Hanging out with American Idol fame

Simon Cowell frozen in his trademark scowl.

Here I am "interviewing" Ryan Seacrest and rightfully ignoring the sullen Simon Cowell.

I m baaaaaaaaack!

Am I refreshed? Yes!

Energized? Check.

Getting acclimated to the snowstorm after walking around for almost five days in nearly-perfect 70-degree weather? No way, man.

But being in Las Vegas gave me the unique opportunity to sit down with both Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell.

In fact, I actually got to peak at the clipboard Simon was holding, on which he had scribbled rubbish and utterly terrible.

Though I had tons to say to both Ryan and Simon and actually gave Simon a hug and a noogie they had very little to say. In fact, they didn t say anything. They were made out of wax, and I saw them while visiting Madame Tussauds wax museum in Vegas.

Simon Cowell frozen in his trademark scowl.

But if they could talk, I ll bet they would both agree that Melinda Doolittle, 29, will be the next American Idol.

That s right, you heard it here, folks. From the moment I saw Melinda audition, I wrote down AMAZING! in my notebook, and am still sticking with that prediction.

The only reason she may not make it to the top is because her nerves even make me nervous.

In fact, this season definitely goes to back-up singers. I wouldn t be surprised if Brandon Rogers, who is also stepping up from behind into the spotlight, makes it far as well.

Those are the ponies I m placing my bets on. What do you think?

And I don t know about the rest of Toledo, but I LOVED watching two brand-new Idol episodes last night, even though it was accidental.

On Tuesday, Fox s WUPW-TV, Channel 36 in Toledo lost power and the station s backup generators caught fire. This caused local viewers to miss the entire episode of the show chronicling Hollywood week, which I always enjoy.

Though the tears are too much to bear sometimes, it s interesting to see which contestants come up with the most original routine on group day, and who decides it s OK to go to bed without ensuring they ve got their routine nailed down.

Even though she said she worked twice as hard as the other two girls in her group, it was obvious that the young Baylie Brown, 16, didn t care enough to ensure she wouldn t forget the words to This Old Heart of Mine by Rod Stewart.

And the double feature gave us in Toledo the chance to watch the more fast-paced hour of Idol that is Hollywood week, which I think is needed when it comes to yesterday s regularly-scheduled show the slowest of them all.

The entire episode consists of 40 people going into an elevator one-by-one to face the judges to see if they ll be one of 24 contestants actually singing on the show for America s votes.

And those who were cut who should have been given a chance? Hands down, it was Marisa Rhodes, who lost out to hottie Antonella Barba, and Tommy Daniels, who was rejected for Jason Sundance Head. Both were phenomenal singers who I would have loved to see grow on the show.

But that s the way it goes on Idol. One day you re on your way to becoming a superstar, and the next you re on a plane heading home wondering if you ll get another big break.

Still, the dream is still alive for 24 hopefuls.

After the excitement of Idol, it was sorta depressing to watch a far-from-action-packed episode of The Real World that centered around Stephen realizing that it is possible for a person to be homosexual and a Christian simultaneously.

Though it was a relatively boring episode, I do hope that others learn the same lesson that Stephen said he did. I think we need more people like Davis to teach it.