Dolly & My IDOL Day

"Here I Come Again" to paraphrase Miss Dolly. I know, it's been a week! But I'm back! So, I'll start with Dolly night. Dolly is a genius, a national treasure, a true talent. That said, with the exception of Whitney, no one but Dolly should sing Dolly songs. It's kind of the equivalent of having a Joni Mitchell night. Get it? Anyway, Carly, Booke, Cook, John Michaels and Baby D stood out. Carly finally gave her best performance of the season. Interesting that the Cook gets praised for his stolen arrangements but no one mentioned the Tatted-Arm belter's ballad version of one of the most peppy-happy-pop songs ever recorded (Here You Come Again)??? Castro was good but still needs to kick it up a notch. "Hallelujah" was a month ago, Dreddie. But yet I feel, based on voting, we could see Baby D, Castro and Cook in the top three... in that order. I do love that loppy-Paula is BACK! She starts her sentances with absolutely no idea where the hell she's going or how to end them. And her jumping on Simon so loudly with every disagreement is waning. Speaking of talking back: Carly & Brooke - put yourself in Shut-Down mode! (Dolly note: Yes, I'll be seeing "9 to 5," the musical in Pasadena later this year!)


My IDOL Day: Last Wednesday, when Kimberley returned to IDOL, it was a quite surreal yet comical day for me. It started with picking her up and getting a phone call from Christian Siriano that he had landed and could not check into the Mondrian as his room wasn't ready. Nice job, Mondrian. I dropped her at IDOL then drove to pick up the dress. I wanted to meet Christian yet was on a time-clock and had to get back to the set quickly. However, C decided to cutely hem-n-haw over whether he should come with me to CBS at that moment because he wanted to fit Kim in the dress as had to be there for his Craig Ferguson appearance (the same time IDOL tapes). Eventually, I convinced him he could shower in Kim's large dressing room so he rolled out a piece of luggage as large as my Jeep and we were on our way. I said , "Lady, that thing's the size of four of you!" He said drone-like, "It's got wheelssssss." Aside from being very talented, he is a quick-wit, very sweet and very appreciative of his new-found stardom.

So, between him getting ready - yes, I witnessed the hair process of C's 'do - and Kim getting all dolled up with her make up and hair guy, complete with C taping down her own two "Idols," it was quite a comical scene. Just before Kim's appearance, we were brought to holding room where all the kids were. Being a fan of Baby D (a much better nickname than Archie), I kept my eye on him to see if he's a sweet kid, the way he seems on TV. And well, he is. I kept noticing him looking for a moment to talk to talk with Kimberley as if Mariah were in the room. Shades of me at age 16 looking longingly at Liza Minnelli for a chance to enter her conversation so I can say "I love 'The World Goes Round.'" (True story.) They lined the kids up to bring them on-stage, all passing Kim. And Baby D jumps at his chance. With a big grin and his lil' hand out-reached, he says "I love your song 'Change.' It's my favorite." To which I almost wept-over it's cuteness and Kim gratefully beamed for him saying "Change" and not "8th World Wonder." Chatty-Kathy, Carly talked us-up because she knew some of Kim's co-writers from her "True Story" album. Being very business-like, I could immediately tell this girl has been put through the wringer by the record biz but still knows how to schmooze at the drop of a CD. (Shades of me: 4 record deals with no release by age 30.) Others who made their way to chat-it-up with Kim include a very flirty Chikeze (who later asked me if Kim was single - a very bold brotha), Brooke (sweet as pie with her compliments of Kim's singing) and KL Cook (who noted Kim's country cover of the Clay Walker song "Fall.") And yes, Castro seemed to be 4-joints-into his day and I wanted Michael Johns to ask me for my number.

Tomorrow I'll start to get back to other things non-Idol. But for now, I'm happy to have these 20 minutes back every morning for coffee and typing! Happy April!