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American Idol 9: Ashley Rodriguez, Janell Wheeler Talk Elimination


Two of American Idol 9’s latest outcasts sat down with Friday morning to talk about being eliminated from the show.

Janell Wheeler and Ashley Rodriguez managed to handle themselves with grace following their sad Thursday results, and remained in good spirits while they chatted up the host in their joint interview. Both plan to continue with their musical careers, and have no hard feelings toward the show. As Ashley Rodriguez philosophically offers in the clip above, “everything happens for a reason.”

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American Idol 9: First Eliminations

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


Each of American Idol’s had just one chance, over two performance nights, to grab the nation’s attention. Which four out of this group failed at the endeavor? Only Thursday’s elimination round would yield the answer.

Ryan Seacrest started with Simon Cowell, saying that “people were buzzing” about Simon being “harsh” during . Perhaps if the show hadn’t been so terrible, his comment would have been more enthusiastic. “Some of the performance last night weren’t very good,” he explained to the host.

“There were some surprises,” Ellen DeGeneres said of her first week of truly judging Idol. “They gotta step it up now,” she said of the contestants.

“It’s really make it or break it time,” Randy Jackson explained.

The Top 24 performed “American Boy,” the only group performance they will have to offer. By the time the group performs again, they’ll be minus four contenders. The number started out with the girl contestants, who managed to perform ably (surprisingly so). The men didn’t sound as great, and when all twenty-four began to sing together the number really became horrible. Such is usually the way with Idol’s big group numbers. Once the Idols are narrowed down to twelve, the group numbers become much, much better.

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American Idol 9: Top 24 Revealed


American Idol 9’s Hollywood session finally came to close Wednesday night, when the remaining members of the season’s Top 24 contenders was slowly, painfully revealed. How close is the reality to the that were released weeks and weeks ago? There’s only one way to find out.

Michael Lynche, Aaron Kelly, Didi Benami, Casey James, Todrick Hall, Lee Dewyze and Katelyn Epperly were all revealed as Top 24 contestants at the end of Tuesday’s two-hour . Wednesday would narrow the remaining 37 would-be Idols down to a mere 17.

Janelle Wheeler was the first to be featured on the episode. The pretty blonde auditioned in Orlando and won her shot to Hollywood on a split decision from the judges. Wheeler was disappointed in her final solo performance in Hollywood, admitting that she “couldn’t take the pressure” once it was all over. led Wheeler’s interview. “It’s hard to tell somebody that has a great voice that they’re not going to go through,” she said, then surprised Janelle by giving her the good news - Wheeler is indeed in the Top 24.

Tyler Grady, who has something of a Jim Morrison vibe, was the next to face the judging panel. Kara DioGuardi remarked on his 70s-ish performance style, then smilingly welcomed him into Top 24.

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American Idol 9: Group Night


It’s group night in Hollywood, which is always a drama-filled festival filled with massive amounts of tears, screaming…and some singing, too. It’s likely the best episode of , and what a pity it comes so early in the season.

Group night is about performance and showmanship, and some singers are more apt to bring that than others. The most talented performers often find each other, as was once the case with Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh, Rudy Cárdenas and Tom Low in Season 6. It’s the task of every group to choose a number, assign parts and work out some choreography. Naturally, some are more successful than others, but those with real chops usually manage to come out of group night unscathed.

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American Idol 9:  Hollywood Week Begins

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


We’ve sat through seven audition cities and eight weeks of watching singers vie for their chance to compete on . On Tuesday, this patience was finally rewarded with the beginning of Hollywood Week. This grueling round of auditions is always filled with drama, despair and dashed dreams. In other words, it’s tons of fun.

Tuesday’s opening Hollywood Week episode was the first to feature now-permanent panelist , who was called to serve on Idol when Fremantle and Paula Abdul could not come to terms on Abdul’s contract. The Idol wannabes gathered at the Kodak Theater, as per show tradition. One hundred and eighty-one contenders arrived from all over America and all walks of life to sing, cry and perhaps watch their dearest dreams come true. But the road to fame is not easy. As one contestant observed, “there’s hundreds of people here, and I have to stand out.”

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American Idol 9’s Top 24: Spoiler List Updated!

American Idol logo

We’ve the Top 24 contenders who will scrape past Hollywood Week on American Idol 9. Now, thanks to new sources, the list has been updated—and we have no reason to believe it’s not completely accurate.

Keep reading to see the names. One of them is the next American Idol.

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Read More | Vote for the Worst

American Idol 9: Orlando Auditions


Orlando was the host city, so started Wednesday’s audition episode with footage of an actual rocket launch. How many careers will the show launch - or even end - this year? That knowledge is many months away, so for now let’s just focus on a bunch of bad singers…and, a few great ones.

Ten thousand turned up to sing for the judges in Florida, but the men of Idol (Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson) were more than two hundred miles away in Miami. Meanwhile, Kara DioGuardi and guest judge Kristen Chenoweth arrived in the sunny audition city.

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Spoiling American Idol 9’s Top 24

Ben Honeycutt

It’s fun to watch hours and hours of audition footage on , sure…but wouldn’t it be more fun if you already knew which singers will be moving on to Hollywood and beyond?

If you want to know twenty of the twenty-four hopefuls who will eventually sing on the big Idol stage after they breeze through Hollywood Week, keep reading. If you’d rather wait several more weeks until the show reveals things in its own way, turn back now.

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Read More | Vote for the Worst

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