American Idol
News (Page 9)

While American Idol premieres on January 13, Simon Cowell and company have been making the audition rounds across the country for weeks now.

As a result, the identities of those that received their coveted golden tickets to Hollywood have begun to leak. Here's a look at a few contestants whose names may eventually become as familiar as Carrie, Kelly, Clay and others...

• David Osmond: The nephew of Donny and Marie Osmond.
• Michael Castro: Brother of season seven finalist and possible pot head, Jason Castro.
• Danielle Roundtree: Crowned Miss New York in 2008.
• Actress Jackie Tohn: Appeared in shows such as The Closer and The Sopranos.

Remember to take these rumors with a grain of salt as large as Simon's ego. We'll cover all of season eight in detail once it debuts.

Paula Abdul is sort of loved by American Idol viewers.

But will the controversial judge soon be exiting the world's most popular reality show? An insider says Abdul is looking to “transition” out of the Fox hit.

“She knows that every season could be her last. Now she’s got a new secret venture that she’s really excited about,” a source told OK!

Might the series have planned for just such an exit? It did, after all, hire Kara DioGuardi as a judge for the upcoming eighth season.

You tell us: Will you miss Paula Abdul if she leaves American Idol?

Get your calendars out, American Idol fans:

The eighth season of this reality TV sensation will premiere on January 13 and 14 with a two-night, four-hour extravaganza!

Simon Cowell has made it clear, over the last few months, that American Idol is in need of changes.

While the hiring of Kara DioGuardi as a judge is a positive step, Cowell told reporters during a conference call, the show shouldn't be done yet.

“I’d like to see the middle stages of the show change because I think we can make them better," Simon said. "I think we can make the end part of the show much more exciting than we’ve done before. We’ve got some ideas which are definitely going to give the show a little bit more jeopardy than we’ve had in the past. You’re definitely, definitely going to see a change for the show and I think it will be an improvement. I feel confident.”

Sounds intriguing. We're curious to see what develops when American Idol returns in January.

What kind of changes do you think American Idol should make?

The American Idols Live tour, led by David Archuleta and David Cook, stopped in Los Angeles this week.

While we didn't get reaction from any finalists on the naming of Kara DioGuardi as a new judge on the show, we did get this shot of David Archuleta and David Cook entertaining the crowd:

Kara DioGuardi is being welcomed to American Idol with open arms by a man known for his prickly demeanor.

Indeed, Simon Cowell sounded truly excited to have the songwriter aboard as a judge. He appeared alongside Kara - and Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson - in a public show of solidarity Tuesday afternoon as the quartet entered a Chelsea Piers building in Manhattan's for a round of season eight auditions.

Kara DioGuardi has passed the Simon Cowell test.

"It's like, you know, having dinner with three people for seven years, and getting quite bored of each other," Cowell told reporters at the scene. "So it's having a fourth person, new opinion, I think it's gonna be interesting."

He added:

"Kara has a good reputation of A, having hits; and B, having an opinion. And that's a good combination... and she's cute."

On his radio show this morning, Ryan Seacrest met new American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi for the first time.

When the show's host asked the new star how she compared to fellow judge Paula Abdul, Kara replied:

"I'm definitely a little harder," she said, not making a very bold statement. "I can be pretty tough at times, and nurturing when I have to be. It really depends on the contestant."

DioGuardi went on to discuss her co-production efforts with Kelly Clarkson and other past American Idol finalists, while saying it's hard for her not to be honest at all times. Sounds like a solid addition to the show to us.

Mere hours after we learned of three new professionals on this season of Dancing with the Stars - Lacey Schwimmer, Corky Ballas and Inna Brayer - we've also learned that a new judge will be added to American Idol next year.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Following criticism that the show needed to change things up, creator Simon Fuller has announced that Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi will sit alongside Simon, Paula and Randy in season eight.

"We are turning the heat up on Idol this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges' table," Simon Fuller said in a statement. "She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America's most successful songwriters. We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show."

Season eight of American Idol premieres in January. New judge Kara DioGuardi will be a big part of it.

You can't kill Sanjaya Malakar.

Following a series of awful auditions during American Idol's sixth season, many critics wanted to.

But the wild-haired finalist is back. Laugh at his commercial for Nationwide Insurance now:

In November, on a date not yet specified, both David Archuleta and David Cook will release their debut albums. That's when we'll really know which American Idol contestant is most popular.

For now, though, the runner-up has bragging rights over the winner.

According to E!, Archuleta's first single, "Crush," debuted in second place on the Hot 100 singles chart, overshadowing Cook's No. 3 bow in June with "The Time of My Life."

Archuleta is the first American Idol runner-up to have a better showing than the champion in head-to-head single competition since Clay Aiken outsold Ruben Studdard in 2003. For most, Aiken remains the real winner from that season.

"Crush" is the highest-debuting song by an American Idol contestant that was never performed on the show. Impressive. It joins joining Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" as the only other non-debut single from an American Idol to chart at No. 2.