NEWSMAKERS

A New Idol Is Born

The most surprising thing about the "American Idol" finale? Not that Carrie Underwood beat Bo Bice--Simon Cowell touted her from the beginning. And not that 2003 finalist Matt Rogers hit on the First Lady of Oklahoma--isn't this year's "Idol" all about inappropriate relationships? No, the real shocker is that the show received 500million votes this season. If only 1 percent of those folks buy Carrie's first single, she'll have enough money to buy Oklahoma.

--Marc Peyser

Spector in Court: It's Not The Heat, It's the Humidity

Like the white tiger, the white Afro is a rare and endangered beast. Fortunately, Phil Spector didn't let a murder trial stop him from showing off one of the finest examples of the form since Art Garfunkel. Whether or not Spector's look will figure into his Sept. 16 trial remains to be seen. Perhaps the 'fro will be part of an insanity defense. Or will Spector claim he can't go to jail because depriving him of his hair pick would be cruel and unusual punishment?

--Marc Peyser