I watched parts of Idol Gives Back last night and was pleasantly surprised by some of the performances. Annie Lennox's cover of "Many Rivers to Cross" was amazing; Carrie Underwood sang a cover of George Michael's "Praying for Time" and showed that her Idolness was warranted. Other Idol Chris Daughtry visited Uganda and turned a village singalong into a plea for help for Africa. Fergie singing and cartwheeling while performing "Barracuda" with Heart was just......

Because he's too shy (and way too busy) to announce it here himself, I am proud to do the honors: Zach Behrens has officially accepted the Editor position here at LAist and he'll be starting on December 17th. BloggingLA has the announcement, as well as a nice picture of the new editor's "Sexy Face." That's how you get your Canadian fanbase, Behrens!!! Rain. Please. Rain. Effects of the strike are starting to ripple out......

Sarah Silverman @ Largo Metal Skool Tommy Peacock, 3 Against 1 @ Key Club Razorlight, Gran Ronde @ Henry Fonda Chris Daughtry @ Orpheum Softlightes, Sunday Drivers, Arizona, Unbusted @ Spaceland Tickle Me Pink, Dead Sara, The Record Life @ Safari Sam's Pedestrian, Cydney Robinson, Holly Palmer @ The Bordello Black Hole Suns, Scott Wolf, Grogans Girl @ The Good Hurt Mercy Killers, The Black Rose Phantoms, Static Though @ Knitting Factory......

Sting @ Disney Hall Chris Daughtry @ Viper Room NOFX @ House of Blues The Colour @ Spaceland Fairmona, The Softlightes, BRAM @ Silverlake Lounge The New Hotness, Yes Me to Death @ The Scene Wylde Bunch, The Hear Gallery @ Safari Sam's Thee Gentlemen Callers, Tsk Tsk, Nantucket Suicide @ The Echo Plethora Yearned, Thruster, David Scott Stone @ The Smell The New Motherfuckers, United by Sound, Una @ The Mint Saints of......

A Word or 39-ish: So whadyathinkof "the Apprentice: LA"? Was it LA-flavored enough for you or did it perpetuate the idiotic stereotypes all over again? It might have been better if they had manage to quarantine that thing to the East coast. Tonight - Monday - January 8th, 2007 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. the Florida Gators (FOX, 5:30 p.m.) This is it, the "BCS National Championship" football game Oilers @ Kings (Fox Sports, 7:30......

LAist would like to admit we were wrong: Tonight, we taped Lost and ended up watching the finale of American Idol -- all two hours and three minutes of it. We got sucked in during the first hour and needed to watch the show to to its cheesy, glorious conclusion with Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks singing "I've Had the Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing. Oh yes, and then Taylor being crowned......