Chiming in this morning, because I was too pooped last night after that extravaganza! Wooooooooooooooooooooo TAYLOR!

Not a huge surprise but a happy ending as most of us expected. He turned that turd of a coronation song into something tolerable too.
My thoughts on the evening:
1. Those fake AI awards were a total waste of time. Cheesy, embarassing and quite mean. Guys, we are laughing AT you not WITH you. Yuck. A big turn off.
2. That being said, how hard did I laugh when Crazy Dave ran out and fell off the stage

!!
3. Kat's performance with Meatloaf was possibly the worst performance ever, and I'm not just speaking of AI here. The man is completely tone deaf, the song was in the wrong key altogether (DH loves "the Loaf" but could not remember the song when they sang. It was only when I sang it to him in the correct register/key, that he said OOHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh...I used to like that song. Keep in mind that I myself am tonedeaf). Take my opinion with a grain of salt because I HATE Meatloaf (the singer and the food).
4. Chris rocked the mic with Live last night, though it was painfully obvious that Live's lead singer did NOT enjoy sharing the spotlight and was totally trying to drown out Chris. Live's lead singer...not so good. Chris...
5. Prince was the performance highlight of the evening as he is ANYTIME he's on a stage. Cool, smooth and flawless...and the way he just turned his back on Seacrest and sauntered off stage at the end...priceless!
6. The Bacharach medley was a bit over the top. We aren't in Vegas right? But at least the Idols were having fun! Covais was hy-freaking-sterical with "What's new Pussycat". Did anyone else notice the oddly time hand gesture he made across his crotch as he was singing. If you have it on Tivo, watch the beginning of the performance and see how that gesture syncs up with the lyrics. Covais, you BAD BAD BOY
7. I LOVED the all guys/girls performances. The guys especially just melted me ito a puddle of goo
8. Because of the sheer number of STUFF they crammed into this show, it ran long and my TIVO came within 45 seconds of cutting off the victory announcement. My heart was actually pounding as I perched on the edge of my chair in terror that we would miss it. Producers gotta time their stuff better next time.
9. Finally and perhaps most importantly was the Clay issue. When the other guy came out to get his award and they asked him to sing, I assumed they would cut his mic and cue Aiken (perhaps offstage) to sing so it would look like the kid had a decent voice. When the kid started singing I got really worried that they were going to let him continue the whole song. THEN the doors behind him slid open and there he was...I think

. I turned to DH adn said "What's Harry Potter doing there?". Then he emerged from the backlight and I choked on my own words. "oh...My...GOD. It's CLAY......what in the HE** did he do to his HAIR????" Then we had to pause the Tivo for a good minute or so while we

. If he didn't officially come out yet, he totally did with that new look. Also, is it just my imagination or did he pack on some weight? That part looked good.
All in all, the show did exactly what it intended to. It entertained the heck out of me. I laughed so hard for those two hours that my sides hurt this morning. I'm thrilled for Taylor and I send him my warmest congrats. See you guys in August at the concert!!