Song sung blue

So after suffering through halting renditions of his iconic songs from the final five on "American Idol" the other night (well, three of them didn't completely suck), Neil Diamond had the dubious pleasure of presiding over a sing-a-long with Al Roker and various microphone-equipped fans on the "Today Show."

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has an album and tour to promote, so he continued to be gracious, belting out "America" and "I'm a Believer" this morning, sounding like his timeless self and seemingly having a good time. But with Roker, Vieira et. al. joining in, adding some "dance moves" for added impact, it must've started to feel like a very long week.

Doesn't do much to scour the brain of the limp versions of his power pop ballads by Brooke "Cry Me a River" White and Jason "The Lost Olsen Triplet" Castro on "Idol." Too bad they both couldn't have been kicked off.

But if there's one thing we know about Diamond, it's this -- the guy's got stamina. Decades in the business and still going strong. Local stop: Hollywood Bowl in the fall. Definitely a hot ticket.