AMERICAN IDOL NOTES
Both Davids performed last night... and one out-did the other. Clearly, David Archuleta did a better job with song selection and performance on Tuesday night's show... but you know what? I don't think it will make a difference either way.
If you like David A... you voted for him. If you like David C... you voted for him. So as much as I hate to stray from my pick of David Archuleta at the beginning of the season, my official pick for tonight's winner is David Cook.
Look for the following on tonight's finale...
*David Cook and Mariah Carey will duet on “Always Be my Baby”
*David Archuleta and Neil Diamond will duet on “America” (this is still a rumor)
*Seal, Donna Summer, ZZ Top, The Jonas Brothers, and George Michael will perform.
*Each of the Top 5 will sing a duet with an artist... Jason Castro has a clue for one of the guest stars, he says that one was known as “codename Virgin Airlines”
*Two Idols from each of the previous six seasons will come back to perform a group number. Hooray! Bo Bice has already confirmed.
*Carrie Underwood will perform her new single “Last Name”, according to her My Space.
*Paula Abdul will debut a song from her upcoming album, and the Top 12 will also be performing alongside Paula for a special group number.
DANCING WITH THE STARS
Kristi Yamaguchi captured the hearts of the judges and of America to become the season six winner of Dancing With the Stars. Kristi and her partner Mark Ballas scored nine perfect tens over the last two nights, giving them a combined score of 90 and putting them ahead of second place competitor, footballer Jason Taylor -- whose combined scores for the two nights was 81. Though fans had the final say, it was clear that Kristi, who had the highest scores for all six seasons, would take home the mirror ball trophy. Kristi becomes only the second woman to win the competition since Kelly Monaco took the honor in the first season. Cristian de la Fuente, who was eliminated early in last night's show, rounded out the top three.
7 HIGH-PAYING JOBS THAT ARE IN DEMAND
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, these seven jobs not only pay well, they'll be in high demand for the next eight years:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER. In the next eight years, the U.S. will need 200,000 more teachers... and the salary is about $45,000. Plus, you get those sweet summer vacations.
COMPUTER SYSTEMS ANALYST. The starting pay for a computer systems analyst is $50,000.
ACCOUNTANT. The market for accountants grows every year... and the typical salary is $54,630.
MARKET RESEARCH ANALYST. The typical salary for a market research analyst in 2006 was $58,820.
PERSONAL FINANCIAL ADVISOR. The typical salary for a personal financial advisor in 2006 was $66,120.
COMPUTER SOFTWARE ENGINEER. What about that IT guy who can never fix your computer? He's making around $80,000 a year.
STOCK BROKER OR INVESTMENT BANKER. And in the next eight years, there's supposed to be 80,000 new openings in financial sales... and within a few years of starting you could be making six-figures.
TRAVELING?
If you plan on blowing your stimulus check on a vacation, you might want to hear this first. According to AAA, these are the five most expensive vacation spots in the U.S.:
5) Boston... costs $287 per day for food and lodging for two adults. And that doesn't count getting there, or whatever you do once you're there.
4) Orlando... costs $289 per day.
3) Las Vegas... costs $301 per day for two people.
2) New York... costs $320 per day.
#1.) Honolulu... is by far the most expensive destination in the U.S. The price for two adults to stay and eat in Hawaii... minus the plane ride... is $793 per day.
That's over three times the national average of $244... and more than twice what it costs for two adults to visit New York.
But the Hawaiian tourist bureau says the number is grossly inflated... and that it only costs $358 per day for a couple to visit Hawaii. But that STILL makes it the most expensive vacation spot in the U.S.
