American Idol

By Robbie Daw But with “Halo” came controversy after Kelly Clarkson basically accused him of using the same melody for her own Ryan Tedder song, “Already Gone.” And then in the fall, while tackling a break-neck pace of work that saw him crafting music with everyone from Adam Lambert and Natasha Bedingf...

By Becky Bain Terror Squad – “Lean Back” (2004) Crazy Town – “Butterfly” (2001) Mims – “This Is Why I’m Hot” (2007) D4L – “Laffy Taffy” (2004) James Blunt – “You’re Beautiful” (2006) Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy” (2006) Blu Cantrell – “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” (2001) Bo Bice – “Inside Your Heaven” (2005)

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By Robbie Daw Having trouble keeping up with Adam Lambert and ABC's on again/off again relationship? No one would blame you if you are. According to the website for the Alphabet network 's morning show The View, the American Idol runner-up is scheduled to grace the stage on Thursday, December 10. MORE »

By Becky Bain What’s the real “lesson” Kanye’s supposed to take away here? No Grammy for your introspective album unless you put the Hennessy down and learn to be humble? Or was 808s just seen as a disappointment since it didn’t reach the heights of its predecessors? By the by, we could be remembering 20...

By Robbie Daw 1. Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream *new* 2. Andrea Boccelli, My Christmas 3. Adam Lambert, For Your Entertainment *new* 4. Rihanna, Rated-R *new* 5. Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster *new* 6. Lady Gaga, The Fame 7. Miley Cyrus, The Time Of Our Lives 8. Taylor Swift, Fearless 9. Carrie Underwood, Play On

By Becky Bain Kris Allen certainly has his work cut out for him. His album is expected to post the lowest first-week sales from an American Idol winner in the show’s eight seasons—not that opening weeks mean everything. (Ruben Studdard’s best-ever first week didn’t exactly herald longevity.) And altho...

By Robbie Daw Kris Allen, Kris Allen (90,000) Leona Lewis, Echo (50,000 to 60,000) Ouch! What has happened to Kris Allen? If his figures stick to 90,000, he’ll kick Jordin Sparks out of the unenviable position of having the lowest first-week sales yet for any American Idol winner’s debut album.

By Robbie Katharine McPhee premiered her blonde tresses and some new tunes a couple months back. And while the 2006 American Idol runner-up’s second album Unbroken is due out January 5, 2010, she’s hoping everyone’s in the mood for a little holiday McPheever ahead of that!

By Robbie Carrie Underwood’s aptly-titled Play On has landed at #1 on the new Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week, after sales of roughly 318,000 copies. The “Cowboy Casanova” singer now has the distinction of having the best opening sales week of 2009 by a female artist. But if those 318,00 folk...

By Robbie With the economy in a crunch, American Idol creator and 19 Recordings bigwig Simon Fuller has dusted off his thinking cap and is sending Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta on the stage together once more. Records don’t just sell themselves these days, after all.

By Becky In a Nutshell: If you were a Kris Allen fan on Idol (Allenite? Kristalker? What the hell do you people call yourselves?), you’re gonna eat this lil album right up. As for the rest of us, we recommend downloading “Alright With Me” and “Heartless” and saving the rest of your moolah for Adam Lamb...

By Maura Baby-faced American Idol victor Kris Allen’s first music video, for his cover of the Script’s seize-the-day anthem “Live Like We’re Dying,” is a simple—and pretty beautifully shot!—affair in which he performs in front of a desert-erected clock, which is presumably counting down the...

By Maura The first single from American Idol third-place finisher Danny Gokey premiered on a Wisconsin country-music station this morning, and it’s probably not going to come as much of a surprise to people who followed him during his long American Idol journey. The track, “It’s Only,” is an insp...

By Maura Reigning American Idol Kris Allen played a Cincinnati-area concert benefiting breast cancer charities last night, and in addition to covering Michael Jackson and Kanye West, he performed a bit of Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time.” Or rather, he performed a bit of the sleepy version...

By Maura Much ado has been made over “Build Some Love,” a song by former ‘NSync member/current dance-based competitive television show JC Chasez that leaked online over the weekend; it’s a pleading piano-heavy ballad that Chasez apparently wrote for the debut effort by American Idol season-e...

By Maura Yesterday’s news that former American Idol contestant Carly Smithson would be joining up with a bunch of ex-members of nu-goth outfit Evanescence to form a band called The Fallen apparently got Amy Lee, Evanescence’s figurehead / Billy Corgan character, in a snit. So she released a stat...

By Maura Kelly Clarkson had her turn in the New York Times‘ “Playlist” chair yesterday, and the results were, well, mixed. Weezer’s red album got a shoutout, as did the Irish band The Script, who Clarkson described as–eek!–”OneRepublic meets rap.” Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. Aw, Kelly. Listen. In honor of y...

By Maura A Connecticut family is in the news today thanks to the 18,000 votes they cast over the course of the most recent American Idol season–a total that they are allegedly “hoping” will land them the world record for doing so. (I think it’s listed in the Guinness Book Of Pathetic Phone/TV-Relate...

By Chris Molanphy What makes American Idol such a pop-hit-generating juggernaut? The show-closing singles its winners are forced to sing are uniformly awful, so there must be something about Idol itself that ensures hits. Or is it the simple fact that Idol is on TV, period? I’m starting to think that’s it,...

By Maura “Fox and the producers of ‘American Idol’ are absolutely certain that the results of this competition are fair, accurate and verified. Kris Allen is, without a doubt, the American Idol. We have an independent third-party monitoring procedure in place to ensure the integrity of the votin...

By Maura So what is this “power texting” process, which is getting Adam Lambert fans and casual Idol viewers in a tizzy and resulting in claims that there’s a great AT&T-inspired conspiracy behind the results of this year’s American Idol? The name and the idea that reps from the company were o...

By Maura Appears to have been? Did the Times reporter even attempt to check it out? And even if there were no AT&T reps present at any Adam Lambert viewing parties, I don’t think we’ve got a story here unless it’s proven that AT&T willfully avoided helping out the fans of other Idol contesta...

By Maura Somehow, the eminently DVR-able results episodes of American Idol–in which 59 minutes and 55 seconds of filler led up to the news that someone would be sent home in a cloud of tears and Carrie Underwood–ended the 2008-09 TV season as the most-watched show, averaging 26.69 viewers over the...

By Maura One thing that a lot of Idol conspiracy theorists noted in their immediate reactions to the show was how the margin of victory wasn’t mentioned by Ryan Seacrest in his tortured run-up to announcing the winner. (It came complete with a freaking stuffy British guy!) Which was odd, because la...

By Maura So, tonight is the end of this season of American Idol, which means that after a boatload of performances by the likes of Keith Urban, Queen Latifah, Rod Stewart, and other people outside the demographic of people who can try out for the show, we’ll find out whether Adam Lambert or Kris Alle...

By Maura Glee employed “Chewing Gum” to great effect last night too, so it’s not like all of its musical choices last night were obvious! (For those of you who might have missed the pilot, catch up below–yes, you have months to do so since episode two doesn’t air until the fall, but still.)

By Maura I enjoyed all four of the contestants’ pre-coronation-coronary performances quite a bit, if only because they showcased just how these two guys–one the front-runner from the beginning, the other the definition of “dark horse” who, like David Cook last year, chose the perfect time to p...

By Maura With a little more than 24 hours to go until the American Idol finale, a few bits of news are trickling out… that, of course, have nothing to do with what finalists Adam Lambert and Kris Allen might be singing during tomorrow night’s competition. Because if there’s one thing about this year,...

By Maura Much like fans of “Jate,” “Jam,” and all these people, there are certain denizens of the Internet who get chills when they think about “Kradam,” a.k.a. the pairing of American Idol contestants Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. And oh boy now that those two men are headed into battle in next week’s fi...

By Maura Kris Allen is in! Adam Lambert is in! And Danny Gokey is out! And now… American Idol is actually a race? American Idol [Official site] Kris Allen is in! Adam Lambert is in! And Danny Gokey is out! And now... American Idol is actually a race? MORE »

By Maura So last night on American Idol Allison Iraheta–the cherry-haired 17-year-old with the voice of a woman at least three times her age–was sent packing by the viewers, in what may be one of the season’s most facepalm-worthy moments. Allison, to be sure, was something of an underdog in the com...

By Maura Last night’s American Idol was Rock And Roll (All) Night, with the contestants muscling through songs that are older than all of them in the hopes of riding the Guitar Hero train, or at least giving Adam a chance to shine. It was preceded by no dress rehearsal, thanks to a crazy on-set acciden...

By Maura As expected by pretty much everyone, Matt Giraud had his valentine to American Idol’s viewers roundly rejected, and so he was sent packing on last night’s episode. More surprising to observers, though, was the appearance of longtime frontrunner Adam Lambert in the bottom three, alongs...

By Maura Slash let it slip on his Twitter that he’s been approached about serving as mentor for an upcoming episode of American Idol–it’ll be “Rock Week,” which means that an upcoming episode may actually have the potential to feature songs that were first written during Allison Iraheta’s lifet...

By Maura Last night’s American Idol saw the exits of two contestants, as well as a bunch of weird stuff that made me wonder if Paula Abdul had secretly added producing the show to her choreography duties. There was a little bit of old (the disco medley that trotted out a bunch of disco-era stars, who we...

By Maura Last night, American Idol showed the world just how finger-on-the-pulse its method for finding this country’s newest music superstar was by holding Disco Night, in which Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, and Yvonne Elliman finally got their due. The night went pretty much as expected–Lil wen...

By Maura Of course, this could all be a last-ditch effort by Cowell to save the faltering ratings of this season of Idol, which has had its own struggles this year. (Tonight’s Disco Night should put pretty much all of them, from Danny Gokey’s drunken-uncle flailing to the four judges’ shouting over...

By Maura Johnston 3. Adam Lambert. "Adam Lambert sings 'Born To Be Wild'"—you can probably ballpark it from the description, no? The musical-theater nerds of the world are so excited to be having their moment right now. WHO I WOULD HAVE VOTED FOR: Kris and Anoop. American Idol [Official site]

By Christopher R. Weingarten Billboard reports that Kiss is routing their upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour based on what cities are demanded at event-based social networking site Eventful. Basically it's like voting for American Idol, but the "winners" get a gaggle of lecherous old men running loose in their city! Can...

By Maura Johnston Kris Allen: "Heaven," Bryan Adams Adam Lambert: "Edge of Seventeen," Stevie Nicks Scott MacIntyre: "You're the Inspiration," Chicago Matt Giraud: "Part Time Lover," Stevie Wonder Allison Iraheta: "Tears in Heaven," Eric Clapton

By Maura Johnston Scott MacIntyre. A sweet version of "Just The Way You Are" that was just him on the piano. Not to be all Kara, but c'mon, when is dude going to get behind that piano and bust out some George Michael? His hair screamed "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," although I suspect if he actually sang that song it...

By Maura Johnston Throughout the show, Cowell and Paula Abdul (who was "upset" over DioGuardi's comments to DeGeneres, says a source) bonded, talking and whispering frequently. After contestant Scott MacIntyre sang, the two cut off DioGuardi's critique by walking backstage with their arms around eac...

By Maura Johnston 7:05 p.m. Long package on the history of the Opry that culminates in a clip of Randy Travis asking Carrie Underwood to become a member. Ah, so this is why he's one of the guests on tomorrow's elimination show. 7:48 p.m. If American Idol has Muse Week, Adam is going to kill it.

By Maura Johnston 7:48 p.m. If American Idol has Muse Week, Adam is going to kill it. 8:24 p.m. Aw, Simon agreeing with Paula. Detente is reached! 8:35 p.m. Simon whips out the "from zero to hero" line. 8:45 p.m. Simon gives his patented "scratching his nose while flipping the American version of the bird" gesture.

By Dan Gibson This week's American Idol theme is a tribute to the Grand Ole Opry, but I'm not really suspecting that this week will be much different than the county weeks that have been a staple of the show since season three. Is the show moving to the Ryman or even Opryland for the week? Nope. Maybe the song s...

By Maura Johnston I watched last night's episode with my pal LeBron, an Idol fanatic who's watched me come around to the show's charms (dubious as they may be at this point) over the past few years. He's with me on the opinion that Ju'Not Joyner got hosed earlier this week, but his gripes with this year go back ev...

By Maura Johnston Randy Jackson has told AOL (in an interview that's presented as a gallery, gah) that this year's crop of American Idol hopefuls is "the most talented bunch we've ever had." It's probably worth noting that the interview in question is timestamped 12:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 17 (i.e. ), and that he might h...

By Maura Johnston American Idol combine the auditions in New York City with the sparsely attended San Juan tryouts, the episode decided to devote a full three minutes and 16 seconds of screen time to Alexis Cohen, the middle-finger-wielding Pennsylvanian who last year was talking about being like a pira...

By Mike Barthel Now, however, authority is diffused. A song becomes big because there's a dance video on YouTube, or because a band has built up a critical mass of emo fans, or because it's released a lot of respected mixtapes. An artist doesn't try and get a song on TV so much as she tries to get people to come to...

By Maura Johnston Yesterday's report that only 300 people showed up to American Idol tryouts in San Juan was explained in part by the fact that Puerto Rico already has its own version of the show. But as it turns out, the San Juan experience may have been an outsized indicator of a greater trend. Eagle-eyed Idol...

By Maura Johnston In an effort to appeal to those pop fans who had just graduated from tweenpop world, Z100 also booked a lot of piano-playing troubadours, the types of singers who seemed to come directly out of the Billy Joel-blaring drama-club rooms of America's suburban high schools. Gavin DeGraw's son...

By Anthony Miccio Really, when you look at the careers of Elliott Yamin, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Katherine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, Daughtry, Constantine, and that creepy bald dude from last season who needs to get his ads the fuck off of Web sites I visit pronto, there's no cle...

By Chris Molanphy We needn't have worried—we've still got plenty of old songs, the ones the contestants sing, to keep an eye on. Long story short—the show is still huge, and it affects music sales like nothing since Ed Sullivan. Idol contestant Jason Castro: the estates of Cohen and Buckley thank you.