What You DIdn't See Last Night

While many in the American Idol audience openly boo ornery judge Simon Cowell when they think he's being overly harsh on one of the contestants, you don't usually see anyone in the theater actually confront him personally. Somebody should tell that to actor/comedian Sinbad, who gave Simon a talking-to at Tuesday night's performance show.

Following Syesha Mercado's attempt to cover the Fantasia hit "I Believe" at this week's inspirational-themed show, judges Randy Jackson and Simon took the singer to task for what they saw as a lack of emotion in her rendition. Well, it appeared that Sinbad, who was in the audience for the show, disagreed and made his feelings known by jokingly chastising the acid-tongued Brit in front of the entire cheering crowd.

And Sinbad wasn't the only celeb watching the show Tuesday night. In the audience to watch the remaining eight finalists perform were Will & Grace's Eric McCormack, grammy-nominated singer Taylor Swift and So You Think You Can Dance’s Lacey-Mae Schwimmer.

Meanwhile, judge Paula Abdul once again won the title as the week’s most friendly judge, taking time during the commercial breaks to hug and shake hands with several thrilled audience members. The always chipper singer/dancer even had a hearty hug for her on-screen foe Simon after she quietly made her way onto the stage exactly one minute before the show’s broadcast began.

By Ryan Smith