USA DAWN: NEWS AND UPDATES

The president offered his thanks, Brian Dunkleman forgave Ryan Seacrest, JLo reminded everyone how it’s done, and Simon Cowell and his chest hair were once again reunited with Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul. Oh, and in big upset, Trent Harmon won the thing. But even in the 15 th  and final finale of “American Idol,” it was tough to beat Kelly Clarkson. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >> The competition’s first winner was one of the few famous Idols who did not appear live at the Dolby Theater for the blow-out farewell; as Seacrest explained, she is closing in on the due date for her second child. She did, however, manage to tape a mini-concert of her biggest hits when she visited the show in February. Which, for reasons of their own, the producers chose to run early in the finale even though it could easily have been one of the climactic numbers. Many have said, with a regularity that borders on mania, that no other ...