TVSquad

What would the Fourth of July be without hot dogs, fireworks, and Blake's beatboxing?

American Idol finalist Blake Lewis will be joining third place finisher Melinda Doolittle, as well as this year's reigning champ Jordin Sparks for Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC. The special will be hosted by Natalie Morales and Tiki Barber from NBC's Today Show. Country singer Martina McBride will also be on hand to perform "Anyway."

NBC says the fireworks display "will feature nearly 35,000 brilliant shells exploding over New York City" in the country's largest Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza. The one-hour Spectacular will be televised at 9PM from New York.

(S06E30) The show begins in a subdued mood tonight, with Ryan giving "our thoughts and prayers'' to all the people affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy.

However, the hush doesn't last long. The crowd is fired up. They really, really love their Top 7 Finalists. Not only do they boo Simon a lot throughout the night, but the angry horde also turns on Miss Paula. They boo loudly during her critique of LaKisha's shouting.

Meanwhile, Simon has obviously had ENOUGH of Sanjaya. He's done being nice. He's done holding back. He's done trying to ignore Sanjaya with the hopes he'll go away. All I can say is -- it's about time, Simon. It's no fun watching Idol, unless an outspoken Simon is "telling it like it is."

AND. THIS. IS. AMERICAN. IDOL.

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.

(S03E14) And we're back for the big two week elimination show. It's a big week as it gets us down to the final four. After this, the competition gets serious. Anyone that makes it past tonight has a legitimate shot to win the whole thing. Emmitt & Cheryl kick things off after the judges pick them for the encore this week. That's a good choice. Emmitt has surprised me more than anyone else this season. He just keeps getting better.

Martina McBride takes the stage next to sing "This One's For The Girls." I wasn' t crazy about the dress. It looked like something from the Star Trek Maternity line. Wardrobe snafu aside, that's a good song. The musical guests this season have been really good. Being a top five show has it's perks.