Idol Boots Curly-Haired Christian

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.

Voting on Cook's rock vs. Archuleta's ballads hours away from being revealed

(NEWSER) - We're only hours away from Fox crowning either balladeer (and Simon Cowell fave) David Archuleta, 17, or rocker David Cook, 25, as this season's American Idol. Cook seemed to win last night's live audience, the Kansas City Star reports. More»

No more charity for contestants, and Idol 's down to final four.

(NEWSER) - American voters—135 million strong—sent two "American Idol" finalists home last night, leaving three women and one man in the running. Smooth-domed Phil Stacey and Justin Timberlake-esque hearthrob Chris Richardson got the boot, but neither seemed distraught: A spot in the top six is a fine career starter, as Chris Daughtry can attest. More»

Loved, hated, off-key 'Idol' contestant says goodbye at last

(NEWSER) - Reality caught up with reality TV last night, when "American Idol" contestant Sanjaya Malakar was finally booted from the show. Sanjaya, as he's known to legions of fans and detractors, gained attention for his missed notes, his faux-hawk, and his popularity on the sabotage website votefortheworst.com More»