Randy Jackson News

It was a little bit country and a little bit rock n' roll as the American Idol Top 6 each performed twice on the Idol stage!

After week's of sagging ratings, Fox's AMERICAN IDOL received a bit of positive news following last night's 'Country/Rock 'n Roll' edition.

After a night of 20th Century Fox cross-promotion, we opened this week's results show with THE FOLLOWING's Kevin Bacon stealing Ryan Seacrest's signature line, "This is American Idol."

On last night's AMERICAN IDOL, the Top 7 selected songs for each other!

Now that AMERICAN IDOL has pared down its finalists to a manageable seven, the producers decided to bust out the most original theme in the show's 13 seasons, “Competitor's Picks.” How it basically works is, Randy Jackson did his only work of the season by playing stenographer as each contestant recommended songs for everyone else in the competition. Randy then handed pieces of paper to all seven remaining finalists, who subsequently picked their song for the week based off of that list.

This week AMERICAN IDOL welcomed back Season XIII's Top-8 for the second week in a row. This time they were mentored by the incredibly professional and discerning David Cook (especially compared to IDOL's 'full-time” mentor, Randy Jackson, who followed Cook around like a lost puppy all night). The Season 7 Champ brought a focused specificity to each performer's rehearsal, and in most cases that resulted in enjoyable performances.

On last night's AMERICAN IDOL, the Top 8 traveled back in time thirty years to bring the nation the best hits from the 80s!

Just as it did last week, tonight's AMERICAN IDOL featured the Top-8 finalists. After an ill-advised use of the sole judge's save, Sam Woolf remained in the competition long enough to be mentored by former IDOL champ David Cook for this week's 80's theme. With the obvious negligence of 'full-time' mentor Randy Jackson, it is staggering to see how much progress can be made with a mentor who is actively engaged in helping the finalists become better singers, performers, and artists.

When last we left our Season XIII AMERICAN IDOL finalists, an uncomfortable amount of confetti was raining down on 17-year-old Sam Woolf, who had survived America's vote by garnering the season's only judge's save. As the show went off the air host Ryan Seacrest informed us that Top-8 Week Part 2 would focus on the songs of the 1980s. Again, first-year Executive Producer Per Blankens has opted to give the contestants an extremely open-ended theme. Thus far, the strategy has proved beneficial for audiences and Idols alike, as both have been exposed to songs outside the normally limited Reality Show set-list.

It was back to the start as the Top 8 contestants took on their original audition songs live in front of America.

Grammy Award-nominated pop star Janelle Monae performed her new single, 'What Is Love,' from the album 'Rio 2: Music from the Motion Picture,'

This week, host Sam Tsui checks in on the contestants and introduces a potential up and coming Idol, Skylar Stecker.

Last night's episode of FOX's AMERICAN IDOL featured the theme 'I'm With the Band,' the Top 9 performed recent and classic hits as the 'lead singers' of Rickey Minor and the American Idol House Band!

Today, the Houston Symphony announced its full lineup for the “Symphony Summer in the City” concert series at Jones Hall in June and July. Focusing on a wide range of recognizable entertainment, these summer programs encourage audiences to experience the live sights and sounds of the orchestra in unique and innovative ways. From movie music, video games and rock-and-roll, to bluegrass and mariachi, there is something for audiences of all ages. Escape the blistering summer heat and enjoy the music of Ben Folds, rePLAY: A Video Game Concert Experience!, the US Premiere of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness– Films with Live Orchestra, Mariachi Cobre, The Music of Led Zeppelin, and Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell. New and renewing subscribers will have exclusive early access to tickets beginning today, Tuesday, March 25. Tickets will be available for purchase to the general public on Tuesday, April 1.[Note: tickets are already on sale to the general public for Ben Folds and Steve Martin, which were announced earlier in the season.]

Today, the Houston Symphony announced its full lineup for the 'Symphony Summer in the City' concert series at Jones Hall in June and July. Focusing on a wide range of recognizable entertainment, these summer programs encourage audiences to experience the live sights and sounds of the orchestra in unique and innovative ways. From movie music, video games and rock-and-roll, to bluegrass and mariachi, there is something for audiences of all ages. Escape the blistering summer heat and enjoy the music of Ben Folds, rePLAY: A Video Game Concert Experience!, the US Premiere of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness - Films with Live Orchestra, Mariachi Cobre, The Music of Led Zeppelin, and Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell. New and renewing subscribers will have exclusive early access to tickets beginning today, Tuesday, March 25. Tickets will be available for purchase to the general public on Tuesday, April 1.

This week, host Sam Tsui checks in on the contestants and catches up on Season 6 fan favorite, Blake Lewis.

DON FELDER--former guitarist of the Eagles, New York Times best-selling author and four-time Grammy Award winner—will re-release his critically acclaimed solo album today, March 25 on his Top Ten Inc. label via INGrooves Music Group.

FOX's AMERICAN IDOL continued its ratings slide last night, falling to a new low of 8.3 million total viewers, with a 1.9 in the key demo.

On last night's AMERICAN IDOL, judge Jennifer Lopez blew the roof off of the Idol stage!

On last night's AMERICAN IDOL, contestants performed recent hit songs in what can be described as 'The Top 10 Doing The Top 10!'