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Wednesday, May 26, 2004
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'Idol' Insider: Finale Fever
It was a night of high notes and high drama as the divas traded powerful performances during Tuesday's "American Idol" finale. And while determined Diana experienced a diva disaster, fan favorite Fantasia knocked 'em dead -- except for one man.
Simon Cowell wasn't a fan of Fantasia's "All
My Life," which he judged "a complete mess,"
but it was Diana who drew gasps from the crowd when she lost
her way during "Don't Cry Out Loud."So what went wrong?
The singer told us backstage that she was suffering a technical
problem with her earpiece: "I knew I could have done better,"
she admitted. "Issues with hearing and stuff was going
on at the time of the song."
A triumphant Fantasia was beaming when she gave us her reaction to her knockout performance: "I didn't want to leave the stage!"
And we've uncovered lots of emotion that you didn't see on the show. Host Ryan Seacrest told us Fantasia was, "close to breaking down …and then when Simon said 'the best contestant we've had in any competition,' that really got to her."
Judge Paula revealed how that emotion continued offstage: "backstage, we just locked eyes and she grabbed me and we both started crying."
When we caught up with the judges this morning, their early, unofficial, scorecard had Fantasia in the lead. According to Simon, "When Diana mucked everything up on that third song, and Fantasia did that very emotional performance on that last song, she won the competition."
"I don't know if she's the obvious winner, but I would give the championship to Fantasia because she blew it out, last night," said Randy.
And Paula insisted that, "if Fantasia's not crowned, it would blow me away if she didn't win."
But don't count Diana out just yet -- the 16-year-old dynamo
says the "Idol" finale is just the beginning for her.
"Hey, if I don't win, I'm still hoping to be signed,"
she said. "Watch out, Fantasia -- I'm coming out with a
CD!"
So while it's unknown who'll win, the one safe bet is that there'll be plenty of emotion when America crowns its next "Idol," tonight on FOX. In the meantime, what about those rumors swirling around the show's stars? Let's finish up with a little 'Idol' Rumor Control:
Is it true that Ryan might host the new "American Bandstand"
revival? "I have not been tapped to be the host,"
Ryan admits. "However, I think it is the right time to
bring back that show and I've always looked up to Dick Clark."
Simon credits himself for the success of "Idol," but
will his paycheck skyrocket to $17.1 million for seasons 3 through
6? "I couldn't tell, even if I wanted to," maintains
Simon. "And I wouldn't tell you, because it's vulgar to
discuss money."
And what about the rumors about Paula's love life? "The latest one is that I somehow got back with her my first husband," she reveals. "Not true!"
And what about the finalists? We've learned the rumor's true
that Fantasia prays before every Idol performance, but did Diana
miss her prom because of the "AI" finals? That's true,
too: the southern songstress skipped the youthful right of passage,
but said she's doing something better -- following her dream.
Will her dream come true? We'll just have to wait until tonight.
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