my ten most memorable moments...

With the finale looming, putting an end to this very short and very long fifth season of American Idol, it's time, as is customary, for me to sit back, remember, reflect, reassess and do all those other silly things one does as the end of something is so near.

Yes! That means it's time for the most memorable moments.

Seems people always like to talk about performances in terms of "best" or "worst." I don't do that, because talent is subjective, and style preferences run the spectrum. So I let others do that. In fact, my favorite performance(s) aren't even on this list. This is a list of the moments that stick in my brain without having to review a list of songs to trigger the recollection. And they're not in any specific order, really, until it gets to the end. (And, as always, I purposely exclude the two remaining kids, and anything from the previous week, because picking from a few days ago is the weenie way out.)

10.) Ace Young. (Father Figure). I remember Ace from his auditions, after having read his name being thrown about as a top 44er, so I was looking forward to seeing him for the first time, and I immediately pegged him as a frontrunner, but only on the basis of his good looks. But when he took the stage in the first men's semi-final and delivered this performance, I knew he'd make the 12, and was somewhat happy that he actually had a voice to back up those sensual gazes into the camera. Too bad his first good performance was his last good performance. But at least the memory of that night sustains me.

9.) Mandisa. (Wanna Praise You). Mandisa had blown most of the girls out of the water during the semi-finals with that big, belty voice that had her being compared with season two's prematurely evicted, but always remembered Frenchie Davis. But when she came down that ramp, preaching about lifestyles, I knew she was a goner. Faith is a wonderful thing, and she said later she needed to stay true to herself and that's a noble gesture, but the rules of the game are simple: sing, sing in tune, act nice. And leave agendas backstage.

8.) Gedeon McKinney. (Change is Gonna Come). Simon was right about Gedeon. His smile was offputting and even a little creepy, mainly because it just never seemed to go away. And smiles that never go away are not natural. But when he took to the semi-final eyeball stage and let loose with this song, I really believed he was going to oust one of the ratpackers to grab a final 12 spot. I still play this mp3 from time to time.

7.) Bobby Bennett. (Copacabana). Yes, this performance is still in my memory. And I want it out. Out. Now.

6.) Chris Daughtry. (Hemmorhage). I have this thing. When I hear a song for the very first time, I usually don't like it. It takes a few listens first. But when Chris Daughtry sang this song, that I had never before heard, he was my immediate choice for final two, because not only did he perform it well, he sang it well, erasing with that performance the one lingering doubt I initially had about him.

5.) Kevin Covais. (Part-Time Lover). Okay, so I thought Kevin was a cutie. And I couldn't help but smile at his willingness to play along with the self-mocking about his newly-discovered sex symbol status. And I pegged him immediately as this season's villian, you know, the one contestant who keeps plugging along, getting enough votes to continue while leaving better artists in his wake. After all, we have one every season. But when Kevin took to the top-12 stage and slinked and slunked his way through this Stevie Wonder song, I swear I felt my body shudder. Gratefully, he was gone the next week.

4.) Melissa McGhee. (What About Love). There weren't, truly, many memorable moments with Melissa, her butchered lyrics of Stevie Wonder notwithstanding, but when she sang Heart in the last women's semi-final, and did so somewhat admirably, only to have Simon tell her to pack her bags and reserve a flight to Florida, I had one of those rare moments. I got mad enough to vote for her. And I voted hardcore. And, it seems, so did a lot of other people, because the look on her face, when she outlasted the favored Ayla Brown to make it into the 12 was a priceless moment that made hitting that redial button worth it. (Sorry Ayla, nothing against you. I thought she'd oust Lisa Tucker instead.)

3.) Paris Bennett (The Show Must Go On). Knowing that Freddie Mercury recorded this song fully aware that he had just a short time to live, makes it one of my bittersweet favorites of the Queen catalog. So I knew I was going to be more highly critical of Paris than of the others that night. But when she came out in full rocker chick regalia and delivered this powerful and forceful rendition, I was impressed, enough even to blog it as the best performance of the night. But it's also memorable to me for the hell I had to take at work the next day for calling it the best of the night. Alas.

2.) The Entire Crew. (Standards Night). I had seriously lost interest in this competition after 21st Century night, which I still maintain was the worst overall finals performance episode in the five-year history of this show. But when Rod Stewart came to visit, and the kids had to choose from the greatest of the Great American Songbook, not only did each of them (minus one - sorry Pickler) bring it up a notch, but they renewed and rejuvenated my interest in a season that I pretty much would have written off - if it hadn't been for one of them. Which brings me to...

1.) Elliott Yamin. (A Song for You). Love Songs Night was on my birthday, and I had fallen in like with Elliott after Moody's Mood for Love and fallen in love after Teach Me Tonight. And even though I had shamelessly (and against all of the ethics of this blog) pleaded with people to vote for Elliott because "I [heart]ed him" (yes, I went back and looked - I did that), I really didn't think Elliott would advance too far, because as vocally brilliant as he was, he always seemed to be holding back on stage. But on my birthday, after telling my co-workers (yes, the ones who berated me over the Paris thing) that all I wanted as a gift was for Elliott to flip that switch and go for broke, he stood alone on that stage in that suit and light blue tie, took that Donny Hathaway song and totally ripped it with a confidence I hadn't seen in him until then. I was crying before Paula was, not over the song so much, but over watching this seemingly reserved kid bloom into a star.

So there they are. My most memorable moments.

Got memories of your own?