Sanjaya: "I Need A Bodyguard"

There was the inevitable discussion of Simon Cowell, "From the beginning I think that Simon saw potential in me and when I didn't fulfill that potential he was disappointed. He is very opinionated, but I learned more from him than anyone else when I was on the show."

Finally, I got my turn to ask a question. I had heard that since top 24 week (because of his popularity coming out of the auditions) that Sanjaya had been amongst the top four vote getters each week. What did he think turned the tide not in his favor Tuesday night which could make him go from first, second, third or fourth to last this week? His candor surprised me, "Honestly I'm not a country singer. I think that that really took a toll on me. I didn't have enough strong performances to let people forgive me for that." He referenced that LaKisha Jones had proved herself time and time again, which probably saved her.

Next, I wanted to know if, since he told all the reporters his plans are to continue his music career and look for other opportunities in entertainment such as acting, modeling gigs or Broadway, is he planning on going to college at all? I was expecting him to tell me that he would ride this out and see where it goes but he surprised me again, "My dream would be to go to Berklee School of Music. I definitely want to go to college. I definitely want to finish my education."

After my questions, the reporters were told that one more person could ask a question. I almost hung up but decided to stay on the call and I'm glad I did. The reporter asked if since he was so famous now does he think he needs a bodyguard. The question made me laugh. It sounded like more of a joke - like a good-natured ribbing. I mean bodyguards are for J.Lo, Beyonce or Madonna. Oh my gosh. Wait a minute. Sanjaya really could survive on just his first name as his moniker. So, I take this whole blog back. I'm not surprised anymore that he replied very matter-of-factly, "I'm definitely going to hire a bodyguard. I'm looking into that right now."

You gotta love the kid’s tenacity. Tonight he's hooking up with Donny Osmond, himself once a teen Idol at the Tonight Show. I'll let you know tomorrow if he arrives surrounded by bodyguards.

Meanwhile, it's getting increasingly more difficult for the Idol producers to keep performers under wraps now that they are pre-taping performances. I revealed two weeks ago that Fergie would be performing this week. Robin Thicke pre-taped a performance already, and so did Pink. Now it's being revealed that Idol 's big "duet" secret between two super stars announced last night in a promo may be Celine Dion and Elvis Presley. In a move similar to Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable" duet, and Celine's "All The Way" duet with Frank Sinatra where they sang along to a track of the late singers.. Bloggers on Celine fans pages claim they were in the audience this week when Celine pre-taped her performance for the "Idol Gives Back" show next Wednesday night. One poster claims:

Celine sings a song with "Elvis" - kind of like the Frank Sinatra song where he's on the screen. Except tonight, they weren't able to generate "Elvis" on the screen, so they had an Elvis impersonator there from Las Vegas. He walked out with Celine and lip-synched the Elvis verses. The song they sang was called something like "I have a dream" or "In a dream" or something about dreams!!!!

Celine was wearing black pants, a black mesh shirt and a black sparkly jacket. The crowd went crazy when she came on stage! We stood up during the whole song and kept giving her standing ovations after each take! They had to sing the song 4 or 5 times to get all of the camera angles and audience shots.

Sounds like the real deal to me.