American Idol season 8 episode 23 is one of the best AI episode I’ve ever seen! Everybody was awesome and the Motown songs were rockin’ good! ^_^ Smokey Robinson (this week’s mentor) and Berry Gordy Jr. watched from the front row as the Top 10 singers performed. Adam Lambert sang an acoustic “The Tracks of My Tears” while Allison Iraheta gave her amazing rendition of “Papa Was a Rolling Stone.” Anoop Desai was sexxxay with “Ooh Baby Baby” while Megan Joy Corkrey gave a unique take on “For Once in My Life.” Lil Rounds provided the truest Motown vibe with “Heat Wave” while Kris Allen, accompanying himself with acoustic guitar, sang “How Sweet It Is (to Be Loved By You). Matt Giraud was also sexy with “Let’s Get it On” while Michael Sarver performed Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”

WATCH THE WHOLE SHOW HERE!

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It’s the least he could for preempting the popular show once again, LOL! Yes, American Idol fanatics, there’s no show today! Motown week will begin tomorrow.. At least that’s more time for the Top 10 finalists to practice their songs =) Anyway, according to digitalspy.com, Simon Cowell told Absolute Radio that “we’re trying to get (President Barack Obama) to do a show at the moment.” If you watched Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” last week, Mr Cowell received a mention from the commander in chief. He related,

“(The president) was on the ‘Tonight Show’ talking about how everyone in Washington is a critic. And then he said, ‘Unfortunately, they’re all like Simon Cowell.’ I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or not.”

It’s NOT a compliment Simon! LOL! But being a sport, the sour-faced judge just said that the president “a really cool guy.” Oh well, I hope you can get President Obama on American Idol — that would really be cool!

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No worries, it’s not about our fave Top 10 finalists =) The sour news is that three former employees of American Idol have filed a big class-action lawsuit against the show’s producer FremantleMedia North America, claiming that they were told to work overtime without overtime pay, as well as sign off on fictional time cards. The suit contends workers had to work 10, 12 and even 20-hour days six or seven days a week, sometimes without meals or other breaks. That just sounds horrible! Simon Cowell, do something about this!!

This is not the first time that reality TV show workers have complained about being overworked and underpaid, and/or sought legal action. The Writers Guild of America recently settled two class-action lawsuits for $4 million for many similar problems. The suits were filed in 2005. Also, there have been complaints about American Idol before. Last summer, the Writers Guild of America did a month-long publicity campaign against Fremantle, holding protests around the country outside the show’s auditions. A Fremantle spokesman had no comment.

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Kris Allen
He is quite involved in his church and has been a worship leader plus a missionary overseas. Awesome!! =) More secrets: Kris taught himself to play the guitar at 13 and can also play the piano, viola and ukulele. His wife Katy and him are childhood sweethearts. Aw shucks! ^_^

Matt Giraud
His nickname as a kid was “White Chocolate.” And why is that? Matt Giraud explains: “I was like one of the only lighter kids in the gospel choir in Detroit. They used to call me White Chocolate ’cause I learned to sing like that, and I love that type of music. You know, I sang that soul type of stuff, that church music.” He cites gospel singer Kirk Franklin among his music influences.

Danny Gokey
We all know that his wife Sofia dying after heart surgery just four weeks before his audition. But did you know he set up a foundation in her name called Sophia’s Heart? Its mission: “We exist to help mend and heal the hearts of children who have been touched by poverty, sickness disease, broken families and broken dreams.” Danny Gokey also blogged in the foundation’s website about how important it is “let go” after harmful life events:

“Letting go doesn’t mean forgetting about Sophia but does mean releasing the toxic emotions tied to the situation. However, I can tell you today that I am able to enjoy life more and I’m grabbing hold of new opportunities that would have otherwise been lost. I’m not buried in my bed under my sheets at home being angry at the world and God, but I’m in the stages of healing because my heart is not bound by resentment.”

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Her elimination silenced the rumors that America’s most popular show is rigged, after all Alexis Grace was one of the judges’ favorites. America loved her too but unfortunately, after her “Jolene” performance, the public grew disenchanted. The judges also didn’t save Alexis Grace with the new American Idol twist called “Judges’ Save” so it was really bye-bye for her. On hindsight, the spunky singer thought that if she had been given the chance to use any of her previous performance and not just her latest, she could have been saved.

Alexis Grace shared, “I’m going to be honest — I think it could have [made a difference]. If sang the first song that I sang, ‘Never Loved a Man,’ maybe I’d still be there. Jolene’ is a beautiful song and I loved to sing it; I just don’t think it was [the judges'] favorite performance [of mine]. I didn’t really get to … remind them why they picked me, or why America picked me … I probably would have chosen a different song.”

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Country singer Randy Travis, who was this week’s guest mentor, said during performance night about the Top 11 group: “Probably as strong a group in the years that I have been watching ‘American Idol’.” Personally this year’s finalists are the best ones yet. However, someone will be eliminated, talented or not. So who got eliminated? WATCH THE AMERICAN IDOL VIDEOS HERE!

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Grand Ole Opry = Country Music — can you imagine flamboyant Adam Lambert singing a country song?? LOL! For sure country lovin’ American Idol contestants are excited about this week while the R&B singers and rockers are dreading it. For this week, Randy Travis was on hand to offer advice to the singers, and most of them were star-struck about having a one-on-one with him. I WOULD BE! Here are the Idol performances:

-Michael Sarver sang “Ain’t Goin’ Down Til the Sun Comes Up” and did a pretty good job with it.
-Allison Iraheta sang “Blame It On Your Heart” — Paula Abdul called it a rock-solid performance.
-Kris Allen sang “To Make You Feel My Love” and miraculously, Simon Cowell said it was “terrific,” a good song choice.
-Lil Rounds sang “Independence Day” from Martina McBride and Randy Jackson said it didn’t feel comfortable to him.
-Adam Lambert gave a unique take on “Ring of Fire” and Kara DioGuardi said the version was a little strange, but she liked it because she got the drama and the “eyes.”
-Scott Macintyre sang “Wild Angels” which impressed Paula, though she wondered if he was using the piano as a crutch.
-Alexis Grace sang “Jolene” and Randy said it was a little pitchy and not a great performance.
-Danny Gokey sang “Jesus Take the Wheel” to which Kara said he came out of his shell in the second half.
-Anoop Desai sang “Always On My Mind” and Simon he went from zero to hero, adding that it’s one of his favorite performances of the night.
-Megan Joy Corkrey sang “Walkin’ After Midnight” and it was awesome though she had a flu! WOW!
-Matt Giraud sang “So Small” and played the piano while singing to which Kara called it amazing,

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE PERFORMANCES

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