Season 8, aka The Best "American Idol" Season Ever, seems like it was just yesterday...until you observe the evolution of that season's fourth-place contestant, Allison Iraheta. Back then, Allison was seen as the baby of the season, only 16 years old, sort of like Adam Lambert's kid sister. But now she's clearly all grown up, judging from her appearance at KIIS FM's "Idol" viewing party at downtown L.A.'s Regal Cinema Wednesday night.

Sporting a new Pegasus shoulderblade tattoo, sleek figure, and sophisticated black bob that was a major contrast to her famous rainbow-brite hair extensions, Allison was almost unrecognizable from that time in 2009 when Simon Cowell criticized her teenage fashion sense. Yes, she looked awesome then (Simon was wrong), but she looked even awesome-er Wednesday night.

And she sounded awesome too, belting out two brand-new, unreleased songs, "Love" and "Tonight." Watch her rock it below, and once again, let your brain boggle as you contemplate that this

Last night, Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery competed to become the tenth American Idol, and while the show started off excitingly (with last-minute rumors regarding the ailing Lauren's ability to compete and the possiblity of Haley Reinhart stepping in), and ended excitingly (with David Cook playing his Simple Minds cover against a backdrop of Season 10 highlights), the rest of the show was disappointingly dull.

It was in fact "Idol's" dullest final showdown ever, although that wasn't really the contestants' fault: When left to their own devices, Lauren and Scotty chose fun and uptempo songs that suited their youth. But when forced to sing songs selected for them, it was all about boring balladry and trite lyrical cliches. Oh, those poor kids.

Speaking of poor kids, today as my Yahoo! Entertainment colleague Matt Whitfield and I discuss last night's show, we definitely think Scotty was thrown under the bus, and we also doubt just how staged/exaggerated the whole Lauren-health-scare

Topping off the most unpredictable "American Idol" season ever--one that saw the shocking eliminations of several early frontrunners, Casey Abrams' crazy meltdown when he got saved, and the unlikely rise of dark horse Haley Reinhart--Season 10's final showdown started off as the most seat-of-the-pants finale ever, when, just minutes leading up to the live show at downtown L.A.'s Nokia Theater, TMZ reported that Lauren Alaina had lost her voice, might not be able to compete, and that third-place contestant Haley might compete in her place. TMZ even reported that Haley had rehearsed three songs--"Bennie & The Jets," "I Who Have Nothing," and "House Of The Rising Sun"--while Lauren sought medical treatment.

Of course, this all seemed sketchy. It had been clear from her first audition that Lauren wanted this BAD--this is a girl who used to entertain her family by pretending to be on "Idol" as a little girl, and seems to live in deathly fear of being voted off this show--so it was hard to

Just about a year ago this week, Lee DeWyze stood on the stage of L.A.'s Nokia Theater, tears in his eyes and confetti in his hair, as he was crowned the ninth American Idol and he sang his coronation song, a cover of U2's "Beautiful Day." But Lee isn't having such a beautiful day today.

While his fans understandably expected him to appear on this week's "Idol" finale (just like the previous winner, Kris Allen, did last year), to ceremonially pass the torch to either Scotty McCreery or Lauren Alaina, it turns out that won't be the case. Today Lee tweeted: "Hey guys, no I'm not performing at the Finale. I wasn't asked to . A lot of questions so I thought I'd fill you in. Talk to you soon :)"

While Lee was diplomatic on his own Twitter (the smiley face was a pleasant touch), it's still odd that last year's "Idol" winner--i.e., the REIGNING CHAMP--would not be  invited to appear on this year's finale. (Lee's other tweets indicate that he's not out of town, and he makes it clear it was