TV

Just had to throw this in: Remember when Carrie won the Idol crown? She was wearing that long, conservative-looking gown and seemed so meek and wide-eyed.
Well, she ain't meek no more. She's gained mucho confidence and stage presence since her Idol days, hasn't she? And her outfit tonight even had a cape attached to the sleeves! Nothing says "superstar" like that does.
I don't mean any of this as a diss, because I love Carrie. Just an observation that once these kids leave this stage, they don't always stay exactly the same.

I'm sure this won't be my last Idol post of the season, but before I forget: Thanks to everybody who weighed in with their opinions on this blog. It always fills me with happiness to see a new comment pop in -- even if the commenter is calling me an idiot. :) It was a fun conversation, no matter what!

Well, we now have proof that while the judges' opinions mattter, they don't mean everything.
David Cook is your new American Idol, beating David Archuleta by 12 million votes. The best man won, as far as I'm concerned: He took the most chances with his songs, his voice was outstanding, he knew who he was as an artist.
And didn't we love how Simon tried to backtrack a bit after basically handing the title to Archie last night? Tonight, just before the winner was revealed, the Brit said he rewatched the Tuesday competition "and it wasn't quite so clear-cut as we called it. In fact, David, I will take this opportunity to apologize, because I think I was verging on disrespectful with you."
Many people will say he was trying to save face. I think I'd agree with them. But congrats to Cookie!

When the gang started in with the medley of Wham!/G. Michael songs, I thought, "Surely they're not about to introduce the man himself. What with all of his recent run-ins with the law." But sure enough -- here he is! Wearing Elvis glasses and sounding pretty great.

I love her, but Worst. Dress. Ever. Is the gold wrapping-paper look in these days? (With orange nail polish?)

They worked well together on the hit song "Apologize." I'd say it was better than David Cook's collaboration with ZZ Top. Mainly because ZZ Top really didn't seem that into it.

Brother Joe has gotten himself a girl haircut, it seems -- it flips up in the back, a la Mary Tyler Moore. (I'm just sayin'.) But they're all adorable.

Yes, his face looks a little "worn" (and who knew he was such a little dude?), but I love his songs. Wish they would have done a little "Cuts Like a Knife" while they were at it.

"I valet-parked outside; how much should I tip Sanjaya?"

Observations from that performance:
- Her new song, "Stamp Your Feet," is pretty darned catchy.
- Brooke has very little rhythm.
- The finale has incorporated many more break-dancers than normal. They're kinda stealing the show.
- DEFINITELY stealing the show was Ryan busting out a few moves with them. Hysterical!

I loved that he did "Hallelujah" again. It was awesome.

The clip of him acting as "spiritual" advisor to the Davids was both funny and annoying at the same time. In equal parts.

Ryan tells us that they received a whopping 97.5 million votes last night. That obliterates the previous record by more than 23 million. Pretty impressive.
He also noted that one David got 56 percent of the vote, while the other received 44 percent. Interestingly, a poll on People.com revealed that among its readers, Cook wins -- with 66 percent of the vote.

A recent trip to London got me even more interested in British television, which is extraordinarily good (i.e., much better than our shallow brand). And a prime example is the series Prime Suspect, which PBS imported to the States a few years ago for airing on Masterpiece Theatre. It features, of course, the sweeping range of lead actress Helen Mirren, who plays the embattled London cop, Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison. The last installment, Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act, played on PBS last fall. But through the miracle of the DirectTV DVR, I had it saved all this time. I started watching it Tuesday night and found myself immediately mesmerized. It's incredibly good. Makes me want to go and rent (or buy) all previous installments, which began all the way back in 1992, when the other Bush was president. Ms. Mirren, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, is as good as it gets when it comes to acting. Tennison's struggles with alcoholism are just part of the story in Chapter 7, which outshines anything I've seen on American television in years.

Photo: Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect

Anyone who dedicated blocks of their college days memorizing and reciting lines from This is Spinal Tap when they should have been studying for their Cultural Anthropology final -- or some other equivalent scenario -- may want to check out the new web feature National Geographic opened up today.