Dish Of Salt: Thursday TV Dish (The Whirlwind ‘Idol’ Finale!)

It’s been a whirlwind 24 hours for me! I’ve got the entire “Idol” experience covered with tons of fun videos from Lee DeWyze, Crystal Bowersox and Simon Cowell… all in today’s Dish.

My day started on Wednesday when I hit the Nokia Theater for the red carpet arrivals to yesterday’s “American Idol” finale. This was the last “Idol” hurrah of Simon Cowell and the carpet was a sea of former contestants, all of whom had some departing words for the snarky judge. Watch the video HERE.

I got my first chance to chat with Ellen DeGeneres all season. When I asked if she would be back she told me she signed a five-year contract with the show. Check out our interview HERE.

Simon arrived (with his fiancé and Randy Jackson in tow) around 4:35 PM and I’m proud to say he has picked a new judge! You’ll have to watch the video to see whom exactly he crowned as his replacement HERE.

Inside the Nokia Theater, our producer Celeste and I took our seats in the nosebleed section. Tuesday night, we had fantastic orchestra seats. Last night, we were relegated to the back of the house! I guess we don’t rank very high on finale night. Alas, it was still great to be inside where all the action was happening. However, immediately after the surprise appearance by Bret Michaels (which was outstanding!) we decided to ditch the finale and head backstage. I had to find out from Bret what it felt like (after all his health issues) to get a reception like that from the crowd. Check out our interview HERE.

We ended up catching the rest of the show from backstage on a monitor but it was worth missing Janet Jackson to see kooky Paula Abdul cruising by in her pink dress on a golf cart. She never ceases to put on a show wherever she goes.

About an hour after Lee DeWyze’s winning moment, he came backstage, where I had a little fun with him about looking like he wanted to throw up on stage before Ryan said his name. Check out our interview HERE.

Crystal was just minutes behind him and she told me she has already decided she will pack her bags and move to California… destination, the beach. Check out our interview HERE.

While Lee and Crystal went to party, it was off to bed for me. I got about four hours of sleep before I had to meet Lee at 4:45 AM. He had about two hours of sleep after a night of celebrating. For the next three hours, Lee and Crystal did back-to-back interviews for FOX affiliates while I went back to my hotel room for some breakfast. Finally, around 8:30 AM, Lee and I hopped in the limo to head to the Access Hollywood studios. Since I finally had some alone time with Lee, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to grill him about his single status and what kind of girl could win his heart. Check out our interview HERE.

We weren’t quite ready at Access Hollywood, when Lee arrived, so we sat in the limo and took a little nap. Poor guy was definitely feeling the effects of a lack of sleep… but he knew it was all worth it in the end. My nickname for Lee has become “Gracious Idol” because in nine seasons of covering this show, I have never met a contestant who has been more humbled by earning the title. For that, I’m truly happy that he won.

That’s the end of another “American Idol” season for me. I hope everyone has a fantastic Memorial Day.

I’ll be back on Tuesday with Dish on all the new summer TV coming our way.