Reality Check
How Seattle's LaBelle did on 'American Idol' tonight

Editor's note: This column contains results from tonight's shows, so you may not want to read it if you would rather not find out how the shows turned out until they have aired on the West Coast.

By Pamela Sitt
Seattle Times staff reporter

	Leah LaBelle
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She's in! Garfield High School's Leah LaBelle, 17, made the finals on tonight's "American Idol" wild-card show with her rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Stay Together." Once again, the girl wins style points for performing in a strapless black flapper-style mini-dress over cuffed jeans, with a sassy blue flower in her hair. Judge Paula Abdul made LaBelle her pick of the four wild-card finalists — and said she had a "Mary J. Blige-vibe" — while Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson chose George Huff and Jennifer Hudson, respectively. America voted in John Peter Lewis.

Meantime, LaBelle says she's having trouble keeping her mind on her school work, which is required three hours each day.

"It's so hard to concentrate — I'm sitting in Paula Abdul's dressing room, doing my homework, and (comedian) Wayne Brady walks by and he started talking to me about school," LaBelle said in a phone interview. "Whoa, this is strange. In what reality are you doing your homework? It's weird."

For reality fans who were torn between watching the "American Idol" wild-card show and UPN's "America's Next Top Model" Tuesday night, "American Idol" was the better choice — "Top Model" was a boring clips show.

Party like it's 1993: Do not be tardy for the second-season premiere of the WB's "High School Reunion" (9 p.m. Sunday, KSTW-TV), easily the most delicious guilty pleasure in reality TV. Executive Producer Mike Fleiss (ABC's "The Bachelor") reunites 14 graduates of Round Rock High School near Austin, Tex., at a beautiful Hawaiian resort, but things get ugly fast when cliques re-form and old flames clash. It gets even better when three sophomore "hotties" show up to crash the reunion — and settle a score with the philandering senior jock and his former high school sweetheart, who is now his needy ex-wife. It's not long before one graduate breaks down, saying tearfully, "It's like high school all over again."

America's Next Top Hip-Hop Star: Forget P. Diddy's "Making The Band" on MTV. (Whatever happened to them, anyway?) The innovative rapper Missy Elliott is looking for aspiring hip-hop performers for her new UPN reality series, "The Missy Elliott Project." The selected group will travel together on one of Elliott's upcoming concert tours while competing on various challenges. For an application, visit www.upn.com. The Donald Style: Add clothing designer to the resume of real-estate mogul-turned-reality star Donald Trump. The "Apprentice" star lends his now-famous catchphrase, "You're Fired!" to a line of T-shirts and tank tops sold exclusively at Bloomingdale's ($24-$36, 800-555-7467). Or get a cheaper and more hip version of the T — chocolate brown with retro white lettering — online from Moe Wampum, Inc. (www.moeschwag.com). The "You're Fired!" shirt is on sale right now for $10. Now that's good business.

This week: Fans of Bravo's "Boy Meets Boy" should check out Fox's premiere of "Playing It Straight," a dating show that tests the "gaydar" of a bachelorette choosing from a mix of gay and straight men (9 p.m. Friday, KCPQ-TV).... "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard performs on the late-night variety show, "Showtime at the Apollo" (1:35 a.m. Saturday, KIRO-TV).

Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com

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