American Idol

By Michael Bialas Among other recent American Idol performers, Underwood said she enjoys Season eight winner Kris Allen ("He seemed really genuine and he was kinda from my neck of the woods") and Danny Gokey ("just the sweetest person"). • Photos from Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special by Mich...

By Susan Moeller Today's digital-media-enabled contests, perhaps even the most familiar reality-TV, American Idol-type kind, are popular because they promise a rags-to-riches success for at least one contestant--and a riveting drama for those watching. "Contests have become an important part of...

By Judy Wieder Maybe, people just don't care about that stuff anymore? That must be it. Award winning think pieces? Getting interesting LGBTs to tell their stories, how they deal with shame, self-hate, stunted growth, and derailed creativity? How they finally find a way out? All the way out? Maybe ever...

By Mike Ragogna AVAILABLE MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23 Also available on Monday, November 23 is the "I AM...SASHA FIERCE" Deluxe Edition which will feature five number one hits and two bonus tracks which include "Video Phone (Extended Remix)," featuring Billboard magazine's Rising Star for 2009, Lady Gaga.

By The Huffington Post News Editors LOS ANGELES — A judge granted "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest a temporary restraining order against a man arrested on suspicion of stalking the radio and television host outside his workplace on Friday, court records show. More on American Idol

By Mike Ragogna 4. Everything You Know Is Wrong 5. The Night Santa Went Crazy 6. Your Horoscope For Today 8. The Saga Begins (Lyrical Adaption of "American Pie") 9. Albuquerque 11. Bob 12. Hardware Store 13. I'll Sue Ya (Main Version) 14. Canadian Idiot (Parody of "American Idiot" by Green Day) (Main Version)

By Allison Rockefeller Video Biographers of the American Nation, Co-Producers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan. Can you imagine PBS with a swinging chance at audience numbers that rival American Idol? Well, Simon, this is not just a singing contest, this is Great Television.

By The Huffington Post News Editors LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres wants to represent the people on "American Idol," but the people are split about the talk show host's role as the Fox singing competition's fourth judge. Idol producers backed their pick of DeGeneres. On the Net: American Idol," http://www.americanidol.com/

By Jeff Rivera I had the opportunity and pleasure to meet former American Idol star, Brooke White. She was incredibly bubbly and insanely talented. I had no idea what to expect when I met her but her bubbly personality quickly warmed me up to her. She even gave me a one-on-one personal concert before her perf...

By The Huffington Post News Editors NEW YORK — Since announcing her exit from "American Idol," Paula Abdul has been in high demand. Original judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson are returning for the ninth season, which starts next January, and will be joined for a second year by Kara DioGuardi. More on American Idol

By The Huffington Post News Editors AMERICAN Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert has steadfastly refused to talk about his sexuality despite photos of him on his Web site tongue-kissing men and dressed in full drag -- but not for much longer. A well-placed magazine source tells Page Six that Lambert will be coming out officially o...

By B. Jeffrey Madoff Reality programming isn't new. Before "American Idol" there was "Star Search" before that was "The Original Amateur Hour", which was a half hour, not an... Reality programming isn't new. Before "American Idol" there was "Star Search" before that was "The Original Amateur Hour", which was a...

By Michael Giltz Well, Kris Allen gets to join Clay Aiken and David Archuleta as Idol contestants who never were put into the bottom two but failed to... Well, Kris Allen gets to join Clay Aiken and David Archuleta as Idol contestants who never were put into the bottom two but failed to win it all.

By The Huffington Post News Team Are there boundaries to declaring the next "American Idol" champ early? Apparently, nothing can contain the likes of Adam Lambert _ not even a difficult... Are there boundaries to declaring the next "American Idol" champ early? Apparently, nothing can contain the likes of Adam Lambert _ n...

By Bill Mann A. Following the climactic episode of "American Idol," known in the TV industry as the Nielsen "Death Star." So Fox must be pretty high on "Glee," which gets a one-night audition Tuesday night at 9 after the "Idol" -atry ends. More on American Idol

By Michael Giltz So is this the finale? Is Simon right when he says Adam Lambert is fated to win? Or could Kris Allen or Danny Gokey surprise everyone the way David Cook did last year? This does feel like a triumphal march for Adam the way it was for Carrie Underwood a few years ago. But nothing is written in stone....

By Kimberly Caldwell Then Kara and Randy gave Kris the killer One Republic smash "Apologize" to deliver. Simon and Kara went at it like cats and dogs over the song choice so Kris didn't really get a thorough critique. Bono himself gave major props to Adam by allowing Simon to choose the U2 hit "One" for Adam to rock o...

By Ken Levine Instead of each contestant singing two numbers they had them sing one and then pair off and do duets. Huh? Was this a pilot for a spinoff? Who will be the next American Peaches & Herb? So instead of hearing eight songs we only got six and yet the hour was still filled with so much useless ball...

By Michael Giltz ADAM AND ALLISON -- Duet on Foghat's "Slow Ride." Again, not expecting to hear "Slow down, go down" on Idol, was I? They were good and Allison was indeed much better than in her solo spot. Did she save herself, I wonder? Simon gave the credit to Adam, but wondered the same thing.

By David Finkle Wait! Before you get all teed off and start acting snarky towards me, understand I'm not saying none of the singers at present or in the past are any good. Many of them are. The list is long and includes, in my opinion, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daugherty, Carrie Underw...

By Ken Levine DANNY GOKEY did Earth Wind & Fire's "September". His lead vocal was far superior to Earth's original. Paula zeroed in on the mark of a good singer - his agility. Two people get thrown into the Disco Inferno tonight. Lil and who else? Your thoughts. More on American Idol

By The Huffington Post News Team Adding a fourth judge to the veteran threesome of Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Cowell was part of series of changes producers implemented this season to shake up the franchise. A 13th contestant, picked in a wild card round, joined the top dozen. A one-time rule allowed judges to save cont...

By Ken Levine No matter what LIL ROUNDS sings Simon thinks it's wrong. Still, it was fun to hear her stand up to him, even if he was right. I like Lil, just don't love her. For weeks Simon has been trying to zero in on just what kind of singer she is. I can tell you that. Background. Lil over-sang and later under-sang "...

By Michael Giltz My pick for the bottom three is (gulp) Kris along with Matt and Lil. Matt and Lil will be in the bottom two and Lil is going home. That would leave one woman and probably keep Allison safe till the top three. Danny should be in the bottom three and intellectually I'm worried that Kris will be in the b...

By The Huffington Post News Team Host Ryan Seacrest explained: "We're working in teams tonight, so we make it in on time." The division of labor: Cowell and Abdul judged Lambert, Lil Rounds, Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta. Dioguardi and Randy Jackson reviewed Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud and Kris Allen.

By Michael Giltz THE BOTTOM THREE -- The bottom two I think will definitely be Lil Rounds and Scott MacIntyre. The person joining them in the bottom three is a tough call: my heart says Matt Giraud despite the judges' support but my head says Kris Allen, even though he's never been in the bottom three. I just pra...

By Michael Giltz The show began with the contestants walking out to center stage with Adam Lambert discretely guiding Scott MacIntyre. Ryan Seacrest mentioned that Idol finalists have scored 29 Top 40 hits. It wasn't clear to me whether he meant Top 40 on the Billboard charts or Top 40 on iTunes, but surely t...

By Michael Giltz OK, so I spent an hour watching clips and came to the same conclusion I did after reading all the online chatter. That's depressing :) The bottom three are Scott MacIntyre and Megan Joy and Michael Sarver. The bottom two are Megan Joy and Michael Sarver. And going home is...Michael Sarver. What do y...

By Michael Giltz The bottom three: I predict Michael Sarver, Alexis Grace and...Megan Joy? Adam Lambert? Scott MacIntyre? I'm gonna say Adam Lambert (to give him a scare), with Sarver and Grace the bottom two and Alexis Grace going home. What do you think? More on American Idol

By Marshall Fine Poser-looking types like Adam Lambert (with his Fall Out Boy-inspired haircut and eyeliner). The clean-cut Anoop Desai (the temptation to make a Slumdog Millionaire joke here must be resisted). Lil Rounds. Megan Joy Corkrey. Scott MacIntyre (must fight urge to make Andrea Bocelli joke).

By Michael Giltz Megan -- Sang the unlikely KT Tunstall gem "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," an odd choice for someone who claims to be a country gal. Katharine McPhee was a revelation when she did it but I felt Megan was reaching for the bluesiness and flat in places. Paula gave the half-hearted "I enjoyed wa...

By Michael Giltz So my prediction is that Danny Gokey will be the top male, Alexis Grace the top female and Anoop will slide in thanks to a strong Desi vote and his massive airtime. Who was your favorite and who do you think will get through. You can read Ken Levine's rundown here or savor Entertainment Weekly's...

By Ken Levine Michael Sarver - Best performance of the night from an oil rig worker. I see petroleum in his future. Ann Marie Boskovich was the 247th contestant to sing "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman." She came in 200th. That's our post for tonight. Remember my Oscar review on Monday. Woof woof.

By Michael Giltz The opening montage included Clay Aiken several times, giving him as much if not more screen time than any other previous Idol contestant -- a nice nod to the latest Idol finalist to come out. And the footage of some tweens anxiously watching the Season Seven finale and shrieking in pain whe...

By Jason Pielemeier America is a beacon of hope, with the noble aim of spreading democracy. In our age of information and communication technologies, America is closer to her high goals than ever before. Instead of spreading democracy country by country, overthrowing governments and waging wars, America -...

By Michael Giltz BOTTOM THREE -- It should be Jason and Brooke and Syesha. I'm going to ignore Simon and go with my ears and say Jason and Brooke in the bottom two and predict Jason is going home. Even Paula had nothing nice to say the second time around. So are you a fan of Neil Diamond? Do you think Carly went home be...

By The Huffington Post News Editors Read more about the proposed changes to "American Idol" at Broadcasting & Cable, or read the survey Fox executives are using to determine how to tweak the show below, embedded via DocStoc: ...

By Michael Giltz THE BOTTOM THREE -- So who is it going to be this week? Well, Syesha went first but I think she's going to squeak into the top three past Carly. I predict the bottom three will be Carly and Jason and Brooke. Jason and Brooke are clearly the bottom two. He was bland but she was an awkward disaster, so B...