Season Five And They've Hit Their Stride

I knew great things were in store for us fans of American Idol this season. First, Ryan Seacrest gets a star and hosts New Year's Rockin' Eve (and Executive Produces). Then they overbloated the auditions portion of the season. Then, they gave us some really talented and interesting people to compete for our pleasure. No one really cracked under the pressure, except maybe Kellie and Ace. There were no trainwrecks, so to speak. And to top it off: the finale.

It was a finale to end all finales. My boy Clay showed up and I wept. Dionne Warrwick showed up and brought a ton of class to the operation. In the spirit of Paula Abdul, Toni Braxton came out and sang with Taylor as if she was on cold medicine and "pain killers." I swear, girlfriend could barely keep it together.

And wonder of wonders, Prince shows up! I nearly died. He was so hot. The songs were amazing. The backup singers/Solid Gold Dancers were awesome. Seacrest didn't even announce him, he just sort of pointed to the stage and said "American Idol." I nearly passed out on the floor from a good old fashioned case of the vapors due to the shock of a star of his magnitude gracing the AI stage. In fact, I'm surprised the stage didn't collapse under the weight of those heavy hitters.

Everyone sounded good...no...triumphant. All those years of watching AI since 2002 and Season 1 have paid off. All those hours watching this new show stagger and stumble its way to the top. It went from amateurish to cheeky to meta to out and out professional-fantastic! I've been entertained.

Way to go 19E. Way to go Clive Davis. Way to go Simon Cowell. Way to go Ryan Seacrest, my little dumpling. Here's to the best finale of the best season of American Idol evah.