OK, so my mom has been an alcoholic for the past few years. A few weeks ago, she fell and split her chin open on the coffee table. She has no clue how it happened...can't remember, but she (and all the rest of us) knows she was drunk when it happened. At work, she made up some story that she was carrying a plate of food and fell--the plate broke and she cut herself on it.

Here's what happened to Paula really (make take): She was drunk and walking around the house all wobbly, tripped from drunkeness (not Chihuahua-ness) and hit her nose on the bed/nightstand/dresser. Or....she walked into a wall. I say a wall because she has literally "hit the wall" in her career and image.

how old is Paula? I really don't know this.

YAY Jordin!

glad it is over! I couldn't take much more of it. Congrats to Jordin and to Blake.

I agree. That 2 hour finale show was ridiculously long. I wish I'd watched the LOST finale and just tuned in to AI for the last 2 minutes. (However, I did enjoy Ruben and Jordin's song.)

That song with the line "A working class hero is something to fear" ....was so long, it was putting me to sleep. hehe

I caught a part of it with Gladys Knight, she still sounds great.

Was it just me, or was Bette Midler awful?

I kind of liked Better Midler! Here are my thoughts:

Taylor SUCKS

Jordin and Ruben killed 'You're All I Need' which is one of my favorite songs. They changed the beat and everything. If I didnt know what the original sounded like, I might have liked it

Carrie Underwood is great

The part about Sanjaya was funny

I think even though Blake lost, he will get picked up by some hip hop artists - he did a great job with Doug E Fresh

I dont appreciate them making fun of the kid they say looks like a Bush Monkey - I thought it was bad taste the first time and last night was even worse.

The show was far better than I was thinking it would be.

-Loved Blake and Doug E Fresh

-Gladys Knight was fantastic

-Ruben was awesome

-Can't stand Taylor Hicks - Blah!

-I love watching The African Childrens Choir, they are just so cute!

-Bette started out pretty rough, but I love her and she's Bette Midler!

-Carrie was really good

-Kelly Clarkston was way too bouncy, she was irritating me.

-When Jordan won and they paned to her dad with a tear in his eye, I welled up too!

-Blake will do very, very well

-I too would like a free Mustang!

I'd rather have something with better gas mileage considering gas here jumped to $3.50 a gallon!

I actually thought Green Day did a great job on that song. I actually like their version better than John Lennon's.

Bette Midler did sound bad last night.

I loved the AFrican Childrens Choir too! They were so happy!

The Great: Kelly Clarkson; Gladys Knight w/ Melinda and Lakeisha; Green Day; Jordin and Reuben (VERY surprisingly).

The Good: Carrie Underwood; the African Boys Choir.

The Bad: Bette Midler; Taylor and Reuben during the Sgt Pepper tribute (especially Reuben-that was AWFUL!).

The Unforgiveable: Sanjaya and Joe Perry; the award for the two young friends-The Bush Baby and his buddy--from the auditions (I agree QueenBee, even poorer taste last night)...

You do realize that the kid came there, knowing it was coming, knowing what the award was for, and stated emphatically that he was over it. In fact, he seemed pretty amused himself at having a bush baby sponsored in his name, and named Simon, at a zoo.

I didn't see this being in poor taste so much as an apology.

Oh, and Melinda with Bebe and CeCe was great! Not a backup any more baby!

I see it as poor taste because the kids are obviously special needs (especially the heavier one) and I don't believe really understand the true intentions of the producers of the show.

They were played for laughs, not apologies, and I just thought it was in poor taste.

I didn't get my undies in a bunch about it, it was just an observation and my opinion based on that observation.

Wait a second, he's heavy so he is special needs? Or are you saying he's a bit slow so he has special needs. The guy was there on his own, fully capable of signing waivers, and has been living up the celebrity. There are plenty of people who aren't that smart, who are not special needs.

Are you serious? No, he's not special needs BECAUSE he's heavier. The heavier one is for sure a special needs person (he's even participated in the Special Olympics--look him up).

I know he's there on his own, and capable of signing waivers (which is assuming he is even aware of what he's really signing, but that's another issue). Just because he's signed the waivers doesn't mean what they did was in good taste.

Again, just my opinion based on my observations and what I know about the person (and my experiences with special needs children, of which I have had many).

The two of them are using the Idol thing to get them in the spotlight, therefore I do not feel bad about laughing at the skit. If the two of them went home and hid the whole time, instead of playing it up for fame, I might be angry at the producers.

If you really watched you would see that all of the "awards" went to people who didn't seem to mind being laughed at. Of all of the nominees they were the most lighthearted ones. They were the ones at the auditions that took the judges comments lightly and were there more because they wanted the spotlight, not really to win idol. Each of them seemed to be having a good time and enjoying the spotlight, even if it was to make fun of their talent.

I get that. I really do. And I laughed during those awards (that Big Bird lady is CRAZY ).

However, the Bush Baby one, in particular, just made me feel bad.

That being said, I know I'm a little overly sensitive about special needs kids because I've worked with them so much in the past. So many of them just want to be liked and 'in on the joke' that they do things they don't truly understand, and oftentimes it still makes them feel bad.

It just made me feel kinda sad, that's all, and it ruined the overall feel of a show a little bit for me.

If they truly are just having a great time with it, then I applaud them...I'm just stating how I feel about it.

Isn't that what these threads are for?

You're wrong!!! And it's all Bush's fault!!!

Okay, now that we got the political and the arguement out of the way, let's continue...

I agree with Madison, there is a corrosiveness of our culture in the way these folks are treated

I enjoyed most of the show last night. I thought Gladys Knight and Smokey Robinson did a good job; I enjoyed Rubin and Jordin's duet. I enjoyed Taylor Hicks, I know, unlike most of you, but I like him. Sanjaya sucked . . . AGAIN. Poor Joe Perry. I didn't like the Green Day song, it was very boring to me. Oh, and I am glad Jordin won.

My family lives in a time zone 2 hours different from me so my aunt called and told me that Jordin won before our show even came on...

so Arizona may not be able to win the NBA finals, but we sure beat the cr ap out of American Idol!
I liked the show last night. I loved greenday! I was so happy to see them preform. I think over all though it was what was expected.