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American Idol 9: Judges’ Picks Revealed

American Idol

Every year, the American Idol judges hand-select a song for each of the finalists to sing. This year, we know what they are.

Keep reading to get the spoilers, or turn back now and wait to be surprised on Tuesday.

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American Idol 9: Top 4 Perform


The theme of American Idol 9’s Top 4 night was movie music, a sweeping genre encompassing many wonderful tunes. returned to Idol as the week’s mentor. He found the theme to be “a big task,” for the contestants. Foxx gave the four remaining singers T-shirts, one marked “Artist” and one marked “Contestant.”

“America wants to see the artist,” he explained to .

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American Idol Wants Your Opinion

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Do you like as a judge? Do you think the judges’ save is a nifty device for the show? Do you want the opportunity to sound off on what you like and dislike about American Idol? Well, now you’ve got a chance to do so…and the powers-that-be behind the series are listening.

American Idol has released an asking viewers to detail their opinion on the show. The survey asks about the current season of the show (9), and asks about your reasons for watching. Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ryan Seacrest are all listed as reasons for watching. You have the ability to vote on the strength of your enjoyment from each one.

Certain aspects of Idol, such as musical themes, mentors, voting and the judges’ save also listed on the survey. You have the opportunity to vote on your level of entertainment derived from each. The survey contains many questions regarding guest judges as well, asking to you rate your enjoyment of each one who appeared on this season.

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American Idol 9: Top 5 Perform


American Idol 9’s Tuesday performance episode was opened by Ryan Seacrest and That’s right, folks - it’s Sinatra night. Connick, Jr. is perhaps best known for his hit “It Had To Be You.” Sinatra was best known for his baby blues and his velvety voice. He was, arguably, the greatest singer of standards, and he is certainly a legend.

Unlike most Idol mentors, Harry Connick, Jr. brought his own band members and worked on the arrangements of the contestants’ songs. He performed with them all, playing piano on the stage for all five songs.

Before the singing began, ’s daughters gave Simon Cowell one of Sinatra’s monogrammed handkerchiefs, an item which is now amazingly valuable. The Sinatra connection, the Cowell connection, the American Idol tie-in…eBay would be thrown into a frenzy over such an item.

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American Idol 9: Top 6 Perform


Only six remain in the competition, and there are no more saves to see them through the elimination rounds. All must go for one to stand alone, and they all must present their very best for the oh-so-important Tuesday performance rounds.

This week, the theme was , who has often bridged the gap between pop and country. She’s a multiple Grammy award winner and she’s enjoyed plenty of Number 1 hits, which makes her a good mentor choice. She advised the Idols to make her songs their own, as if they had written the tunes themselves. “I’m going to be sitting on the edge of my seat,” she predicted of the performance round.

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American Idol 9: Idol Gives Back, Top 7 Results

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Video,

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At the top of the spectacular, host Ryan Seacrest immediately introduced the President of the United States and his First Lady, Mr. and Mrs. Barack Obama. Two praised the Idol Gives Back event and urged viewers to contribute to the cause. In his typical contemporary fashion, President Obama then gave a message to the Idol contestants: “As Randy Jackson says, you’re all my dogs.”

Ryan then reappeared on stage to introduce the judges and hype up the crowd. served as the host of the event at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, which was filled with a screaming crowd.

The Top 12 were brought back together for the first group performance of the night, an incredibly weak number. The only big moment in the song was given (predictably) to Crystal Bowersox. Could this show please make it more obvious that they want her to win? I’m not sure the astronauts on the space shuttle have managed to get the message yet - they’re so far away, and all.

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American Idol 9: Top 7 Perform


It’s week, which means the Top 7 performance round was stuffed with plugs for the upcoming event. In honor of charity week, the Idols sang “inspirational songs,” a topic so broad we were pretty well guaranteed a grab bag of styles.

Casey James picked the imminently popular “Don’t Stop,” a bit of a dangerous decision, for the first performance of the night. Mentor tried to help Casey find some personality within his performance, a quality she felt was essential for the popular tune. On the big stage, Casey James was more raspy than usual, full of energy and absolutely generic. His guitar solo was pretty hot, but he’s been relying on that crutch a bit too much. All the same, James delivers consistently solid performances that the crowd seems to enjoy. I don’t think he’ll do too poorly in the industry…when he’s finally let out of his Idol cage.

“It was a good performance,” Randy Jackson told him, though he grudgingly added “every week, we’re seeing the same thing.” He asked for James to deliver “something different,” a request he’s made in the past. “We’re getting to the point to where you have to be great…and it wasn’t great,” Ellen DeGeneres expanded on Randy’s theme. “You made yourself like everybody else tonight,” Kara DioGuardi likewise expressed her disappointment. “That wasn’t particularly inspiring,” Simon Cowell noted.

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Is Paula Abdul Going Back to American Idol?

Paula Abdul is reporting that American Idol is again romancing ex-judge Paula Abdul. Once the lone female on the judging panel, Abdul failed to come to a contractual agreement with Idol over the summer. She was replaced on the panel by comedienne Ellen DeGeneres, who has failed to deliver little more than odd comparisons and one-liners on the singing show.

According to an unnamed source quoted by the mag, Paula is currently talking to producers about her return. Ratings for the reality hit have been down this year (it’s getting beat by Dancing With the Stars on ABC), and the show is scrambling to save itself in the face of Simon Cowell’s imminent departure. Is the answer to lifting the flagging sails on the Idol ship? 

Get all the gossip, spoilers and recaps right here - check out all our posts.

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American Idol 9: Top 9 Performance - Again


Thanks to the judges’ save, Michael Lynche is still a cast member on American Idol 9. Therefore, we were treated to a Top 9 performance on Tuesday, the second of the season. was very energetic as he started things off for the night.

A night which was dedicated to the King himself, Elvis Presley. Though he reached his peak in the 1960s, Elvis is still widely-regarded as the best-loved rock performer in music history. He is certainly one of the most successful. It being Elvis night and all, the mentor for the week was , naturally. Because that makes sense. Both men, at least,  were and are incredible showmen. Lambert is the first former contestant to mentor his fellow Idols, an honor I feel should have been given to someone with better record sales.

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Clash of the Titans: American Idol Visits the Simpsons

American Idol judges on The Simpsons

FOX is planning some extra-special stuff for May sweeps, that wonderful season when ratings matter more than ever. The network has always booked the finale during May, but this year AI’s popularity seems to be cooling a bit. In case sharing the Glee time block isn’t enough to bring the reality series back up to its number 1 ratings spot, another FOX series will get getting an Idol tie-in.

That’s right: the regular Idol cast will be appearing on season finale. Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest will lend their likenesses and voice talent to the episode, which will air on May 23. Gossip says the tie-in involves bartender Moe, who will receive an invite to judge on the reality series.

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