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American Idol Finale
TIME's music critic Josh Tyrangiel and TV critic James Poniewozik rate the best performances of the year including Blake Lewis doing Jon Bon Jovi, Lakisha singing Jennifer Holliday, and give their predictions for who will win this season

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Why American Idol Keeps Soaring
LaKisha, Melinda, Sanjaya — they've got us hooked again. What TV's unstoppable hit says about American tastes
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Discuss American Idol with TIME's TV critic James Poniewozik

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"With hindsight it's the border guards we must thank."
HANS MONDROW, East Germany's last communist prime minister, on the East German soldiers who ignored orders to shoot to kill those crossing into West Germany and made the decision to open the border on Nov. 9, 1989
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