When Ryan Seacrest announced that Taylor Hicks had won American Idol, I let out a “Yeah!” cheer. But it wasn’t as loud as the “Yeah!” I uttered a couple hours later when Boris Diaw made a last-second shot to put the Phoenix Suns ahead of the Dallas Mavericks. So I guess this aging soul still retains some manly-manly-ness. Considering how much American Idol has controlled my life this year, I was beginning to wonder.

The American Idol finale was a lot of fun. It’s the first one I’ve seen. Some great singing. Chris Daughtry singing with Live (note to self: check out Live on iTunes). Paris Bennet with Al Jarreau–wow, Paris is great! I was impressed with Carrie Underwood. The segments with Kelly Pickler and Wolfgang Puck were hysterical. Loved the three Brokenote cowboys. I’m a Meat Loaf fan, so I enjoyed seeing him and Katherine McPee sing together. Enjoyed hearing Lisa Tucker sing again (always one of my favorites). The segment with the five guys singing together was wonderful (much better than the counterpart with the women). Didn’t recognize Clay Aiken with his new ‘do until near the end of that song. The silly awards were fun. It was just a fun, fun event, and I unabashedly enjoyed it.

But it was nice to then flip over to TNT to rev up the testosterone again.