THE BEST: No. 4
Is there anything better than watching the birth of a star right in the Idol audition room? When career backup singer Melinda Doolittle arrived at the Memphis auditions with more self-doubt than her trembling hands could hold onto, we feared she'd be a classic case of crash-and-burn. But when she opened her mouth and delivered a clear and rousing version of Stevie Wonder's ''For Once in My Life,'' all we could do was wonder: Who the heck has been keeping the congenial 28-year-old out of the spotlight all these years?