And THAT ... was AMERICAN IDOL!

I'll admit that I've been an Idol fan since Season Two. I wouldn't say that I'm a huge fanatic, but I do watch it faithfully. Shows air twice (and sometimes three times) a week, from January through May, so it's a big time commitment...I hardly know what to do with myself in the off-season. After Simon left and J-Lo and Steven Tyler were brought aboard as judges for Season 10, I had decided to part ways with the show this year. But curiosity got the best of me, and I started watching the audition shows in January. And what do you know--I got hooked again. Hey, it's good, clean, family fun.

Last week I was thrilled to learn that I'd finally scored Idol tickets for tonight's results show. The Wrangler was considerably less enthusiastic about the idea of attending, but he focus group-tested the idea among some coworkers. The idea tested through the roof--everyone told him to go. And so we headed up to Hollywood this fine afternoon, dressed to impress (as we were instructed). We checked in around 2PM and were seated around 4:30PM. The show, which is aired live on the east coast and in the midwest, began at 5PM Pacific Time.

The studio looked just as I'd imagined, although it was much smaller than I expected. It was fun to see the judges, Seacrest, and the contestants in person. At the risk of sounding like a starstruck 'tween, I'll say it was simply a fabulous show! I just read a recap describing it as the most exciting results show EVER, and I must agree! We got our groove on during the surprise live performances by Stevie Wonder and Jennifer Hudson. (The Sugarland performance was pre-recorded; we all just sat and watched the video on monitors. It was a little weird.) We witnessed an elimination shocker, and we were stunned by the truly dramatic save by the judges.

After the show, we waited out the rush-hour traffic on the 405 with a stop for dinner in Little Ethiopia on Fairfax. We arrived home in time to re-live the glory by watching the recorded show (which airs at 8PM here), freezing the frame to point out our tiny, blurry faces in the nosebleed seats. Indeed, we are so blurry that I don't think this counts as our 15 minutes of fame.