It just wouldn’t be American Idol without all the big events throughout the season. Some of them were shockers, or nearly shockers, some were hilarious, and some of them I could have easily done without. Today we’ll going through the final 5 as part 2 of our Top 10 Events of American Idol Season 6. If you missed yesterday’s installment, you can go back and see Events 10-6 here.

Here they are, the rest of our Top 10 Events of American Idol Season 6 Countdown:

#5 - Blake Lewis’ Bon Jovi Remix

I don’t try to hide my dislike for Blake Lewis’ musical performances, but that doesn’t keep me from recognizing how popular he is for his creativity. Through the season Blake began to display more and more of his beatboxing approach to the performances. Then, during Bon Jovi week Blake put on what could easily be considered the riskiest performance of the season with his remix of “You Give Love a Bad Name”. Although he used a computer program to remix the song for him and despite Jon Bon Jovi’s disapproval it was clearly a moment that raised Blake Lewis’ chances of survival. Even though I could have easily done without Lewis this season, his risk taking and pivotal performance earns him the #5 spot on this countdown of the season’s biggest events.

#4 - Celine Dion & Elvis Presley Duet

This had to the be the coolest part of the season for me, although obviously not the biggest. At #4 is the “only through the power of technology” duet between Celine Dion & Elvis Presley during the Idol Gives Back Charity show. Using a technology known as rotoscoping the creators were able to take old footage from multiple performances of Elvis Presley from a 1968 comeback special and splice it into the performance we saw at home. Seeing Elvis’ “ghost” out there on stage was a little creepy, but due to its complexity and “cool” factor I’m putting it at #4. Read more details on the duet performance and how they pulled it off.

#3 - Sanjaya Malakar’s Hair

What would this season have been without Sanjaya Malakar? A happier, safer place? Yeah, I think so too, but there’s no arguing how much entertainment he provided each week. While his singing was depressingly bad and, despite all his fans’ initial protest, his 15 minutes are definitely up so all we have left now is his gallery of hairstyles. Heck, there were even Make Your Own Sanjaya Dolls out there. So thank you Sanjaya for all the laughs and whether it was your slicked back greaser or your straight up mohawk your hair has earned you the #3 spot on our countdown.

#2 - Melinda Doolittle’s Early Exit

The Top 3 Results Show left me wide-eyed in disbelief. Coming in at #2 is the season’s biggest shocker. An early leader in the competition, Melinda Doolittle was strongly favored to win this season. Her consistent performances and well experienced vocal talents set her apart from the rest of the competition. So when Ryan Seacrest announced on May 16th that Melinda was being sent home 1 week before the finale I was stunned.

I certainly wasn’t alone either. Melinda’s departure will be a loss to the finale, but certainly won’t be the end to her singing career. As these seasons have marched on it seems to show that winning American Idol isn’t the end all way to succeed (Daughtry, Aiken, etc.), nor does it secure that same success (Hicks - see Tom’s commentary below as well). So while I was very disappointed to see Melinda go a week before she should have earned her crown I’m confident that she’ll go on to great things.

#1 - Idol Gives Back

While #2 was the season’s biggest shocker I had a hard time putting it over the biggest event of American Idol Season 6, Idol Gives Back. Idol Gives Back was billed as “A historic TV event – a two-night special on April 24 and 25 which will save and change the lives of children and young people in extreme poverty in both the USA and Africa.” Every vote that week helped to raise funds as corporations pledged fixed amounts for each call received as well as donations that viewers and other corporations donated.

The overall effort has raised $70 million dollars as of May 1st and is likely to continue to grow. The event took place over 2 stage locations with Ellen DeGeneres covering the Disney concert hall and Ryan Seacrest having his usual duties back on the AI stage. Performers and Celebrities that supported the event that night included: Earth, Wind, and Fire, Ben Stiller, Il Divo, Carrie Underwood, Jack Black, Rascal Flatts, Josh Groban, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion & Elvis, and Annie Lennox. Donations continue to be accepted online at: IdolAid.com

I was amazed by how much support this effort gathered and was thrilled that American Idol gave this important issue so much air time. The importance of this event made it an easy choice for me to place it as #1 on our Top 10 Events of American Idol Season 6.

It’s been thrilling to cover the show this season for all of our readers and are looking forward to the Top 2 performance finale next week. If you missed the first half of our countdown you can see part 1 of our Top 10 Events here.

Check out the rest of our American Idol coverage.

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