The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>Jordin Sparks opened the 41st Annual Dove Awards Wednesday night with a duet of a song she wrote for Natalie Grant called "Human." She also held a press conference following the event, some of which can be viewed below:
Jordin said it was an honor to perform with Grant because she grew up listening to her music. The Dove Awards will be broadcast on GMC on Sun., April 28 at 8 p.m. ET.
>Kara DioGuardi looks to be setting up a replacement career in the event that this is Idol's last season (and let's face it, it should be the last season), as she teamed up with Jason Reeves on the two artists' song "Terrified" on TBS's Lopez Tonight. Watch the performance below:
First she poses for a photo shoot in a magazine and now she performs "Terrified" on a late night program? It looks like Kara D is trying to steal Katharine McPhee's thunder.
>Kelly Clarkson posted some ramblings on her personal blog for the first time in months to address a series of billboards featuring her advertising for a tobacco company in Indonesia ahead of the tour stop in Jakarta set for Thurs., April 29. Kelly said she never had knowledge that this company would be using her image to sell its product, adding:
Unfortunately, my only option at this point was to cancel the show in order to stop the sponsorship. However, I can’t justify penalizing my fans for someone else’s oversight. This is a lose-lose situation for me and I am not happy about it but the damage has been done and I refuse to cancel on my fans.
She went on to say it's hard to be used as "some political pawn." It's hard to believe Kelly's handlers didn't look into this in the first place, but hopefully they'll learn from this.
>Not to be outdone, David Archuleta wrote his own blog today, in which he documented how his writing sessions in LA are going and how he performed at the BritWeek Gala Event honoring Sir Richard Branson on Thursday night. Arch said in part:
I worked with Guy Chambers, who wrote Angels with Robbie Williams, and Erika Nuri from The Writing Camp. I also had writing sessions last week with Sam Hollander and Sluggo, who my friend Travis from We The Kings actually told me about because he has worked a lot with them. I also worked with a bunch of other really great writers, who you've probably seen me talk about on Twitter. But I actually have another writing session today with the Nexus lol. And I'll let you guys know how that goes too!
He also spent a good chunk of ink warning about earthquakes and proclaiming he was not paranoid (riiiiiiiight, Arch!)
>Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens made the usual round of Idol eliminated contestant appearances over the course of the past few days, with CBS's The Late Show with David Letterman being one of the stops on Monday. Watch the two former finalists perform "Superhuman" below:
Letterman told Katie to get into publishing because "that's where all the money is," while he joked that Andrew is on his way to "...who knows," before adding he was sure Andrew would be fine.
