Kelly's Triumphant Return and Things Get Smokey...

8:11 We’re back…Ryan is at his fancier finale podium…He introduces Kelly Clarkson to the audience’s delight…I can’t believe it’s been five years since she won…And she does “Never Again.” I’m a little surprised…Talk about snarl…It sounds like she’s having some voice problems…By the way, have you seen this video? It’s seriously cool…The audience loves it…Kudos to the show to strike out against Clive and let her do this…Now let’s follow up with Carrie doing “Before He Cheats”…This song really grows on you. I didn’t like it at first…That was good…

8:14 And the crowd goes wild…Kudos to the director for cutting to Clive Davis after that. He tried to smile…

8:15 The Golden Idol Awards return this season for the most memorable auditions…Best Presentation: The nominees are X-Centric (the panther), Isadora Thurman (the chick with the hat that just moaned a lot), Margaret Fowler (the chicken woman)…Surely they won’t give this to X-centric because he’s scary…Of course it’s Margaret Fowler. She’s on the front row with Nigel and he helps her to the stage… She gives Ryan a HUGE kiss that takes him down to the floor and knocks his microphone off…He’s a little rattled…Her cell phone starts ringing and Ryan answers it to tell them that she is on national TV right now…Simon’s a little scared as she reads her poem…Okay, she needs to go now…Ryan said he gave her Simon’s number...Ryan is still trying to compose himself…

8:19 The top six guys sing “Ooh Baby Baby” with an arrangement by Take 6…It’s a smooth doo wop but they don’t totally blend at the beginning…Phil is awesome. We will see him on the tour by the way…Phil introduces Smokey Robinson who starts singing “Being With You”…The guys back him up…Simon is actually standing on this one…Now the guys take turns on “Tears of a Clown”…Blake finally sings something…Now they back up Smokey. This sounds pretty good…The guys have some dance moves too…They join Smokey front and center on the stage. He high-fives all of the guys…Break…