Who's the Winner of American Idol?

Well, we missed Hollie on American Idol this week, although she was in the audience along with several other former contenders.  She seemed especially enthusiastic with Joshua Ledet's performances.  As loyal as I feel to John Lennon's music, I have to give credit where credit is due.  Josh brought a whole, new flavor and undeniable 'wow' factor to Lennon's song, "Imagine."  This boy is going to go far, whether he wins Idol or not.

Last week, the attractive and talented Julian Lennon was in the audience and posted on his Facebook that he later joined Steven Tyler and Aerosmith in the recording studio.  I hope he was there this week for Josh's performance of  "Imagine" and I'd love to know what he thought of it. His recently released album, Everything Changes, is sincerely 'Julian' and showcases his enduring talent for music and songwriting.

Phillip Phillips totally astounded a lot of people this week.

Texas' Hollie Cavanagh in Top Four on American Idol

As millions watch American Idol contenders get weeded out each week, it's looking more and more like Charlie Daniels was right when he sang The South's Gonna Do It Again.  With Hollie Cavanagh from Texas, Joshua Ledet from Louisiana, and Phillip Phillips from Georgia, there are 3 chances out of 4 for the winner to hail from the South. Of course we shouldn't take lightly that fourth contender from California.  Jessica Sanchez is a powerful performer.  

Although, in my opinion, Joshua is the best entertainer, I can't forget my roots and would be proud if Hollie, of McKinney Texas, won.

A Texas Christmas Miracle

It was Christmas Eve, 2004.  As families gathered in their homes to celebrate, snow clouds gathered in south Texas skies. Weather forecasters called for wintry precipitation with a slight chance of snow. 

Like so many Gulf Coast Texans, I'd seen these sensationalist forecasts fall through too many times and figured if we got any snow at all, it would likely be a few flakes spotted in some remote field by a farmer or at best, a powdery dusting like I'd seen a few rare times in my life. I also recalled that the few scant sprinklings we'd had always came in January. Even though Christmas cards portrayed smoke curling from the chimneys of snowbound homes nestled among white tipped evergreens, we'd never in history had snow for Christmas. Even the national weather map a couple of weeks back showed a 0% chance for a white Christmas in my area. Nope, it just wouldn't happen