Lilit Marcus: March 2008 Archives

I know Season 7 is still in high gear, but the last few weeks of the show have gotten me thinking about the best of the best. Here are my top ten "Idol" performances of all time.

10. Brooke White, "Let It Be"
The standout of Season 7 so far, Brooke (who accompanied her raw, lovely rendition on the piano) success gives hope to everyone who wants this year's Idol to be a musician as well as a singer.

9. Frenchie Davis and Kimberley Locke, "Band of Gold"
I always think the Hollywood rounds don't get enough airtime, and this duet performance from Season 2 shows how many other incredible performances we could be missing out on before the show even officially begins.

8. Elliott Yamin, "Moody's Mood for Love"
Dark horse Elliott surprised everyone by choosing this old-fashioned standard, but this soulful performance helped propel him to a well-deserved third place finish in Season 5.

"Rock of Love," VH1's "The Bachelor"-style dating show starring '80s glam rock band Poison's lead singer Bret Michaels, is my favorite guilty pleasure TV show. That said, I never thought I would have a reason to write about it on Idol Chatter--until now.

Let me catch you up to speed. Season 1's winner, Jes, dumped Bret on live TV during the show reunion after watching his actions with other women. That left Bret embarrassed, single, and in a prime place to star in another season. This year, the clear favorite for Bret's heart was Kristy Joe. However, Kristy Joe wasn't totally honest about her past, finally confessing that she was in the process of her second divorce and still had feelings for her estranged husband. Soon, every episode featured a scene with Kristy Joe crying, often when she was on the phone with said estranged ex. So what's a rock star with a crush to do? Call an Eastern healer and arrange for Kristy Joe to get a chakra cleanse. However, the cleansing didn't have the results Bret wanted: Kristy Joe got in touch with her feelings, cried some more, and decided to leave the show.

The ubiquitous social networking website, Facebook, has recently gotten some negative press. Users who live in the disputed West Bank were upset to discover that Facebook's software (which can identify a user's location by their town name or zip code) had listed them as living in Palestine. Towns in the West Bank, such as Hebron, Ariel, and Maale Adumim are either Israeli settlements or Palestinian territories, depending who you ask.

After several upset posts and comments from users, Facebook now gives West Bank-based users the ability to choose whether they would like to list "Israel" or "Palestine" as their location.

Whatever side you're on, it's clear that Facebook, despite what some of its more devoted users may think, cannot create world peace. Yet.

Did you see the movie "Juno" (the Oscar-nominated film about a pregnant teenager) and wonder in the back of your head how the movie would have been different if the title character had been Jewish? Well, wonder no more. This video, directed by Steven Levinson, finally answers that important question.