American Idol

Last night, American Idol judge Paula Abdul said on Twitter that she would not be returning to the show: "With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL. I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day1become an international...

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Sun writer Sam Sessa interviewed American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert for this piece in today's paper. Lambert and several of the other Idol contestants will perform at 1st Mariner Arena Wednesday as part of the American Idols Live tour.

At the top of American Idol tonight, host Ryan Seacrest lays it out for us: It's the acoustic rocker vs. the glam-rocker, Conway vs. California, the guy next door vs. the guyliner. So it's either Kris Allen or Adam Lambert winning this thing tomorrow night. First we have to see how they do tonight...

By Sarah Kickler Kelber On tonight's American Idol, the four finalists are going to rock. Well, they're going to try, with help from mentor Slash.First off, host Ryan Seacrest says it's been a dramatic day. There was an accident on set (sounds like everyone... On tonight's American Idol, the four finalists are going t...

By Sarah Kickler Kelber The surprise mentor for this week's American Idol -- with the Rat Pack theme -- is Jamie Foxx. He talks to the Top 5 about how the singers of that era were communicating a lifestyle, not just a song.Kris Allen... The surprise mentor for this week's American Idol -- with the Rat Pack theme -- is Jamie...

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Kris Allen is safe. Adam Lambert? Safe. Danny Gokey joins the safety patrol. Anoop Desai is in the bottom three and has to go over to the Stools of Potential Doom. That leaves Matt Giraud and Allison Iraheta. Matt is safe; Allison is in the bottom three. 

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Uh, for some reason WBFF is showing King of Queens instead of American Idol. That's kind of weird, no? Thankfully, I'm in Howard County, so five minutes in, I flip over to the D.C. affiliate just in time to see host Ryan Seacrest introduce the first performer. Yikes! So!

Ryan does a quick interview with Anoop, who is pretty clearly frustrated. Anoop says he didn't expect to be there, and he got good feedback yesterday. Paula says she is a little surprised to see him there, and Simon, asked if he deserves to be there, says, simply, "Yes."

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Allison Iraheta worked on "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon. When she first starts out, she's pretty quiet, but going into the chorus, she works it a little more, and even more toward the end. Paula Abdul says she has "vocally championed Adam since day one," but "you possess the sa...

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Host Ryan Seacrest embraces the theme wholeheartedly, introducing the judges with baby pictures. Awww, cute. We'll see the contestants' pictures, too. Simon Cowell claims the picture they put up is not him. Then Ryan's picture shows up, too.

By Sarah Kickler Kelber So let's see ... who's got a shot of getting to the Top 12? Allison Iraheta for sure. Megan Corkrey probably, even though Jesse's vocals were better. Mishavonna maybe. On the guys' side, Adam's probably got it in the bag. Everyone else (except Nick/Norman) was kind of forgettable.

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Michael Sarver: Everyone's favorite oil-rig roughneck is back. He's going to sing "I Don't Wanna Be." He does OK, but to me, it's a little on the karaoke side, especially with the bouncy dancing. Randy says he can definitely sing, but the first verse "was a little rough." Kara says that's a grea...

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Then it's time for Room 1. They drag it out again, but this group is going on. It includes Scott Macintyre, Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Anoop Desai, Jamar Rogers, Adam Lambert, Jorge Nunez and Jackie someone (another last name they didn't put on screen earlier for some reason).

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Tonight's American Idol opens with totally awesome footage of Randy Jackson and his hair performing in Journey. Montage of bad notes. Simon tells Ryan that basically, everyone was terrible. Montage of family members saying super lovely things about contestants.

By Sarah Kickler Kelber Surely by now, you've heard all about all the changes afoot on this season of American Idol, the eighth. Among them, there is a new judge, Kara DioGuardi, there will be fewer audition shows (thank goodness -- my discomfort with... Photo courtesy of Fox)

Yes, the Top 12 had to do the songs of Diana Ross, and the Top 6 had to do the songs of Bon Jovi, but the other mentor nights were more open: British Invasion, No Doubt songs and songs by artists who inspired the band, American classics with Tony Bennett (but this made the throwback theme an anom...