"I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in/I watched myself crawling out as I was a-crawling in..."

I had to look up the lyric to what I'm reading is "the bizarre second verse" of "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," which Kenny Rogers sang at his (apparently terrible) show at the Wisconsin State Fair last night.

His voice was flat and thin for much of the 21-song, 80-minute set, giving out a few times, and when he aimed to hit an exuberant high note, like on "It's a Beautiful Life" and "Through the Years," his voice crashed and burned, exploding into a sour squawk....

But I did appreciate Rogers reciting the bizarre second verse a cappella, sounding like William Shatner performing spoken-word poetry, to emphasize how "screwed up" people were in the '60s.

ADDED: I pushed my soul into the deep dark hole of this blog's archive to retrospectively add the Kenny Rogers tag. I don't particularly follow the doings of Kenny Rogers, but:

November 19, 2007: "Althouse on Mancow": "I'm going to be on... talking about — of all things — plastic surgery.... Well, I was on for a little over a minute, much of which had Mancow naming celebrities I hadn't looked at recently. Kenny Rogers? What does he look like now? I have no idea...."

April 4, 2006: An episode of "American Idol": "Country week, and worse, the guest star is Kenny Rogers (who is bizarrely unrecognizable). We see the 'kids' acting like they're having a fine old time singing 'The Gambler.' You've got to know when this is bullshit."

April 5, 2006: The follow-on episode of "American Idol": "Kenny Rogers sings a song. I TiVo ahead."

August 21, 2004: "a very touching appearance by Brian Wilson on The Larry King Show last night":

He says that he doesn't listen to the old Beach Boys records.

B. WILSON: No, we don't wallow in the mire over the Beach Boys. I used to listen to Andy Williams and Kenny Rogers and stuff like that. Perry Como and Nat King Cole, of course, that was our song, "When I Fall in Love" was our song. "When I fall in love, it will be forever" -- you know, that song....

Althouse on Mancow.

Do you listen to the Mancow radio show? I'm going to be on it tomorrow, around 7 am ET, talking about — of all things — plastic surgery. Click on the tag "plastic surgery" to see what I've said on the subject (and why they want to hear from me).

Advice?

ADDED at 7:21 AM, Tuesday: Waiting on hold now.

DONE: Well, I was on for a little over a minute, much of which had Mancow naming celebrities I hadn't looked at recently. Kenny Rogers? What does he look like now? I have no idea. Michael Douglas? I've been avoiding looking at him for years. Nancy Pelosi? Her, I've looked at. It's disturbing to listen to political statements from someone who looks alarmed for no reason. That's about it. Worth doing? Sure, why not? I got to (had to) spend about 20 minutes on hold, listening to the show. During that time, there was a pretty interesting audio clip of a 911 call from a man watching a robbery in a neighbor's house, threatening to use his shotgun on the culprits, and then actually shooting them. Mancow seemed to think the shooting was justified.

MORE: Here are before and after pictures of Kenny Rogers. Not so bad, really. Especially good if he doesn't want to be recognized.

AND: Here's a news report on that 911 call.

"American Idol" -- results!

ADDED: If you're looking for the newest results show, click on the banner at the top -- Althouse -- and then scroll down to the most recent "Amercian Idol."

ORIGINAL POST: Exciting, isn't it? 35 million votes. Ryan Seacrest still has his incipient beard. And have you noticed he's wearing elegant suits, not those sleazy shirts of yore? I like that sleek, skinny tie -- with a tie tack.

Kenny Rogers sings a song. I TiVo ahead.

I love the commercial the kids do for Ford. Really! They sing the cool Hollies song "Just One Look," and they're all working on a car in the "Pimp My Ride" style, but in the end it comes out a Ford. Kellie is the big star of the commercial. I don't even care. I love "Just One Look" -- that's all it took. That's what a candy-colored pop song should be.

Ryan announces the theme for next week: the music of Queen! A squeal of intense delight is heard across America. This is it, folks! The ultimate crazy absurdity of "American Idol" will peak. We remember the wonderful Constantine singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" last season. But this will be everybody straining to reach the Queenish heights. And we get to see a big teaser for next week, with the kids all throwing themselves into "We Will Rock You." Oh, this is too sublime! I'm declaring this, in advance, the greatest "American Idol" episode of all time.

Now, to the results. They've thought of an exquisite new form of torture. They will divide the 9 kids into 3 groups. Group 1 begins with Taylor Hicks. Group 2 with Mandisa. Elliot joins Mandisa's group. So does Paris. That looks to be the bottom 3, I think. Group 3 begins with Ace. Kellie joins Taylor, so Group 1 cannot be the bottom 3. Chris gets to join them too, so clearly, this is the top. Katharine and Bucky are sent over to Ace. Very interesting. Either 2 or 3 could be the bottom. Group 1 is told it is safe, and that is no surprise at all.

And the bottom 3 is Group 2. Mandisa, Elliott, and Paris have never been in the bottom 3 before. And they are all terrific singers. Paris is told she's safe. It's Mandisa and Elliott at risk -- the two that Dial Idol put at the bottom. And Mandisa leaves. Standing ovation. I cry a few tears for the beautiful Mandisa, don't you? She blesses us in the name of Jesus.

"American Idol" -- the final 9.

Oh, lord, how will I survive this? Country week, and worse, the guest star is Kenny Rogers (who is bizarrely unrecognizable). We see the "kids" acting like they're having a fine old time singing "The Gambler." You've got to know when this is bullshit.

First, Taylor Hicks. He sounds awful trying to do John Denver, Take me home, country road. They speed it up a lot. This is one of those versions that makes me discover a respect for the original artist that I never had. Simon: "Safe, boring, lazy..."

Mandisa. The song has a lot of words, which amazes Kenny. I don't know the song. Any man of mine? Eh? It's boring. Simon: "The song was horrible."

Elliott Yamin watches someone sleeping and somehow shows her she's his only one or whatever. Dreary song. Solid vocals!

Paris Bennett sings another song I don't know. How do I live without you? I don't even understand what makes this a country song. This is the kind of song that makes me feel that I hate music and I wish everyone would stop singing forever. Sorry. That's just how it made me feel. Power ballads. Ugh!

"Ace is a very passionate kid," says Kenny about Ace Young, and Kenny thinks this is the best song choice of the night. Ace is watching TV with the sound turned down.... Hmmmm.... Don't give me ideas.... He's sitting on a stool -- always a bad omen on "AI." And he's singing through his nose. That's not allowed, is it? But he sings a high melisma at the end, and I'm inclined to forgive him.

Kellie Pickler. Ryan: "Okay, let's clear this up. Some people have said that this naivete you've shown on the show is a bit of an act. What is the truth, Kellie?" She says, "Oh, Ryan, you've caught me. I am a big faker." Unfortunately, not. She lays it on thick with the calamari and the salmon... Ick! "Here's you one chance, Fancy, don't let me down." I don't like her, as you can see, but I think she did a great job on this song.

Chris Daughtry. Kenny acts like it's hard for a rocker to find a way to sing country, but is it? Lots of these country songs rock. Just pick one. Pretty nice. And he looked adorable, with his intense brown eyes and his bald head. Simon calls the song boring. Yeah, that's true.

Katharine McPhee. She needs to rescue herself tonight, after last week, falling in the bottom two. Bringing out the Elvis in me. She looks very pretty and gets out some great notes (but swallows most of the song).

Ooh, Bucky goes last. Interesting! Bucky Covington. But it's really weak. I think he's the one that needs to slip away... or no, it ends well, as songs so often do on "American Idol."

Now, this is a difficult week. Who should leave? The only one who is truly safe is Kellie. Taylor was rather bad, but he's got fans, we know. Bucky's in danger. So is Katharine. I wouldn't be surprised if Paris was in the bottom three. I think Ace is safe, and so are Mandisa, Elliott, and (my favorite) Chris.

"American Idol" -- the guys.

Gray-haired Taylor Hicks seems forced and played out. He shrugs and smirks in his mannered way.

Elliot Yamin sings a meandering and complex jazzy song that everyone seems to like. He's so unattractive, but we feel a certain bond nonetheless.

Ace Young. Is he sensitive or phony? I'm not sure what to make of him. He seems to be losing it.

Gedeon McKinney sings one of the the greatest of all songs: "A Change Is Gonna Come." It bursts with feeling, and even though he seems fundamentally cheesy whenever he's not singing, the singing was great.

Kevin Covais bops along to "I Heard I Through the Grapevine," but the tone of his voice is so measly compared to Marvin's. I just heard the Marvin Gaye version on the radio yesterday. I hope you haven't forgotten how deeply dimensional it is. How strangely raspy Marvin sang and still made it all come out sublimely melodic. It was beautiful. But we love the sweet young lad Kevin and wish him no harm.

Jose "Sway" Penala croons something nice.

Will Makar gushes about the profound experience of meeting Justin Guarini, and then he sings Kenny Rogers's "Lady." This is just too bizarre!

Bucky Covington. He gets all Bo tonight. The judges seem to find him authentic, and I guess he is. A lot of time is spent on his food preferences. He's a southern boy who just wants some nice biscuits, and L.A. is proving too much for the man. All that calamari and the tuna roll.

David Radford does an eerie Sinatra imitation. "The Way You Look Tonight." This can't work! He blinks his eyes ultra-slow. Creepy! (He means it to be seductive.)

Chris Daughtry. They love him. Simon: "This was the only performance that stands up in the real world."

UPDATE: Begging to Differ has a lot of "AI" analysis, nicely done. And don't miss Kim Cosmopolitan.

"In a restless world like this is."

What a very touching appearance by Brian Wilson on The Larry King Show last night:

KING: When you say you heard voices can you describe what that's like? Because we read stories like that about people who -- what happens?

B. WILSON: Well, a voice is saying: "I'm going to hurt you, I'm going to kill you." And I'd say: "Please don't kill me."

KING: It's an actual voice.

B. WILSON: Actual voice in my head. Yes.

KING: Not your voice?

B. WILSON: No. No.

[Brian's wife Melinda] WILSON: That's called auditory hallucinations and if somebody's depression is deep enough that's what happens to them.

KING: And at the same time you're still writing songs?

B. WILSON: Yes, I could still write songs, yes, during that period.

KING: [Write] hit songs.

B. WILSON: Yes.

M. WILSON: That's the thing that's amazing. Right now when he goes out on tour I can look at him and I say to myself: "Oh my God, I can tell just by his face he's hearing voices."

KING: You still hear them.

B. WILSON: Oh yes. I still hear them. ...

KING: Do they ever tell you to do things?

B. WILSON: No.

KING: Just, "I'm going to kill you," or...

B. WILSON: Yeah, right.

KING: That's all they -- it ever says?

B. WILSON: Yeah.

A moment later he contradicts himself and says that sometimes the voices say nice things like "We love you, we love you, we can't do without you." He says several times that he doesn't hear the voices when he is singing and that he can work despite his illness. He says that he doesn't listen to the old Beach Boys records.

B. WILSON: No, we don't wallow in the mire over the Beach Boys. I used to listen to Andy Williams and Kenny Rogers and stuff like that. Perry Como and Nat King Cole, of course, that was our song, "When I Fall in Love" was our song. "When I fall in love, it will be forever" -- you know, that song.

KING: "Or I'll never fall in love/In a restless world like this is ...

B. WILSON: Yeah.

KING: I know that.

B. WILSON: Yeah, it's a beautiful tune.

KING: You're a beautiful guy.