Remember Melissa McGhee from Season 5? Did you know she opened up on tour for Ruben Studdard?
After Idol was actually kind of a big vacation. (Laughs)  I had so many people throw free trips at me.  I went on a cruise to Mexico, I went to Aruba, and then I went to Key West for a week.  So I was nice and tanned for the finale.  And after that, I went on tour with Ruben Studdard, opened for him and Justin Guarini.  And then in October I had to have vocal chord surgery, so since October it’s been recovery.  And …read more

A variety of past American Idols will be appearing on the Larry King Live show on CNN tomorrow night, Thursday, February 8th at 9:00pm EST.
Jennifer Hudson on going from “Idol” reject to Golden Globe winner, and now Oscar-nominated “Dreamgirl.” Plus, last year’s “American Idol” runner up Katharine McPhee.
Visit the official website for more information and a link to e-mail your questions to Larry for the show.

Do you have a couple hundred grand just laying around this holiday season? No? How about a couple of thousand? If so you can get yourself a real live American Idol for your own family Christmas party, or maybe something a little larger.
For the right price, “American Idol” castoffs, finalists and even champs will pay a visit to your wedding, Sweet 16 or bar mitzvah.
“The average going rate for an ‘American Idol’ finalist can be as little as $15,000 or as much as $150,000,” says a source familiar with the business of brokering singers, bands and other talent for corporate …read more

Ruben Studdard’s 2nd album “The Return” now has more details available.
Affable “American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard loads his sophomore disc, “The Return,” with smooth grooves and standard R&B tracks—but no standouts. For the most part, his vocal performances, often likened to late legend Luther Vandross, are flat and not as stunning as expected. Though his 2004 debut “Soulful” bowed atop The Billboard 200, it was mostly on the strength of his popularity on “Idol,” where he dazzled all with his melodic crooning. Here the stout singer seems to phone in his vocals on tracks like “Our Story” and “Get U …read more

Add writing to Taylor Hick’s repertoire media activities since joining the contestants for last season’s American Idol. Taylor received a $750,000 advance from Random House to write a book about his experiences from birth to now.
I can say that Taylor has been my favorite winner of the show by far. I hope he maintains his down to earth personality and demeanor with all the publicity and media attention.
Bob Sassone at TV Squad doesn’t seem to be too excited about the book. I don’t expect to see him lined up at Border’s for the autograph session next Spring when the …read more

Ruben Studdard has won his lawsuit against the man that was his ex-manager.

The suit claimed Edwards misused more than $246,000 of the singer’s money. According to the judge’s ruling, Edwards took money from Studdard’s checking and other bank accounts, improperly used his credit cards and even used Studdard’s money to repay a $10,000 bank loan. Studdard has sold more than 2.2 million records, but the damage to his credit because of the fraud made it hard to obtain financing to buy a home, Vowell’s order said.
Wow! With manager’s like that, I think I’m going to start contacting the American Idol …read more

Greetings everyone! My name is Jason Bean and I’ll be filling in a little bit for Jeremy while he’s gone.
Am I qualified to be blogging for Idol? I didn’t really get into the show until after the first season. In fact, I teased my younger sisters-in-law and wife for how excited they got over the show. Towards the middle of the 2nd season, I sat down and watched an episode with my wife because there was no convincing her to change the channel. I got hooked from that point on and have rarely missed an episode (thanks to TiVo).
I will …read more