And Now A Special Segment of American Idol With a SPECIAL CONTESTANT

A special contestant (?):

That was, of course, Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, the original Alfalfa from The Little Rascals who had such a sad life (he died after being shot in the late 1950s). Here’s a special You Tube tribute to him:

And here’s the same song segment in the original black and white version. It’s a wonderful number — and I always feel so sad when I think of what happened to many of those kids (I met the wonderful Tommy “Butch” Bond several times — once when I performed at a Laurel & Hardy “Way out West” “tent” event near LA and once when he lived in the San Diego area — who had a nice life).