There were so many stars on the red carpet last night for the American Idol season 8 finale that I wouldn’t even dream of trying to list them here. 

Of course, there were the finalists, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, along with the rest of the Top 13 and judges but the celebrities (and former contestants) came out in droves to see who would win the singing competition. 

It looks like season four winner, Carrie Underwood, hurt her knee somehow since she’s got her “owie” all covered up with four Hello Kitty bandaids. She still managed to look absolutely …read more

Kris Allen took a crack at singing the winner’s song “No Boundaries” and he seemed almost as uncomfortable as Adam was at first.  He seemed to stumble with the lyrics a little bit I think his performance of the single was the better of the two.  He also had some microphone handling issues.
Randy said that Kris should be very proud of what he’s done in this competition and that the song fit his voice better than Adam’s.  Kara said that she wants him to be judged on the fact that he’s an incredible artist.  Paula said that Kris has …read more

Simon Fuller chose “What’s Going On” for Kris Allen and it he chose start it off with just the guitar and it was really nice.  It’s one of my favorite Marvin Gaye songs and I’m happy with what he did with it.

Randy said that they’ve got themselves a real competition right now but felt that the song was a little light for him.  Kara said that Kris has been true to himself since day one and she likes that Fuller picked a socially conscious song for someone like him.  Paula said that Kris tore the song up and …read more

The second song that Adam Lambert performed was “A Change is Gonna Come” and I think it was a decent choice by creator, Simon Fuller, and he definitely performed it in his signature way.  I couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit when he sang “my change is gonna come.”  No further comment
Randy said that the song is an amazing R&B classic by Sam Cooke but Adam showed that he can sing his face off.  Kara said that it might have been his best interpretation of a song so far in this competition.  Paula said that it was …read more

Kris Allen surprised me by choosing “Ain’t No Sunshine” but as soon as he started singing, I remembered how much I had loved the performance.  He really is a great singer and artist but I think he should have done “Falling Slowly” (he did “Heartless” too recently, in my opinion).  It was a very strong performance but I don’t know if it packed the punch that he needed for tonight.

Randy said that it was one of his best performances on this stage and said that he can already tell what kind of artist Kris is going to be.  …read more

Adam Lambert kicked off the evening and performed “Mad World” for the second time this season.  He came down the stairs looking very vampirish in a long coat and ending in a sea of fog on the stage.  It was really effective and I loved every second of it.  It was a lot more subdued than the first time he sang the song and I appreciated that change-up.

Randy said that it was great that he showed his sensitive style and gave him an A+ for his effort.  Kara said that Adam changed this competition and is a real artist.  …read more

In a very short video, American Idol season 7 winner, David Cook, talked a bit about this year’s finalists, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert.  I get the impression that David realizes that Adam likely has the upper-hand in this battle and he said that, in order to be in the running, Kris needs to really focus on putting his own signature on the songs he performs.  I think that, going into the finale last year, many felt that David Archuleta was a shoo-in but Cook really was a dark horse for most of the competition and then he just came …read more

This afternoon, I was able to participate in a conference call with American Idol executive producer, Ken Warwick.  I did my best to type out his answers to most of the questions.  Here’s what he had to say:
On the reinstatement of the wild card system: Ken says that he feels it will be less boring to go back to using the Wild Card system which allows the judges more freedom to put someone back in the show who maybe picked the wrong song or had an off day during the Hollywood round.
He also said that auditioners are more savvy …read more

We are just a few mere weeks away from the American Idol season 8 premiere and I’m pretty excited.  As you’ve heard, in addition to adding fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, other changes will be taking place.  On Tuesday, January 13 and Wednesday, January 14 on FOX it all begins:

February 11 – Top 36 Semi-Finalists revealed
February 17 – Voting Begins (Tuesday)
March 5 – Top 12 Singers Revealed After Judges’ Wild Card Round (Thursday)
March 10 – Top 12 Finalists Perform for First Time (Tuesday)

The "Hollywood Round" will be extended for an extra week and reintroduces the "Wild Card" episode where the …read more

Have you seen any of the new ads for the 8th season of American Idol?  They feature last year’s winner, David Cook, and it shows him enjoying fame today and then rewinds to the moment he walked through the door to audition for the show.  Very sweet!