Tuesday night (7/24), I attended the American Idols Live Concert that was held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The concert consisted of two one-hour sets, plus a 10-minute encore, with a 25-minute break between the sets, and a four-minute break between the last set and the encore. The concert started out with the bottom six idols singing a couple of songs together, then the next two idols (LaKisha and Melinda) performing with the other idols, with Jordin finally joining in about 30 minutes after the first set began.  Blake was the last idol to appear on stage during the first set (at around the 40-minute mark).  He sang a couple of songs with a number of the other idols, and then he sang solo for about the last 12 minutes of the first set. After a 25-minute intermission, the second set began with the five male idols playing as a band.  Chris R. played the drums, Phil played the keyboard, Blake and Chris S. electric guitars (Blake might have been playing a bass), and Sanjaya the tambourine.  After that, more songs by different sets of idols, including Blake. Then Kelly Clarkson made a cameo appearance and sang a duet with Phil.  After that, both Melinda and LaKisha sang solo songs. Then at about the 40-minute mark, Jordin started her mini-set (for about 20-minutes) to complete the second set.   For the encore, Jordin sang This is my Now solo, then the rest of idols sang This is my Now as a group ensemble.  The show finally ended with a medley of each idol singing a small portion of his or her signature song. Overall, it was a pretty well done concert except for the stage, which I feel was a bit on the cheap side.  I think all other major touring concerts nowadays have had a more elaborate stage design than the Idols Live Concert did whose set was pretty bare-bones. Also the two auxiliary video screens were on the small side for a venue as large as the HP Pavilion (a 17,000+ seat indoor arena). My overall impressions of the performances were as follows: Phil Stacey: He was the weakest performer overall.  His vocals were weak and he had a dull and boring stage presence.  Even his duet with special guest, Kelly Clarkson, was uninspired.  Kelly, herself, was strong and solid during her duet with Phil (it was the only song she sang at the concert.) LaKisha Jones: She had the second worst overall performance after Phil.  She had a few small segments of inspired singing, but most of the time she couldn't sing a song without going off pitch, had no stage presences whatsoever and couldn't hold a note for any sort of length without it going flat. The funniest was that she could barely move while she sang.  For one song, the women idols formed a sort of a conga line while they sang a song. The conga line kept moving during the song until LaKisha had to sing her part.  At that point the conga line stopped (even though the other idol women tried to keep the line moving).  After LaKisha finished her part of the song, the conga line started up again.  American Idol would have had a disaster on its hands if LaKisha had somehow managed to become the AI6 Idol. Sanjaya Malakar: He had the weakest vocals of the ten (big surprise - NOT), but he had very good stage presence and played his roll as the idol class clown almost to perfection.  He provided good comic relief with his two covers of Michael Jackson songs.  Even his attempted mooonwalk was hilarious.   Too bad he kept the same hair_style_ throughout the show.  I was hoping he would change his hair _style_ as often as his changed his clothes during the show.  The crowd enjoyed his performance. Gina Glocksen and Chris Sigh: I put them together because their performances were very similar.  Both had a decent stage presence and were comfortable with the large crowd. Both of their vocals were good and solid but nothing really special. And both sang stronger in the first set than the second.  I was a bit disappointed though that Gina, the rocker girl, didn't get to sing a true rock song during the concert. Haley Scarnato: Her performance during the first set was surprisingly good.  Great vocals and an excellent stage presence.  She knew how to work the crowd.   And she looked hot!  She was *BY FAR* the best-looking idol

Then Kelly Clarkson made a cameo appearance and sang a duet with Phil. Huh????  I really hope she did not do that and that you're kidding.

For the encore, Jordin sang This is my Now solo, then the rest of idols sang This is my Now as a group ensemble. A Kumbaya version of This is My Now ????   AI really has problems if the winner's single is also being staged in Up with People fashion. Thanks for the report.