Adam Lambert's dance around his sexuality frustrates the blogosphere

"American Idol" may have ended last Wednesday with the coronation of Kris Allen, but the "Idol" news cycle continues. And since one controversy wasn't enough this week, the specious voting story (that is, whether AT&T unfairly tilted the final vote toward Allen) has been replaced by an increasingly loud call for Adam Lambert to come out as gay.

Toward the beginning of the "Idol" season, photos of Lambert kissing another man and appearing in drag leaked onto the Internet. But without any declarations from Lambert himself, the mainstream media found itself confusedly trying to describe his sexuality in a way that does not happen with seemingly straight celebrities. As Frank Rich wrote in his column Sunday, "Lambert was 'widely assumed to be gay' (Entertainment Weekly), 'seemingly gay' (The Times) and 'flam-bam-boyantly queeny' (Rolling Stone)."

Such linguistic pretzels about how to describe people who appear to be living out gay lives or having same-sex relationships have become increasingly familiar to anyone who paid attention to the Lindsay Lohan/Samantha Ronson saga over the last year.

But with Lambert, now that the competition is over, the blogosphere wants concrete answers. And unsurprisingly, that campaign is being led by Perez Hilton, who has called Lambert "publicly closeted," and written that "Right now, we need VISIBILITY, not ambiguity!"

But has the delay in any "yep, I'm gay" proclamations from Lambert been a result of an exclusive interview agreement with Rolling Stone, not because he's actually trying to hide anything?

Page Six reported this today:

"AMERICAN Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert has steadfastly refused to talk about his sexuality despite photos of him on his Web site tongue-kissing men and dressed in full drag -- but not for much longer. A well-placed magazine source tells Page Six that Lambert will be coming out officially on the next cover of Rolling Stone."

(For the record, a Lambert representative would not confirm that to be true -- but multiple other sources did, and Vanessa Grigoriadis, a Rolling Stone reporter, was seen at the "Idol" finale.)

And so it is that Lambert has gotten caught up in the competitive world of celebrity journalism where personal admissions are commodities to be peddled.

But there are wildly different markets for such fodder. On one side, there are mainstream print outlets, most of which still have conservative standards for language and verification, vying for exclusives; on the other, there are the blogs that can post things quickly and without confirmation, and are therefore often first, regardless of whether they are sometimes factually wrong.

Which leaves Lambert in a netherworld of ambiguity until the next Rolling Stone is published. In an interview he did with People.com, put up on the site on Wednesday, contained this tease within it: "So to those who speculate about his sexuality, he has a message. 'Calm down,' he says, and 'keep speculating.' "

But Hilton doesn't want to calm down. In an interview over IM, he wrote that he met Lambert toward the end of "Idol," and Lambert told him "he was going to 'do right' by the gay community once the show was over."

"Well," Hilton continued. "I'm waiting Adam Lambert! The only person he's been doing 'right' by is himself. The fact that he's gay, which he is, that's not a big deal. But he's making it into a big deal by dancing around it and mocking the issue."

Complicating the issue even further is Kara DioGuardi's Friday appearance on "The View." When asked by the ladies of the show whether Lambert would come out soon, DioGuardi responded by saying, "I don't think that Adam was ever in -- I think he was always openly out."

Barbara Walters then pressed her about whether Lambert is gay, and DioGuardi said: "I never thought he wasn't."

DioGuardi not only knows Lambert personally and professionally, but in this case, she also appears to be standing on firm logical ground. Yet, the "View" interview has set off another round of fireworks about whether she "outed" Lambert.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about Lambert's persistent coyness about his sexual orientation," wrote Kerrie Mitchell on EW.com. "I'm pretty sure though that Kara DioGuardi isn't really the person who needs to weigh in about it."

But why not? If Lambert chooses not to discuss the question, or to delay the question, does that mean that people who know him should also be silent? And how should the mainstream media treat these sorts circumstances?

Let us know what you think.

-- Kate Aurthur

Big night of TV on Tuesday. Here's your ratings quick fix:

The Adam Lambert-Kris Allen final performance episode of "American Idol" delivered 23 million overall viewers and a night-leading 18-49 rating (8.3/24). Tally is down slightly from last year's 27 million for the penultimate episode.

On ABC, the two-hour finale of "Dancing with the Stars," which saw Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson take the crown, averaged 20 million overall, building 15% in its second half (peaking at 21.6 in the 10 p.m. hour). That's on par with the audience who watched last season's November ender (20.6 million).

Up against "Dancing" at 9, the premiere of Fox's "Glee" hung on to a little less than half of its "Idol" lead-in, averaging 10.7 million total (4.3/11 in 18-49). Less encouraging: The show experienced a 28% fall-off in its second half-hour.

A rep for Fox said the network is happy with the numbers; Fox considers Tuesday's "Glee" airing "a sneak preview" of the show's official fall launch.

News was better for CBS' season finales of "NCIS," which scored 16.1 million (3.3/10) against "Idol" at 8, and "The Mentalist," with 16.8 million (3.7/10) against "Dancing" at 9.

The season finale of The CW's "90210" drew 2.1 million (1.1/3) at 9.

Fox won the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.

-- Denise Martin

The two-hour season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance" doesn't air until Thursday May 21 at 8:00 p.m. on FOX, but the dancing will begin May 18--with you!

A dance-off for fans will be held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live downtown Los Angeles Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Prizes include "American Idol" finale tickets as well as "So You Think You Can Dance" tickets and more. Nigel Lythgoe, Cat Deeley, Adam Shankman, Mandy Moore and past season finalists will be in attendance.

If you think you can dance, join the competition! Registration opens at 2:00 p.m.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

The "American Idol" personality is largely id-driven: The pleasures the talent show offers are immediate, whether a singer soars or sinks. And the show around the show can yield even more merriment, as it spews out a ceaseless stream of news/gossip generated by the contestants' biographical details, the judges' antics, behind-the-scenes backstabbing that may or may not be fictional and, often least important, discussion of the results of the actual singing competition.

But Kara DioGuardi -- who became the show's fourth judge this season in the most visible manifestation of its much-hyped tweaks -- is all superego. And her weekly critiques, delivered live on Fox before an average audience of 26 million viewers, tend to weigh heavily on her mind.

"It wakes me up at night," DioGuardi said the day after a performance show. "Can you imagine? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought, 'I've got to look at those performances. Did I clock that one wrong? Why didn't I say that? I could have been more supportive.' "

So as Season 8 draws to a close Wednesday, the question rises: Will the union of DioGuardi, the thriving songwriter, and "American Idol," the only massively popular television show, last?

Read more Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

Click here to hear Kara sing.

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Anyone who has watched "American Idol" -- even for 10 minutes -- has heard the judges nattering on about the importance of song choice.

But it's an indescribable critique, right? Because would we have thought, if asked, that Kris Allen singing Kanye West's "Heartless" was a good idea? No, we would not. And yet, it seems that it propelled him into the finale.

So we posed the question of what makes the right song choice to one who should have an answer: a judge, Kara DioGuardi. This was part of an interview for story about DioGuardi coming to the cover of this Sunday's Calendar, which has been posted on latimes.com today. 

Not a word of this part of the discussion made it into the story -- which is about DioGuardi's experience of this season. But considering that she actually did have an answer, and that it actually made sense, made us want to share it with you.

Also? She sings a bunch in order to explain -- and that was a new experience. Listen below, and enjoy.

-- Kate Aurthur

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From the moment the Singing Souls dived into "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence, it was clear Simon Cowell wasn't pleased. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to weigh in with his verdict.

"One of the worst groups I've ever heard in my life," he told the young women, with characteristic hyperbole. "Girls, you sounded like three cats being dragged up the motor way."

Hannah, the most aggressive of the group members, barked back, as dismissed contestants often do. But rather than get flustered, Simon met her anger with charm. When she petulantly stuck out her tongue at him, he playfully stuck his tongue out right back: You can't out-brat the brat.

By the time Singing Souls left the stage, Simon was smiling like crazy, barely containing deep belly laughs. Which raises the question: Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Cowell?

Read more Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

(Photo courtesy ITV)

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

'American Idol' dominates, but is down; 'Glee' loses more than half of 'Idol' audience; CBS and 'Dancing With the Stars' finale solid

Big night of TV on Tuesday. Here's your ratings quick fix:

The Adam Lambert-Kris Allen final performance episode of "American Idol" delivered 23 million overall viewers and a night-leading 18-49 rating (8.3/24). Tally is down slightly from last year's 27 million for the penultimate episode.

On ABC, the two-hour finale of "Dancing with the Stars," which saw Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson take the crown, averaged 20 million overall, building 15% in its second half (peaking at 21.6 in the 10 p.m. hour). That's on par with the audience who watched last season's November ender (20.6 million).

Up against "Dancing" at 9, the premiere of Fox's "Glee" hung on to a little less than half of its "Idol" lead-in, averaging 10.7 million total (4.3/11 in 18-49). Less encouraging: The show experienced a 28% fall-off in its second half-hour.

A rep for Fox said the network is happy with the numbers; Fox considers Tuesday's "Glee" airing "a sneak preview" of the show's official fall launch.

News was better for CBS' season finales of "NCIS," which scored 16.1 million (3.3/10) against "Idol" at 8, and "The Mentalist," with 16.8 million (3.7/10) against "Dancing" at 9.

The season finale of The CW's "90210" drew 2.1 million (1.1/3) at 9.

Fox won the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.

-- Denise Martin

The two-hour season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance" doesn't air until Thursday May 21 at 8:00 p.m. on FOX, but the dancing will begin May 18--with you!

A dance-off for fans will be held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live downtown Los Angeles Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Prizes include "American Idol" finale tickets as well as "So You Think You Can Dance" tickets and more. Nigel Lythgoe, Cat Deeley, Adam Shankman, Mandy Moore and past season finalists will be in attendance.

If you think you can dance, join the competition! Registration opens at 2:00 p.m.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

The "American Idol" personality is largely id-driven: The pleasures the talent show offers are immediate, whether a singer soars or sinks. And the show around the show can yield even more merriment, as it spews out a ceaseless stream of news/gossip generated by the contestants' biographical details, the judges' antics, behind-the-scenes backstabbing that may or may not be fictional and, often least important, discussion of the results of the actual singing competition.

But Kara DioGuardi -- who became the show's fourth judge this season in the most visible manifestation of its much-hyped tweaks -- is all superego. And her weekly critiques, delivered live on Fox before an average audience of 26 million viewers, tend to weigh heavily on her mind.

"It wakes me up at night," DioGuardi said the day after a performance show. "Can you imagine? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought, 'I've got to look at those performances. Did I clock that one wrong? Why didn't I say that? I could have been more supportive.' "

So as Season 8 draws to a close Wednesday, the question rises: Will the union of DioGuardi, the thriving songwriter, and "American Idol," the only massively popular television show, last?

Read more Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

Click here to hear Kara sing.

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Anyone who has watched "American Idol" -- even for 10 minutes -- has heard the judges nattering on about the importance of song choice.

But it's an indescribable critique, right? Because would we have thought, if asked, that Kris Allen singing Kanye West's "Heartless" was a good idea? No, we would not. And yet, it seems that it propelled him into the finale.

So we posed the question of what makes the right song choice to one who should have an answer: a judge, Kara DioGuardi. This was part of an interview for story about DioGuardi coming to the cover of this Sunday's Calendar, which has been posted on latimes.com today. 

Not a word of this part of the discussion made it into the story -- which is about DioGuardi's experience of this season. But considering that she actually did have an answer, and that it actually made sense, made us want to share it with you.

Also? She sings a bunch in order to explain -- and that was a new experience. Listen below, and enjoy.

-- Kate Aurthur

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From the moment the Singing Souls dived into "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence, it was clear Simon Cowell wasn't pleased. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to weigh in with his verdict.

"One of the worst groups I've ever heard in my life," he told the young women, with characteristic hyperbole. "Girls, you sounded like three cats being dragged up the motor way."

Hannah, the most aggressive of the group members, barked back, as dismissed contestants often do. But rather than get flustered, Simon met her anger with charm. When she petulantly stuck out her tongue at him, he playfully stuck his tongue out right back: You can't out-brat the brat.

By the time Singing Souls left the stage, Simon was smiling like crazy, barely containing deep belly laughs. Which raises the question: Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Cowell?

Read more Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

(Photo courtesy ITV)

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

"So You Think You Can Dance" dance-off Monday

The two-hour season premiere of "So You Think You Can Dance" doesn't air until Thursday May 21 at 8:00 p.m. on FOX, but the dancing will begin May 18--with you!

A dance-off for fans will be held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live downtown Los Angeles Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Prizes include "American Idol" finale tickets as well as "So You Think You Can Dance" tickets and more. Nigel Lythgoe, Cat Deeley, Adam Shankman, Mandy Moore and past season finalists will be in attendance.

If you think you can dance, join the competition! Registration opens at 2:00 p.m.

-- Leslie Anne Wiggins

The "American Idol" personality is largely id-driven: The pleasures the talent show offers are immediate, whether a singer soars or sinks. And the show around the show can yield even more merriment, as it spews out a ceaseless stream of news/gossip generated by the contestants' biographical details, the judges' antics, behind-the-scenes backstabbing that may or may not be fictional and, often least important, discussion of the results of the actual singing competition.

But Kara DioGuardi -- who became the show's fourth judge this season in the most visible manifestation of its much-hyped tweaks -- is all superego. And her weekly critiques, delivered live on Fox before an average audience of 26 million viewers, tend to weigh heavily on her mind.

"It wakes me up at night," DioGuardi said the day after a performance show. "Can you imagine? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought, 'I've got to look at those performances. Did I clock that one wrong? Why didn't I say that? I could have been more supportive.' "

So as Season 8 draws to a close Wednesday, the question rises: Will the union of DioGuardi, the thriving songwriter, and "American Idol," the only massively popular television show, last?

Read more Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

Click here to hear Kara sing.

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Anyone who has watched "American Idol" -- even for 10 minutes -- has heard the judges nattering on about the importance of song choice.

But it's an indescribable critique, right? Because would we have thought, if asked, that Kris Allen singing Kanye West's "Heartless" was a good idea? No, we would not. And yet, it seems that it propelled him into the finale.

So we posed the question of what makes the right song choice to one who should have an answer: a judge, Kara DioGuardi. This was part of an interview for story about DioGuardi coming to the cover of this Sunday's Calendar, which has been posted on latimes.com today. 

Not a word of this part of the discussion made it into the story -- which is about DioGuardi's experience of this season. But considering that she actually did have an answer, and that it actually made sense, made us want to share it with you.

Also? She sings a bunch in order to explain -- and that was a new experience. Listen below, and enjoy.

-- Kate Aurthur

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From the moment the Singing Souls dived into "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence, it was clear Simon Cowell wasn't pleased. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to weigh in with his verdict.

"One of the worst groups I've ever heard in my life," he told the young women, with characteristic hyperbole. "Girls, you sounded like three cats being dragged up the motor way."

Hannah, the most aggressive of the group members, barked back, as dismissed contestants often do. But rather than get flustered, Simon met her anger with charm. When she petulantly stuck out her tongue at him, he playfully stuck his tongue out right back: You can't out-brat the brat.

By the time Singing Souls left the stage, Simon was smiling like crazy, barely containing deep belly laughs. Which raises the question: Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Cowell?

Read more Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

(Photo courtesy ITV)

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

The "American Idol" personality is largely id-driven: The pleasures the talent show offers are immediate, whether a singer soars or sinks. And the show around the show can yield even more merriment, as it spews out a ceaseless stream of news/gossip generated by the contestants' biographical details, the judges' antics, behind-the-scenes backstabbing that may or may not be fictional and, often least important, discussion of the results of the actual singing competition.

But Kara DioGuardi -- who became the show's fourth judge this season in the most visible manifestation of its much-hyped tweaks -- is all superego. And her weekly critiques, delivered live on Fox before an average audience of 26 million viewers, tend to weigh heavily on her mind.

"It wakes me up at night," DioGuardi said the day after a performance show. "Can you imagine? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and I thought, 'I've got to look at those performances. Did I clock that one wrong? Why didn't I say that? I could have been more supportive.' "

So as Season 8 draws to a close Wednesday, the question rises: Will the union of DioGuardi, the thriving songwriter, and "American Idol," the only massively popular television show, last?

Read more Kara DioGuardi warms to the hot seat

Click here to hear Kara sing.

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Anyone who has watched "American Idol" -- even for 10 minutes -- has heard the judges nattering on about the importance of song choice.

But it's an indescribable critique, right? Because would we have thought, if asked, that Kris Allen singing Kanye West's "Heartless" was a good idea? No, we would not. And yet, it seems that it propelled him into the finale.

So we posed the question of what makes the right song choice to one who should have an answer: a judge, Kara DioGuardi. This was part of an interview for story about DioGuardi coming to the cover of this Sunday's Calendar, which has been posted on latimes.com today. 

Not a word of this part of the discussion made it into the story -- which is about DioGuardi's experience of this season. But considering that she actually did have an answer, and that it actually made sense, made us want to share it with you.

Also? She sings a bunch in order to explain -- and that was a new experience. Listen below, and enjoy.

-- Kate Aurthur

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From the moment the Singing Souls dived into "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence, it was clear Simon Cowell wasn't pleased. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to weigh in with his verdict.

"One of the worst groups I've ever heard in my life," he told the young women, with characteristic hyperbole. "Girls, you sounded like three cats being dragged up the motor way."

Hannah, the most aggressive of the group members, barked back, as dismissed contestants often do. But rather than get flustered, Simon met her anger with charm. When she petulantly stuck out her tongue at him, he playfully stuck his tongue out right back: You can't out-brat the brat.

By the time Singing Souls left the stage, Simon was smiling like crazy, barely containing deep belly laughs. Which raises the question: Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Cowell?

Read more Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

(Photo courtesy ITV)

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

Kara DioGuardi sings about song choice

Anyone who has watched "American Idol" -- even for 10 minutes -- has heard the judges nattering on about the importance of song choice.

But it's an indescribable critique, right? Because would we have thought, if asked, that Kris Allen singing Kanye West's "Heartless" was a good idea? No, we would not. And yet, it seems that it propelled him into the finale.

So we posed the question of what makes the right song choice to one who should have an answer: a judge, Kara DioGuardi. This was part of an interview for story about DioGuardi coming to the cover of this Sunday's Calendar, which has been posted on latimes.com today. 

Not a word of this part of the discussion made it into the story -- which is about DioGuardi's experience of this season. But considering that she actually did have an answer, and that it actually made sense, made us want to share it with you.

Also? She sings a bunch in order to explain -- and that was a new experience. Listen below, and enjoy.

-- Kate Aurthur

(Photo by Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From the moment the Singing Souls dived into "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence, it was clear Simon Cowell wasn't pleased. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to weigh in with his verdict.

"One of the worst groups I've ever heard in my life," he told the young women, with characteristic hyperbole. "Girls, you sounded like three cats being dragged up the motor way."

Hannah, the most aggressive of the group members, barked back, as dismissed contestants often do. But rather than get flustered, Simon met her anger with charm. When she petulantly stuck out her tongue at him, he playfully stuck his tongue out right back: You can't out-brat the brat.

By the time Singing Souls left the stage, Simon was smiling like crazy, barely containing deep belly laughs. Which raises the question: Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Cowell?

Read more Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

(Photo courtesy ITV)

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

From the moment the Singing Souls dived into "Taking Over Me" by Evanescence, it was clear Simon Cowell wasn't pleased. It didn't take more than a few seconds for him to weigh in with his verdict.

"One of the worst groups I've ever heard in my life," he told the young women, with characteristic hyperbole. "Girls, you sounded like three cats being dragged up the motor way."

Hannah, the most aggressive of the group members, barked back, as dismissed contestants often do. But rather than get flustered, Simon met her anger with charm. When she petulantly stuck out her tongue at him, he playfully stuck his tongue out right back: You can't out-brat the brat.

By the time Singing Souls left the stage, Simon was smiling like crazy, barely containing deep belly laughs. Which raises the question: Who are you, and what have you done with Simon Cowell?

Read more Simon Cowell saves his nice side for British audiences

(Photo courtesy ITV)

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

Is 'American Idol' bigger than Obama?

Fox has decided not to risk interrupting its live broadcast of "American Idol" on Wednesday and will not air President Obama's press conference.

For the story, go to our "Idol" sister blog, here.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

'Idol' can live with softening ratings

When the producers of "American Idol" announced the addition of a fourth judge as well as various other tweaks this season, the Fox network cautioned that it didn't expect the moves to reverse the ratings declines for TV's No. 1 show.

And they haven't.

Through five weeks, Season 8 of "Idol" has slipped 8% compared with last season to 26.8 million total viewers and is down 14% in the advertiser-friendly demographic adults ages 18 to 49, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

In fact, among adults under age 50, this is the lowest-rated "Idol" (10.6 rating for the Tuesday episodes) since the first season back in summer 2002 (4.9 rating).

Read the full story here.

-- Scott Collins

(Photo: "Bikini Girl" Katrina Darrell, 20, performs in "Hollywood." Credit: Michael Becker / Fox)

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

'American Idol' Daily: We're moving!

There comes a time when all little blogs must spread their wings and take flight ... or at least move into a bigger nest.  And for the "American Idol" category of Show Tracker, the day has finally come when our feet have gotten too big to fit in here with all the Non-Top-Rated-Shows-in-America.

So starting today we'll be at our new home — a special place for "Idol" fans and foes alike to have all to themselves. Reset your browsers to latimes.com/idoltracker and come visit us over there. Join us all season long for exclusive reports from the Idoldome, insighful music commentary by Ann Powers, hard-nosed reporting by Scott Collins and all the latest buzz wherever it may break from Stephanie Lysaght.

Kicking off the blog today, read my exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the recording studio where the Greatest Performer in "Idol" History, Carly Smithson, prepares for the next step on her journey.

Come visit and watch us grow.

— Richard Rushfield

photo: Fox

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”

'American Idol' producer Ken Warwick admits, 'It got a bit boring'

“Wherever we can, we want to change things up a little bit,” said “American Idol” executive producer Ken Warwick during a conference call with the media this afternoon. During the call, Warwick echoed the sentiments from his exclusive conversation with “Idol” expert Richard Rushfield.

Warwick confirmed that the ninth season of “Idol” will feature a wild card round in which the judges can rescue eliminated contestants. “By the time we got down to the final 8 ... if any of them didn’t have fantastic characters, it got a bit boring,” confessed Warwick. Thus, the wild card round will prevent a group of dullards from highjacking the ninth season.

Warwick was pumped about newly added judge Kara DioGuardi, not only because she helps Paula Abdul stand up to Simon Cowell but also because Kara is "a great singer ... she can — and does — say, ‘You should sing it like this,’ and lets rip.”