Tonight's final episode of season four gave us a moment of TV serendipity.  In one hour, on the same show, we saw both Kenny G. and David Hasselhoff.  (Conan O'Brien must be happy today.)  As a bit of icing-on-the-top, Hall and Oates were in the audience as well.

The show itself was fantastic.  It had more of a "showcase" feel to it than past seasons' final shows.  I hope that they stick with this format in subsequent seasons.

Tonight's highlights:

1. Dirk (nerdy comedian audition-guy) got to sit next to his hero, David Hasselhoff.  I really marked-out for that one!  When Ryan introduced the hunky Baywatch star, I was really surprised.
2. There was a replay of Leroy Wells' audition.  That was awesome!  (Seeing Gene Simmons at the table, I am hoping that they bring him back in some capacity next year.  He was one of the best things about this season.)  I may have to go back in my audition tapes and watch Leroy do his thing again.  That was arguably the most entertaining moment of the whole series.  (That, and Mario stating that he wasn't bald.)
3. There was a really good pre-produced parody on the Corey Clarke interview.  Randy, Simon, Paula, Ryan, and William Hung played prominent roles.  I was impressed.
4. All of the top-twelve performers had the chance to sing onstage with some established stars.  Looking at the second- and third- season runners-up in the audience, I was thinking that they would have liked to have that opportunity.  Vonzell put on a really good performance from atop a grand piano.

In the end, Carrie Underwood was named American Idol.  I was mildly surprised, but honestly she needed the win more than Bo.  (Just like Ruben needed the win more than Clay did.)

Tonight's show put a really good veneer on the season as a whole.  It was good enough that I am once again anticipating the next round of auditions.  A showcase like this was just what the series needed to help avoid the final impression of the series getting stale.  This final show rejuvenated the series.

That's all for this year.  Thanks for reading my blog.

-Jamie