So, I heard that Idol brought Haley back and I got all excited about the finale, which I wasn’t excited about at all. Seems Lauren strained her vocal chords so badly they didn’t think she could compete in the finale. So Haley was brought in, rehearsed, the whole nine yards. Only Lauren opted in, in the end. (And yay her, sincerely! She got there, she deserved to compete. But honestly, I also felt like it was a little “hey, let’s just jerk Haley around. AGAIN.”)

I didn’t watch. I taped it, started to fast forward through it, and just found it completely uninteresting (to me. They sing very, very well, but it’s been there, done that, samey samey week in/out for me with them.) Plus, as teenagers, I wonder how either of them will do in the Music Industry Machine and can’t get excited about that for them. I wish they were both a little older before being thrown to the wolves. Their talent would only improve and they’d have the maturity to help them deal with the rest of what’s about to happen to them. So…kind of ambivalent this go around.

That said, I did hear a lot of talk about David Cook’s performance, so went and checked that out just now and that? THAT is the kind of thing I rooted for. Nicely done. I see a download in my future.

I spent the evening in the ballroom instead, enjoying the finale on Dancing With the Stars, watching Mark out dance his partner one last time (although props for bringing back one of my favorite of their routines. I did really enjoy seeing it again), Kirstie go back and repeat her opening number of the season, and FINALLY give me that performance I’ve been waiting for, and Kym & Hines to end the season, as they have all the way through, bestowing happy smiles as I watch them flit across the floor together. Truly joyful, those two. So, in the end for me, it had nothing to do with the best technical dancer, but so many other things, Triumph over adversity, pure pleasure in entertainment, fun, wit, playfulness, all of those things counted. And, for me, it ended exactly how it should have.

Mark & Chelsea came in third. And, honestly, though a better technical dancer than the other two, all things considered, I think that was exactly where they should have landed. Kirstie gave Maks yet again another second place finish, and he said the sweetest thing, which was that in eleven seasons, he’s been given eleven trophies (his partners) and he loved her very much. Awww. And then the trophy went to the pair that has been the most joyful to watch, week in and week out, for me. Hines & Kym get the coveted mirror ball trophy and all is good and fun. A nice season, this go. I hope they manage to find a way to get a fun combination like that again next time around!

I also taped The Voice, and though I thought these battle rounds were the most mismatched and therefore the least enjoyable (comparatively speaking) I am still very much enjoying the show and the competitors. I am really looking forward to next week, as some of my favorite contestants will battle in the final head to head round. I have no idea how the team thing works after this round, when the, public starts voting, and given the show hasn’t bothered to explain that part, I wonder if they do, either, but I don’t care. I’ll be tuning in!

So You Think You Can Dance starts tomorrow night, and not a moment too soon! Nigel said in an interview yesterday that they are bringing back both the Top 20 and the All Star mentors, both of which I liked last season, only this time they are trying a different balance. Last time, by having the All Stars pair up straight off with the competing dancers, we lost a little of the fun we had in seeing the competing dancers pair with each other. So, to deal with that, this season, they will have the Top 20 pair with each other, then when it’s down to the Top 10, the All Stars will come in. Winning! And, he teased us that we will see Alex Wong again…in some way. I still have his routine with Twitch on my DVR. The longest I have ever saved anything. And it’s still worth the rewatch. Makes me grin, every time.

Don’t forget to enter this week’s contests! And boy, do we have contests! See Tuesday’s post here for details on how to win a book by Moi, from my website bookshelf, and get your entry in. Winner announced here Friday. Then check out my Cakes by the Cup blog, where I am sharing my epicurean journey into the baking of wee cakes as I write (and eat!) my way through my upcoming Sugarberry Island Cupcake Club series. While you’re over there, in addition to drooling over the best Mississippi Mud recipe evah, you can enter to win a copy of Southern Living’s Big Cupcake Cookbook. (See bottom of current blog post for entry details.)

AND! You can also click on the CONTEST! link on either site, then hurry up and send me your favorite cupcake recipe. If your recipe is selected the winner, it will be published in the back of my second Cupcake Club book, SWEET STUFF! I know! How awesome is that?!?

So, what are you waiting for? Enter to win…then come back here and DISH!

Tags: Writing //