I feel the "American Idol" fever for the first time since the show started

This is the first season of "American Idol" where I watched every episode since the singing competition debuted 10 years ago. The last time I saw a full episode was some three years ago when they did a Mariah Carey Week.

I guess I am one of the newer followers that help the show maintain a mega hit status not just in the United States but also in a global scale.That's not to say I haven't seen the show ever. But before I'd catch it only if I chance upon it on TV, never really minding if I get to see it this week or not.

What initially intrigued me the most for this season was the addition of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler in the judging panel. But even this I wasn't so sure in the beginning until I saw the show's first episode. I knew then that this season would click.

Thanks to YouTube and Torrent downloads, I was able to get my "Idol" fix week after week. I never am a big TV fan so this should come to no surprise.

When the top 13 were chosen, I initially rooted for Naima Adedapo. But when she got voted off the show, my attention quickly fell onto Haley Reinhart, and stayed with her until her Top 3 exit last week (which really annoyed me).

But Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery ain't so bad. Lauren was a sweetheart from the audition phase all through out the live shows. As for Scotty, I never in a million years thought he'd be part of the finale. I always thought he'd get the boot during Top 9 or Top 8 week. But he did improve a lot over the weeks (but so did Lauren!).

Both had excellent and stand-out performances throughout the show. I'd say Lauren's best performances were "Flat on the floor" and "Trouble." But her duet with Scotty "I told you so" was also phenomenal. As for Scotty, I think his performance of "Gone" was fantastic.

All told, I'll be rooting for Lauren. She's so damn cute. For me, she's a mix of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, who we know are the best "Idol" alums ever.

Fortunately for me, I was invited to a special screening of the finale tomorrow morning at Greenbelt (call time 7am, hello morning sun!). If you follow me on Twitter [@hot_ken], you just might get live updates as the show happens! :)