Enlarge Fox Smithson: Played it straight on Without You.

Yet the seven remaining Idol contestants 
rose to the challenge. 
David Cook superbly transformed 
Always Be My Baby into a 
grunge ballad, while Jason Castro 
converted I Don't Wanna Cry
 into a lulling "luau" (as judge Randy 
Jackson put it) ballad. 
Brooke White was a little less successful 
in turning Hero 
into a singer/songwriter plaint, good idea
 though it was.

The other singers were more 
conventional in their approaches, 
but wisely avoided oversinging or, for the most part, attempting 
Mariah-like vocal feats beyond their abilities. Kristy Lee Cook's 
skillfully restrained Forever may have been her best of the season.

Routine belting from David Archuleta (When You Believe), 
Carly Smithson (Without You) and Syesha Mercado, whose 
Vanishing was regrettably mannered, paled by comparison. 
But it was a surprising victory for the Idols, and you have to call the win …
 Mariah.

According to an interview in the magazine's May issue, the 27-year-old singer says:
 "'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. 'Gangsta rap' didn't 
exist." She also is quoted as saying that she wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck
 "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead."

"We stand by our story," Blender spokeswoman Kate Cafaro told The Associated Press 
on Tuesday.

"My comments about 'gangsta rap' were in no way trying to suggest that the government 
is responsible for creating this genre of rap music," Keys said in a statement issued by 
J Records. "The point that I was trying to make was that the term was oversloganized by
 some of the media causing reactions that were not always positive. Many of the 
'gangsta rap' lyrics articulate the problems of the artists' experiences and I think all of us,
 including our leaders, could be doing more to address these problems including drugs, 
gang violence, crime, and other related social issues."

As for the AK-47 remark, Keys said Tuesday that AK-47 is a nickname given to her by 
friends "as an acronym for Alicia Keys and a metaphor for wowing people with my music 
and performances, 'killing 'em dead' on stage. The reference was in no way meant to
 have a literal, political or negative connotation."

When AP attempted to reach Keys last week about the Blender interview, her publicist, 
Theola Borden, said the singer was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

The multiplatinum star behind the hits Fallin' and No One most recently had success 
with her latest CD, As I Am, which has sold 3.4 million copies, according to Nielsen 
Soundscan.