The producers of American Idol in an effort to keep the reality television show fresh and improve slumping ratings have hired Kara DioGuardi as a fourth judge to join Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and the absent minded Paula Abdul.

There are already rumors that Paula is jealous and feeling threatened by the charming DioGuardi. Will American Idol turn into a weekly cat-fight that overshadows the contestants? I am wondering how the format will work. The show seemed to always run short on time as it was. It seems adding a fourth judge will just limit the amount of time the original three judges have to analyze contestants.

DioGuardi is a producer, writer, and singer who has wrote several international best hits.  She has a degree in political science from Duke University (nerd).  She has worked with artists such as Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus, Ashlee Simpson, Jewel, Jonas Brothers, Faith Hill and Carlos Santana to name just a few.

Either way, the show needed a jolt and hopefully the addition of Kara will do just that.

More Photos of Kara with Simon, Randy & Paula

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American Idol runner-up David Archuleta debuted his new (soon-to-be-hit) single ‘Crush’ this morning on the Elvis Duran radio show on Z100.

Listen to ‘Crush’ MP3 at Z100

I am sure the tune will be on iTunes by week end and on top of the charts before the middle of the month.  Hopefully his stage-dad Jeff has chilled out.

American Idol winner David Cook and season two contestant Kimberly Caldwell have started dating according to OK! magazine.

The newly crowned American Idol champ no longer seems unattached as he was captured out on date with season two contestant Kimberly Caldwell by TMZ over the weekend.

And sorry ladies – he hopes there’s more to come.

“I went out on a date the other day with a woman named Kimberly Caldwell,” the 25-year-old ‘fessed up on Live with Regis and Kelly Tuesday morning. “I did [have a good time]. We’ll probably hang out again. So we’ll see.”

I would say that life is looking pretty good for Cook at the moment. Hopefully Caldwell is not trying to latch onto him to regain her 15 minutes of fame.

After 97.5 million votes America chose David Cook as the next American Idol. Of that 97.5 million 56% chose Cook over David Archuleta. The unofficial Bumpshack poll had Cook as the winner with a 65-35% victory.

Tonight’s show got started with all of the finalists together to do the opening number “Get Ready.” Next was a cute duet medley with the finalists Cook and Archuleta.

Of course Fox was able to work in a shameless movie promo for Mike Myer’s new movie The Love Guru.

Idol made time, naturally, for a performance from Syesha Mercado who was eliminated last week. She was joined on stage for a duet with Seal.

I personally got a good laugh watching the finalist women try to dance and sing at the same time. Brooke White showed that she is no dancer. She also wore the wrong shade of red. Amanda Overmyer showed that she has a hard time going down steps while singing. Donna Summer came out to perform at the end of their number.

Michael Johns and Carly Smithson sung a duet but I had to fast foward…too much filler in this show.

Jimmy Kimmel (surprise, surprise) showed up to make his 3-4 annual jokes. I think ABC has it in his contract that he has to show up on every single one of their programs.

Of course the final six guy finalists got their chance to sing a medley together. It was going pretty good until the bottom 4 guys split both sides of the stage to let King David and Queen David slowly waltz down the steps between them. And if it couldn’t get any worse Bryan Adams (not Brian) came out to clean up their mess. Yes Bryan “Everything I do, I do it for you” Adams. Were the Nelson twins not available? Richard Marx?

And I couldn’t have called it any better when ZZ Top and David Cook sang “Sharp Dressed Man.” Cook smoked on this song. Too bad he didn’t sing it last night.

Brooke “The Dancer” White got her own little personal duet with Graham Nash singing “Teach The Children.”

The Jonas Brothers, a boy band with a bit of talent, i.e. instruments, filled the first part of the second hour with “S.O.S.” which is about how I am feeling at this point of the show.

Our brother Renaldo Lopez complete with the USC Trojans marching band and cheerleaders sang “I Am Your Brother” in one of the most entertaining performances of the night.

More Filler with One Republic and their hit “Apologize” with guest cameo by David Archuleta. He actually added a very nice touch to this very popular song. It will probably be the most downloaded song on iTunes tomorrow.

The only thing missing so far has been last year’s winner Jordin Sparks….oh wait here she is in a very unflattering gold dress that had her look 23 feet tall.

For the CGI part of the show we had Gladys Knight backed by Robert Downey, Jr., Jack Black, and Ben Stiller on “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

And for the BEST PART of the show Carrie Underwood sang Bumpshack’s own Luke Laird’s song “Last Name” off her current album. Carrie was also the sexiest woman on the show tonight by far.

George Michael…you know that sex figure from the 90’s? Well some hobo looking dude like him with some Elvis glasses performed “Praying for Time.” I didn’t know having sex in a public bathroom could be so bad for someone.

Congrats to David Cook!  I am glad he won with his brother Adam Cook in the audience.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Adam who is battling his second diagnosis with brain cancer.

After several long months we have come to this. Tonight it’s David Cook vs. David Archuleta for the crown of this years American Idol.

Round 1: Songs selected by musical industry icon Clive Davis.

Round 2: Songs submitted by songwriters to the show.

Round 3: Contestants select song.

Cook Round 1: “I Still Haven’t Found What I Am Looking For” - A very solid opening performance by Mr. Cook. He didn’t set any sort of personal record on the song but it was a good opening for DC.

Archuleta Round 1: “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down” - Arch Deluxe got a classic Elton John song handed to him by Mr. Davis. Arch blasted Cook in round 1 as he showed that he has a man’s voice in a little boys body.

Round 1 Winner: David Archuleta

Cook Round 2: “Dream Big” - This song sounded a bit like a cheesy FM radio in the high 80’s like 88.9. He could already be in trouble of getting beat barring a miraculous round 3.

Archuleta Round 2: “In This Moment” - Judging by Arch’s first two songs it is very clear that he out-rehearsed Cook. Of course Arch’s dad Jeff probably had him chained to a wall whipping him all around the clock to make him practice. DA is looking very confident tonight. I have to agree with Randy these submitted songwriting songs have sucked.

Round 2 Winner: David Archuleta

Cook Round 3: “The World I Know” - I hate this song selection. It is like DC is singing every possible light weight pop rock song possible. He is performing tonight like he is on cruise control. Watching him perform tonight is like watching the NFL Pro Bowl. Everyone is on the field and playing not to get injured. He was very emotional at the end, but I believe he just didn’t bring it tonight.

Archuleta Round 3: “Imagine” - Now the contest becomes the NBA’s slam dunk contest where Arch’s opponent failed to complete a dunk in the final round, so all DA has to do it go up and do a simple two handed dunk to walk away with the title. I would deduct some points for doing a song he already did on the show. He seemed to over sing the song a bit this time.

Round 3 Winner: Draw

American Idol Season 7 Winner: David Archuleta

Vote Who You Want to Win

I had thought Cook would win this season until tonight. Cook seemed to choke under the pressure as Archuleta rose to the occasion. He is a freak, check him for steroids!

David Cook won tonight and will very likely win tomorrow night when the results are announced.

photo: AmericanIdol.com

DvD

The experts in Las Vegas are making David Cook the odds on favorite to win the seventh season of American Idol when he goes head-to-head with teen David Archuleta on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

BetCRIS.com makes Archuleta the 2 to 1 underdog (a winning $1 bet returns $3) in Tuesday’s showdown. Odds that David Cook will win are 1 to 3 (a $3 bet pays $4).

Bodoglife.com gives Archuleta — who was once the gambling site’s pick to take “Idol” top honors — a slightly better chance of winning. But he is still the underdog at 3 to 2. David Cook is around 2 to 5.

Cook had taken an early 67%-33% lead over Archuleta in our extremely scientific Bumpshack poll.  Archuleta fans have rallied to close the gap to 58%-42%.

Vote for David Cook

Vote for David Archuleta

I believe Cook will win.

I posted a poll earlier this week asking “Who Do You Want to Win American Idol Season 7?” So far to date nearly 67% are either pulling or rooting for David Cook over David Archuleta.

Perhaps the readership age of Bump is a good bit higher than all of the young teen girls that go crazy for Archuleta. I am officially pulling for Cook at this point.

Like David?  Then help even it up!

If you haven’t voted then do so below:

Here is Fantasia Barrino’s performance of ‘Bore Me’ last night on American Idol. She was the winner of season three.

Her performance last night is the talk of the water cooler this morning. Some loved it and others thought it was the most horrific thing this side of Amy Winehouse.

The beautiful Syesha Mercado was eliminated from American Idol tonight setting up a final next week of David Archuleta against David Cook.

Not too much of a surprise with Syesha going home. She has a great career ahead of her and will be one of the must-see performers of the Idol summer tour.

It seems all at Idol from the judges to the producers had ordained a David vs. David final for weeks.

American Idol Final 3 Performances Review

Related American Idol News

• Jeff Archuleta Banned from Backstage of ‘Idol’
• Jason Castro Smokes Off Into ‘Idol’ Sunset
• David Archuleta’s Dad Picks His Songs

The judges of American Idol selected all of the songs that the remaining three Idol contestants sang tonight.  Paula seemed to get drunker as the night went on.  The judges chose the songs in round 1.  The contestants chose their second song.  And the producers of the show selected their 3rd song.

David Archuleta - “And So It Goes” “With You” “Longer” - The more I hear ‘Tiny Tim David’ the more he reminds me of Josh Groban. He is like too good and all that jazz once again. It is like the other two contestants are playing against him on the original Nintendo Entertainment Center and Archuleta is the impossible to beat computer…much like ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson on Mike Tyson’s Punchout, except that he looks a lot like ‘Lil’ Mac’. First song was originally by Billy Joel.  The second song is from Chris Brown.  David really showed a bit of life with the second song.  However, he seemed to forget some words and mumble through more than half of the song.  Perhaps David was missing his daddy helping him backstage this week.  “Longer” is by Dan Fogelberg.  This was easily David’s best performance of the night.  He magnified everything that is sweet and pure about his voice.   Grade B+

Syesha Mercado - “If I Ain’t Got You” “Fever” “Hit Me Up” - Sy is for sure the underdog against David, Inc. and for that very reason I think I am pulling for her.  That increases her odds of winning to .000045% so watch out.  The first song is one from Alicia Keys and I thought she did a smash up job with it.  She picked a Peggy Lee song for her second song.  She is sexy, very sexy, and perhaps the most seductive contestant in Idol history.  I think she gave me a fever.  I had a hard time paying attention to the lyrics honestly.  She is going to have a very good career post Idol.  Syesha has a bit of Beyonce in her.  Grade B+

David Cook - “First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” “Dare You To Move” “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing”- Simon chose to challenge David with the Roberta Flack song ‘First Time……Face’.  Wow the first home run of the night for sure.  He really made that song his little doggy.  That performance alone might have been enough to win the competition.  I thought he had a weak start with the Switchfoot song but got stronger as the performance progressed.  I like Aerosmith but the last song selection by the show’s producers is so over-the-top cheesy.  It is almost like they selected it to sabotage Cook’s chances of winning.  As you can probably tell I didn’t like this song or the performance of it that much.  Cook made it even more cheesy than the Aerosmith version. Grade A

Round 1 Winner: David Cook

Round 2 Winner: Syesha Mercado

Round 3 Winner: David Archuleta

Overall Winner: Syesha Mercado (barely over Cook with Archuleta in a very close third)

Jeff Archuleta

David Archuleta’s psycho stage dad Jeff Archuleta has been banned from being backstage and behind the scenes at American Idol.

Here’s how it went down. “Idol” sources tell TMZ Jeff has been a complete pain in the ass, interfering with the entire production. He has badgered producers, the band, vocal coaches and even other contestants. The final straw came this week, when Jeff wanted to change the lyrics to David’s first song, “Stand By Me.” Jeff insisted on adding a verse from Sean Kingston’s hit, “Beautiful Girls.” Producers sent him an e-mail telling him the lyrics could not be changed. They were beyond pissed when David sang the song with Kingston’s lyrics during the live show.

We’re told by changing the lyrics, it created problems with the song’s publisher and cost “A.I.” a lot of money.

Congrats to Idol for banning this punk dad.  If anything is going to derail David and send him into a $1,000/day coke habit then it is likely his over possessive daddy.

Related: David Archuleta’s Dad Picks His Songs

American Idol reject Colin Leahy, who compared himself to Clay Aiken, has been arrested and charged with two counts of endangering a child.

A guy who once tried to get onto “American Idol” by comparing himself to Clay Aiken just got nabbed for sending sex-laced text messages to a 12-year-old boy and propositioning a ten-year-old while volunteering at a Brooklyn elementary school.

This dude was bad when he auditioned on season three and deserves to be locked up for a long time for endangering innocent little boys.

photo: TMZ

The finalists started tonight’s show by singing the classic Steely Dan song ‘Reeling in the Years’.  None of the contestants really seemed prepared for this song.

Here is my review from last night’s Idol

David Archuleta was the first to move on to next week.  David Cook quickly joined Archuleta safely on the sofa.

The halftime music was performed by Maroon 5 singing ‘If I Never See Your Face Again’.  Former Idol finalist Bo Bice was the final musical act of the night. He performed ‘Witness’.

The bottom two contestants this week were Jason Castro and Syesha Mercado

And here is who is going home this week:

Pack Your Bags

Jason Castro (Rockwall, TX) - ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’
No surprise this week at all. Everyone knew that tonight would be Jason’s last night on the show.  He was entertaining and pretty good when his head was there.  It is a small miracle he made it as far as he did on the show.  He should milk the Idol tour for all its worth.

The 3 Remaining American Idol Finalists (in no particular order)

1. David Archuleta
2. David Cook
3. Syesha Mercado

American Idol contestants tonight took on some of the greatest Rock N’ Roll songs of all-time. Here is a quick rundown of just how good (or bad) they did.

Knocked It Out: David Cook, David Archuleta

In The Middle: Syesha Mercado

Danger Zone: Jason Castro

David Cook - “Hungry Like the Wolf” “Teenage Wasteland” - David seemed to struggle a lot with the first song. It sounded extremely karaoke which is very unlike Dave. His second performance was much better. He did his thing, his version and really put on a great performance. Grade B

Syesha Mercado - “Proud Mary” “A Change Is Gonna Come”- A great Credence Clearwater song that Syesha did much like Tina Turner’s version. She showed a lot of sass, sex appeal, livened the song up a good bit in the second verse. She still seemed to be holding back just a bit. Her second song was not nearly as good as her first song. Sam Cooke’s original version is such a tough song to remake. She did a pretty solid job. She deserves to be back next week. Grade A-

Jason Castro - “I Shot the Sheriff” “Mister Tambourine Man”- I could have never guessed that Fidel ‘Bob Jr’ Castro would have covered a Bob Marley song. It is almost as if Jason grew his dreads out just for this one performance. Naturally Jason did a superb job on this ‘joint’. He looked really relaxed and probably prepared properly on his green pipe back stage. I didn’t think it was nearly as bad as the judges hammered him. He totally forgot the words on this song and he should go ahead and start packing his bags tonight. He did pretty good with the words he remembered but his time has come to go. Grade D

David Archuleta - “Stand By Me” “Love Me Tender”- Somebody hit it right earlier this week when they said David-A is the next Wayne Newton. The judges really want this kid to win. I thought his first song was good but not great. I was not huge on his second song. The Elvis version is perfect and he tried to twist or taint it in a way that just didn’t work for me. Grade B+

The seventh season of American Idol is down to its final four contestants. Will the winner this season be David Archuleta, David Cook, Jason Castro, or Syesha Mercado?

The remaining American Idol contestants started off with a run-of-the-mill Neil Diamond tribute medley.

Here is my review from last night’s Idol

The first safe contestant tonight was Jason Castro which was a bit of a surprise. David Cook took the second saft spot on the sofa. David Cook was safe as well which left Syesha Mercado and Brooke White as the bottom two.

Then there was a music break for British singer Natasha Bedingfield took time to promote her career by singing ‘Pocketful of Sunshine’.

Ryan Seacrest took a few questions for the contestants and judges including one from a 46-year-old woman named Tara that was Simon’s first kiss when he was 9-years-old.

Neil Diamond, complete with comb over and 145 people playing instruments behind him, sang ‘Pretty Amazing Grace’ to a standing ovation.

The bottom two contestants this week were Brooke White and Syesha Mercado

And here is who is going home this week:

Pack Your Bags

Brooke White (Mesa, AZ) - ‘I’m A Believer’ - ‘I Am…I Said’

Thank goodness, may the drama die down now. Get the mop, dry the stage and lets get ready for next week. Brooke can sing for sure. She is the most talented female this season when you consider the full package. She can play the guitar, piano and sing very well. She will have a very long career if she can get a hold of her emotions and continue to mature (as a singer).

The 4 Remaining American Idol Finalists (in no particular order)

1. Jason Castro
2. David Archuleta
3. David Cook
4. Syesha Mercado

Neil Diamond night on American Idol continued another night of Idol mentors from yesteryear. Tonight each of the contestants sang two songs from Diamond’s extensive song collection. David and David were easily the best two contestants tonight.  I still believe they are likely to face off in the finals.  Brooke White and Jason Castro are likely gone tomorrow night.  If I had to pick I would say that Jason Castro goes home tomorrow night.

Knocked It Out: David Cook, David Archuleta

In The Middle: Syesha Mercado

Danger Zone: Brooke White, Jason Castro

Jason Castro - “Forever In Blue Jeans” - “September Morn” - Neil Diamond songs are so much more suited for Fidel than Andrew Lloyd Webber’s songs from last week. I thought his first song, “Forever In Blue Jeans,” was rather good.  The second song was too slow, too boring, and too cruise ship’ish.  Jason seemed about as comfortable tonight as Roger Clemens at the kitchen dinner table last night.  He is probably the odd man out tomorrow night. Grade C-

David Cook - “I’m Alive” - “All I Really Need Is You” - Dave was able to take “I’m Alive” and make you forget it is a Neil Diamond song. It was a solid performance but not his best this season. David’s second song rocked a bit more and seemed like classic Cook.  I am not sure what he was singing but it sounded good compared to the rest of the jokers attempting these songs tonight. Grade A-

Brooke White - “I’m A Believer” - “I Am…I Said” - She chose the upbeat Monkees “I’m A Believer” as her first song. It was a very weird performance. She seemed to be trying so hard to be upbeat that she in turn was goofy. This chick is starting to remind me of Ambre off of Rock of Love.  And just like Ambre I think we need to run an age check on Brooke.  Her second song was much better than her first.  Her attitude towards the judges, particularly Simon, could send her packing tomorrow night. Grade D

David Archuleta - “Sweet Caroline” - “America” - This kid probably grew up with posters of Neil on his bedroom wall. Neil was right in saying that David is “like a prodigy.” David did a superb job with “Sweet Caroline” making it seem like it was his own.  If Human Growth Hormone (HGH) should be slipped into David’s milk every morning by the producers of the show.  If he wins, his only outlet is going to be getting his own Disney show opposite Hannah Montana.  With that said, his second song was great and even better than his first song.  The combo of both of his performances makes him the best of the night Grade A

Syesha Mercado - “Hello Again” - “Thank The Lord For The Nighttime” - Her first song was very elegant and impressive. She also looked mighty good. Syesha was extremely strong this week.  One would never believe that she has constantly been in the bottom two or three.  She could still be in danger tomorrow night but that will be due only to having a weaker fan base than the other four finalists.  She was in the top three tonight in my opinion. Grade B+

Tonight’s show got started with the remaining Idols singing the Andrew Lloyd Webber song ‘All I Ask Of You’.  Ryan Seacrest then did a very polite Q&A with Sir Andrew.Leona Lewis, who was discovered by Simon Cowell, sang ‘Bleeding Love’ and introduced herself to American.  Her album Spirit has been #1 on Billboard.

Here is my review from last night’s Idol

The bottom two contestants this week were Syesha Mercado and Carly Smithson.

Syesha and Carly each got a second chance to sing their songs from last night.  It is hard to believe that Jason Castro and/or Brooke White were not among the bottom two.

And here is who is going home this week:

Pack Your Bags

Carly Before Extreme Makeover

Carly Smithson (San Diego, CA) - ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’

Another shocker this week for sure.  Neither Carly or Syesha deserved to go home this week.  I for sure thought either Jason Castro or Brooke (restart me again) White would be going home.  Carly has a big career ahead of her.  She can just get a jump start on it now.  I think Carly would make the finals.  Now it is going to be the David’s in the finals.

Also See: Carly Smithson’s Husband Tattooed from Head to Toe

The 5 Remaining American Idol Finalists (in no particular order)

1. David Archuleta
2. David Cook
3. Brooke White
4. Jason Castro
5. Syesha Mercado

The rumors about David Archuleta’s dad being a notorious stage parent are turning out to be true. David’s voice coach is saying that Jeff Archuleta (David’s dad) selects the songs that David sings on American Idol.

David’s voice coach told us that Jeff Archuleta does give David a shortlist of songs to choose from and that he coaches his son on interpretation — but, he says, it’s only to make things fair between David and his main rival David Cook.

However, the trainer said that in six years of working with the Archuletas, he has never seen Jeff use, “any kind force or coercion.”

Jeff also was caught screaming at David during a rehearsals until the young boy cried. Years ago when David was on Star Search his dad had to be sequestered due to his unruly behavior.

UPDATE: American Idol has now banned Jeff Archuleta from being backstage.

photo: OK!

Andrew Lloyd Webber night on American Idol and normally I would zzzzzz to sleep but I still kinda gotta blog and pay the bills. The girls stood out tonight as you might expect. The best performance of the night belonged to David Cook with Carly Smithson a very close second. David and Carly might end up squaring off against each other in the finals. Brooke White and Jason Castro will likely be among the bottom two tomorrow night.

Knocked It Out: David Cook, Carly Smithson

In The Middle: Syesha Mercado, David Archuleta

Danger Zone: Brooke White, Jason Castro

Syesha Mercado - “One Rock N’ Roll Too Many” - Syesha was excited for a good reason as this music is pretty close to her strength. She showed a lot of charisma and personality. She likely gained fans this week and quite possibly secured a spot on the show again next week. She started the show off with a bang! Grade A-

Jason Castro - “Memory” - Fidel was wearing a nice light suit very similar to the one I got married in. Jason stepped out of his hippy box with this song selection. He was not perfect with “Memory” but he did a rather nice job with it, all things considered. He can sing for sure. Everyone is really good at this point. He likely will be in the bottom three tomorrow night just because of the talent that is remaining. Grade C+

Brooke White - “You Must Love Me” - Andrew Lloyd Webber was funny before she sang saying he didn’t think she had a clue about what she was singing. She got about two lines in and totally messed up and asked for a redo. I think, at this point, it’s going to cost her big time tomorrow night. Even on her second try I found her performance to be ear wrenchingly bad. She finished strong, but she was too nervous and off during the first 2/3rds of the song. Grade D

David Archuleta - “Think Of Me” - ALW and Davey could probably sit together in an isolated room all day and write and sing songs and giggle all day long. A perfect night for David and his powerful, operatic voice. I can’t say it really stood out much from any of his prior performances, but it was one of the better songs of the night. I have nothing against the kid. I just hope he doesn’t win. Grade B+

Carly Smithson - “Jesus Christ Superstar” - One of the more upbeat and refreshing performances of the night. Carly put a lot of soul and heart into her performance. She brought the house down and will be safe when the votes are counted. I am starting to believe Carly will be the last girl remaining and likely will be in the finals opposite a David. Grade A

David Cook - “Music Of The Night” - Rocker David become ‘Opera Boy’ David and proved to the world that he is the most talented contestant this season. He is the contestant to beat and might already have it all wrapped up. Grade A+

Find Out Who Got Sent Home