Kellie Pickler looked gorgeous at the 2009 CMT Music Awards last night in both her red carpet dress and the outfit she wore during her performance. 

She performed “Best Days Of Your Life” and was nominated for Female Video of the Year and Video of the Year for “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” but ended up losing both times to her close friend, Taylor Swift, for her hugely popular “Love Story.”

Watch Kellie’s performance below. I think that she’s definitely gotten better at singing this song live but she still had a few shaky moments. Overall, it was pretty good for an awards show appearances since I’m sure it’s pretty scary to sing in front of all those other country stars!

Kellie also presented the “Breakthrough Video of the Year” award with fellow American Idol personality, Randy Jackson.  I know that I said Kellie looked good but Randy looked pretty great too!  Their dialogue was a bit silly, though.

The prize ended up going to the Zac Brown Band for their hit “Chicken Fried.” 

A lot of celebrities seem to like Madeo in Los Angeles but I’m not sure if it’s because of the food, drinks or atmosphere.  Have any of you ever been there? 

American Idol host, Ryan Seacrest, was spotted at the hotspot with his Megan Fox-lookalike date.  I find this an odd pairing (at least in these photos) especially because their outfits don’t seem to match (he looks so casual).  However, if his pants are any indication, he finds his new girlfriend attractive enough…

There were so many stars on the red carpet last night for the American Idol season 8 finale that I wouldn’t even dream of trying to list them here. 

Of course, there were the finalists, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, along with the rest of the Top 13 and judges but the celebrities (and former contestants) came out in droves to see who would win the singing competition. 

It looks like season four winner, Carrie Underwood, hurt her knee somehow since she’s got her “owie” all covered up with four Hello Kitty bandaids. She still managed to look absolutely fabulous!

SEE MORE GREAT RED CARPET PICS AFTER THE JUMP!

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Can you believe the eighth season of American Idol will be over tonight?  It started with a great recap of the best judges moments from this year which, of course, included some clips of Kara DioGuardi.  I never realized how much she said “sweetie!”  Too funny!

After they checked in with the hometowns of finalists, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, the Top 13 performed Pink’s hit song “So What?”  I am not sure why they picked this since I don’t think it works well as a group number.  It sounds kind of cheesy to be honest.  Kudos to Scott MacIntyre (Idol’s first visually impaired contestant) for navigating his way through the performance!

American Idol season 7 winner, David Cook, performed a song called “Permanent” and I really liked it.  He really is an impressive artist and I’m so happy with how great his career has progressed since the show ended.

More “Golden Idol Awards” (these are a little mean, aren’t they?).  They showed clips of the worst auditions of this season.  I am ashamed to admit that I could not stop laughing!  It great to see a whole highlight reel of Nick Mitchell/Norman Gentle material.  He won, of course

Queen Latifah took the stage along with former contestant, Lil Rounds.  They performed “Cue the Rain” and it was a pretty good performance.  Did you like it?

Jason Mraz, along with former finalists, Anoop Desai and Alexis Grace, sang his huge hit “I’m Yours” (the rest of the Top 13) and I really thought it was a bit choppy and off.  I really love Jason Mraz and he was great but it felt a little strained and weird. 

We next got to see “The Journey of Kris Allen” and those montages always give me the chills.  I love to see how far they’ve come since we first saw the finalists in the audition round.

Kris thrilled his fans by coming out on stage with Keith Urban where they sang “Kiss a Girl” and I thought it was fabulous!

The great pairing just made the girls’ group performance stand out as mediocre.  Okay, really it was mostly Jasmine Murray who was seriously struggling (as she did in the Top 13 group number earlier) as she and Megan Joy started by singing “Glamorous.”  Allison Iraheta introduced Fergie who sang “Big Girls Don’t Cry” but the action didn’t stop there. 

The rest of the Black Eyed Peas came out and they performed their new single “Boom Boom Pow.”  It was an awesome performance and, is it just me, or is Fergie looking better these days?

Yuck, we get to see Katrina “Bikini Girl” Darrell again as a nominee(and winner) for the “Golden Idol Awards” in the “Best Attitude” category.  Why does she get to sing?  Ugh.  She butchered “Vision of Love” and I’m wondering if Nick Cannon is going to come out and defend his wife, Mariah Carey’s honor this time.  Uh oh.  Kara DioGuardi, Bikini Girl’s nemesis, came out on the stage and stole the spotlight by not only outsinging her but by also flashing her own bikini on stage.  That was awesome!

Allison Iraheta and Cyndi Lauper performed “Time After Time” and I thought it was a pretty great pairing.  It was a nice, mellow performance.  There were a couple weird moments but they are both, um, unique artists so what can you expect?

After Ryan talked to Kris Allen’s parents, Danny Gokey sang “Hello” (yikes, not sure I would have been brave enough to since that song after David Cook slayed it last season) and was joined by Lionel Richie and they sang some of Richie’s other music.

We got to see “The Journey of Adam Lambert” and then he took the stage with KISS.  Does it get much better than that?  I loved his outfit too!  I absolutely LOVE KISS and the fireworks and makeup are the only thing this year that has been more over-the-top than Adam Lambert on Idol.  What a show!

Carlos Santana had the bad luck to follow KISS and Adam Lambert but he was amazing, of course.  I love Santana.  He was joined by Matt Giraud and then the rest of the Top 13 when he started playing “Smooth.”  So good. 

After a Ford commercial with Adam, Kris and David Cook, Steve Martin took the stage with Michael Sarver and Megan Joy.  It was a cute banjo/bluegrassy kind of number. 

The Top 13 guys sang a group number where they performed “If You Want My Body” and introduced Rod Stewart.  I love him too!  He sounded a little rough but who cares!?

The last “Golden Idol Award” was awarded to Tatiana Del Toro for Outstanding Female.  She ran up on stage (even though Ryan pretended he needed to go to a break), accepted her award and started signing “Saving All My Love For You.”  Gotta love Tatiana.

For one last time, the Top 2 are singing together.  Kris and Adam sang “We Are The Champions” and it was really good.  I’m freaking out.  I don’t even know who I want to win tonight. 

Over 100 million votes were cast (recording breaking!).

FIND OUT WHO WON AMERICAN IDOL AFTER THE JUMP!

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Judges Randy Jackson, Simon Cowell and host, Ryan Seacrest, were on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last night and Jay asked them to make a prediction about who was going to win this season. 

I know they are asked this question all the time but I think it is interesting that Jay is having them privately write down their prediction so that he can keep it a secret until the finale.  I wonder if not being put on the spot and being able to think through their answer will make a difference.  Randy and Simon claim that a guy will win (they named Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert) but then Simon cracked me up by including “Little” Rounds (I’m sure he can say “Lil” by now, right?).

image: NBC Photo: Margaret Norton

American Idol host, Ryan Seacrest, was spotted at Madeo in Beverly Hills with his mother, Connie , and possibly his grandmother (?). 

I know Ryan gets a lot of flack for being a self-admitted “mama’s boy” but I think it’s kinda nice that he loves and respects his mother so much. 

Do you have a Twitter profile?  If you don’t, you should consider getting on there because it’s one of the best ways to keep track of what your favorite celebrities are up to!  There are a growing number of American Idol stars on there that you can start following (if you haven’t already).  Feel free to email me or add some that I’ve missed in the comments area and I will update this post.

• Michael Johns (finalist, season 7) - http://twitter.com/michael_johns
• Jordin Sparks (winner, season 6) - http://twitter.com/TheRealJordin
• Ryan Seacrest (host) - http://twitter.com/RyanSeacrest
• Melinda Doolittle (finalist, season 6) - http://twitter.com/mdoolittle
• Anoop Desai (top 36, season - http://twitter.com/noopdogg
• Brooke White (finalist, season 7) - http://twitter.com/babblingbrookie
• Alexis Grace (finalist, season - http://twitter.com/AlexisGOnline

Do you use Twitter?  If so, feel free to add me (http://twitter.com/JeanneD) or share your Twitter ID in the comments section below!

image: twitter.com

Ryan Seacrest interviewed a lot of people on the red carpet before last night’s 81st Academy Awards show but his chat with the cast of Slumdog Millionaire (the biggest winner of the night!) was too adorable so forgive me for sharing it.  There were some language barriers as some of the younger children could not speak English but I found myself giggling and getting teary as I watched the excitement on their faces.  The best was when he asked one little boy how he felt and the kid said “unbelievable.  I never thought it would be an Oscar.” 

The only thing that made me wince was when Ryan said “she speaks good English” when the tiny actress, Rubina Ali, told him her name.  It was awkward but it felt like one of those rare times when something honest happens in Hollywood.  Ryan also talked to the other stars, including Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto.

I cannot put up pictures yet of what I saw while I was inside the American Idol Experience attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios but I can tell you a few things! There were five finalists and we were given instructions about how to vote for the person we liked best (there’s a voting panel on the armrests).  The only problem is that you can accidentally change the vote of the person sitting next to you, which happened to me (fortunately, it was my husband).

At the event, all of the former American Idol winners were brought on stage where they were presented with awards made especially for this occasion (they looked like old-fashioned microphones).  This was the first and only time that I saw Kelly Clarkson. 

Season 7 winner, David Cook, did an acoustic version of his hit, “Light On” and then season 4 winner, Carrie Underwood, also performed an acoustic rendition of her song “All-American Girl.”  They pair then sang “You Can Go Your Own Way” together and it was such a good duet that a lot of people were later saying they should actually record and release it as a single.

There was also a pretty hilarious exchange between Ryan Seacrest and Paula Abdul while they spoke to the “contestants” before the performances.  Paula went over to give them tips on how to relax and when she started massaging one girl’s shoulder, Ryan said something like “now, remember Paula about the rules regarding contestants?”  The audience booed but we also laughed when Ryan referenced the situation with former contestant, Corey Clark, who alleged that he had an inappropriate relationship with Paula.

That’s basically all I’m at liberty to say but, in the meantime, here’s a video that walks you through the attraction:

image: Jyle Dupuis

I just came back from the private opening of the American Idol Experience at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios and I had a blast.  I’m thoroughly exhausted but it really was a lot of fun.  Disney really knows how to put on a show and I am extremely grateful to them for the fabulous trip!

I will cover the event in three parts (motorcade, American Idol Experience show and the after-party) over the next three days.  Today, I’ll kick things off by telling you all about the American Idol motorcade. 

The blue carpet was rolled out for the stars and one by one.  Mickey Mouse got things started but was then followed by Justin Guarini (runner-up, season 1).  He looked great and was all smiles for the fans and the media.
Next was Chris Sligh (finalist, season 6).  He talked a little bit about how his song “Here Comes Goodbye” was picked up by Rascal Flatts and is actually the first single off of their new album.

It was a star-studded event.  Check out more pictures including Carrie Underwood, David Cook and David Archuleta after the jump!

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