1. Did anyone hear the contestants sing "Shout to the Lord" to close Idol Gives Back last night? What did you think? I would probably have a different opinion about this if I didn't witness it firsthand, but it made me very happy to watch them sing it live. Immediately before they sang it, Mariah Carey sang about her Jesus, and immediately after "Shout to the Lord" Ben Stiller cussed and cussed, not about the song, but something totally unrelated. Were the producers just throwing a bone to the evangelical audience so as to include all worldviews in the show? Probably, but I was still happy to hear it, even though they did change the second word from "Jesus" to "shepherd."

2. I submitted a song to American Idol Songwriter, but it wasn't chosen as a top 20 song. Click here if you want to listen to my song, then click here to listen to the top twenty (you'll have to register to vote, but you don't have to vote). I really tried to write a shallower song than I normally would, but I guess it was still too deep. I should have used the word "dream" or "moment" or "believe." Oh well.