So, after a plane ride to Vegas and a two-hour drive to St. George, Utah where I'll be spending three days on the set of "High School Musical 2," I made it to my hotel room just in time to catch AMERICAN IDOL. Not only is it an hour ahead here from LA but primetime starts at 7pm. So, here I am checking in at the lovely, relaxing Green Valley Spa at 7:02 rushing these poor Zen people to get me into my room. My pal and our producer Celeste was inside the taping and a has a few good tidbits to report as well.

No offense to the Brits but British Invasion week really needed bigger stars, if you ask me. Jennifer Lopez is coming. Gwen Stefani and Martina McBride are coming. Herman's Hermits? Huh. Bring back Elton John! How about Annie Lennox? Fortunately, the song choices made for quite possibly one of the best performance shows ever. So, I forgot how boring those taped pieces were and who Peter Noone and Lulu were.

Haley Scarnato kicked off the night and though I had doubts about her and why she made Top 12, she certainly has quickly morphed into looking like a star. The performance still is like watching a Miss America Pageant contestant but Simon called it when he said people would be talking about things other than her singing. Like her legs maybe?

As I reported yesterday, Chris Richardson, despite being begged by the Idol hair stylists to let his hair grow out, went ahead and buzzed it. There is a reason for those stylists. His patchy head is why they are necessary. Simon loved the singing though and thought it was his best performance to date. What was up with the Mr. Rogers sweater though?

Stephanie Edwards is on the verge of going home I think. She's pretty and a good singer but just doesn't have that standout style.

My piece on the miraculous staying power of "Idol's" Sanjaya Malakar is #1 on AOL's Top 5 this morning. I can't decide if it's funny or horrible that a website, devoted to pushing the next William Hung to the top, may be influencing this race. You hear about this kind of rebel act all the time, but it usually amounts to mostly hot air. That Howard Stern is driving HIS morning armada to follow suit in favor of Sanjaya makes it a little more plausible.

Stern's audience is fiercely loyal and I can imagine the idea of crowning a terrible singer is very pleasing..

Last night, Sanjaya showed yet again that he is as amateur a vocalist as there is on earth, but on the upside, he is quite keen: his decision to hug the little girl in tears was very sweet. Compassion and kindness should not win a singing competition but it may rally his true supporters and maybe even some apathetic sideliners.

Together with Howard Stern and the ghost of William Hung, he may ride perilously close to the end.

Only on a TV show called AMERICAN IDOL could I dedicate an entire blog to gossiping about people's hairdos. This is the show where every single facet of the contestants lives are discussed, debated and deliberated over. So therefore, I will take no shame in this hearty look into the ever changing hairstyles of the Idol finalists. I spent the morning with Dean Banowetz, the man who helped turn guys like Clay Aiken from geek to chic and transform girls like Kelly Clarkson from plain Janes to hot Bettys.

First up, and the reason for this Dean intervention, was to find out what the heck is going on with Sanjaya Malakar's hair. I nearly fell on the floor in fits of laughter when last week Sanjaya and I had the same spiral curls. According to Dean, he is not the controller of Sanjaya's follicles, "He requests these. Everything Sanjaya wants, Sanjaya gets - in my mind. He did say he wanted he his hair like Chris Sligh but a little less tight. If you cover his face or if you put the same style on a woman, I have many, many women calling me who want Sanjaya's hair."

Tonight, Sanjaya has requested... get this... a Mohawk for British Invasion week, "Who knows? It's hit or miss with Sanjaya. Whatever he wants but you know he mentioned a Mohawk last week so we have been practicing. If people are alarmed by the Mohawk or are like 'what are you doing?' I think its great. Who cares if people like it or not. If he is happy that's all that matters."

Hopefully, he won't have a change of heart before showtime because, let's face it, it would be pretty funny to get Simon Cowell's reaction on this one.The hair has become his trademark (well, that and the bad singing) but Dean says he'd love to get his scissors on Sanjaya, "In a perfect Dean world I would actually cut it to maybe a little Caesar 'do. Something a little different and this would be definitely for shock value but I'm having a lot of fun with the long hair. So, this will come later if he lets me."

Last night "DANCING WITH THE STARS" came roaring back for Season Four. Usually I'm right there getting all the backstage action but since I'm getting ready to leave for my exclusive on the set of "HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2" in Utah, I picked packing over dishing. So, my bff and Dish of Salt regular fill-in blogger, Bryant Huddleston gave me the scoop via email. Check out what he had to say about night one:

Of all the stories that I cover, "Dancing With The Stars" is one of my favorites.

Tonight, I headed to the CBS Studios on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles to meet the new cast members and watch them strut their stuff on the dance floor.

I took my dad with me and he just wanted to meet Laila Ali, world champion female boxer and daughter of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.

Billy Ray Cyrus was being cheered on by his proud daughter, star of “Hannah Montana,” who sat in the front row.

It was my first time ever meeting NBA Champ Clyde Drexler who kept grabbing my microphone when I'd ask him a question on the red carpet.

Joey Fatone has to be one of the funniest and friendliest guys I've met. As one of the stars of *NSYNC, he's learned to be light on his feet and should do pretty well with voters.

Here is my take on Brandon after interviewing him this morning. Forget the singing the career. MTV, BET, VH1, TV One... one of these networks should hire him to host a show. I don't think on the show he was given much opportunity to showcase his personality but with me he was full of life. I can just see him standing in the MTV studio reading the teleprompter and introducing guests.

This of course would be a much better idea than going to back to say, Blockbuster Video in Pasadena, CA where he once worked as an assistant manager (thanks to his mom who works in the corporate offices in Texas). Brandon jokes, "I will say, I love you Blockbuster... but that blue shirt with the yellow collar is the worst and you know it."

There is no chance he would ever go back to that job but he did tell me with a big smile, "I'd sing for a Blockbuster Video commercial!" At least give the kid a lifetime supply of free video rentals!

We already know that Jennifer Lopez is scheduled to perform on American Idol the week of April 11th.

Now I can confirm that the theme for that week will be a Latin theme. Lopez speaking to Access Hollywood's Tony Potts from Showest in Las Vegas last night told him, "I'm excited about it. They asked me to come on. I got this e-mail from my manager like 'hey they know you have a Spanish album coming out. They want to know if you will come on. They want to do this whole Latin theme show.'"

She and her husband, Marc Anthony, are huge followers of the show. They Tivo the show when it's on and then watch it later. Anthony revealed to Tony that Lopez will sing the first single, "Qué Hiciste", off her Spanish language album, "Como Ama Una Mujer" when she takes the Idol stage on Wednesday April 11th.

As for last night's eliminated contestant, Brandon Rogers, Marc told Tony he can sympathize with a singer forgetting his words. Even he has done it, "All the time. I have 31 singles I have put out. What am I? Einstein here. I just sing, you know what I mean. I have to memorize it too. That wasn't part of the deal!"

So, it has been a while since I've been able to 'blog' with you.

As most of you probably already know, I have been a little busy. My hubby and I are expecting our first child together...(as you may also know, we have 2 very wonderful boys from his first marriage).

This has caused quite a change in my life, more than I really thought it would. There are the doctors appointments, making sure I get enough rest, eating right, not pushing myself (which caused me to be 'blogless' lately), getting the nursery ready, making sure I have everything I'll need and I don't even have to mention the entire LIBRARY of books you can read on being a first-time mom.

This has caused me to take the time to reflect on exactly what it takes to be a mother...not just having a baby, but to really contemplate all that goes into bringing a new life into the world. When thinking of being a mother, there's the pressure of knowing that another human being depends on you for not only survival, but that you'll be a TRUE role model. You'll be looked to for comfort, for guidance, for appreciation, for discipline, for advice, for sympathy, for laughter, for just about everything that all of us are. Being a mother is so much more than just 'having a baby'.

Usually when it comes down to the Top 12, I'm sitting in the audience watching the performances taking notes on all the behind the scenes dish.

This year, Fremantle has decided to slash everyone's tickets so more regular folks can enjoy the show. So, with that in mind I'll hold back my bitterness and just be glad that I don't have to spend forty-five minutes in my car driving to the studio, fifteen minutes walking from the remote parking lot and an hour waiting for the show to start. Instead I'll be happy to watch the show in my sweats on my boyfriend's couch since he gets the East Coast Feed. That doesn't mean that I wont still be able to give you backstage gossip though.

Today I'll just stick to my musings on the show since I'm about to run off and interview the lawyer for Magadeleno Olmos, the former Idol employee who is suing the show and Mario Vazquez. More on that tomorrow.

So, I had to inform the bosses of what went on during the show last night in a mass e-mail. Here is what I had to say:

So, Diana Ross and her massive hair mentored each of the kids in taped pieces.

The night got off to a rough start when Brandon Rogers forgot his words and his voice cracked half way through. Simon told him he, "Came over as a background singer for a background singer."

Ever wonder how your favorite American Idols are faring on the radio? Whose songs get played the most? Which Idols don't even make the cut? Well, thanks to a company called Mediabase, I can break it down for you right here. Mediabase monitors more than 1,800 radio stations in 180 U.S. and Canadian markets, 24 hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Since American Idol first became a hit, the show has been responsible for over six million radio plays. What's surprising is how well the finalists have fared as opposed to the winners.

What they found is that Kelly Clarkson tops the heap and blows away the competition. Since her songs first began airing on radio stations after she won American Idol, they have been played over 3.3 million times. That's an average of about 750,00 plays a year.

A very distant second is Carrie Underwood whose songs have been spun about 725,000 times with an average of about 450,000 spins a year.