"It was a brutal time," Lionel Richie said of the era of slavery in this country. And because of that brutality, the 'Who Do You Think You Are?' (Fri., 8PM ET on NBC) team wasn't able to definitively trace his lineage back. But they did find a pivotal figure and an important document.

"Dr. Morgan Brown says that Mariah should be freed from slavery. And then he goes on to say, once her unborn child is born, that he should be freed." It seemed implicit that this man could well have been the father of that unborn child.

"For Doc Morgan or for Morgan W. to even think for a moment to protect what was his was just the greatest gift," Richie said.

Southern soul singer Michael Grimm pulled a shocking upset by winning Season 5 of 'America's Got Talent' over front-runner Jackie Evancho, the 10-year-old opera singer from Pennsylvania.

"It's really still sinking in," Grimm told TV Squad after the show. "But I do want to thank America, 'America's Got Talent,' the judges and, most importantly, I want to thank God."

Prior to his victory, Grimm, an aspiring singer, had trouble getting record labels to consider him. They'd want to know how big his following was because they didn't have money to invest in him. "Well, now I have a little money and I have fans," he says gratefully.

"I haven't talked to my grandparents yet," he said. "But it's going to be an emotional moment."

"When you stand there and you see a guy who's never had a break in his life and he starts crying, you say, 'This was the right decision,'" judge Sharon Osbourne says about Grimm's victory.

Lionel Richie sang 'America the Beautiful' to close out the 'National Memorial Day Concert' (Sun., 8PM ET on PBS). The concert has been on the air for more than 20 years, and exists to recognize the sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform. This year, the concert honors the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

Richie was joined on stage for the finale by a large number of celebrities -- including co-hosts Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise. Joe and Gary are both devoted to veterans' causes and support our troops in their service around the world. Using the American Forces Network, the show was broadcast to more than one million American troops and their families, stationed in 175 countries around the globe.

The original 'We Are the World' was recorded almost exactly 25 years ago to benefit the charity, USA for Africa. Recently, 80 stars got together, including co-writer Lionel Richie and producer Quincy Jones, to remake the classic song to help with Haiti relief efforts. The video was supposed to debut last night during the Olympic opening ceremonies, but they just showed an excerpt. We have the full video here.

It's nice to see some of the same people involved in making the first video in the remake, but this version is populated by mostly new faces including Jennifer Hudson, Josh Groban, Wyclef Jean, and Kanye West, among many others. In fact, there were so many artists featured in this video, that I didn't even recognize them all. The new version is about a full minute longer than the original, and the real question is, how does it stack up?

At long last, the season 8 finale of American Idol has arrived! It's been fun watching all of the Idols grow in their musical prowess (that's a Paula word), especially Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, the final two performers who couldn't be more different, but are both awesome in their own way.

Ryan started things off by introducing the judges, along with a funny video clip for each of them -- Randy Jackson saying "For Me" throughout the season; Kara DioGuardi saying "sweetie" and "honey" to people who didn't make it past the audition process; Paula's round-up of colorful adjectives (vocal prowess, masterful and effortless, palette, etc.); and Simon's issues with hearing what people say (as in, he could probably use a hearing aid!).

Recently, I got the chance to speak with Sam Champion, the affable Good Morning America weatherman. We chatted a bit about GMA's upcoming Summer Concert Series, which is kicking off on May 22. The free concerts have moved from Bryant Park to Central Park this year, which allows for much larger audiences. So you know what that means, right? More space for screaming throngs of Jonas Brothers fans to gather in a central location this summer.

Read the interview to figure out when you need to book your trip to New York, or get the hell out of the city -- depending on your perspective.

(S19E01) Blackboard Gag: I will not wait 20 years to make another movie

Adam, this one's for you.

To begin this review I would like to speak to all of the continuity wonks out there in the audience. You know who you are! You're the folks who keep writing about how nothing changes in Springfield, even after something major happens the episode before. Well, The Simpsons has plenty of continuity. If not, then Ned's wife would still be alive the week after she died and Selma's last name would not be Selma Bouvier Terwilliger Hutz McClure Stu Simpson, Continuity is there . . . it's just subtle.

Are headlines like that even surprising anymore?

The Simple Life's (emphasis on SIMPLE) Nicole Richie was arrested early this morning in Burbank, CA for going the wrong way on the 134 freeway. Witnesses called the police, and when police got to her car, she admitted she had taken Vicodin and smoked pot. But she wasn't drunk on booze, thank heavens, which means she's being responsible.

Two interesting aspects to this story: one, the police have told TMZ.com that they aren't going to release Richie's mug shot, which means it can't be added to the Hall of Fame. And two, the police report lists her height as 5 feet 1 inches and her weight as 85 pounds. Which basically means she weights nothing, and when she turns sideways she vanishes completely. She should join Heroes!

Update: the TMZ.com story has been updated with Richie's booking photo.

(S03E17) I got the feeling that some of the staff may have had vacation time to use up this week. They didn't even put in the effort to stretch the show. Instead we were given a clip show of past performances for the first half hour of the show. That was a little underhanded, but they did pick some of the really great performances to show. A couple of my favorites: Edyta and Kym dancing while Rod Stewart did "Hot Legs", Edyta, Karina, Maksim, and Tony with Lionel Richie performing, and the great SWOP demonstration.

(S03E11) Really, the dragging out of the decision for what to do about Sara leaving is just stupid. The show is getting great ratings already. It doesn't need to jerk viewers around to get them to keep watching. It's a cheap gimmick. Teasing it before going to every commercial break, and pushing it to the last three minutes smacked of local news, and that's not a compliment.

The judges chose Mario & Karina for the encore. That was a good choice. They were clearly the best this week. And they do another great performance, with the exception of a mistake at the end when they get their hands all mixed up during their spins. Lionel Richie came out and performed All Night Long while Maksim, Tony, Edyta, and Karina did the Samba. Really cool performance. Lionel still sounds great, and that was an excellent song choice.

Nicole Richie has a book. Did you know that? It's called The Truth About Diamonds. It's being sold as a fictional novel written by Richie, but apparently the storylines are pretty transparent. For example, the main character, "Chloe," has a drug addition, much like Richie once did. And, her wealthy girlfriend named "Simone", who appears in "night vision skin flicks", is obviously Paris Hilton. I did not read the book because it costs more than one dollar, but I did read a hilarious recap of the book on Slate. The author makes fun of Richie's grammar, including this triple-negative: "we were nothing if not un-original." And of her contradictions about the character's dismissal of celebrity gossipers, yet tabloid press is what pushes the plot along. The reviewer says there is not much to be learned from the book, except Richie's dependency on the paparazzi. She appears just as obsessed with the tabloids as the rest of America, and her character obviously courts the gossip reporters in the book. If nothing else, the reviewer says, the book exposes how celebrities (at least, celebrities of Paris and Nicole's stature) need the tabloids.

After you're done reading the Slate review, head on over to Amazon to read the customer comments. There are already 33 reviews, and it appears a war is a-brewing over the literary quality of The Truth About Diamonds.