Seacrest, Idol Alums Sorry to See Abdul Go

But not usually.

(NEWSER) - Surprise! Celebrities do, occasionally, use Twitter to break actual news. Don’t believe it? USA Today lists some examples:

• Paula Abdul: Bid adieu to American Idol before an official statement was released.
• Ryan Seacrest: Told the world Ben Silverman was out at NBC before NBC did.

Desai makes the cut in surprise expansion of next round

(NEWSER) - American Idol gave fans a surprise with its remaining batch of finalists last night, the AP reports. After three wild card finalists were chosen to bring the total up to the usual 12, Simon Cowell announced that 22-year-old college student Anoop Desai also would advance to the next round as an unprecedented 13th finalist. More»

List of 36 contestants revealed, some never seen in auditions

(NEWSER) - Warning to American Idol fans: If you don’t like spoilers, be careful what you search for. A list of the contestants who will perform on the new season has been leaked by fan sites, the New York Post reports. The list includes some surprise contestants whose auditions weren’t shown on TV. Among the lucky 36:

• Joanna Pacitti, once on a major label.
• Scott MacIntyre, 23, blind since birth, who attended Arizona State at age 14.

DeGeneres talks Cowell, Paula Abdul as American Idol returns

(NEWSER) - Ellen DeGeneres makes her debut as the newest American Idol judge on Tuesday, and she talks Simon Cowell (he’s “smart,” but “mean” and “insensitive”) and more with the Wall Street Journal :

• Paula Abdul: “I don't know if I'll be as nurturing as she is. I'll probably try to be somewhat encouraging. But I'll be honest. I don't think it helps anybody to be encouraged and not told the truth.”

What will we still be talking about next decade? Britney, for one

(NEWSER) - The ‘00s were full of important contributions to culture, but which ones will we still be talking about in another decade? Here are some of New York ’s picks:

• TV: The Sopranos for inventing quality cable, American Idol for changing the music industry, and of course all things Oprah Winfrey.
• Books: The Da Vinci Code for singlehandedly sustaining the book industry, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay for blazing the trail of combining geek lit with high lit.