Newly crowned “American Idol” Scotty McCreery poses on May 30, 2011 with Mickey and Minnie Mouse in front of “The American Idol Experience” attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. McCreery was honored in a parade at the Disney theme park and performed his new song, “I Love You This Big.” On Wednesday May 25, the 17-year-old singer was crowned the new “American Idol” on the season finale which was viewed by an estimated 29.3 million people. Excited fans lined the streets, cheering on the 17-year-old singer from Garner N.C., as he joined Mickey Mouse in a convertible sports car and greeted fans before taking the microphone to sing his new hit single, “I Love You This Big” in front of “The American Idol Experience” attraction in the Disney theme park.

In addition to the parade, McCreery later surprised guests by making an unannounced appearance on-stage at “The American Idol Experience” attraction inside the theme park. “The American Idol Experience” – the first major theme park attraction in the world based on the popular television series phenomenon – was developed by Walt Disney Imagineering in conjunction with 19 TV Ltd and FremantleMedia Enterprises. In the attraction, Disney guests are able to experience the glitz and glamour of the “American Idol” television show, whether they are auditioning for a Disney producer, performing on-stage in front of a packed theater, or voting for their favorite performance from their audience seats.

Performers who receive the most audience votes in preliminary shows return to star in that evening’s grand finale show.  In addition to their new-found theme park fame, the top vote-getting guest in the finale show receives “The American Idol Experience” Dream Ticket – which allows an eligible holder to schedule a front-of-the-line audition at a future regional audition for the “American Idol” TV show.

Pictured above “American Idol” Scotty signs an autograph May 30, 2011 for fan Sarah Solley while below is more video from the event.

The Amercian Idol – Disney tradition continued today as 2011 winner, Scotty McCreery made an appearance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios this morning. Scotty rode down Hollywood Boulevard with Mickey Mouse and also sang his new song, “Love You This Big” (see video below.) Afterwards he made a brief appearance during the first showing of The American Idol Experience.

So Paula Abdul’s agent is now touting her around now that American Idol has decided to “can” her. Apparently she feels she’s been treated badly but let’s just get real here…the real issue is money. Big money…she wants $10M to act as a “judge” and based on her past performance, I personally wouldn’t pay her in buttons.

Kara DioGuardi is a far superior judge in my opinion and at least she’s objective in her criticism which is much better than Abdul’s way of handing out words of advice which usually came in the form of “I love you “, even though the contestant has just shrieked like a cat or just killed yet another cover version of some great performer from the past.

So, Idol will be back for a 9th season without her…and I’m delighted. No doubt Idol will be delighted as well…they get to save the $5M they offered her. Anyone want a job?

It’s the first week since the American Idol finale and it’s been a bit strange this past Tuesday and Wednesday night. American Idol has become a tradition in our house and we’ve really missed it this week. Normally we’d sit outside overlooking the pool and have our evening meal as a family and then we’d come back inside and watch the show. We’ve even become experts at exactly what time we need to be inside so we can “Tivo” through the adverts and finish watching the show at the same time as everyone else!

So this week, we just stayed outside and chatted… it was nice but not quite the same! It did set me wondering what other families have done this week though so how have you used the time to bond with your family or did you simply watch whatever else was on?

For those of us that are missing our fix of “Idol“, there is a solution and fortunately for those of us living in Orlando we now have The American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The “Experience” has the same look and feel as the Hollywood, California television show but there is a difference; this version plays live several times a day and visitors to the theme park can either perform or watch and then vote for daily winners in the new attraction.

It’s already proved a popular new addition and not least because the person who ends up winning the daily finale show ends up with a “Dream Ticket” which allows them to skip the long lines at the regional audition for the American Idol television show.

So now it’s possible for around 400 budding stars to audition year round for Idol and the experience is very much like the real thing. Visitors aged 14 years and up who wish to audition can head to the “artists‘” entrance, located behind the theater, where they will either be admitted immediately or they will be assigned a return time for their audition. Once inside, potential performers enter private audition rooms where a casting director listens to them sing without any musical accompaniment. The director is looking for the singer to demonstrate the four P’s; pitch, posture, presence and performance. If the director likes what he sees then the singer moves on to a second audition with a producer.

Those selected for a second audition then proceed to the ‘red‘ room, much like the TV show, and then they get to use an MP3 player to listen to selections from a list of around 100 songs, choosing three to five songs for their second audition and possible performance. Categories include: country, disco, rock/pop, Latin, R&B and of course, a few Disney tunes.

Once the contestants have done this they then have a second audition in front of a producer and in addition to judging singing ability, producers use a spotlight to test star power and poise. At the end of the process just a handful of hopefuls will be selected to perform each day and just three will advance to sing in one of the several shows held throughout the day.

Everything about the American Idol Experience looks and sounds like the popular television show; from blue neon lighting, swirling logos and a huge screen recreate the familiar scene. The differences are minor; the stage is slightly smaller than the one in Hollwood and the judges table is on stage instead of off stage. One major difference that performers now get to enjoy is the fact that one of the largest teleprompters is available scrolling song lyrics from the back of the theater so there’s no forgetting the lyrics here!

So, how do you fancy being the next American Idol? Here at Florida Leisure we’re excited about it because we’d love to be able to say “The next American Idol stayed in a Florida Leisure Vacation Home while auditioning at the American Idol Experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios!” Now that would be cool… so why not give us a call, make your reservation to stay in one of our wonderful vacation homes and get along to audition. We’d love to hear about your experience and to see how talented you are.

Kris Allen…

Have to say it’s a little surprising but this guy has grown on me and I wasn’t too surprised in the end. Adam Lambert is an amazing talent and one of my daughter’s isn’t too impressed with the result but c’est la vie.

It’s been a great competition this year and the talent, IMO, has been the best ever. Already looking forward to next January

So, who’s it going to be? Adam Lambert or Kris Allen?

It’s all coming down to the wire and both of these extraordinary performers will be hoping to become the next American Idol. One of them will succeed but even for the loser, fame and fortune beckons.

 In previous years we have seen some amazing new talent enter the music business and past winners like Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Stannard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks and David Cook have continued to wow us.

So, who is it going to be?

Let us know by submitting your “Name the Winner” comment below and everyone who gets it right will be entered in the Florida Leisure Vacation Homes Winners Draw for a chance to win $50. One lucky winner will get a $50 gift card from us so make sure you get your friends and family to participate. We want to make this the best American Idol yet and we want to give something back during these challenging economic times. Note: We will only take your first entry so you can submit as many comments as you like but whoever you name first, Adam or Kris, is who we will enter into the draw for you!

If you prefer, you can also email us at Idol@FloridaLeisure.com

Have Fun

Adam Lambert

V

Next weeks final will be between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen. Danny Gokey leaves the show tonight after a superb performance of Joe Cocker’s “You are so Beautiful” that in previous years would surely have seen him coast to the final.

Danny Gokey

Even Simon Cowell was impressed as he called it a “vocal masterclass” but it wasn’t enough to get him the votes he needed to get into the last week. It’s a great shame as I personally think he’s a better performer and singer than Kris Allen but you really can’t argue with a night that saw over 80 million votes cast. This show goes from strength to strength and the idols this year have been the best ever. Well done to all involved. So…who do you think will win next week?

Allison Iraheta has become the latest singer to leave American Idol last night and that leaves us with just three contestants left on the show.

Allison Iraheta leaves Idol

It’s been a pretty good week for saying goodbye to people who have outstayed their purpose. First of all GM lost their chief executive Rick Wagoner, then we had Trump saying goodbye to Denis Rodman in the Celebrity Apprentice and last night it was the turn of Megan Joy to exit the stage on American Idol.

So who’s next? Now that the axe has been sharpened and America is getting impatient with below average performance, just who should be fired as we look to get the country back on it’s feet?

Let me start… first on my hit list would be the bosses at floundering giant AIG. So that means Edward Liddy, chairman, and his cronies would go after posting losses $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter last year. Some folks there still think they’re entitled to their bonuses…not to my way of thinking…fire their sorry asses and save us all some money.

Next on my list is Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner…a bumbling load of incompetence if ever I saw it. This is the man who pretty much allows his mouth to run wild before engaging his brain. A sort of “yes” man who hopes that one day something he says will turn out to work.

Away from financial matters my wrath now turns on Bernie Ecclestone and his madcap people who are ruining Formula One motor racing. OK, this isn’t something that greatly affects America but they race here and in my book, that makes it fair game. As if the end of last season’s meddling wasn’t bad enough, Ecclestone and his buffoons don’t seem capable of making their minds up as to what is happening on the racetrack and are messing not only with the spirit of the sport but also it’s integrity. This week they managed to take third place from Jarno Trulli and award it to 4th place Lewis Hamilton only to then reinstate Trulli and throw out Hamilton completely. Bewildering.

4th on my hit list are the people at the agencies advertising automobiles. Every damn one of them…gone…or at least in my world. You can read my blog from earlier this week for the reasons why if you click here.

The final choice of people to fire is the media. Let the cull begin…get rid of all those people who are responsible for keeping us under a cloud of “gloom and doom”. I know it’s what sells newspapers but it’s not constructive and its not helping anyone. I’m not saying that only good news be reported, far from it, but I’ve had enough of turning on TV or picking up a paper and all I get is bad news. OK, so people have to be conservative at the moment,  I get they need to make some sacrifices and I also get that it’s going to be a long time until the “feel good” factor comes back but I contend things ain’t as bad as the media is making out. Every where I go shopping malls are full, restaurants have waiting times and movie theaters are doing good business. This is a new kind of recession…one where people aren’t going to stop doing things they enjoy…sure they might not do them as often but they’re still gonna do them.

So, who would you fire and why? Feel free to reply…

According to many people 60 million folks got it wrong at the last election but tonight a vote that really mattered almost showed America up again.

Yes, I’m talking about the votes cast in this weeks American Idol. 36 million votes cast and they somehow managed to place Matt Giraud in the bottom two. I’m bewildered. For me, his performance was one of the top two last night but it seems his face doesn’t fit and we’re going to lose one of the best talents in years unless something dramatic happens.

His version of “Let’s Get It On” was simply amazing and for America to vote it so low utterly mystifies me. Fortunately the judges didn’t need to exercise their “save” vote as the ever popular Michael Sarver was sent packing with his version of “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” ringing in his ears.

To me, it was an utter travesty that Matt Giraud found himself in this position as two other contestants literally butchered their songs. Megan Joy did an awful “For Once in My Life” and while I like her looks this didn’t deserve a “your safe”. The other performance I didn’t like was Scott MacIntyre but it seems he can do no wrong and he’s here for a while yet.

Performances of note, other than Matt, were Adam Lambert’s wonderful rendition of Smokey Robinson’s “The Tracks of My Tears” and I really enjoyed Allison Iraheta’s version of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”.

So…we move onto another week. Heaven help the country if they come up with another voting performance like this. And who was it that said that Florida couldn’t count?

Am I wrong…let me know…just add your comments below.