It's a great nab for VH1; people will be curious to see her first post-Idol gig. You can even argue that the choice makes sense, considering the concert will feature two former American Idol winners: Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks. Joining them are Adele, Leona Lewis and Miley Cyrus. It doesn't take nearly as much to be a diva these days.
It'll be fun watching Abdul try to steer an entire show rather than just a single coherent sentence of criticism. Who knows, maybe she'll find out that she's great at this and she can take over VH1 the way Ryan Seacrest took over E!. As long as they don't do a Who's That Girl? series with male skanks like Corey Clark trying to date her.
(S08E09) Seacrest begins the show with some cold, sexy numbers. We started this season with over 103,000 American Idol hopefuls, and now, going into the last night of Hollywood week, we're down to 72. Now that we're under the century mark, we get to be fancy: the contestants have backup singers, bands, and can play instruments if they want.
The way they're doing this is pretty hardcore: Each singer takes the stage, but receives no feedback afterward. Since this is their last chance, it kind of doesn't matter if Simon makes them cry, or Randy calls them Dawg. Either they're good enough or they're not. After they're finished singing, they have to wait until the end of the day, when the entire group is broken up into two groups: those who are going forward, and those who are not. Or, those who are immediately fading into obscurity and those who will fade more slowly, singing some goofy songs while hamming it up in some sort of Ford vehicle on the way.
(S08E01) it's that time of year again: American Idol auditions. It's the good, bad and tone-deaf all vying for their chance to be the next Taylor Hicks! Or... you know, someone else. So let's get started:
We open up with a really weird slow-motion retrospective of notable past auditions to "It's a Wonderful World." I always forget how skinny and young Clay was. Seacrest has changed a lot too-- and informs us that "THIS is American Idol" from what looks to be a perch on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
The premiere of American Idol's new season is tonight; can you stand it? Last year brought us a format change with the addition of instruments; this year, we have a new judge. Controversy has been following Kara DioGuardi since she was named AI's fourth judge. Is she taking Paula's place? Are there catfights? Will she screw up the balance of the show?
To help drum up enthusiasm about the new season and ostensibly to answer some of these questions, FOX set up a conference call with Kara. Unsurprisingly, she stayed as far away from minefields as humanly possible, instead gushing about how wonderful everyone on the show is and how well they all get along, and blah blah blah, puppies and rainbows. Luckily, she also chatted about what she thinks of the newest crop of contestants as well as past Idols.
Katharine McPhee and Jordin Sparks will be performing at this year's Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. The Idol alums will be joined by country music sensation Kenny Chesney and British chart-topper Natasha Bedingfield. McPhee, who is currently working with David Foster on her second album, will perform "Save The Last Dance for Me" at the event. Sparks, who is nominated for a BET Viewer's Choice Award for her duet with Chris Brown, is set to perform her latest single "One Step at a Time." Chesney will sing "Never Wanted Nothing More" and Bedingfield will sing "Pocketful of Sunshine." Natalie Morales of NBC's Today and Tiki Barber of Today and Football Night in America will co-host the event on Independence Day.
The Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular will air from 9-10 p.m. on NBC. Sound like something you'd watch? I don't know if I'll be tuning in for this. I'd rather find a local fireworks show than watch one on TV.
We scoured the earth (and the archives at various record companies for failed projects that showed vocal promise) to create the greatest assemblage of singing talent American Idol has ever seen! So what happened? After last year's virtual snooze-fest, how did a season that truly did give us perhaps the greatest depth of talent we've ever seen (an argument could be made for Season Five) give us such lackluster shows?
After Sanjaya-gate last year, the biggest controversy to come out this year was that finalist David Hernandez used to be a stripper and David Archuleta's dad might be a Mr. Meany-Pants. And we got to be pissed that Kristy Lee Cook outlasted the likes of Michael Johns. Not until we got to the finale of Davids did things get really intense.
Welcome to the final installment of "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each installment, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated at the same point. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of David Cook's crowning as your American Idol, we will look back at other winners.
This week: The Winners, featuring Kelly Clarkson (Season One), Ruben Studdard (Season Two), Fantasia Barrino (Season Three), Carrie Underwood (Season Four), Taylor Hicks (Season Five) and Jordin Sparks (Season Six).
(S07E30) This is a big week for American Idol. We have three episodes; the performance and results shows sandwiched around the two-and-a-half hour "Idol Gives Back" star-studded spectacular that aired last night. Finally we have the results show -- but will they pull the same thing as last year and nobody goes home? Join us, won't you, for another spectacular non-star-studded live chat during tonight's episode, starting just before 8:00pm ET.
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.
How much cooler would it be to send your stalker letter to Kelly Clarkson with a Kelly Clarkson stamp? As Ryan Seacrest announced on last night's American Idol "Idol Gives Back" special, PhotoStamps has inked a deal with the show to produce commemorative stamps featuring the likenesses of each of the Idol winners so far, including this year's winner. In fact, Kelly Clarkson's PhotoStamp is already available, with subsequent stamps released each Tuesday.
So if you're planning to kidnap one of Kelly's hats and send her a ransom note with cut-out letters from various newspaper articles about her, demanding that she go out on a date with you if she ever wants to see it again, go that extra mile and show her you really care in that extra-special creepy way by using a Kelly Clarkson PhotoStamp! Remember, net proceeds from the sales of these stamps go to charity. And while you may be crazy, that doesn't mean you don't care!
For a reputedly lackluster season, I'm impressed with how well Jordin Sparks seems to be developing her career. I hate to say it, but you kind of have to put it down to her being young and somewhat bland. As such, since she hadn't really discovered her own unique style and approach she was able to be molded into whatever record producers (and Idol) wanted her to be.
That said, she's a fairly standard R&B/Pop artist, but she's got a nice voice and "Tattoo" has a great hook. In fact, I was digging the song for a few days before I knew who sang it and was surprised to hear it was her (I know, I'm old and out of touch but radio stations barely tell you what song they're playing anymore). Now the video has dropped for her latest single, a duet with Chris Brown. You can watch and let us know what you think after the jump.
While last season is considered by some to have been a major disappointment, you can't deny the rising star of winner Jordin Sparks. Her debut single "Tattoo" is hanging steady in Billboard's Top 10 while her follow-up "No Air," performed with Chris Brown, is rising fast. She got rave reviews for her rendition of the national anthem at this year's Super Bowl, which she followed up with an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist. And now she's announced that she will be the opening act on Alicia Keys' highly anticipated "As I Am" tour.
The thirty-date tour runs through June 18, so she'll be on tour still when the Idol finale this year comes around. I'm sure she'll catch a red-eye to make the show, though, you can't buy that kind of exposure! I'm glad to see her opening for a bigger act rather than going out ego-first and trying to headline on one album as some artists have done. She has the potential to build herself a nice little pop career, she just needs to nurture it along slowly and carefully.
Not every American Idol winner or runner-up has the massive success of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. In just the last three weeks, Sony BMG has dropped three AI contestants/winners from its record label.
The latest to be dropped is season five runner-up Katharine McPhee. She released an album in 2006 that has only sold about 365,000 copies, according to MTV news.
It's a no-brainer really. Last year's American Idol charity-special, "Idol Gives Back," racked up killer ratings for FOX and raised $75 million for charities in the U.S. and Africa. And more importantly it brought in killer ratings for FOX (did I say that already)! Of course they're going to do it again this year, and now according to Variety, they've set the date for "Idol Gives Back 2008." April 9, 8/7c the two-hour star-studded extravaganza will once again bombard our retinas.
American Idol's season six winner Jordin Sparks and first runner-up Blake Lewis are hitting the studios to record their individual debut albums. With possible release dates as early as Thanksgiving, America will learn soon enough if the latest batch of Idols are "turkeys" or not.
Jordin said, "I'm trying to mix everything together. I'm loving all the songs I'm recording, so hopefully that will come off the album when you listen to it and you'll be able to feel the emotion."
I'll admit I have no way of knowing what Paula Abdul's thinking at any given time. Even people who listen to her talk generally have no idea what she's thinking. You have to figure that after negotiating to join So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars and Ugly Betty, Adbul hosting the latest VH1 Divas special on Thursday, September 17 is a bit of a let-down.
(S08E01) it's that time of year again: 
Katharine McPhee and Jordin Sparks will be performing at this year's 
We scoured the earth (and the archives at various record companies for failed projects that showed vocal promise) to create the greatest assemblage of singing talent American Idol has ever seen! So what happened? After last year's virtual snooze-fest, how did a season that truly did give us perhaps the greatest depth of talent we've ever seen (an argument could be made for Season Five) give us such lackluster shows?
For a reputedly lackluster season, I'm impressed with how well Jordin Sparks seems to be developing her career. I hate to say it, but you kind of have to put it down to her being young and somewhat bland. As such, since she hadn't really discovered her own unique style and approach she was able to be molded into whatever record producers (and 
While last season is considered by some to have been a major disappointment, you can't deny the rising star of winner Jordin Sparks. Her debut single "Tattoo" is hanging steady in Billboard's Top 10 while her follow-up "No Air," performed with Chris Brown, is rising fast. She got rave reviews for her rendition of the national anthem at this year's Super Bowl, which she followed up with an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist. And now 
Not every American Idol winner or runner-up has the massive success of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. In just the last three weeks, Sony BMG has dropped three AI contestants/winners from its record label.
It's a no-brainer really. Last year's American Idol charity-special, "Idol Gives Back," racked up killer ratings for FOX and raised $75 million for charities in the U.S. and Africa. And more importantly it brought in killer ratings for FOX (did I say that already)! Of course they're going to do it again this year, and now 
American Idol
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