couldn’t help but stammer, “Adam deserves this.”

Oh, please! Adam was the most acclaimed Idol contestant ever, but also one of the most divisive.

At any rate, it was an exciting jolt at the end of a long two hours. The show started with the 13 season finalists dressed in white, as if they had just died and were arriving in the afterlife.

Then came a series of duets between finalists and seasoned stars, generally to good results: Adam, in tooled black leather with wire wings as epaulets, had a great medley with Kiss, and Kris grooved comfortably and lightly with Keith Urban on “Kiss a Girl.” Megan Joy and Michael Sarver dueted on a sweet little song by Steve Martin called “Pretty Flowers” (with Martin on banjo).

The best moment of all may have been Allison Iraheta joined by Cyndi Lauper on “Time After Time” — it was unexpectedly touching, and made me wonder whether Allison wasn’t better than Adam or Kris (although I had been rooting for Kris through most of the season).

There were also the joshing Golden Idol awards, which were an opportunity to bring back Nick Mitchell, a.k.a Norman Gentle, and Katrina Darrell, a.k.a Bikini Girl, still in a bikini but filling out the top part with a great deal more confidence. She was joined by Kara on Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love.” (Kara turned out to be a much better vocalist than judge.) And Tatiana del Toro, in a ridiculous joke, stormed the stage and had to be removed by security. Enough!

Just before the vote was announced, Ryan asked Simon his guess. He wisely answered: “You were both brilliant … the future’s all yours.” – Tom Gliatto

Tell us: What’s you reaction? Did America get it right? Were you surprised? Did you enjoy the show? What was the best moment? Discuss!

b People

American Idol: It’s Down to Three!

Just three contestants remain on American Idol after Wednesday’s elimination.

Keep reading to find out who survived Tuesday’s rock show, and which of of the top four — Danny, Allison, Adam or Kris — went out like Daughtry.

Idol is now officially heading to an all-male finale. Allison Iraheta, the 17-year-old phenomenon with a vocal strength that could topple frail trees, was voted off, leaving Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen to be saluted with hometown parades.

What went wrong? Her performance of a Janis Joplin classic wasn’t her best, but her duet with Adam had enough rock sizzle that Simon thought she might be safe. Danny, meanwhile, pleased no one with his cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” Even his aunt, he admitted, had muted the television when he bungled the high notes.

Allison was often faulted for not showing enough confidence or fire as a stage personality, but there were always confidence and fire in her singing, weren’t there? At any rate, the voting audience has always been ambivalent about her — perhaps because of her youth, her hair and her style, which has been compared to Kelly Clarkson’s but is in fact much more raw.

No one left has her fresh, if rough, vitality. Shed a tear for Allison!

Left to right: Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert

And, man, did the hour drag. A full 35 minutes were gone before Ryan Seacrest started the elimination procedure. (The order of names was random, he said — there was no bottom two announced.) The first to safety was a surprise: Kris cupped his hands over his face in shock and relief. His singing hasn’t consistently wowed the judges — this week, in particular — but the fact remains that of all the contestants he photographs best in a close-up. These things matter. Then Adam joined him, and then Danny.

It seems inconceivable that Adam won’t be in the final two. So who goes next — Kris or Danny?

The night’s guest performers included No Doubt, former Idol contestant Chris Daughtry and none other than Paula Abdul. She and a chorus of male dancers ran through fog and red-fabric flames for her new single “I’m Just Here for the Music.” At the end, one of the dancers, pretending to be paparazzi, shouted, “Will you be back for next season?” She did not answer.

by Tom Gliatto, People

SPOILER: Idol’s Shocking Results!

Seven singers performed on Tuesday’s Idol episode and the judges had a few choice words for some of them. But the results that matter — America votes, don’t forget! — are in, and it makes for season 8’s most surprising results show yet.

Keep reading to find out who’s singing next week and who faced the judges.

It was a night of dramatic reversals in the desperate lower depths of the competition, as the much-hyped Judges’ Save rule was finally put into play. Matt Giraud, told by Ryan that he’d been eliminated by popular vote, sang an encore of “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman.” He actually sang it worse than the night before, probably undone by (in Ryan’s words) “all the pressure in the world.”

Simon weighed in with bleak honesty: “I don’t see that you have really any chance of winning.” Paula and Kara, meanwhile, were out of their seats behind Simon, practically shouting in protest.

Then, Simon told Matt he was safe. As Matt cried in relief, the other singers huddled round and hugged him. At that point, Simon reminded the contestants that two, not one, will be eliminated next week. The other judges, after the cameras were off, congratulated a teary-eyed Matt while Simon hurried off stage.

You have to wonder whether Matt and Lil Rounds, who joined him in the bottom two, are simply heading for a double guillotine. The judges have been dissatisfied with both of them as they keep trying to settle on a style that could make them as dependable as, say, Adam Lambert — or even Allison Iraheta.

Anoop Desai, despite a performance of “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” that earned some of Kara’s kindest words of the night, was also in the bottom three. Simon, who’d doubtless been hampered by the two-judges-per-singer rule, took the opportunity to say Anoop deserved to be there (and, contradicting Randy, he also praised Kris Allen as “excellent”).

But Anoop may find that disco suits his slick pop groove, and maybe Lil, with her love for soul and R&B, will too. Not so sure about Matt, though. – Tom Gliatto

by People

Jessica Simpson's country career hits sour note

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jessica Simpson's courtship with country music seems to have had a shorter shelf life than her marriage.

After lackluster sales for her country debut, "Do You Know," Simpson and her Nashville record label have parted ways, leaving many wondering what's next for the 28-year-old entertainer.

"Right now it seems like she's taken a break from recording. There is nothing else on the books," said Ian Drew, senior music editor at Us Weekly magazine.

A spokeswoman for the one-time pop princess says Simpson remains part of the Sony Music Group on the Epic label, but is no longer working with the company's country division, Sony Music Nashville.

"She was on loan to Sony Nashville for her country album," said Lauren Auslander.

As for her future in country music? "We don't know yet," she said.

"Do You Know" started strong but faded fast. The lead single, "Come on Over," a flirtatious, steel guitar-laced slice of country pop, peaked at No. 18 last summer and the album debuted at No. 1. But the second single, "Remember That," stalled at No. 42, and the third, "Pray Out Loud," failed to chart.

To date, the disc, Simpson's fifth studio release, has sold around 178,000 copies — a long way from her 3 million-selling 2003 disc, "In This Skin."

"Everywhere I saw her around the U.S. at different radio station events she was always well-received," said Lon Helton, editor and publisher of the industry trade publication "Country Aircheck." "For whatever reason, the music did not resonate."

Simpson came to country after her 2006 pop outing, "A Public Affair," fell flat. The Texas-born blonde touted the move as a return to her roots. She performed on the Grand Ole Opry, signed autographs at the Country Music Association's annual festival, and toured with country's multiplatinum trio Rascal Flatts.

But she got more publicity for her life outside of music, most of it far from positive. She was ridiculed when it seemed as if she had gained a few pounds, and the status of her romance with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was constantly scrutinized.

She was also criticized for a few erratic concert performances. At a February show in Michigan, Simpson apologized to fans after she forgot the lyrics to a song and asked her band to start over on another.

Some detractors viewed her country career as a calculated attempt to follow other pop stars who have found success on country radio.

"Working the country market is very different. You really have to work it at country. You have to spend your life on the road building an audience and she didn't really put the work in," Drew observed. "She walked the walk and talked the talk, but she didn't have the street cred that she needed to make it work."

But others say Simpson shouldn't bail too soon. She may just need more time to find an audience.

"It doesn't seem like she was even on the country music scene long enough to prove what she is capable of doing for this industry. She never got the chance," said Neely Yates, music director for country station 96.3 in Lubbock, Texas.

Helton wondered whether the singer was a victim of bad timing. Pop rockers Darius Rucker and Jewel were crossing over to country about the same time, which he called unusual in country music.

"What was the ability of the market to absorb and focus on more than one pop singer at a time coming over?" he asked.

The question now is whether Simpson will keep her record deal. After two disappointments, Epic may be ready to move on without her.

"She's never really sold a lot of records except for the album out at the height of 'Newlyweds,'" said Drew, referring to her popular reality TV show, "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica," which chronicled her ill-fated marriage to Nick Lachey. "Other than that, she's never been able to sell much of anything."

But in a recent interview, Rascal Flatts' Gary Levox said Simpson is in a no-win situation with her critics: "She's in a spot where whatever she does, they pick her apart. They need to just leave her alone and just let her sing."

"She's a wonderfully gifted singer," added bandmate Jay DeMarcus. "All the other stuff overshadows what she's really about and it's unfortunate, because there's more to her there than just tabloid fodder."

by JOHN GEROME, AP Entertainment

Academy Awards Controversy: Wall-E Gets Snubbed For Best Picture Oscar

Even though the technology has progressed so much in the last few years, animated films just can't get real respect. That's the reaction that movie geeks across the globe are having to the list of nominees for the 81st Academy Awards, announced today, with the notable exclusion of Wall*E for Best Picture. A bunch of the commenters at movie news site Ain't It Cool are mad. Here's one example:

WALL-E was amazing and it would have been nice to see it recognized, but now that they have the Animated category you will likely NEVER see an animated feature make it for BP.

Courtesy of Disney/Pixar and AMPAS

There's a good case to be made that it was a mistake to nominate Wall*E only for Best Animated Feature and not Best Picture. It got a better critical reception than any of the movies nominated for the most prestigious award. As of today, Rottentomatoes.com says that Wall*E has a 96 percent positive rating based on an aggregation of movie critic reviews. That's higher than the Tomatometer registers for any of the five Best Picture nominees:

The Reader -- 60 percent

Milk -- 92 percent

Slumdog Millionaire -- 95 percent

Frost/Nixon -- 91 percent

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -- 72 percent

The Dark Knight--another movie the geeks are mad got snubbed--comes in at 94 percent. Better than four out of five ain't bad.

by USNews

Heath Ledger's Family Still 'Nursing Broken Hearts'

by People

Heath Ledger's family gathered at an Australian beach to remember the actor, who died a year ago and is now being honored with an Oscar nomination for The Dark Knight.

"We are still all nursing broken hearts," older sister Kate Ledger said Friday in Perth. "Like anyone who loses a family member, it has opened our eyes to the intense suffering and painful journey that is death."

Kate and two half-sisters, Ashleigh Bell and Olivia Ledger, stood under clear blue skies at the Indiana Tea Room on Cottesloe Beach, one of Ledger's favorite spots and the site of his wake after his funeral. Ledger's father, Kim, and mother, Sally Bell, were also in attendance but did not speak to the media.

Ledger, 28, died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. He left behind his 3-year-old daughter, Matilda, with actress Michelle Williams.

"Michelle is doing an amazing job with 'our girl' and together we will cherish every moment of her steps through life," Kate Ledger said.

The actor's younger sister, Ashleigh, acknowledged his Oscar nomianation Thursday for his wicked portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, noting that "in Heath's words, he had 'the time of his life.'"

"Although we would love to have him here with us, we are so proud and so excited on his behalf," Ashleigh said. "We will take this opportunity today to honor his wonderful life and take comfort in knowing Heath will continue to touch future generations through this amazing art form."

She added: "What an unbelievable legacy he has left for Matilda and our family."

The family enjoyed a commemorative lunch in the Indiana Tea Room after speaking with the media.

by People!