The American Idol winner Kris Allen

The American Idol winner Kris Allen has recently debuted his first single album. The singer appeared at New York’s Z100 on Monday to debut his first single, “Live Like We’re Dying,” on Elvis Duran’s morning show.

Allen has been dropping in on radio stations for his first single’s promotion. The singer in an interview mentioned that he almost gave up on his one and only dream to become a singer. “I was playing in bars, playing three hour shows, singing every song under the sun, taking requests from people. I was actually trying to go back to school [before Idol]. This was one of the last ditch efforts. I’m just glad it worked out!” said Allen.

“I’m glad I was able to be a part of her last season. She was great. She cared for all of us. We got to know her the most, probably. She’s just a sweetheart. I’ve met Ellen [DeGeneres] as well, and she’s great. She’s awesome. I love Ellen to death”, Allen also added.

The album that has not yet been titles is all set to hit the stores on 17th November. Allen would be busy till then promoting his album and has mentioned that he would miss his home in Conway, Ark. “I miss everything about that place. I miss Chick-Fil-A. It is the best chicken sandwich out there. I love it, man. It’s one of my favorite places in the world”, the singer said.

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres takes the seat of Paula Abdul and signs a five-year deal to be one of the judges of Amrerican Idol. By signing the deal DeGeneres has filled the fourth seat of AI judges.

Paula Abdul quit the most popular reality show of television announcing through Twitter a little more than a month ago. Soon after this, American Idol elected the comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres, one of the biggest fan’s of the show. This was officially announced by Fox Entertainment. This 5 year deal that Fox singed with DeGeneres has finally put to rest the challenges the entertainment network was facing soon after Abdul’s resignation. Many are already anticipating that DeGeneres will win the heart of millions with her presence as American Idol enters its ninth season.

DeGeneres made an official announcement of the deal in her show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Wednesday. Earlier she had also hosted and compared prestegious shows like Oscars and the Emmys. DeGeneres was also seen as a guest judge in one of the episodes of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance”.

“I don’t know how it happened myself, but I have not missed one episode of that show. I love everything about it and I love music, as you know. Hopefully I’m the people’s point of view because I’m just like you. I sit at home and I watch it and I don’t have that technical . . . I’m not looking at it in a critical way from the producer’s mind. I’m looking at it as a person who is going to buy the music and is going to relate to that person”, said DeGeneres while her show was aired.

Before Fox Entertainment finally signed DeGeneres to fill-up the fourth judge’s position for American Idol, the network has considered several other high profile celebrities for the same like: Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, singers Mary J. Blige, Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne, and actors Neil Patrick Harris and Kristin Chenoweth.

The four judges of the forthcoming American Idol will be: Ellen DeGeneres, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.

Victoria Beckham

Fox Entertainment hadn’t really shut all the avenues of Paula Abdul returning to Idol as a judge. “We made an offer we feel is very fair to Paula”, said Peter Rice, the chairman of Fox Entertainment. He also added that the offer included a significant raise. But Abdul was not convinced to return to America’s most popular singing contest’s ninth season.

The 7 week long audition process will be judged by female pop stars along with Victoria Beckham and Katy Perry. The auditioned is all set to begin from Friday in Denver as announced by Fox.

Cheryl Maisel, Victoria Beckham’s spokes person, said in a press meet that the singer will be present on one episode of the 9th season of American Idol, which will begin in January. Cheryl didn’t mention anything further about Victoria’s appearance in the show.

Thelma Houston performs on American idol results show

Tuesday night on American idol results show, there were Freda Payne, Thelma Houston, and K.C. Casey apart from the contestants. But the performances were pretty bad. If they were contenders, Simon Cowell would have definitely criticized.

Freda Payne performed ¨Band of Gold¨ after Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai were eliminated during American idol final 7 results show. She looked superb, and was full of energy, but her vocals were not up to the mark. In fact, she was pathetic with the song. Then came Thelma Houston in a too-small yellow dress and sang ¨Don´t Leave Me This Way.¨ It was a little better than Payne´s performance, but it was awkward.  Up next was Harry Wayne ¨K.C.¨ Casey in a ridiculous red shirt. He was clumsy and his vocals were weak as he performed ¨Get Down Tonight.¨

American Idol has had performances from star singers such as Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, and Kayne West, all of who are at the peak of their careers. After them it was really boring to take Tuesday night´s guest performances.

Former American idol runner-up David Archuleta returned to the ¨Idol¨ stage to perform his recent single ¨Touch My hands.¨ He showed that getting second place is not all that bad. Following his performance, he also offered encouraging words to bottom three finishers Anoop Desai and Allison Iraheta.

American Idol Top 7

Judges could not save anymore. And since they saved Matt Giraud last week, Wednesday night was double elimination on American idol. Two out of the seven remaining finalists had to leave the ¨Idol¨ stage Wednesday night after viewers cast fewer votes for their Disco week performances. So now, it is top 5 on American Idol season 8.

The first one to be eliminated was Lil Rounds, who has been in the bottom rungs several times. But, American Idol host Ryan treated her with sympathy, probably because she had raised everybody´s expectations in the beginning of American Idol season 8, and had willingly accepted judges´ criticism. “We need someone like you in this competition,” he said of her drive, then called her “one of the most courageous contestants,” said Ryan to Rounds.

Simon Cowell had correctly predicted that Lil Rounds ”I’m Every Woman,¨ performance on American Idol April 21 would be the end of her career on the show. Other judges were quite harsh with Rounds. The singer said, addressing her husband and three children, ”I’m coming home.”

Anoop Desai, who performed “Dim All the Lights” on Tuesday night American Idol show, was sent home along with Lil Rounds. Dissatisfaction showed clearly on the judges´ faces, and in their words. Cowell told him, “It was a horrible version of that song,” and added “that was your worst performance by a mile.” However, some of the other judges disagreed with his statement. Desai said ”I’m still really disappointed.¨

Apart from Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds, Allison Iraheta finished in the bottom three. It is disappointing that Iraheta, instead of Matt Giraud, ended up with such low scores. She is a powerful singer, and her Tuesday night´s performance was a much more confident one than Giraud´s. Iraheta is now the only female singer to remain on American idol. The other finalists to make it to American idol season 8 top 5 are Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, and Kris Allen.

Adam Lambert

The miracle boy has done it again. Adam Lambert wowed the audience and the judges for the ´n´th time as he delivered a powerful and most impeccable rendition of Bee Gees ¨If I Can´t Have you¨ on American Idol Disco Night yesterday. His vocal performance was absolutely unique and he looked iconic with his Elvis Presley style hair and suit.

That he is a frontrunner for the American Idol title, there is not a slight shadow of doubt. With his yesterday´s deliverance, the American Idol season 8 finalist has added yet another credit to his list of signature performances. Adam Lambert´s ¨If I Can´t Have you¨ performance was as original as his previous performances namely ¨Born To Be Wild¨, ¨Tears for Fears Mad World¨. and ¨Tracks of My Tears.¨ Lambert gives his songs an emotional intensity which, along with his rock star style, makes the audience go wild.

Since Lambert performed earlier, there was enough time for judges´ comments and reactions. Needless to say, they were all impressed. Randy said that he loves how he can ¨sing everything¨ and added that he has “got it majorly going on” and has a “hot one tonight.” Kara called the singer brilliant, and said that ¨If I Can´t Have You¨ by Adam Lambert was  “the most memorable performance” of American Idol Disco Week. She also noted the emotional connection he made with the song. Paula, who almost cried during the performance, said he was ¨awesome¨ and that he will be in the finals. Simon said that Lambert was very original and he did something they weren´t expecting.

¨If I Can´t Have You¨ lyrics and the song was written by the members of Bee Gees group, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. It was one of the iconic hits of the disco era. Sung by Yvonne Elliman, the song became memorable as the ¨Saturday Night Fever¨ soundtrack. In 1993, it was covered by Kim Wilde. With Adam Lambert singing ¨If I Can´t Have You¨ on the American Idol April 21 show, the song re-evoked the disco fever on the ´Idol´ stage.

Lambert has once again shown that he has genuine talent which makes him the star of the season.

Fantasia Barrino

After her American Idol success, Fantasia Barrino is returning to small screen with her own reality TV show, the title of which has not been determined yet. Barrino won the American Idol competition in 2004, and she has signed a deal to star in a series for VH1, which will be aired next year. The 24-year-old ´Idol´, who starred in a TV movie that was based on her autobiography ¨Life Is Not A Fairytale,¨ will be playing her life as a recording artist and a single mother to seven-year-old daughter Zion.

The executive producer of the show Randy Barbato said “Fantasia’s life has been an open book, but at 24 years old, her story has just begun. We look forward to smashing expectations and revealing the fresh, funny and unexpected side of this one-of-a-kind country girl and superstar.“

Susan Boyle

No one could believe what was happening when Susan Boyle got to the stage to show off her talent in Britain’s one of the most popular show, “Britain’s Got Talent“. Boyle simply moved a cynical audience and the judges that included Simon Cowell of American Idol. Audience thought she was another fame-seeking weirdo until she enthralled all with her powerful performance of “I Dream A Dream” from Les Miserable on Saturday, April 11th. She has now taken the World by Internet storm.

The video of Susan Boyle’s performance has been seen over 15.9 million times on YouTube. 48 year old Boyle is an unemployed woman, who claimed to have never been married or “kissed”. She lives in West Lothian in Scotland. Susan, the latest worldwide Internet sensation’s singing talent developed in a local church where she visits every weekend.

Her life is a painful story. Susan’s brother passed away in 1991 and her father 10 years before that. Her major inspiration has been her late mother. She was thirsted of oxygen at birth, which further lead to a learning disability. She has been badly teased by her classmates, the scar of which still remains deep dug in her heart.

Boyle has simply set the “Britain’s Got Talent” Stage to a new underdog significance.

Miley Cyrus sings "The Climb" on American idol

Miley Cyrus´s film ¨Hannah Montana: The movie¨ is at No. 1. So it is apt that she performed on the TV reality show which is at No. 1. And she was superb.

Wednesday night´s American Idol results show had the Disney star perform her hit single ¨The Climb,¨ soundtrack from her latest movie. It was a great performance, and Miley looked stunningly cute in her white beaded gown. With all the smoke around her, she looked like a prom queen. American idol host Ryan says she’s “dominating the entire entertainment industry.”

The other guest performer at yesterday´s American Idol was Golden Globe and Oscar winning actress Jennifer Hudson, who is also a Grammy award winning singer. On the American Idol stage, she performed her single ¨If This Isn´t Love¨ from her latest self-titled album. That was another great performance.

Coming to the contestants, Matt Giraud was saved by the judges after getting very less votes from the viewers. He finished in the bottom three along with co-contestants Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds.

Matt Giraud

It was the vote out night at American Idol. And instead of sending one home, one of the top 7 contestants were saved. The viewers decided that Matt Giraud was not meritorious enough for the show and gave him lowest number of votes. But American Idol sparked another surprise by giving him a second chance by the four “Idol” judges on Wednesday night.

The “good news” was announced by Simon Cowell. He hesitantly declared that the 23 year old piano player was saved by the voting power of the 4 judges. As Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi gave Giraud the good news, the American Idol finalist stood up to perform Bryan Adams’ 1995 hit, “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman“. The viewers would see him for another week now.

Although this was a grand news for Matt Giraud, but Cowell also warned that, “two people will be going home next week“. When this new rule was brought into the show, it was already announced then that this new twist will not only change the show but also make it a lot difficult. The new rule allowed the judges to use their save a contestant, who have been voted out by the audience, by using their veto power. But the judges can use this power only once and as long as there are five or more contestants. The judges had to use their veto power by coming week.

One of the primary highlight of American Idol’s last episode was the return of former AI contestant turned Oscar winner actor Jennifer Hudson. Although miss Hudson did not win the American Idol title, yet she went on to prove her talent as one of the most successful contestants to come out of the FOX reality series.