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The drama during Tuesday night's American Idol wasn't all onstage. Some behind-the-scenes highlights:
• Before the show, Katharine McPhee's family – who'd been driven to Los Angeles via limo from their home in Sherman Oaks – mill about outside the entrance to L.A.'s Kodak Theater, looking nervous and tense.
• Season One runner-up Justin Guarini has a hard time finding his seat before the cameras begin to roll.
• All 10 ousted finalists are in the audience, although Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry earn the most applause when they take their seats.
• Kellie Pickler and dad Clyde sit together, but don't talk much as Clyde looks around in awe, taking in the scene. Pickler's little brother goofs around with Bucky Covington, who is sitting behind him.
• At 4:56 p.m., Daughtry kisses his wife, Deanna. "It was very sweet and tender and loving," reports a witness.
• Moments before going live at 5 p.m., the judges take their seats. Paula Abdul inadvertently rolls her chair over her dress and trips, but recovers quickly. She dances around a bit off-air when she is introduced.
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• Not to be outdone, Taylor Hicks has his own coterie of dedicated fans in the crowd, including a group of people holding signs made from pictures of his head on a stick.
• Abdul breaks out her dance moves during Hicks's performance of "Living For the City," despite being laughed at by Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. Later, Abdul has to get her makeup touched up after she is moved to tears by McPhee's performance of "Over the Rainbow."
• Backstage, representatives from Origins put together gift baskets for the judges and Ryan Seacrest. One manager tells a staffer to make sure to put the store's Peace of Mind lotion in Seacrest's basket, but adds, "I don't know what Simon wants. His person never got back to me, so just do whatever for him."
• During Daniel Powter's show-ending live performance, McPhee's mom, Peisha, admits she doesn't know who he is, so daughter Adriana turns around in her seat to explain.
• At the intimate, casual afterparty at the restaurant Vert, Hicks's father Brad and stepmother Linda share a bottle of Pellegrino water at the bar, at one point clinking their glasses together in a toast. They leave at 8 p.m., just as American Idol starts to play on the bar's TV set.
• Reporting CARRIE BORZILLO-VRENNA, REBECCA GROSS and MONICA RIZZO
