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Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each week, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Brooke White's elimination last week we'll be looking at other fifth place finishers.

This week: 5th place finishers, featuring featuring RJ Helton (Season 1), Trenyce (Season 2), George Huff (Season 3), Scott Savol (Season 4), Paris Bennett (Season 5) and Chris Richardson (Season 6).

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."

(S06E35) Touchy, touchy, touchy. If I learned anything from the comments on yesterday's reviewcap, it's not to mess with the readers and their Jon Bon Jovi. Holy goodness, you guys absolutely obliterated me in the comments. The strange thing is, I kind of liked it.

Fortunately, I only received one death threat, so I'm happy to be coming out of this relatively unscathed. Deep down you know you were really laughing with me, you just didn't want to admit it. What's that you say? You weren't amused? Ok, then let's just start the recap.

With 70 million votes pouring in after last week's American Idol, it's pretty safe to say that hardcore fans of the show do exist.

Luckily, the American Idols Live tour dates were released yesterday and should help to alleviate the fan depression that comes along with the shows looming finale.

The tour is slated to occur between July 6th and September 22nd and lands at 50 different locations across the country and includes a stint in Canada.

(S06E34) Was anyone really surprised that no one got sent home during "Idol Gives Back"? It was a charity event. Someone having their dream destroyed just wouldn't have fit in with the show.

The fact that no one left had a profound effect on this episode as Ryan was quick to point out since two people would be going home this week.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Is romance blooming before our eyes on American Idol? For entertainment purposes, let's go with "yes!"
  
• Sanjaya has a theory about why men don't like him.
  
• Kevin Federline has been quiet lately but he's back in the news with a new job and some gems of K-Fed wisdom.
  

The video's embedded below, or you can download the file directly (Quicktime required). You can also subscribe to this podcast via our feed.

(S06E33) Tonight was the big night they've been talking about all season - Idol Gives Back. Over the course of the night, Idol tried its best to keep us entertained, inspired, and educated.

Some of it worked, some of it didn't. Telethons are like that. Not every bit can be a gem. But it's all for a good cause, right? So, obviously we can't complain too loudly.

My overall impression was that it seemed way longer than two hours. And I'm not just saying that to be snarky. They seriously threw in way more than I can even begin to recap. I'd be here all night if I tried to get it all in this post. So, I'm just going to stick to the highlights, and you can tell me the things that stood out for you.

(S06E32) Ryan starts off the night by declaring that tonight's calls, "will not only save your favorite contestants -- they will also save lives."

THIS. IS. IDOL. GIVES. BACK.

Before the show begins, we're told it's LIVE, even though it isn't. It was taped Monday night. Just so you know.

Then Ryan explains how the fundraising will work. News Corp will donate 10 cents for each call received tonight (up to 50 million calls) for a total of $5 million dollars. Wait, is this the same $5 million dollars they pledged earlier or an additional $5 million?

Also, Ford, Coca-Cola, and AT&T get their first thanks of the night. They will be thanked a couple more times before the hour is over.

BECAUSE. THIS. IS. IDOL. GIVES. BACK.

(S06E31) Tonight's episode starts with Simon Cowell setting the record straight about that unfortunate eyerolling V-Tech incident from last night. A sincere and apologetic Simon says, "I may not be the nicest person in the world, but I would never ever ever disrespect those families or those victims."

And then, to verify that Simon was talking to Paula about Chris' nasally singing and didn't hear what Chris said, they show us footage we didn't see on air last night. And the defense rests their case in the courtroom of public opinion. Ryan echoes what I said in my post earlier, that there would be less confusion, if Simon chatted less, and listened more during the show.

But enough about all that unpleasant business. Is Sanjaya going home or what?

As I posted earlier today, Simon caused quite a stir on last night's American Idol when he was caught rolling his eyes in response to Chris Richardson's heartfelt mention of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Many of us have been speculating about both Chris' sincerity, and Simon's seeming insensitivity. But whatever Simon's intention while rolling his eye (and I doubted all along that it was intentionally disrespectful), he knows it didn't look good.

And that's why today Simon is explaining his actions. In his defense, Simon claims he was talking to Paula about Chris and his nasally singing, so he didn't even hear Chris make the V-Tech comments. Simon apparently rolled his eyes in response to what he was saying to Paula, rather than what Chris said.

Unfortunately for Simon, that's not how it looked to those of us watching at home.

I went to sleep last night after posting my Idol recap, and woke up to find many commenters upset about Simon. Apparently, many feel Simon showed disrespect for the Virginia Tech tragedy by rolling his eyes in disgust after Idol finalist Chris Richardson gave a heartfelt shout-out to Virginia Tech.

So what happened exactly? And how did I miss this? Actually, I didn't. It just didn't register with me as anything significant at the time. In fact, I merely assumed that Simon was blowing off Chris Richardson's defensive remark about his "nasally" singing being an artistic choice. I also assumed that people were just looking for controversy this morning, and making a "mountain out of a molehill."

But then I went back and re-watched the exchange. You can do the same, since some industrious soul has already posted it on YouTube. Just act fast before the clip is pulled. The clip is embedded after the jump.

(S06E30) The show begins in a subdued mood tonight, with Ryan giving "our thoughts and prayers'' to all the people affected by the Virginia Tech tragedy.

However, the hush doesn't last long. The crowd is fired up. They really, really love their Top 7 Finalists. Not only do they boo Simon a lot throughout the night, but the angry horde also turns on Miss Paula. They boo loudly during her critique of LaKisha's shouting.

Meanwhile, Simon has obviously had ENOUGH of Sanjaya. He's done being nice. He's done holding back. He's done trying to ignore Sanjaya with the hopes he'll go away. All I can say is -- it's about time, Simon. It's no fun watching Idol, unless an outspoken Simon is "telling it like it is."

AND. THIS. IS. AMERICAN. IDOL.

What exactly is 'Chris Daughtry-itis?' Does it involve a fever and a rash? Does it cause baldness? And most importantly, is it curable?

Simon Cowell complained in this week's Entertainment Weekly that the current batch of finalists just don't want to win badly enough. And this laid-back attitude is effecting their "A Game," or creating a lack thereof.

Simon said, "I think that we suffer from Jennifer Hudson- and Chris Daughtry-itis, which is people who didn't win getting great careers and now a lot of the contestants believing it absolutely doesn't matter."

(S06E29) They certainly did cram in a lot of stuff in tonight's episode, didn't they? Wow, my head is still spinning. As much as I complain about the hour-long results show giving us way too much unnecessary filler, I felt they did their best tonight to at least keep the show entertaining. And I appreciate that, even though it may have been a bit too much.

Besides, don't they know all we really want is the RESULTS. Enough with the tease. Let us have it! How many of you skipped the festivities, TiVo'd the thing, and then fast forwarded to the very end?

Me, I watched the whole thing. Of course, I had to. It's my job. But whether you watched it all, or zipped to the end, the results were the same. Someone went home tonight -- and it wasn't Sanjaya.

It's been accurate during every round of the Top 12 phase (even predicting Chris Sligh's surprise ouster), but if the AOL 'American Idol' poll is right, this week's results episode is gonna be one for the books.

Front-runner and judge favorite Lakisha Jones and Justin Timberlake knock-off Chris Richardson should dust off their Samsonite. They are the bottom-two finalists in the poll after last night's Gloria Estefan fest. The two have been swapping last-place rankings in the results line-up all day.