Day: March 17, 2008

Simon Cowell was the guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show today. He says David Archuleta is the front-runner, but don’t rule out Brooke White, David Cook and Jason Castro. He thinks any one of these could win. No mention of Carly Smithson or Michael Johns. Hm.

I thought you guys might enjoy the videos from Carrie Underwood’s appearance on the Grand Ole Opry Saturday night. Not only did she perform three songs (she opened and closed the show) she was surprised by an invitation from Randy Travis to join the Opry, at which point, Carrie got all weepy.

Ellen Degeneres interviews 12th place-finisher David Hernandez about American Idol and the rumors that he performed as a male dancer in Arizona.. He performs “Midnight Hour”. Then, he dances with Ellen!

An FYI. Starting with the Top 12, the iTunes downloads are studio recordings, rather than live performances. My favorites from last week: “Across the Universe” Micheal Johns – I was in the minority, I loved his performance. The studio recording is even better. “If I Fell” Jason Castro – I thought his performance was slight, but the recording mixes his vocals up front and center, highlighting his lovely phrasing. “Let it Be” Brooke White – Just as pretty and heartfelt as her performance.

A snapshot of Idols’ singles radio play culled from Mediabase as of this morning.

CNN does a report about an openly gay American Idol this season. Controversy surrounds Danny Noriega and David Hernandez being booted off the show after a video surfaced with Noriega rapping about being gay and Hernandez rumored to be a male stripper at a gay club.