Yes, a very generous gift indeed! =) Five weeks ago, when Scott MacIntyre got booted from American Idol, Paula Abdul told him: “I have a wonderful surprise for you in a couple of weeks.” And last Friday, the surprise gift was finally given and it was a guide dog from Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, California! Niiice! Scott walked — or “test drove” as he joked — two of the organization’s Labrador retrievers but he won’t get his dog until after the American Idol tour ends on September 15.

According to reports, Scott MacIntyre was invited to perform in a National Guide Dog Month event and that’s where Paula Abdul surprised him. The singer said, “Are you serious? Thank you so much!” when told about the gift. After the American Idol tour, Scott will get matched up with the right pooch for him and go through a 28-day training process. Paula joked: “We have to find a dog that really likes loud music.”

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Well, not officially but if you judge by the way the American Idol’s finalist’s hometown prepared for his homecoming, it sure looks like it’s his official day! =) Downtown businesses had their windows painted in support for Kris Allen and Conway-themed streetlight banners read “Conway, Home of Kris Allen.” At the University of Central Arkansas, a line stretched as fans waited for the guitar-playing singer to perform. Sam Pucik, a Conway student, said they have all followed “American Idol” very closely. He shared:

“We got really into it! Last Tuesday night I pretty much sat down at my desk and, while I was studying for my final, I had the speakerphone on, and I was voting constantly. We are extremely excited. It’s not so much about seeing him perform a whole bunch of songs … I’m from Conway, so seeing someone from Conway become an ‘American Idol’ is inspiring.”

Conway fans got their first glimpse of Kris Allen on the stage at Reynolds Performance Hall. They screamed loudly as they welcomed him to the stage and as he said, “Thanks for coming! I don’t even know what to say you guys are awesome.” Since he was only singing one song, he let the fans choose and they went for “Ain’t No Sunshine.” After performing, the audience began to chant, “one more song!” Kris Allen obliged and this time sang “Falling Slowly”. After his performance, he went onto a parade on Oak Street and another performance on First Street plus tons more activities! Kris Allen sure was busy!

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One of the perks of being the Top 3 finalists in American Idol is that is that you get to your hometown for a day of celebrations! And the lucky 3 who will have hometown parades are Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. Let’s start with Kris Allen: his hometown is Conway, Arkansas. He apparently has three mini-concertin Little Rock and Conway, and of course the much-awaited parade =) Next up is Danny Gokey who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He’s scheduled to throw out the first pitch and sing the National Anthem before the Brewers-Cubs baseball game. Awesome! And last, but not the least, Adam Lambert who’s from San Diego. He will apparently greet Marines, sailors and their families this afternoon at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. For more info, latest news and videos, check your local FOX station. And of course, watch out for their special days on Tuesday’s episode of American Idol! ^_^

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The four “American Idol” judges told the red-haired teen she should have chosen another song last Tuesday’s performance night. They have also been lukewarm about Allison Iraheta’s rock-inspired outfits despite unanimous praise for her vocal talents. But the seventeen year old said on Thursday she wouldn’t change a thing about her performances on the TV talent show and was glad she had stayed true to herself — song choice, hair and outfits notwithstanding. Allison Iraheta said she was proud of the decision to sing the Janis Joplin song “Cry Baby” in this week’s Rock n Roll theme.

She told journalists: “I really do not regret doing that song…It’s about me just feeling it and enjoying what I was doing, and having fun. I liked the fact that they said I was very different. I stayed true to myself. There was a lot of risks I took in terms of dress etc…Being in the bottom three a few times did not make me change anything. But I feel like I did pretty good and I am pretty proud of myself.” We’re proud of you too gurl!! Allison Iraheta’s elimination leaves Kris Allen, Danny Gokey and Adam Lambert as the last three standing to compete for the “American Idol” 2009 title.

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Adam Lambert was once again in the “bottom three” after Kris Allen was told first he was safe. Ryan Seacrest, however, clarified that he was calling the safe finalists in no particular order. Phew! For a minute there I thought Adam will once again be in the bottom two like last time. And to think over 64 million votes were cast!! I’m sure more than half of that went to Adam, LOL! Anyhoo, a brief recap: Paula Abdul performed on American Idol for the first time as she debuted her new single, “I’m Just Here for the Music.” Then the reunited ska-rockers No Doubt performed. They sang one of their biggest hits, “Just a Girl” and announced that they’re going on tour. The night’s final performance was from season 5 fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry, who debuted the first single from his band’s second album, the melodic, midtempo rocker “No Surprise.”

After the three performances, Ryan Seacrest moved on to business. Kris Allen earlier got the first safe and with six minutes left in the show, Ryan said Adam Lambert was safe. Left were Danny Gokey and Allison Iraheta in a heart-thumping moment of uncertainty. Then Danny was deemed safe despite his shoddy performance the night before. That left Allison — and she took the news like a pro — laughing a bit, shedding a few tears, pumping her fist and soaking in her final few moments on the American Idol stage. Keep the faith gurl!

WATCH THE ENTIRE AMERICAN IDOL EPISODE 36 HERE!

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It was another historic night for American Idol — the show’s first contestants’ duet debuted to wild acclaim! =) This week’s guest mentor was rock superstar Slash. The most surprising thing about him was that he was lucid and was actually giving good pointers to the top 4! Anyway, here’s a quick recap: Adam Lambert kicked off the night with “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin. He sang it in its original entirety and nailed it to the audience and judges’ delight. Allison Iraheta performed Janis Joplin’s screaming “Cry Baby”. She got mixed reviews from the four judges.

Next up was Kris Allen and Danny Gokey’s duet on “Renegade”. They were awesome!! Simon Cowell thought Danny sang better. Then Kris Allen performed the Beatles’ “Come Together”. The judges skewered his performance but personally I thought it was amazing! Kris isn’t a rocker so it was a surprise he managed to perform well =) Last was Danny Gokey who did Aerosmith’s “Dream On”. The highlight was whether he will hit the famous last note — he did but sounded like a wailing cat! LOL! The judges gave him A+ for courage

WATCH THE VIDEOS HERE!

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He’s been compared to Justin Timberlake but going the pop route isn’t his way. Matt Giraud recently shared that he hopes to go on and do a “soulful rock” album, putting “a twist of blues” on it. The American Idol finalist also mentioned the Fray and Gavin DeGraw as artists he’d like to emulate. Matt Giraud also shared that his best moment was when he received the save from the judges. He said,

“I never felt so much love in a room before. It was a really cool feeling. It was probably one of the coolest moments in my life. It made me feel real special, and I hope people think that it was worth it. I didn’t know people felt that passionately about me. One of the security guards told me he’d never heard the room get so loud, and it means a lot to hear something like that from someone behind the scenes, because they’ve heard it all.”

Another American Idol highlight for Matt Giraud was working with Smokey Robinson during this season’s Motown-themed week. He shared, “To sit there and sing a song for (Robinson) on the piano, have him tell me Marvin Gaye would have been proud to hear that version (of “Let’s Get It On”), you don’t get told that every day as a musician. I’ll never forget that.” As for bowing out of American Idol, he says: “It was a great way to go out, because going out with Simon calling you brilliant and comparing you to Nat ‘King’ Cole is pretty much the best way to go.”

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