The producers of the smash hit Broadway production of GREASE are proud to announce that American Idol Season Five finalist, Ace Young, will make his Broadway debut when he joins the company in the role of "Kenickie" on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

A native of Denver, Colorado, he began his career in the entertainment industry at the early age of nine performing at various venues all over the west coast. Following Idol, Ace traveled the country performing in 60 sold out arenas across the nation as part of the American Idols Live Tour. He has played guest starring roles on the popular television sitcoms "Half & Half" and “Bones.” In 2007, Ace was nominated for a Grammy Award for his co-write on fellow “Idol” Chris Daughtry's quadruple platinum hit single "It’s Not Over." In April 2008, Ace released a popular single entitled "Addicted," available everywhere. He recently formed a partnership with renowned record producer and songwriter Desmond Child, and together they cowrote, recorded and funded Ace's eponymous debut album - a revolutionary combination of Rock, R&B and Funk which utilizes a 30 piece string section with live horns. The eagerly anticipated album was released on July 15, 2008.

American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, who joined the cast in the role of "Teen Angel" on Friday, June 6th, will play his final two weeks in the show with a final performance on Sunday, September 7th.

According to Billboard Magazine, David Archuleta's new single, "Crush" (19/Jive), debuts at No. 2, thus becoming the highest new entry of 2008 and the highest debut ever for an "American Idol" song not performed on the series.

"Crush," which debuts at No. 1 on Hot Digital Songs, is the fourth entry for Archuleta on the Hot 100.  His first three all debuted the week of June 7 and spent one week each on the tally:  His version of John Lennon's "Imagine" at No. 36, Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" at No. 58 and "In This Moment" at No. 60.  "Crush" is the seventh single to debut inside the top 10 of the Hot 100 in 2008.

And here is a summary of songs recorded by "American Finalists" but not performed during the course of competition that have debuted in the top 10:

No. 2: "Crush," David Archuleta (Aug. 30, 2008)

No. 6: "I'll Stand By You," Carrie Underwood (May 12, 2007)

No. 8: "Never Again," Kelly Clarkson (May 12, 2007)

Visit our David Archuleta Transformation Gallery to see how he changed over Season 7.

Grammy-Nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi has joined American Idol as a fourth judge.  She will sit alongside Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson at the judges' table and use her background as an award-winning songwriter and producer to praise or critique the wannabe hopefuls throughout the competition.  The eighth season of American Idol premieres January 2009 on FOX.

"We are turning the heat up on Idol this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges' table," said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller.  "She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America's most successful songwriters.  We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show."

"We had originally intended for American Idol to have four judges," said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. "We've seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers."

Mike Darnell, President, alternative Programming of FOX, added, "For the past seven seasons, Paula has had to endure the experience of being the only woman at the judges' table.  She's been as an island of consideration and gentle criticism between Randy and Simon, offering her invaluable expertise as a performer and No. 1 artist to the thousands who have competed on American Idol.  With Kara by her side, Paula finally has some back-up and now there is going to be a lot more 'girl power' on the show."

One of the industry's most sought after songwriters and producers, DioGuardi's songs have appeared on more than 100 million records.  Her songs have been recorded by Grammy award-winning artists including Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Santana and Pink.  Scores of major recording artists including Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Pussycat Dolls, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Natasha Bedingfield, Jewel, Ashley Tisdale, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Lachey and Marc Anthony have also released DioGuardi's songs. 

Over the last four years, she has been awarded 10 BMI Pop Awards for having written the most performed songs on radio.  From her catalog of several hundred songs, over 264 have been released on major labels worldwide; and over 165 have appeared on multi-platinum selling albums.  DioGuardi co-owns Arthous Entertainment, where she develops and mentors fellow hit writers, producers and artists.

Watch our interview with Kara. 

Life has been a whirlwind of activity for Jason Castro since Season 7 Finale, and americanidol.com was lucky to catch up with him from the road for a report on how things are going halfway through the 2008 Live Tour. Not surprising, the cool and collected Jason was very positive about the tour. “Seeing the country and getting to sing every night has been awesome, I’m having a blast!”

Jason and the other nine are currently performing at their 26^th city venue since embarking on July 1^st. Interestingly, performing in front of an average 12 thousand live audience members on tour has been easier for Jason than singing in front of American Idol’s 30 million viewers. “[Performing] in front of the stage audiences was kind of strange. Because we were on TV, there were so many things you had to be aware of. To make it look normal on TV, you had to act abnormal.” In contrast, performing before a live audience “is a lot less pressure.” Which isn’t to say that when tour first started, it was a piece of cake. “For about the first week, I shook through every set, but now I’m pretty comfortable with it,” Jason explained.

Exciting though it may be, touring can actually also be quite demanding. “The ‘day’ starts at midnight after we leave the city we just finished and we drive until the morning. Around 5 or 6, we’ll get into the hotel and then take a little nap and then around noon, we drive to the venue and have lunch. There we say hi to some fans and then we have an hour of press and then an hour of official meet-and-greets and then sound check and then dinner and then the show starts. And that’s a typical day.” So, what’s it like to see America this way? “Well, it’s pretty cool, but kind of rushed. You can’t hang out and see everything like you’d want to, but at least you’re seeing something, which is more than I was doing last year.”

Given such a hurried pace, we wanted to know if there’s been a highlight so far. “New York was pretty crazy because we were there for an extended amount of time. I had a lot of fun there because my mom and my sister came out and my girlfriend. There’s a lot to do in New York," he chuckled.  Jason also told us what it’s like to go out as a group with the other Idols. “We kind of try to sneak around, hide in the corner.” Although Jason assured me that they do not wear disguises.

Identifying the hardest thing about Tour was easy for Jason: Sleep. “Getting to sleep on the bus, and then having to get up at 5 in the morning and try to keep sleeping after that. Well, sometimes it doesn’t work. So when you don’t have your rest and you go and do stuff for 12 hours, it can wear you out. But then you have an off day and then everything’s better.” Given the rigor, it’s no surprise Jason misses aspects of home. “I just miss all the people and the simpleness of everything and just sitting around eating and stuff.”

After tour, Jason looks forward to advancing his music career. “I’m gonna make some music. Planning to record and do some writing and get an album out, that’s the plan.” Jason had a few parting words to his fans. “I’d like to say ‘hey’ to my fans. Hope you don’t forget about me and you keep in touch. Oh, and be on the lookout for new music.”

Visit our Tour section to find out where you can see Jason and the nine other Idols in concert this summer, and where you can check out Fan Photos and Fan Reviews.

In our ongoing conversation with last season's top 10, we had the chance to speak with Carly Smithson this past weekend.  After all, Carly is a little bit more than half way through with the summer tour, so we figured we'd check in to see what she thought of her experiences thus far.

Carly was thrilled to be in Manchester, but not because of the rain that greeted her.  Instead, it was only about an hour from their previous stop in Worcester, Massachusetts, which means it was a fairly easy bus ride for them.  Typically, they're on the buses for several hours a night, but because Worcester is so close to Manchester, they were on the road for only about an hour and were able to hit their hotel rooms at a reasonable time (for them) of around 1:30am.

Thus far, Carly boasts that "it's been great being on the road with all her friends" and that it's "a wild trip [she] never could have expected."  The best thing, for Carly, has been the nightly "Meet and Greet's".  In these regular sessions, Carly and the other Idols meet with a small group of kids in each city. A lot of the times, these kids are going through tough health issues or facing other obstacles and it's just a thrill for them to see their heroes up close and personal.  As much as it's a thrill for them, it's even more of a thrill for the Idols.  To emphasize that, Carly noted one such time, in Worcester, where she "met this great girl and took her around to the buses and gave her a teddy."

Carly also mentioned that it's just really great to perform for all the fans who voted so often.  Interestingly enough, apparently there are a bunch of Uber fans who travel from concert to concert, all across the country.  They're kind of like the old Grateful Dead fans who used to follow the Dead from city to city.  The bottom line, though for Carly, is that she "wants to really thank the fans". Without them, of course, there wouldn't be an Idols Summer Tour.

In regard to what's coming up for Carly after the tour, she is going to pursue making music, to nobody's surprise.  She's not sure if it will be a major or Indie label or self-produced, she just knows that she'll put one out as soon as possible.  Asked what kind, she shared with us that it would be "kinda like Celine Dion mixed with Heart. Pop Rock, you know?"  She laughed out loud when she thought about a previous interview when another writer wrote that she will be putting out a heavy metal album.  Carly exclaimed, "Yeah, I'm gonna be opening for Slayer!"

Overall, in addition to the support from her fans, Carly's thankful for the great reviews she's received on tour as well as the fabulous reviews she got while on the show. She singled out L.A. Times entertainment reporter, Richard Rushfield, for the incredibly descriptive way he writes about the show, Ryan Seacrest and all of the contestants.

We're sure that we'll be hearing more from Carly once the Summer Tour has concluded.

Check out Carly's Transformation Gallery!

Billboard Magazine's Jonathan Cohen is reporting that Daughtry's four-times platinum self-titled 19/RCA debut will be released in expanded form Sept. 9, led by a newly recorded cover of Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time."  The original album will also have acoustic versions of "What About Now" and "Home" as well as a live version of "It's Not Over."  A bonus DVD includes videos for "It's Not Over," "Home," "Over You," "Feels Like Tonight" and "What About Now," along with live clips for "Breakdown" and "There and Back Again."

Daughtry is embarking on a month's worth of live dates starting Friday, August 15 in Las Vegas.

Watch again our emotional Exit Interview with Chris Daughtry from season 5.

Season 7 runner-up David Archuleta is releasing his first post-Idol single, "Crush", digitally today and great reviews are pouring in.  In fact, Entertainment Weekly notes that the single sounds "hip and contemporary".  EW goes on to gush, " 'Crush' is good news for David, for his fans, and for the general health of the Idol Franchise." Congratulations David!

Check out the latest photos of David and the rest of the Top 10 on Tour this summer.

Once Ramiele Malubay was chosen as one of the top 24 contestants in season 7 of American Idol, life for her has been anything but dull. After competing for five weeks knowing that she would be on tour during the summer, Ramiele stayed in L.A. This worked out well for her, as rehearsals for the finale and the tour began in earnest before the season even ended.

Life in the Idol world is always fast paced. As soon as the finale ended, rehearsals really kicked up and then the top 10 Idols were on the road, touring America from coast to coast. Luckily for us, Ramiele took some time out of her busy schedule while she was in Newark to share some thoughts about the past year.

Ramiele has had a great experience on the road and she notes that "every city is different. We try to get off the bus, put our stuff inside and go and sign autographs before we have hair and makeup done and do press and whatnot." Later, she followed up, "I really didn't come into this with any expectations. I just love getting off the bus in other cities. I love waking up in different cities."

While it sounds glamorous and exciting, being on the road can be somewhat exhausting. Ramiele, though, exclaims, "It's less exhausting than the show." Without having to stoicly receive feedback from the judges after every performance, she confirms there's just less stress. This is how Ramiele describes a typical day on the road for her:

"Usually, after a show, if we have a show the next day, we'll travel to the next city and it will be, like, a four or five hour drive. We get out of the bus, take all of our stuff out, go and sleep for a couple hours, get ready, get all of our stuff back, get our hair and makeup done, meet the sponsors, perform, meet people after the show and, then, we go sign autographs outside and, then, we go and do the same thing all over again." Whew.

"All of us have gotten it down to a routine schedule. We're working on getting things done quicker. You know, like hair and makeup because there are five girls and four of the girls are in the first set, so it's hard to get everybody done, but we're doing really well."

Being on tour is also quite different from being on the show in that she is now regularly performing in front of thousands and thousands of people. Laughing, Ramiele told us what kind of effect this has had on her:

"Backstage I freak out a little bit when I look into the audience. I go second, so when Chikezie is out there, I peek through the little cracks and see how many people are out there. I kinda freak out a little because there are so many people. Then, you go out there and you do the same songs every night. You don't have to learn new words or impress anybody -- you're just being yourself. Putting yourself out there for the people who have been watching you and supporting you."

Being away from family and friends for so long can be challenging, but she speaks to them often. When we spoke to her, Ramiele was missing her dog very much, but, fortunately, her boyfriend was coming into town with her dog for a visit. After the tour, Ramiele hopes to meet with some major studios and will be retuning to the Philippines in December to do a few concerts.

Visit our Tour section to find out where you can see Ramiele and nine other Idols in concert this summer, see Fan Photos and Fan Reviews..

Season 3 Finalist Jon Peter Lewis took some time off from the road to share his thoughts from the Salt Lake City auditions. He was there hanging with the auditioners -- you'll even see him doing some interviews for americanidol.com later this summer/fall!  He was also in Salt Lake to celebrate the release of his second album, Break The Silence, which hit stores on July 22nd.

Don't miss his take on the Salt Lake experience, and, if you're heading to the Kansas City auditions, you might just see him there, too!

Season 3 finalist Amy Adams celebrates her birthday today.  Everybody remembers Amy from her bright pink hair, fun personality and amazing voice.  After her time on Idol, she debuted on broadway as the narrator of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolr Dreamcoat in September, 2005.  In regard to her personal life, Amy married Ross Vamer in October, 2004 and had a son in May, 2005.

Check out this fun photo of Amy performing from season 3.

americanidol.com warmly wishes Amy a very happy birthday!