Last night Jenn and I went to see American Idols - Live! at the Rose Garden. We both had a totally cool time and I came out very pleasantly surprised.

They did sing the songs that you saw them sing on the television, but there were some new ones thrown in the mix, too, that livened it up a bit. So you sort of knew what you were in for up front, yet it still held your attention.

Something I came out very pleased about was that a couple of the people who I thought weren’t all that good when I watched them on television were fantastic live. You’d be surprised the difference a live band makes in a performance.

I will continue to maintain that Kelly was a good choice for the winner. She was the best one out there from a vocal standpoint. On the other hand, Justin was by far the best performer. He had a great repoire with the audience and just seemed very natural up there.

For all the folks who wondered why Nikki came in third and wasn’t eliminated sooner, she proved herself worthy with a great rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Rhiannon. Watching her there made me realize why she was my original favorite at the start of the show.

Anyway, it was a blast, and well worth the money. Also, the merchandise was affordable - $15 for a t-shirt rather than the typical $40 you see at concerts nowadays. I got a program and Jenn got a shirt.

Something else that was nice about the concert: When we went, we got all dressed up - not in formal clothes or anything, but decent “going-out” clothes - and made it an event. I wouldn’t call myself “old” necessarily, but I’ll admit that doing that made me feel, well, “young again.” I think I will have to do that more often.

In other news, my baby Xev cat has an infection where they took her little uterus out, so we have to try to get her to eat antibiotics twice a day. You’d be surprised how strong that little cat is when you try to force-feed her stuff. And fast, too! I think we should be done with that in a week or so, and hopefully she’ll be better then. She has returned to her usual routine of crying all night long, so I can’t say she isn’t mostly back to normal already.