The second batch of singers to sing for their supper on American Idol Tuesday did a decent job of belting it out, but no one stole the show.

Well, maybe Nick Mitchell -- aka Norman Gentle -- who has defied convention by remaining in the show long after his Jennifer Holiday routine has worn thin.

Despite clear animosity from judge Simon Cowell -- he used the word "atrocious" to describe Nick's rendition of And I'm Telling You (reprised from his audition round) -- other judges found his comic dimension refreshing, or as PaulaAbdul summed it up: "You're memorable."

Indeed he is, but does memorable translate into record sales?

9:55: Slumdog Millionaire capped on a night of multiple Oscars wih a Best Picture statue, proving anew that small productions can yield mighty results. The only thing better would have been the audience breaking into a Bollywood-type production number.

9:43: Sean Penn wins his second best actor oscar, this time for Milk. He best introductory line of the night came from introducer Robert DeNiro, who intoned: "How did he di it? How for all those years did Sean Penn get jobs playing straight men?"

9:36: As predicted, Kate Winslet finally wins a best actress Oscar for The Reader, after having been nominated in various categories five previous times. She gives a heartfelt speech that includes likening the statue to a shampoo bottle.

9:20: Danny Boyle takes best director honors for Slumdog Millionaire. Does this portend a best picture win? Stay tuned.

8:55: A.R. Rahman wins best original score, followed by a win for best original song from Slum Dog (Jai Ho). In between we get a festive singing of the three nominated songs, including John Legend filling for Peter Gabriel on Down to Earth from Wall-E. Gabriel boycotted the show because he didn't like the new rules for the song category.

8:42: Jerry Lewis receives the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and delivers a sweet, short and humble acceptance speech. No gun in sight. (You may recall that he was stopped for trying to take a prop gun on  plane recently.)

8:32: In a smooth move. the Academy had Will Smith present four technical awards back to back: Visual Eeffects (Benjamin Button); Sound Editing (The Dark Knight); Sound Mixing (Slumdog Millionaire) and Editing (Slumdog Millionaire). Slumdog is quietly wracking them up.

8:15: You could have seen this one coming from 70 stories up: Man on Wire took the best documentary prize for its look at aerialist Phillip Petit who walked between the World Trade Center towers in 1973.

8:10: As expected Heath Ledger won a posthumous Best Supporting Actr Oscar for The Dark Knight. Like best Supporting Actress, the category was introduced by five past supporting actor winners, from Alan Arkin and Kevin Kline to Cuba Gooding Jr. His mother, father and sister accepted with short, no overly emotional speeches.

8:05: Proving his roots as a song and dance man, Hugh Jackman delivers a surprisingly polished tribute to movie musicals, accompanied by Beyonce. (Is there an award show or Wal-Mart opening she won't go to?) It captured a bit of old fashioned Hollywood glamour.

7:58: James Franco and Seth Rogan engage in a hilarious comedy routine to introduce comedies of 2008. They reprise their stoner characters from Pineapple Express and laugh at a host of serious films (The Reader, Doubt) until Franco grows wistful upon seeing his on-screen kiss with Sean Penn in Milk.

Sunday night's Oscar ceremony got off to a brisk start, with host Hugh Jackman serending some of the nominated films with a production number that featured dancers, props and actress Anne Hathaway. The song itself was a bit sardonic, but the energy was infectious.

The first acting award was presented in a novel fashion: Five past best supporting actress winners -- from Eva Marie Saint to Whoopi Goldberg -- salured each of this year's nominees.

This year's winner was a surprise: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Could Dustin Lance Black's Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Milk portend big things for the film (best actor, director, film)?

The first American Idol results show of season 8 came and went Wednesday with mostly high points, especially if you count the expulsion of Puerto Rican drama queen Tatiana Del Toro, who was tossed aside like the fruitcake she is.

Twenty-four million viewers voted for the three finalists who advanced Tuesday: Oil field worker Michael Sarver, pixie-ish Alexis Grace and widower Danny Gokey.

Idol producers have said they're going to get down to business faster this year, yet the results show was larded with filler material. Does it really take an hour to announce three names?

It does if your goal is to drag out the suspense.

Fans of American idol have always celebrated the fact they get to be the judge of the talent on the stage. At least they do after the auditions are over.

Their first chance came Tuesday at the end of a two-hour Idol show designed to begin thinning the remaining 36 contestants down to a final 12.

For the next three weeks, viewers will vote three singers forward: the top male and female vote-getters, and the person who has the third highest total.

The final remaining three singers will be determined by a wild card show.

Two things were clear on Tuesday's show: Most of the singers had elevated their game, and the judges had elevated their criticism.

Singers ike Ricky Braddy and Alexis Grace delivered solid, polished performances, while others felt the acerbic tongue lash of judge Simon Cowell. His response to Brent Keith's performance of Hicktown: "You may have just blown a massive opportunity by being forgettable."

Hollywood week finally came to an end on American Idol Wednesday night, with a two hour culling of the herd.

Tuesday started with 72 singers. Wednesday started with 54. The mission for the judges was to get it down to 36, and they employed methods both psychological and competitive.

The setting was a mansion in the Hollywood hills, where contestants faced the judges in a lavish drawing room. When the judges wanted to play mind games they'd tell a nervous singer "It's not good news . . . it's great news!" We were not amused.

There were also several instances where the judges had two singers to compete for one spot. In one case two guys who'd formed a close bond were competing, and the one who won shed almost as many tears as the loser. Now that's empathy.

Curiously, the competition's remaining two kooks made it to the final 36. Flamboyant Norman Gentle/Nick Mitchell got a ticket to ride. So did the insufferable Tatiana Del Toro, whose very appearance in the drawing room caused Simon to snarl: "Tatiana, just try for once not to be annoying."

After last week's sturm und drang -- tears, betrayals, profanity, cat fights -- Tuesday's final night of Hollywood Week on American Idol seemed positively tranquil.

The way a stock car race is tranquil.

To be sure there were tears as the judges winnowed the 72 remaining singers down to a more managable 50 or so. But there was no backstabbing or grandstanding.

Actually, there was some grandstanding, as the divaesque Tatiana Del Toro strutted and preened, and Norman Gentle/Nick Mitchell continued to turn every song he sang into a parody of Jennifer Holiday on Broadway. That white boy thinks his name is Effie.

It was group night on American Idol Wednesday, where the 100 remaining contestants were told to form groups of three or four and perform.

Most of them could have used a little advice from Rodney King: "Can't we all get along?"

Apparently not.

With names like White Chocolate and Team Compromise, the guys and gals snarled their way through 45 minutes of backstage drama before taking the stage. There were defections from teams and reconciliations. And for one team (the aptly named Team Diva), there was so much vitriol in the air it's amazing they could sing, let alone breathe.

The night's biggest drama king was Katrina the bikini girl. Midway through her group's rehearsal she simply gave up and went to bed. Small wonder she failed to advance. Kids, let this be a lesson in selflessness.

The long and winding road to crowning a new Americn Idol got underway in Hollywood Tuesday, as 147 singers vied to advance in the singing contest.

We didn't get to see all of them sing, of course; mostly we got truncated performances of those who made the cut.

Instead, the show offered plenty of backstage peeks, including Barry Mannilow giving the singers a pep talk, and Idol's vocal coachs working with contestants.

There were also the requisite tears and insults. Dennis Bingham pretty much summed it up for the losers when he screamed at the panel, "You all suck as judges!"

Well, another year of American Idol auditions has wrapped up, and the earth didn't break free of its orbit and go hurtling into the sun, as I might have predicted when it began Jan. 13.

Idol alighted in two cities for Thursday's final audition show: New York and San Juan.

The episode was more quirky than creative. There was the woman so certain she'd be passed to the Hollywood round that she quit her job.

Judge Simon Cowell generously called her boss and asked for the job back when she failed to advance.

There was Jessica Baier, 20 who claimed to have won more than 500 singing contests. She sang Celine Dion's I Surrender, to which Simon Cowell threw up his hands and said, "So do we."

There was Joel Contreras, the human iPod, and Norman Gentle, whose sassiness prompted the judges to turn a no into a yes.

American Idol took its audition road show to Salt Lake City Wednesday, turned over a rock and -- yep -- found an Osmond.

David Osmond, 29, the son of Osmond brother Alan was first up to audition. David suffers from MS yet is on the mend, and he managed to charm the judges enough to move on.

Most of those who followed him weren't quite so stellar, including a hefy goth chick who claimed to have ESP. Pity she couldn't forsee the judges' indifference.

There was the guy who auditioned with his best friend standing nearby in a giant bunny costume. If this wasn't Utah, you'd almost call it hallucinatory.