Musicians On Call auction featuring 'Idol' alums ends March 5

The world-famous nonprofit organization Musicians On Call is currently hosting a benefit auction via CharityBuzz.com featuring many Idol alums amongst its roster of artists that have kindly agreed to donate items and experiences to the winners of the auctions. As seen in the organization's informational video below, the power of one song can have wide-reaching effects on many people:

Among the Idol-related items and experiences up for bidding include autographed guitars from David Cook, Kellie Pickler and Jordin Sparks, two tickets and a chance to meet Jordin backstage at one of her concerts, two tickets to a Kelly Clarkson concert and an autographed hoodie and the opportunity to have lunch with Leona Lewis and join her in the recording studio. Links to each individual item are below:

>Autographed guitar (David Cook)
>Autographed guitar (Jordin Sparks)
>Autographed guitar (Kellie Pickler)
>Two tickets, meet & greet with Jordin Sparks
>Two tickets, autographed hoodie from Kelly Clarkson
>Lunch & recording session with Leona Lewis

The auction began Tues., Feb. 10 and wraps up on Thurs., March 5. Make sure you place your bids for these items before your chance is up (Jordin's and Kellie's autographed guitars currently have zero bids).

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Jennifer performs on 'Oprah'

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Jennifer Hudson was a featured guest on today's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, during which she talked with Oprah about her big win at the Grammys and singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl among other things. She also performed her new single, "If This Isn't Love," which can be viewed below:

>Following her big performance in front of some fewer than 20 million last night, Brooke White's new single, "Hold Up My Heart," has shot all the way up to #9 on iTunes' Top 100 Overall Songs chart. If it continues to inch up a bit over the next few days, it could have an outside shot of debuting in the Top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart next week.

>One of Chris Daughtry's recent collaborations with another band will be getting a single release. According to AllAccess.com, "Slow Down," which Chris recorded with the band Third Day, will hit Hot Adult Contemporary radio on March 9. Watch a clip of Chris lending his vocals to the track in the studio below:



>Jordin Sparks received a nomination for the 2009 MTV Australia Awards presented by Vodafone for her duet of "No Air" with Chris Brown in the Best Collaboration category. The awards show will take place in Sydney on Fri., March 27. Fans can vote by visiting here.

>Mikalah Gordon is taking her new-found fame following her appearance on the second season of CMT's Gone Country and filming a reality series about how life after Idol is not always fun and games. She spoke with Maximo TV a few weeks ago about the show on the red carpet of the premiere of Afro Sumarai:



The series will be produced by Renegade Productions, the same people responsible for Gone Country. No word yet on which network(s) is/are interested in the series.

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Analysis: "Predictable" doesn't begin to describe...

Who really thought Nick Mitchell would take the "final" spot last night over Adam Lambert? Do the producers think the audience is that stupid, that it would be more susprised that Adam made it over Nick than it would Kris Allen making it over Matt Giraud or Megan Corkrey?

Although the show did improve format-wise this week (i.e. the elimination of the parent/loved ones segment), it failed to capitalize on what would have made for a more interesting final reveal for the third spot. I wouldn't be surprised if a third of the audience just stopped watching after Kris was handed the second spot in the Top 12, as everyone and their mother knew Adam would make it since it was crystal clear he got the Gokey treatment on Wednesday.

Even Allison Iraheta's Top 12 spot could be spotted a mile away, so the whole hour was kind of useless in the whole results department, which is kind of a problem. And did we really have to see that montage set to "What a Wonderful World" again? If that doesn't scream "filler," I don't know what does.

And then there was the 12 semifinalists' pre-recorded sounding rendition of Ne-Yo's "Closer." If the performance is any indication of how this season will turn out, it gives the notion that it will be a guy-dominated season much more support, as the six girls sang about a total of three and a half lines.

Despite these blemishes, the show was otherwise pretty entertaining. Simon and Paula got into their normal spats, and Kara even engaged Simon head on, which I suspect we will begin to see more of as the season goes on.

The highlight of the show, however, was Brooke White's return to the Idol stage to perform her new single, "Hold Up My Heart." Brooke was refreshing both vocally and personality-wise, as her advice to the semifinalists of not "googling yourself" beckoned back to the same quirky Brooke that audiences fell in love with last season.

So far this Top 12 is a mixed bag. It's definitely strong on diversity of singing style and personality but it's short on diversity overall, which makes me think Lil Rounds is all but guaranteed a spot and Ju'Not Joyner could also be a great bet next week.

Possible wild card selections from this bunch are most likely Matt G. and Megan, but it's doubtful the judges would waste a few other spots on semifinalists from this group with the exception of Jasmine Murray, whom they all seem to like because she's "very commercial." Expect the majority of the picks to come from Group 3.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, we're 4-6 in the semifinals and 3-6 in the Top 12, so it's not looking all that great so far.

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Group 2 Results (2/26/09)

Join us tonight as we find out the next batch of two guys and a girl that will advance through to the Top 12 (cause you just know it will be two guys and one girl again. For real). Tonight's results show will be the first of two Thursday night results shows, as it will begin at 8 p.m. ET and, as usual, will last one hour. Make sure you tune in to hear Brooke White's new single, "Hold Up My Heart," which she will be performing tonight.

Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Kelly Clarkson, Sundance Head, Leona Lewis, Brooke White and Jason Yeager.

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'Idol' BB 200: 'David Cook' #36 (3/7/09)

Not a single Idol alum saw their album sales increase on the Billboard Top 200 for the chart week of March 7, but that's understandable considering the Grammy effect is now history. Fortunately, the chart positions of the albums did not change all that drastically for most, showing that they are doing their best to stay competitive with the non-Idol portion of the industry.

Of course it was David Cook who once again led the alums on the chart, as his self-titled album fell four spots to #36 accompanied by a 35% sales drop to 15.8k copies, placing its total at 993.6k. It should officially cross the platinum mark sometime this weekend if it has not done so already. Following him was Jennifer Hudson, whose debut album took the largest tumble of them all this week, collapsing 52% to 12.3k. The album fell #30-50 and now sits at a total of 633.4k copies.

Carrie Underwood was third in line as usual, as her Carnival Ride remained steady at #63 but slipped 18% and moved an additional 9.7k copies this week. It has sold 2.652 million to date. David Archuleta's debut took a bigger hit, falling 22 spots to #82 and sliding 36% in the sales department. It sold 7.8k copies for the week and 647.6k in all.

Progressing down the chart at a faster pace this week was Melinda Doolittle's three-week-old debut album Coming Back to You (it looks like Billboard is still confusing it with its first single, "It's Your Love"), which fell 10 spots to #102 and sold 6.1k copies for the week. Its 30% sales dip places its total at 25.5k. Daughtry was a bit behind with its debut album, selling 4.5k for a total of 4.389 million. It was down 11 spots to #129 and down 29% in sales figures.

And then there was David Foster's Hit Man compilation, which moved another 3.3k copies for the week, down 20 spots to #187 and down 25% saleswise. Its total is now at 151.9k.

Full sales figures and chart positions courtesy of Touch That Chick on Pulse as follows:

036 032 David Cook - David Cook 15,830 -35% 993,549
050 030 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 12,344 -52% 633,381
063 063 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 9,714 -18% 2,652,392
082 060 David Archuleta - David Archuleta 7,823 -36% 647,646
102 092 Melinda Doolittle - Coming Back to You 6,132 -30% 25,498
129 118 Daughtry - Daughtry 4,502 -29% 4,388,993
187 167 David Foster - Hit Man... 3,292 -25% 151,951

Total sales are in bold.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Group 2 of Top 36

Although it seems relatively easy to pick two of the advancees that will finally be able to call themselves finalists upon hearing Ryan's card-reading tonight, the last spot is a bit tricky. There were many performers last night that were equally as bad, so it pretty much comes down to who is the most likable of the bunch (what else is new).

Read my predictions below.

The three newest members of the Top 12 are:

>Adam Lambert
>Allison Iraheta
>Matt Giraud

So Adam will get by the same way Danny did, though to be sure Danny could have made it through on his own had he not had the overpimpage. Adam probably would not have (at least not the top male vote-getter) but he would have been a wildcard pick anyway, so they might aw well let him in the top 12 now.

Allison gets in from the praise her "Alone" garnered from the judges, plus the fact that she was the best female performer last night (read: performer, not singer).

And then Matt Giraud's solid fanbase should technically carry him through despite his awkward showing last night, though Anoop looked to be in the same position last week and we all know how that turned out. Hopefully that doesn't mean Matt Breitzke makes it in over the better Matt.

I think these predictions will in fact be solid. I am currently 2-3 after last week's predictions so I need a perfect score this week.

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About last night: Can anyone choose the right song?

If there's one thing Group 3 better not screw up on next week, it's song choice. That seems to be the judges' go-to negative critique of choice this season, as almost everyone last night heard the phrase in some form.

In fact, some of the choices were just plain out there, like Mishavonna Henson's take on Train's "Drops of Jupiter." What's the sense in picking one of the most overplayed songs on radio in the past decade? I mean, it's not like she was near the worst of the night, but c'mon, pick a song that will actually show off your vocals.

Another odd choice of song was Matt Giraud's decision to tackle Coldplay's epic (and I don't throw that word around lightly) "Viva la Vida." It's the furthest thing away from what he should be singing, and although it wasn't the complete mess Simon & crew made it out to be, it was definitely puzzling.

There were a lot of competitors for the title of "worst of the night," such as Nick/Norman/Normund/whatever he wants to be called's overdramatic, borderline blasphemous performance of "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)" and Kai Kalama's dull throwback pick of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted." But the title has to go to that "bartender from D.C." (thanks Ryan for that introduction).

We caught our first glimpse of one that has managed to elude us this whole time called Jeanine Vailes, and what we saw was not pretty (sans her Haley Scarnato legs). Many had fears that Jeanine would be the next Juanita Barber rather than the next Jennifer Hudson, and those fears came true after she took on Maroon 5's "This Love." Kara got it 100% right when she called it "overdone," and Jeanine's incessant begging and pleading by trying to make the case that she received no airtime prior to last night as a reason for her to advance to have another shot at proving herself didn't help matters. Although she was sort of right about that, she had to make the best of what she was given and she couldn't. Sorry Jeanine, at least you've got great legs (and lips, according to Simon).

There were some unexpected positive comments after a few performances, like Megan Corkrey's "Put Your Records On." Her awkwards swaying and inescapable tattoo that swamped her right upper arm and shoulder completely took away from any semi-good vocals that came from her, yet the judges ate it up. There were also some unexpected negative comments, like the lukewarm reception Jesse Langseth received for her unique performance of "Bette Davis Eyes." Maybe it has to do with the fact that Jesse never was really in consideration for the Top 12, especially following Simon's comments about her having "no shot" at winning after she made the Top 36?

As for the two most overpraised performers of the night, the judges had a field day with Allison Iraheta's shoutfest on "Alone" and Adam Lambert's screechfest on "Satisfaction." Although Allison had some bright spots on her song, she had to really reach on a few notes but seemed comfortable moving about the stage, so it wasn't so bad. But the judges were totally in love with her for some strange reason, even after she appeared as dumb as a doornail in her pre-performance sit-down with Ryan.

As for Adam, it's quite apparent that he will get the Danny Gokey treatment this season, as his overdramatic performance was hailed as the second coming of Danny's "Hero." Adam seems like he would be a very good technical singer if he could just tone it down a notch...or two...or three. I know he's used to performing in theatre but it's a completely different ball game on this show, and the sooner he figures that out the better. It is funny, though, how Kara wrote off the overdramatic stuff automatically and went straight to the pimpage.

More song choice problems were found with Jasmine Murray's "Love Song" and Kris Allen's "Man In the Mirror." Jasmine was once a front runner and widely believed to be the favorite to advance as the top female vote getter tonight, but it looks like that won't happen. She should have gone with a Rihanna song (according to Randy at least). Kris did well, but he will be forgotten relatively easily.

And then there's that welder, Matt Breitzke. He pretty much had no chance as soon as Michael Sarver advanced, but his blah performance of Tonic's "If You Could Only See" was the second-to-last nail in the crypt for his chances. His backtalking with Simon was the final nail, to be sure. Still he should get props for attempting that song.

Well, it looks like Group 2 actually managed to be worse than Group 1, which puts pressure on Group 3 to deliver like never before. Odds are it won't, though, save for a few unknowns that could pull through. At least we have Brooke White's performance to look forward to tonight. Maybe she'll show this year's batch how it's really done.

P.S. has anyone noticed how many mothers/fathers/single mothers there are this season? Not sure why that is, but it's just an interesting observation.

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'Idol' Hot 100: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #10 (3/7/09)

It was a pretty uneventful week on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, as Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" once again led all Idol-related tracks for the chart week of March 7.

Kelly's new single remained in the Top 10, falling #8-10. The former #1 entry was followed by David Cook's "Light On," which was way behind at #48, down a spot from the previous week. Carrie Underwood's "I Told You So" was the only Idol-related track on the chart to see positive movement, as it jumped 15 spots to #77.

On the Bubbling Under chart, however, Jennifer Hudson's new single "If This Isn't Love" was up slightly despite the competition from #11-9, which bodes well for its future chart performance.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

Hot 100
10 08 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
48 47 David Cook, "Light On"
77 92 Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So"

Bubbling Under
09 11 Jennifer Hudson, "If This Isn't Love"

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Poll of the week: Adam is top dog in Group 2

Judging from the results of last week's poll of the week and the conventional wisdom from tonight's performances, it looks like IDOL LIVE's readers correctly chose for the two guys that will advance to the Top 12 tomorrow night, but was a little less sure when it came to the girl that will advance.

Adam Lambert scored 37 votes, good for 37% of the 99 total votes cast, in addition to scoring big time with the judges tonight after his performance of "Satisfaction." Next up was Matt Giraud, who despite flailing through his take on Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," should be a very good bet to make the Top 12 tomorrow. He took in 19 votes (19%).

A wild card in this mix is Kris Allen, who finished third overall with 15 votes (15%) and would not be a surprise if he in fact makes it in over Matt. As for the girls, it was Jasmine Murray who stole the top votes among their gender, though it was a rather pitiful take of nine votes (9%). The likely female representative in the Top 12 of Group 2, Allison Iraheta, was only able to manage four votes (4%).

In this week's poll of the week, IDOL LIVE readers are asked to choose their favorite semifinalist from Group 3. You will have exactly one week to vote.

Kris Allen 15 (15%)
Matt Breitzke 1 (1%)
Megan Corkrey 7 (7%)
Matt Giraud 19 (19%)
Mishavonna Henson 2 (2%)
Allison Iraheta 4 (4%)
Kai Kalama 2 (2%)
Adam Lambert 37 (37%)
Jesse Langseth 0 (0%)
Nick Mitchell 3 (3%)
Jasmine Murray 9 (9%)
Jeanine Vailes 0 (0%)

Total votes: 99

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Group 2 Performs (2/25/09)

Join us tonight as we blog during the second installment of the Top 36's showcase when the 12 semifinalists from Group 2 take the stage and try their hand at singing songs from Billboard's Top 10 catalog. The blogcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will last two hours.

Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Amanda Overmyer, Daughtry, David Archuleta, Elliott Yamin, Haley Scarnato, Jason Castro, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks and Michael Johns.

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Kelly goes acoustic on SUBG & MLWSWY

Kelly Clarkson tried her hand at making two uber-successful, highly-processed tracks of hers sound a little bit less in your face yesterday when she visited the UK's Radio 1 Live Lounge. Kelly sang "Since U Been Gone" and "My Life Would Suck Without You" in an acoustic arrangement, giving the songs a whole new feel. Watch videos of the performances below:

"Since U Been Gone" (Acoustic):

"My Life Would Suck Without You" (Acoustic):



Kelly has been pretty much everywhere recently in full-promo mode, as the release of her fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted, is less than two weeks away. She sat down with MTV's Buzzworthy, where she discussed the title confusion over the original reporting of Masquerade being her album's title.

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Digital sales roundup: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #7 (2/20/09)

Since the Grammy effect has all but worn off by now, Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart for the week was very sparse in terms of Idol representation, at least in terms of which tracks were cherry picked to have their sales data released.

Leading once again was Kelly Clarkson with "My Life Would Suck Without You," as it inched ever closer to the million mark, totaling 941k. It was down one spot to #7 and down 13% sales-wise, taking in another 125.7k downloads.

Carrie Underwood's fifth single from Carnival Ride, "I Told You So," was the only other Idol track to make an appearance this week, as it debuted at #178 with 9.7k downloads sold. Its total is at 56.8k.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

007 006 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" 125,667 -13% 144,289 941,035
178 --- Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So" 9,718 43% 6,797 56,761

Total sales are in bold.

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HITS estimates: Cook 16k

David Cook was left flying solo in representing the Idol franchise on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 estimates chart.

Cook's self-titled effort was down #31-33 for the week in the chart rankings, but the album sustained a heftier sales dip of 35% to 16k.

Jennifer Hudson's debut, which had last week catapulted back into the Top 50 thanks to her showing at the Grammy Awards, fell off once again this week.

Look for finalized figures to be released sometime in the next few days, hopefully sometime tonight.

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Group 2 *possible* song choices

Although they are almost always fake nowadays unless they appear on the net 30 minutes prior to showtime, a list of possible song choices for the twelve semifinalists of Group 2 has been making the rounds since last night. What makes this list a little more convincing is that it seems to fit in with the few hints that found their way onto JoesPlace's blog. See the list below:


Kris Allen, "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback
Matt Breitzke, "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" by Michael Bolton
Megan Corkrey, "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor
Matt Giraud, "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay
Mishavonna Henson, "With or Without You" by U2
Allison Iraheta, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler
Kai Kalama, "Lean on Me" by Club Nouveau
Adam Lambert, "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen
Jesse Langseth, "You Needed Me" by Anne Murray
Nick Mitchell, "Crying" by Roy Orbison
Jasmine Murray, "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles
Jeanine Vailles, "Love Will Lead You Back" by Taylor Dayne

*IF* these are indeed true, it looks like this will be a half very boring, half very exciting performance episode. One thing for sure is that Jeanine will be toast if she sings that song (but she pretty much already is, so it probably won't make a difference).

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Flashback: Kelly Clarkson's "Stuff Like That There"

In what is widely considered to be her "moment" on Idol, Kelly Clarkson's take on Bette Middler's "Stuff Like That There" was something magical to close out the Top 6's Big Band night back in Season 1. Relive the performance below:

This performance is a perennial choice to make it on Top 10 lists of the greatest performances this show has ever delivered, and showed that Kelly was original enough to be seen as a viable contender, and was ultimately crowned the winner of the show.

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Kat on the set of 'CSI: NY'

It looks like Katharine McPhee has already filmed her guest role on the upcoming episode of CBS' CSI: NY, as made apparent by the photo of her with the hit crime drama show's main star, Gary Sinise. People.com reports the following:

Katharine McPhee guest stars on an upcoming episode of CSI: NY playing – what else – a singer, and PEOPLE has an exclusive sneak peek. The American Idol Season 5 runner-up is pictured alongside the show's star, Gary Sinise, at the Feb. 18 shoot on the CBS Radford Lot in Studio City, Calif. McPhee, 24, takes on the role of a crime victim who resorts to murder as revenge. The episode is set to air in mid-April on CBS. – Marisa Laudadio

Katharine filmed her scenes for the episode on Wed., Feb. 18. Word is she will in fact be the murderer for this episode. Talk about going against the grain!

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IDOL LIVE's one-year anniversary

I would like to take this time to thank everyone for visiting IDOL LIVE over the past year. Your comments, loyalty, and input has been greatly appreciated and hopefully you will continue to support this site over the course of the next year. I would not be keeping up with all things Idol like this if I didn't think it served a purpose to fans of the show and its contestants, so thanks again for showing interest.

In an effort to further strengthen the community feeling on IDOL LIVE, I encourage everyone to join our official Google group and to sign up to receive alerts via Twitter for any and all breaking news items that come out of this franchise.

-Mike

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Kat nabs a role on 'CSI: NY'

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>It was announced Wednesday that Katharine McPhee would be the latest Idol alum to have a guest role on a CBS show, following in the footsteps of Mikalah Gordon and Chris Daughtry. Kat will play none other than a singer on an episode of CSI: NY, which is slated to air sometime in April.

>30-second clips of all the songs on Kelly Clarkson's latest album All I Ever Wanted were today made available on iTunes. Shortly thereafter, the album leaked in full.

>Clay Aiken has been ousted from his record label of four years. According to Billboard, RCA and Clay quietly parted ways a few months ago, but nothing had been made public until today. RCA has now dropped every Idol runner-up it has signed since the show began.

>The full schedule for Jennifer Hudson's tour, which she is co-headlining with Robin Thicke, was revealed this week. The tour will visit 19 U.S. cities between March 31 and May 8, beginning in Albany, N.Y. and finishing in Houston, Tex.

>Ruben Studdard seems to be in a bit of trouble with the tax brigade. According to The Detroit News, Ruben currently owes $254,119 in federal taxes. Maybe sales from his new single "Together" and his upcoming album Love IS will help offset these accumulated no-nos?

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'Idol' BB 200: 'Jennifer Hudson' #30 (2/28/09)

For the first time in a long time, David Cook's self-titled album was not the top-placing Idol-related entry on the Billboard Top 200 for the chart week of Feb. 28.

It was Jennifer Hudson's self-titled album that re-took that title, as it jumped 17 spots on the chart to #30 with 25.6k copies, up 112% from the previous week. It has moved 621k total. Cook's album followed right behind, down #29-32 with 24.4k. Its 44% sales incline places its total at 977.7k copies.

David Archuleta's David Archuleta was next, lunging forth 11 spots to #60 thanks to a 34% increase in sales. The album's weekly take of 12.2k copies means its total sits at 639.8k. Carrie Underwood was three spots behind with Carnival Ride, which surged ahead 20 spots alongside a 44% jump in sales to 11.9k, placing its total take at 2.643 million.

In its second week, Melinda Doolittle's debut album Coming Back to You slipped only 19% to 8.7k copies, placing its total at 19.4k. Its performance on the chart was another story, as it plunged #58-92. Daughtry's debut album was still hanging around the depths of the chart, as it moved 6.4k for a total of 4.385 million copies. It was up another 31% and 10 spots to #118 on the chart.

And David Foster's Hit Man CD/DVD combo rounded out the Idol representation, as it slipped one spot to #167 with 4.4k copies sold for the week, up 16%. It has sold 148.7k to date.

Full sales figures and chart positions courtesy of 2m on Pulse as follows:

030 047 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 25,562 112% 12,060 621,037
032 029 David Cook - David Cook 24,440 44% 16,954 977,719
060 071 David Archuleta - David Archuleta 12,205 34% 9,106 639,823
063 083 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 11,874 44% 8,245 2,642,678
092 058 Melinda Doolittle - Coming Back to You 8,743 -19% 10,852 19,443
118 128 Daughtry - Daughtry 6,352 31% 4,851 4,384,545
167 166 David Foster - Hit Man 4,380 16% 3,792 148,659

Total sales are in bold.

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George Huff's self-titled album out April 7

The third season's famed fifth-place finalist turned Gospel/Contemporary Christian artist, George Huff, revealed in a blog entry on his official music MySpace page that his forthcoming sophomore self-titled album will be out Tues., April 7, courtesy of Koch Records.

He broke the news via a recorded message through Snapvine, saying there will be songs on the album that will "blast the socks off" his fans. He also chuckled through encouraging his fans to go out and buy the album because he "wants to go platinum," showing the same old humble George from 2004.

He currently has four shows scheduled from February 21 through May 16. in Houston, Memphis, his hometown New Orleans and Atlanta.

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Cook's "Come Back to Me" to impact HAC March 30

Apparently David Cook's second single will be "Come Back to Me," as it is listed on AllAccess.com as hitting Hot Adult Contemporary radio on Mon., March 30.

"Come Back to Me" was one of three potential singles RCA tested on the music testing site, RateTheMusic.com, back in early January. The other two songs that were included in the test run were "Lie" and "Declaration," the latter of which was the heavy favorite to be Cook's second single.

There's no word yet on what the label's plans are for a release at Top 40, but it shouldn't be far behind.

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Jordin to release "One Step At a Time" book in April

As if Jordin Sparks doesn't have enough on her plate with recording her new album and all, she apparently has put pen to paper on a new hardcover book titled "One Step At a Time," conveniently sharing a title with her platinum-selling third single.

The book, which will carry "a tremendous message of encouragement for the exciting-and sometimes fearful-new days ahead," is summarized in the following way:

This is a fresh, contemporary gift book perfect for young ladies who are about to take that huge step from home to college, or just out into the world, but also be very appropriate for all teenagers and young adults. Easily an evergreen gift for the major transitions of life-from a Sweet 16 gift from Mom, to a high school or college graduation sentiment from grandparents, to a pick-me-up from Dad. The inspirational text combines a foreword and short but powerful reflections from Jordin, the song lyrics, and other encouraging short-form writings woven throughout. Wrapped in a stunning, full-color package that includes snapshots from Jordin's journey blended into a vibrant and energetic gift book with great market appeal.

The book will be released Wed., April 1, to retailers nationwide. It is currently available to pre-order on Amazon.com for $10.87 and BooksChristian.com for $13.95. It will be released via Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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Analysis: Boring results show brings no surprises

And just like that, Group 1 of the Top 36 is no more. Kind of disappointing, isn't it? Unlike the past four seasons, this is the last we will see of most of the semifinalists that performed on Tuesday, save for the three that automatically advanced last night and of course whichever ones are lucky enough to be called back to perform as potential wildcard choices. With that in mind, is it safe to say that the Top 12 of Season 8 is off to a bang?

I think not.

Although Alexis Grace definitely was the strongest vocalist on Tuesday, she is lacking in star quality, which is something someone like Ann Marie Boskovich exuded. It's too bad that one performance pretty much dictates whether or not a contestant will advance the way this format is set up, whereas in years past all it took was for there to be two contestants that were worse than someone else for that person to stick around to try and improve their chances.

As for the way Ryan handled the reading of the results, it was very shoddy and disorganized. Really, Ryan, did anyone honestly think Danny didn't have the most votes of all 12 from that group? Did you not think it might be more exciting to announced Danny first, then announce Alexis and hold out on leaving it between Michael Sarver, Anoop Desai and Tatiana del Toro for the third ticket to the Top 12? Maybe it's just me, but I think that would have been much more watchable.

And people are complaining about Danny being insensitive to Tatiana right before the results were read. Honestly, what's he supposed to do, stand there and pretend to be nervous? Anyone who has been following this season from the beginning (or anyone with a computer) knew it was his for the taking, and so did he. On the contrary, however, the judges better yield on their incessant praise over him, because it could end up hurting him down the road (I mean you, Kara). At least Simon is there to hold down the fort.

On the positive side, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson sounded as good as always on their duet of "The Letter," even though I feel like I've seen that before. Hopefully there are more of those nice surprises than there are with the results, because if not, we're in for a long season.

As for IDOL LIVE's predictions, we're 2-3 in both the semifinals and the Top 12. Hopefully next week is more kind.

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Poll of the week: Danny is top pick from Group 1

Danny Gokey has a lot to celebrate tonight. Not only did he make the Top 12 for the eighth season, but he was voted as IDOL LIVE's readers' favorite semifinalist from Group 1 of the Top 36.

He received 60 votes out of a total of 140, which was a whopping 42%. Anoop Desai was next, as he scored 27 votes (19%), and Ann Marie Boskovich was further behind with 17 votes (12%).

Tatiana del Toro was the only other semifinalist from the group to garner more than 10 votes, as she picked up 11 (7%).

In this week's poll of the week, IDOL LIVE readers are asked to choose their favorite semifinalist from Group 2. You will have exactly one week to vote.

Ann Marie Boskovich 17 (12%)
Ricky Braddy 5 (3%)
Casey Carlson 3 (2%)
Anoop Desai 27 (19%)
Stephen Fowler 0 (0%)
Danny Gokey 60 (42%)
Alexis Grace 4 (2%)
Brent Keith Smith 1 (0%)
Michael Sarver 5 (3%)
Jackie Tohn 5 (3%)
Tatiana del Toro 11 (7%)
Stevie Wright 2 (1%)

Total votes: 140

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Melinda Doolittle's video for "It's Your Love" premieres

Melinda Doolittle's music video for her first single, "It's Your Love," premiered on AOL Music earlier today. Watch the sixth season's second runner-up's maiden voyage into filming music videos below:

The video would be boring if it weren't for the fact that Melinda lights up the screen no matter what she's seen in. It's on the low-budget side but again, that is not what really matters to Melinda.

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'Idol' Hot 100: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #8 (2/28/09)

Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" continued its steady decline on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, as it once again led all Idol-related entries for the chart week of Feb. 28.

MLWSWY dropped four spots, marking its fifth week in the Top 10 and sixth week on the chart overall. David Cook's "Light On" was next, as it slipped #43-47, followed by Carrie Underwood's "I Told You So," which finally debuted at #92.

On the Bubbling Under front, two Jennifer Hudson tracks finally made appearances. Her second single, "If This Isn't Love," was first at #11, while "You Pulled Me Through" followed five spots behind at #16.

Full chart positions courtesy of bks over on Pulse are posted below:

Hot 100
08 04 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You"
47 43 David Cook, "Light On"
92 -- Carrie Underwood, "I Told You So"

Bubbling Under
11 -- Jennifer Hudson, "If This Isn't Love"
16 -- Jennifer Hudson, "You Pulled Me Through"

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Group 1 Results (2/18/09)

Join us tonight as we witness which three lucky semifinalists get an automatic go-ahead to the coveted Top 12, while nine hopefuls temporarily have their dreams dashed (at least until the Wildcard is announced). The blogcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will last one hour.

Tonight's blogcast will feature music from David Cook, David Hernandez, Haley Scarnato, Katharine McPhee and Kimberley Locke.

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Ruben to release 'Love IS" on May 19

The second season's big, lovable velvet teddy bear champ may have lost his record deal with J Records, but he need not worry thanks to Hickory Records. Ruben Studdard was picked up by the independent label, which also is home to Elliott Yamin, and plans to release his fourth studio album Love IS in partnership with 19E on Tues., May 19. Per Croshal Entertainmnet Group (CEG)'s Web site:

Ruben Studdard's new album is officiall titled "Love IS" and will be released May 19th on the 19 Entertainment/Hickory label and will feature new songs along with classics from the past American Idol winner. The first single titled "Together" is going to radio this week!

The single is available to stream on CEG's Web site, along with Elliott's new single "Fight For Love." No word yet on when "Together" will hit digital retailers.

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Carrie caught at Senators game

You've heard of deer in the headlights, how about duck from the limelight? Carrie Underwood apparently did not want to be seen at Monday's Ottawa Senators / Nashville Predators game, a public setting mind you, where she was supporting boyfriend Mike Fisher, so what did she do to escape the unexpected panning from the cameras?

Guess this will teach Carrie not to go out in public without donning a disguise from head to toe. What's interesting is the whole story became lightyears bigger because she ducked than it would have been had she just sucked it up. Oh well, you live and learn.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Group 1 of Top 36

Only three will advance, and after last night's horrendous outing it could be argued that only one should be allowed to make the Top 12, with the other two being drawn from the latter two groups. But regardless of how things should work out in an ideal world, reality sets in and shows that there is really only one scenario that will play out tonight.

Read my predictions below.

The three lucky Top 12 members are:

>Danny Gokey
>Alexis Grace
>Anoop Desai

First of all, Danny is leaps and bounds ahead of his competition already, so singing last night was just a formality for him to get into the Top 12. He was not only the top male vote getter, he was the top vote getter period.

Alexis was the best of the worst among the girls last night, and that is the only reason she will make it in over an early favorite like Ann Marie Boskovich or Casey Carlson. They will try to make it interesting by placing Alexis and Tatiana del Toro side by side to make it more dramatic, but ultimately the spot belongs to Alexis.

As for the third spot out of Group 1, it has to be Anoop. Even though the judges gave him lukewarm praise last night, he has two things that do wonders for contestants on this show: 1) the likability factor and 2) a cool name. Michael Sarver is the only other semifinalist that could give him a run for his money, but I'm willing to bet he will be saved for the wildcard.

And there you have it, my predictions for tonight. They will probably be all wrong but at least I'm brave enough to take a stab at it and put my money where my mouth is.

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Digital sales roundup: "My Life Would Suck Without You" #6 (2/13/09)

The Grammy effect was once again felt on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart for the week, as three Idol tracks found their way onto (and in some cases, back onto) the chart.

But it was Kelly Clarkson who once again was the alum with the top-charting track, as "My Life Would Suck Without You" slipped four spots to #6 thanks to an 18% sales dip, and its weekly take of 144.3k put its total at an impressive 815.4k.

Next up was the first of two Jennifer Hudson songs that made the cut, as "Spotlight" rocketed #145-87 with 20.8k sold. It was up 71% for the week and now has a total of 442.2k. Jennifer's other song, "You Pulled Me Through," sold the majority of its downloads in this past week alone, as its 16.8k brought its total to 21.7k. It entered the chart at #109 with an 827% sales increase.

Next up was Carrie Underwood's "Last Name," which witnessed a healthy 74% bump to 13.5k, marking its re-entry onto the chart at #137. It has now sold 721.7k. And David Archuleta's second single "A Little Too Not Over You" gained 35% for a #168 re-entry, marking an extra 11.4k downloads sold for the week. Its tota; has passed the century mark, sitting at 103.3k.

Full numbers and chart positions courtesy of bks on Pulse as follows:

006 002 Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" 144,289 -18% 175,191 815,368
087 145 Jennifer Hudson, "Spotlight" 20,815 71% 12,170 442,172
109 --- Jennifer Hudson, "You Pulled Me Through" 16,795 827% 1,811 21,671
137 --- Carrie Underwood, "Last Name" 13,535 74% 7,766 721,707
168 --- David Archuleta, "A Little A Too Not Over You" 11,393 35% 84,70 103,284

Total sales are in bold.

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About last night: Will the real Tatiana please stand up?

So there's no way to get around the fact that this was an extremely odd night. Not only was Group 1 supposed to be the best of the three groups, but it was supposed to be the best by a mile. There were so many promising semifinalists, and yet we were left with Tatiana being one of the best of the night. Yes, that Tatiana del Toro.

Jackie Tohn led off the night with a vocally rough but spunky performance of "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley, which showed she was more interested in appealing to voters than she was impressing the judges, but she still earned somewhat alright reviews. she might not make the Top 12, but at least she had fun.

Another "fun" performance came from Brent Keith, as his vocals were perfect for the kind of "hick" song he did (in spite of the intro package mishap), and he was able to smile some in an effort to make it believable. But most of the night was full of boring performances, as underwhelming performances from Stephen Fowler and Ann Marie Boskovich failed to excite anyone.

Anoop Desai's take on Monica's "Angel of Mine" was a pleasant surprise, even though Simon wasn't all that impressed. Besides the performance, Anoop showed he could carry himself as a class act when he handled Simon's rude questions without even raising a (bushy) eyebrow.

There were two main trainwrecks tonight, as Stevie Wright killed Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" relatively easily, while Casey Carlson's gender-swapping "Every Little Thing [S]he Does Is Magic" bombed faster than the audience could turn its heads away from her winking and facial expressions.

The night's lone showstopper was Danny Gokey, whose rendition of Mariah Carey's "Hero" was an interesting choice and beckoned back to David Cook's take on the aforementioned's "Always Be My Baby." He dealt with the over-pimpage from the first three judges fairly well, but Simon was thankfully there to bring things down to earth. And what was up with the random shot of Jamar in the audience? Talk about the producers trying to play with the audience's emotions.

Alexis Grace and Tatiana (color me surprised) were also bright spots of the night, as Tatiana left her drama queen alter ego for the less exciting robot she brought tonight. And Michael Sarver wasn't good but he was better than most, and apparently the judges really are pulling for him despite his lackluster performance of "I Don't Wanna Be."

As for who will be advancing out of this group, it seems that Danny is the sure bet, while Tatiana will duke it out with Alexis for the top female vote-getter, and then either Michael or Anoop will take the next highest vote recipient. Look for official IDOL LIVE predictions later on today.

As for what to do now, we recommend looking ahead to next week as fast as possible. Like, start now.

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IDOL LIVE Blog: Group 1 Performs (2/17/09)

Join us tonight as we blog during the first round of the Top 36 contestants' performances, as the 12 semifinalists from Group 1 will take the stage and sing songs that have graced Billboard's Top 10 chart. The blogcast will begin at 8 p.m. ET and will last two hours.

Tonight's blogcast will feature music from Blake Lewis, Chris Daughtry, Chris Sligh, Elliott Yamin, Jennifer Hudson, Kellie Pickler, Kristy Lee Cook, Lisa Tucker and Melinda Doolittle.

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Taylor Hicks' "What's Right Is Right" video premieres

Taylor Hicks' music video for his latest single, "What's Right Is Right," premiered late last night on Yahoo! Music. Watch the video below:

The video starts out promising, looking like a storyline will be built with Taylor roaming the streets of New York and an elderly couple in a coffee shop. But it takes a sharply different turn, and is filled with dizzying transitions, dark shadows and puzzling shots of a random girl. No offense to Taylor, but this video is a disaster.

The good news is the song is still pretty good.

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Out today: Kelly Clarkson's 'All I Ever Wanted' pre-order

Although it won't be officially out until Tues., March 10, Kelly Clarkson's fourth studio album All I Ever Wanted is now available to pre-order on iTunes.

An incentive to pre-order either the standard or deluxe edition via the digital retailer? An exclusive bonus track, "Can We Go Back," and a digital booklet will be available to purchasers of both, while the deluxe edition will also include three bonus videos when the album is released. Links to purchase the aforementioned can be found below:

Pre-orders
Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted

iTunes - ($10.99 standard, $13.99 deluxe) - Pre-order: standard, deluxe

The deluxe version is currently #11 on iTunes' Top 100 Albums chart and #3 on its Pop 100 Albums chart, while the standard version is #51 on the Top 100 Albums chart and #12 on the Pop 100 Albums chart. All I Ever Wanted will be released nationwide on Tues., March 10.

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HITS estimates: Jennifer 27.6k, Cook 25.4k

For the first time in many weeks, David Cook was not the top-billed Idol alum represented on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 estimates.

It was Jennifer Hudson that took that distinction this week, as her debut album saw a 123% surge thanks to her showing at the Grammys. It sold 27.6k copies, sending it from #45-28. Cook's album also saw a healthy bounce, climbing 50% to 25.4k for a one-spot advance to #31.

Look for finalized figures to be released sometime in the next few days, hopefully sooner than later.

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Arch's "A Little Too Not Over You" airs on "Crush Night"

"Crush Night" re-aired last night on Nickelodeon, and David Archuleta's abbreviated performance of "A Little Too Not Over You" aired in place of his performance of "Crush." Watch it below:

Arch also today posted a blog entry on his official music MySpace page in which he rambled on about getting to eat dinner with Gavin DeGraw and Tony Orlando:

But Tony and Gavin were to performing in New Orleans too. Tony already performed that night, but Gavin was performing the next day so we went to see him perform. He was great. After him though.... I had a big surprise lol. We didn't know that Sara Bareilles was going to be on after him!! I couldn't believe that I was going to see Sara Bareilles without even planning on it or knowing she was there! Haha it was so cool! She's sooo good live too. I got a chance to talk to her and she was talking about how nice my fans were. So thanks to all of you guys!!

He said he also added new photos to his Web site from the grand opening of the "American Idol: The Experience" attraction and his performance in New Orleans.

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Keeping up with RJ Helton

Although it's hard to believe now, RJ Helton was just four places away from being named the first ever winner of American Idol back in 2002, as he placed fifth.

He started out recording inspirational music, as he released a Contemporary Christian album called Real Life in 2004, which sold roughly 20k copies and featured songs like "Even If," "Secrets" and "Come On Over," the latter two of which are currently on his official music MySpace page.

Back in October 2006, RJ came out to a SIRIUS radio station's morning show, saying he was no longer performing inspirational music because

"I can have a faith but can't be who I want to be. So a lot of it was just personal things I needed to overcome and just be proud of who I was. … Just because I am gay does not mean I can't love God."

RJ has most recently been participating in small Idol shows, as he performed at the Razz Room in San Francisco, Calif., back in August 2008 with fellow alums Trenyce and Julia DeMato, among others.

---

Please note: IDOL LIVE's "keeping up with" weekly series will be put on hiatus beginning next week until further notice. Another series, called "flashback," will be installed in its place.

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Kelly performs "My Life Would Suck Without You" in Bahamas

Kelly Clarkson spent her Presidents Day weekend in the Bahamas, where was one of the featured performers at Z100's Party Plane at the Atlantis Paradise Island. Watch video of her performance of "My Life Would Suck Without You" from Sat., Feb. 14 below:

The song sounds a little bit different live, like she took it a half-step down or something. Kelly also performed "Addicted," "Beautiful Disaster," "Because Of You," "Behind These Hazel Eyes," "Chivas," "Don't Waste Your Time," "Gone," "How I Feel," "Miss Independent," "Never Again," "Since U Been Gone," "Up to the Mountain" and "Walk Away."

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'Idol' BB 200: 'David Cook' #29 (2/21/09)

It was another very healthy week on the Billboard Top 200 for the chart week of Feb. 21, as the post-Grammys bounce was in full force for a few old favorites from the Idol catalog.

As usual, David Cook's self-titled effort led the pack, as it declined 5% to 17k, falling nine spots to #29. It has totaled 953.3k. Jennifer Hudson's debut saw the greatest percentage increase, as it was up 57% to 12.1k, lunging forth #71-47, meaning it now stands at 595.5k.

The week's lone Idol debut was Melinda Doolittle's Coming Back to You, which garnered 10.9k, placing it at #58 for the week. David Archuleta's David Archuleta followed right behind at #70, down nine spots from last week despite a 2% sales increase, as the album's take of 9.1k for the week put its total at 627.6k.

Another album to see a bit of a Grammy boost was Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride, as it sold 8.2k, up 15%, but slipped two spots to #82. It has reached a total of 2.631 million. Not up for any Grammys, Daughtry's debut album slipped a scant 1% to 4.9k for the week, but fell a heavier 18 spots on the chart. It has amassed 4.378 million to date.

And David Foster's Hit Man collection took in 3.8k for the week, which was down 8% from the previous week, and marked a #128-166 drop on the chart. It has sold 144.3k copies in total.

Full sales figures and chart positions courtesy of tony on Pulse as follows:

029 020 David Cook - David Cook 16,954 -5% 17,770 953,279
047 071 Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson 12,060 57% 7,666 595,475
058 --- Melinda Doolittle - Coming Back to You 10,852 999% 9 10,803
070 061 David Archuleta - David Archuleta 9,106 2% 8,941 627,618
082 080 Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride 8,245 15% 7,149 2,630,804
128 110 Daughtry - Daughtry 4,851 -1% 4,896 4,378,213
166 128 David Foster - Hit Man... 3,792 -8% 4,131 144,279

Total sales are in bold.

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Jordin sings the National Anthem at NBA All-Star Game

It may not have been the Super Bowl, but Jordin Sparks sure blew the roof off the U.S. Airways Center in Phoeniz, Ariz., (her home state) at tonight's 2009 NBA All-Star Game when she belted out her signature version of "The Star-Spangled Banner," which was broadcast live on TNT. Watch the performance below:

This was one of her better renditions of the National Anthem, even though it was not the largest venue she has performed it at.

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Cook's "Permanent" draws tears at FSU

David Cook kicked his solo tour off with a bang at Florida State University on Friday, where he pleased many fans with performances of both his original tracks and a few covers to boot. Things got a little emotional during his performance of "Permanent," which was written for his brother that has cancer. Watch the performance below:

Cook then went on to play at Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Ms., where he covered Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" and sang "Light On" among other songs. Tonight he takes on Ole Miss in Oxford, Ms., which should generate a great deal of reviews, fan footage and photos.

It looks as if Cook's tour is off to a great start.

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IDOL LIVE predix: Top 12 of Season 8

Now that the Top 36 has been chosen and barring any other Joanna-like swaps, it seems like now would be a good time for IDOL LIVE to post predictions for the Top 12 of Season 8. Although the other two groups have yet to be revealed, it is safe to assume that anyone that does not advance on their first go-round would be a viable candidate for a wild card slot. So without further ado, here is how we think the Top 12 will materialize:

The Top 12 of American Idol: Season 8

Felicia Barton

Felicia has been on a wild ride for the past few days. She had no idea she would be named as a replacement following Wednesday night's ouster of future Top 12 contestant Joanna Pacitti, and so she will put more effort into her song choice, appearance, stage presence and showcasing her personality when TV time comes. Felicia has more buzz surrounding her than any other Top 36 contestant at the moment thanks to the hundreds of news articles, blog entries and other mentions in the media as part of the Joanna disqualification story. If she does not make it the first time, odds are pretty good she will be a wild card pick to keep the guys from completely dominating the Top 12 this season.

Ann Marie Boskovich

Not only did she get a great shot to display her winning personality during her odd audition experience (being asked by the judges to come back and audition after changing up her look and song choice), but she also was heavily featured throughout Hollywood Week. Add to that the fact that she's beautiful and has experience in the music industry and you've got yourself a spot in the Top 36. She will be the only girl to advance from Group 1.

Anoop Desai

Anoop has a lot of things going in his favor. First, he his genre is R&B/Soul, so he should be able to shore up a good amount of those fans. He also is very likable in a geeky way, and as Clay Aiken has shown, Idol viewers love geeky guys. Add to this the fact that he is the first Indian-American contestant to reach the semifinals (and the sweeping popularity of Slumdog Millionaire in this country at the moment), and it looks like Anoop has more than a great shot at making the coveted Top 12. He will receive the second-most votes from Group 1, which will earn him one of the three spots from the group.

Matt Giraud

Another soulful R&B crooner, Matt has been compared to Elliott Yamin for his singing style. He has not been featured as prominently as some of the other guys, but his solo in Hollywood Week won him a lot of praise and he definitely has originality written all over him. He should make it into the Top 12 on his first try no matter which group he ends up in. Oh, and Matt's from Michigan. When's the last time there's been a semifinalist from the mitten state, LaKisha Jones? Yeah, that's a good enough reason to put him through (especially since he's from Kalamazoo).

Danny Gokey

Danny is probably the surest of sure bets to make the Top 12. He has progressed beyond his "story" that initially drew the ire of many viewers, as the sob stories were out in full force during this season's auditions. Danny was featured heavily in Hollywood Week along with his friend Jamar, whose failing to make the Top 36 came as a shock to many and will undoubtedly earn Danny some votes. He can also sing really well and has a unique quality to his voice, which is never a negative characteristic for an Idol finalist. Danny will be the first one sent through to the Top 12, as he will receive the highest amount of votes come Tuesday.

Ju'Not Joyner

Since there has to be at least one black male finalist, it will go to Ju'Not, though it should have been reserved for his major competition, Stephen Fowler, as he would have been known as the eighth season's "comeback kid" after rebounding from his botched stab at David Cook's "The Time of My Life" in Hollywood Week. Ju'Not has received less airtime and has a weaker voice, but since he will not be stuck in the strongest group like Stephen, he will make it instead.

Adam Lambert

Despite his puzzling solo of Cher's "Believe" in the final round of Hollywood Week, Adam has a lot of buzz surrounding him. Add in an existing fan base and initial universal support from the judges (although something tells us Simon Cowell might not be on the Adam train for very long) and the whole "goth-lite" look and it seems that he will define a whole new style of music that will be performed on the show (maybe it will be called "Male Diva Goth Rock"?).

Scott MacIntyre

He may not be the strongest singer among the guys, but something just tells us Scott will squeak into the Top 12. Although it sounds harsh to say that the "pity vote" from the grandmas and others might help him out a bit on his Idol journey, it would be a disservice to deny this notion. He's a great musician, as he plays the piano wonderfully, which will help compensate for what he's lacking in vocals.

Kristen McNamara

Kristen will be this year's Carrie Underwood / Kellie Pickler / Kristy Lee Cook, as there's an unwritten rule that a female country singer needs to be in the Top 12. She will beat out the other blonde country girl, Kendall Beard, primarily because she has received the most screen time and was seen as the victim in her Hollywood Week group's meltdown. Plus, it's a necessity to have a finalist that for whatever reason irks Simon, so Kristen will be that finalist.

Jasmine Murray

Incorporating Jasmine in the Top 12 will kill two birds with one stone, as she will be the commercial cute teenager in addition to being one of the African-American female singers. It also doesn't hurt that she has an extremely radio-friendly voice, and her voice's chances at making it into a recording studio would only be helped if she were allowed to make it semi-far in the competition. Jasmine also seems to be a favorite of the producers, which is never a bad thing.

Lil Rounds

If you haven't been following Idol up to this point, you never would have known the amount of praise has been lobbed Lil's way by the judges. She's being hailed as "the next Fantasia," and not many people agreed with the judges' over enthusiastic reactions to her first Hollywood solo performance. Regardless, she will get a spot in the Top 12 one way or another. Just you wait and see.

Michael Sarver

Idol desperately wants a male country winner. Since they apparently inexplicably swapped his slot in the first group with Matt Breitzke, it is even more obvious because Michael would hardly have a shot if he were to remain in that ultra competitive group. Even if it means the judges will have to waste a wild card pick on him because he might not make it in on America's vote alone, they will do so without thinking twice in order to keep him in the mix. Although he won't win, the producers will do their best to present him in a favorable light.

What do you think? Is this the Top 12 of Season 8 or what? (All photos courtesy of AmericanIdol.com).

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Kimberley Locke interviews alums at motorcade

There are still plenty of recaps, photos and video surfacing from Thursday's big Idol reunion at the grand opening of the "American Idol: The Experience" attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. One of them was Kimberley Locke pulling double duty as a guest and a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight at the event, as can be seen below as she interviews many alums during the motorcade:

Raw video from the presentation of the mic trophies to the seven winners also made its way out courtesy of CitybeatWEB, which can be viewed below:



CitybeatWEB also posted video of Carrie Underwood's performance of "All-American Girl" and her duet with David Cook on "Go Your Own Way," and footage of the alums arriving on the blue carpet.

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"Fearless" - another possible Jordin demo leaks

Although Jordin Sparks came out and denied that two previous demos were in fact hers, a new track that features a singer that sounds exactly like Jordin has found its way onto YouTube a few days ago. Listen to the track below and judge for yourself:

So what do you think? Is this the latest demo in a string of hoaxes or is this 100% without a doubt the original, one and only sixth season's champ?

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'Idol' odds 'n ends: Cook like his "Pork Beans"

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>David Cook's first webisode documenting his first solo tour was posted on his official Web site last night, titled "Pork Beans." Watch it below:

>Jennifer Hudson took home another three awards last night at the 40th annual NAACP Image Awards, which were broadcast on FOX. She also performed "The Impossible Dream," which can be viewed below:



The three categories she won in were Outstanding Album, Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration and Outstanding New Artist. She also took the stage with her co-stars to accept and award for Outstanding Motion Picture for The Secret Lives of Bees.

>The women of ABC's The View yesterday had a few words to say about Simon Cowell slighting Kristen McNamara during the Top 36 reveal episode on Wednesday, as they defended Kristen for being a little on the hefty side (or as Sherri said, she had "a little more flesh").

>Katharine McPhee sent out a follow-up bulletin last night on her official music MySpace page thanking her fans for sending in their suggestions for her new official Web site. In the bulletin, Kat said:

There were so many suggestions that I am thrilled as to what we will come up with in the future. Because there is a lot going on and I am traveling a lot, it is going to take a little time to get everything up and running but we are all working on it. A week doesn’t go by that we don’t meet to put ideas down for when we get everything going. By the way, the label was incredibly excited about how many suggestions came in.

Kat said she would definitely put some vlogs out in the near future, as the was the number one request, and also thanked her fans for being patient.

>Out of Orlando and now in the Bahamas, Kelly Clarkson today filled some spots on three radio stations' morning shows, as she spoke with KISS FM 103.5, Z100 and Kidd Kraddick ahead of her four day-long performance committment to Z100 in the caribbean.

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