According to MSNBC
10. Paula Abdul goes ballistic in Orlando, when it appears that the immortal Dezmond Meeks wasn't going to advance to Hollywood. Saying that Meeks did James Brown "better than James Brown," Abdul whined and moaned and screeched before snapping "I feel like quitting the show."
The temper tantrum made for good television, but it likely contributed to the what's-wrong-with-Paula story that served as a sideshow all season.
9. Mikalah Gordon tells Simon that if he doesn't make sure she advances to the next round of the Hollywood auditions, he'll have to take her to the prom. It was that kind of bizarre goofiness that the judges loved about her, before she abruptly appeared to enter an aging machine and emerged singing old, boring songs.
8. Simon tells semifinalist Amanda Avila, "In a second life, I want to come back as your microphone." Though it conjured up images better left unspoken, it would serve as an ironic indicator of the intersection between sex, judges and Idol contestants that would emerge later in the Paula Abdul-Corey Clark mess.
7. Mario Vazquez had emerged as one of the early favorites and easily made the final 12 ... then abruptly quit for the ever-vague "personal reasons." Was it a better recording offer? Family issues? A secret conspiracy by Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith to get his son Nikko back in the competition? Who knows.
6. After hearing her cover "Alone" by Heart, Simon tells Carrie Underwood that she'll not only win, she'll sell more records than anyone else in the history of the competition. Nothing like going out on a limb. Of course, given that he also told Bo Bice that it was his competition to lose, Simon's guaranteed to be right either way.
5. American Idol is a multi-million dollar business ... and yet, they can't afford the 20 bucks for someone to proofread the phone numbers before they're shown onscreen? That's what the audience had to be wondering, when a series of misprints on the March 22 broadcast forced Fox to rebroadcast the performances again in order to get an accurate vote count. Of course, given the ratings the show gets, we might be seeing more of these "snafus" down the road.
4. Nadia Turner shows up in a Mohawk to perform "Time After Time."
It's tough to pick just one memorable moment from this season's most-memorable also-ran, but the Mohawk has to take the cake.
3. Constantine Maroulis sings "Bohemian Rhapsody." Maroulis took more risks than anyone with his song choice, but this took the cake. Not only did he have to match the standards set by Freddie Mercury in Queen, but also those set by Wayne, Garth and the rest of the car in the movie "Wayne's World." [LOL!]
2. Scott Savol staring down Simon after another round of criticism. This happened every week, so it's tough to pick just one instance.
1. Bo Bice forgoes the band and sings "In a Dream" by Badlands a capella. There aren't too many Idol contestants who could have pulled that off, but if Bice winds up winning this, that performance may be the one that made it happen.