TVSquad

Yet another results show has come around, and Ryan starts things off by asking, "Who will graduate from the Idol school of rock, and who will just get schooled?" You know, Ryan, I'm available if your writers are on strike. Call me.

Anyway, sounds like it was a dramatic week on American Idol - a large column collapsed and in a separate incident, a staffer was injured on a stair mishap. Whew. But the show must go on, and we'll find out tonight whether Allison, Danny, Adam or Kris will be going home. The other three get to go home, too, but for a big hometown parade with cheerleaders and town leaders gushing praise on them.

If you somehow found yourself feeling unsatisfied after last week's inspirational "Idol Gives Back" smorgasbord, you can always head over to iTunes for a second helping.

For a limited time, iTunes is offering video and audio versions of the performances as well as some exclusive content that wasn't televised during the original air date.

While you can expect to pay a nominal fee for everything you download, all proceeds will be distributed to relief organizations within the U.S. and Africa via the Charity Projects Entertainment Fund.

Although "Idol Gives Back" has already brought in $60 million in donations, it's nice to see some ancillary methods like this iTunes arrangement continuing to bring even more money to the charitable cause.

Check out the American Idol official Fox Site for more details.

(S06E33) Tonight was the big night they've been talking about all season - Idol Gives Back. Over the course of the night, Idol tried its best to keep us entertained, inspired, and educated.

Some of it worked, some of it didn't. Telethons are like that. Not every bit can be a gem. But it's all for a good cause, right? So, obviously we can't complain too loudly.

My overall impression was that it seemed way longer than two hours. And I'm not just saying that to be snarky. They seriously threw in way more than I can even begin to recap. I'd be here all night if I tried to get it all in this post. So, I'm just going to stick to the highlights, and you can tell me the things that stood out for you.

We're halfway through American Idol's self-proclaimed "historic" charity event. Last night, News Corp donated 10 cents for every call received (up to 50 million calls).

Tonight, a bunch of celebrities (including Ellen DeGeneres, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, and a mystery duet) will take to the stage to entertain America and raise even more money and awareness.

And before one of the Idol finalists gets booted, the kids will perform a special anthem -- "American Prayer" -- written by Bono and Dave Stewart about the AIDS emergency in Africa.

(S06E25) Two important questions will be answered tonight, Ryan says. "Who's going home, and how will Sanjaya wear his hair?"

Blake is safe. LaKisha is safe. Phil IS in the bottom three. Melinda is safe. Chris R rebounds from last week's bottom two and IS safe. Sanjaya (yawn) is safe AGAIN. Haley IS in the bottom three. And Jordin, of course, is safe. Which means, either Chris Sligh or Gina is in the bottom three, but we won't know who until the end of the show.

Fast Forward. Turns out CHRIS SLIGH joins PHIL and HALEY in the bottom three. But Philly is sent back to safety once again.

SLIGH vs. SCARNATO? Who's going home? Randy says it's a tough call. Paula says they both deserve "warmth" from the audience. Simon thinks it's "Bye, Bye Curly."

It's amazing what a great set of songs will do for the show. I use the word "great" loosely since most of the songs sung on Idol were chart-toppers at one point or another. I suppose The Police, The Pretenders and The Cure are more the kind of thing that I'd go pay money to see in concert. So, for me, tonight was a good one. Thanks Gwen for having great taste in music.

Musical taste can't save some, though. Just when I thought what's-his-name was finally going away, once again he's found a way to set office break rooms a buzz with his faux-hawk worthy of the West Village on Halloween night --not that there's anything wrong with it. There's a future in freakiness -- just not in singing. Not for him anyway.

(S06E24) "And Then There Were Ten," Ryan screams to start the show. As if we didn't know, THIS, is American Idol.

This week, the contestants were coached by Gwen Stefani and selected songs by No Doubt, or by artists that inspired Gwen, such as The Police, Donna Summer, and The Cure.

We're given Gwen's list of accomplishments: singer, songwriter, fashion icon, actress, and performer. Gwen tells us that she's excited for the contestants, and she feels very invested in the competition now.

There's only an hour and seven minutes tonight, so we get right to the performances. First up, LaKisha.

American Idol has an impressive guest list of artists for the rest of this season. Guests include Tony Bennett, Bon Jovi, Barry Gibb, Jennifer Lopez, Lulu, Martina McBride, Peter Noone, Diana Ross, and Gwen Stefani. Looking at that list, it's pretty obvious there will be themes including disco, rock, pop, '50s, country, and lounge.

First of all, I'd love to see Diana Ross be a guest judge. I think her zanyness could rival Paula's and maybe even make Paula look sober.

I think the biggest 'get' is Gwen Stefani, who is on top of her game right now. I guess she knows where her fans are. There's no doubt (har, har) that Gwen's young fans are the same people who watch Idol.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look as though any of these celebrities will actually perform. Idol's press release lists the celebs as "coaches" and "guests". So... they'll be helping performers choose and prepare songs and probably also be guest judges. Performers scheduled for this season are former Idol contestants Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler.

Fox has confirmed that Season Three Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino, will perform live on Thursday's first results show and will also make a "special announcement." This show airs on February 22 (8-9 PM ET).

Idol and Fox sure do love to tease us with "special" or "surprise" announcements, don't they? Will Fantasia provide us with a hint about this year's promised "unexpected twist?" Probably not.

(S32E08) I must preface this post by saying that I know virtually nothing about Annette Bening. She is married to Warren Beatty, she was in American Beauty, and... that's about it. So, if this episode was packed with Bening film references and I failed to catch them, I apologize.

Bening had a really strong performance. All her characters were totally solid and natural (I mean, as natural as they could be). However, she had a really tough time with the cue cards. It wasn't like her eyes darted from side to side... she just full-on stared at the cue cards most of the time. That always annoys me a little bit about hosts, but perhaps it's just a personal annoyance and not particularly fair towards Bening. After all, it's not like something a film star should be used to, right?

The writing was very funny at some points, but the rest of the episode was only "okay". Hey, they can't all be winners.

Paris Hilton has followed Britney Spears' lead by backing out of her hosting gig for Fox's Billboard Music Awards. Unlike Brit Brit, who didn't give a reason, Paris apparently quit the show because she didn't like the jokes that were written for her. She says that she didn't appreciate making jokes about people who are her friends. She couldn't come to an agreement with the producers about her scripts, so she quit.

This behavior pretty much goes along the lines of what Tina Fey told Howard Stern recently. She said that Paris takes herself way too seriously (oh, and she is stupid and sheds fake hair).

The hostless Billboard Music Awards air Monday on Fox at 8 pm. Musical guests include Janet Jackson, The Killers, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Mary J. Blige, Nickelback, and Ludacris featuring Pharrell and Young Jeezy.

Saturday Night Live will have three new episodes, back-to-back, before breaking for the Christmas holiday. Here's the schedule of hosts and musical guests:

• Matthew Fox & Tenacious D, December 2
• Annette Bening & Gwen Stefani, December 9
  
• Justin Timberlake, December 16

I may actually watch the Matthew Fox episode just because I'm curious to see how they make fun of Lost. Let's hope it's not a Q&A monologue with rabid Lost fans. That's too easy. Plus, Tenacious D is always a hoot. Hopefully we'll see Jack Black in a few sketches (He would make a great Hurley!) The Justin Timberlake episode also intrigues me just because he seems to be up for anything the SNL writers throw at him. I expect we'll see the SNL holiday special on the following Saturday, December 23rd.

Teri Hatcher had to know that when she wore a sheer dress with boy panties underneath to the Grammy Awards last night, she would be compared to Jennifer Lopez's infamous green scarf outfit back at Grammys 2000. Maybe I'm just used to seeing celebrities wear see-through dresses, but I thought J-Lo's outfit had a lot more impact than Hatcher's. Plus, she looked hotter. Lopez actually has some shape to her body, whereas Teri Hatcher is so skinny that it's borderline nasty. But, the guys might like that Teri is showing more breast than J-Lo did and yes, they are real and I hear "they're spectacular".

Other fashion you should check out:

What a night for Kelly Clarkson! She cried when she beat out Gwen Stefani, Sheryl Crow, Mariah Carey, and Bonnie Raitt for best female pop performance for her very awesome Since U Been Gone rock hit. Less than an hour later, she nearly broke down as she sang Because of You. Later in the night, Kelly won her second grammy for best pop vocal album for Breakaway, an album that was very close to her heart. She wrote or co-wrote half the songs on the album and divorced her management company over control of the album. Neither of her acceptance speeches mentioned her win on American Idol. That's a tough call. She obviously wouldn't be where she is if it weren't for Idol, but at the same time, she legitimized herself as a true talent this year when she distanced herself from the competition.

Other winners: