American Idol

"American Idol"kicked off its 11th season with a retrospective feel as it took us back to 2002 and reminded us of the moment when waitress Kelly Clarkson won the inaugural season. Video clips of Idol hopefuls as kids performing were flashed before our eyes.  But you know what everybody tuned in for: the auditions! Some notables: Sixteen-year-old David Leathers Jr. (who, let's be honest, looked 12) sang "Remember the Rain" and sounded as if he could have been the sixth member of the Jackson 5. And then Jennifer Lopez went on to ask him to sing a Michael Jackson song ... imagine that!

Tanger Outlets is celebrating its grand re-opening after renovations with today's Summer Savings Bash. The daylong event at the former Ocean City Factory Outlets includes a concert at 7:30 p.m. featuring Kris Allen, the winner of American Idol's 8th season, along with games, face-painting, rock-climbing, prizes and special savings for shoppers. Fireworks will top off the evening. Go to http://www.tangeroutlet.com/oceancity/events for more info.

Hallie Day, a 24-year-old waitress at the the Cheesecake Factory in Towson, made it into the semi-finals on "American Idol" and will compete in a live telecast Wednesday. Day, who lives in Nottingham, says she hasn't sung much professionally, and her appearance Wednesday  will be her first with an audience that size. "I performed with the Jazz Caravan, a jazz band, one time," she said. "And then, I led worship at Second Presbyterian Church in Towson. Other than that, I haven't really performed a lot. So, a lot of this is very new to me. " Day, who says her favorite genre is "soul" music, says she started singing in church at age 5. "I loved the little solos that I would get, and I think that's maybe when the diva started to come out," she said with a laugh.

Lauren Alaina, the 2011 "American Idol" runner-up, heard about the Easter Sunday suicide of Glenelg High School sophomore Grace McComas, 15, from a Twitter message. Alaina, 17, of Georgia, said Sunday that she was saddened to hear about Grace, whose parents said she took her life after being cyber-bullied. Alaina helped the hashtag "blue4grace" trend online when the singer sent a personal message to her nearly 300,000 followers. Blue was Grace's favorite color. "It is horrible," Alaina said of Grace's death.

So this much is for certain: A David will be the next American Idol. Last night, Florida actress Syesha Mercado was sent packing after striking out on her final two songs. The 21-year-old didn't do herself any favors with her choice of a hammy version of Peggy Lee's "Fever," but it was the Idol producers who supplied the death blow - a bizarre up-tempo number from the dancing penguin movie Happy Feet. Seriously. Her exit leaves sensitive Missouri rocker David Cook and wholesome wunderkind David Archuleta of Utah to battle it out in next week's glitzy season finale.

She was already a big star, adored by millions. But when it was announced that she would make her Broadway debut this spring, the anticipatory buzz went through the roof. Ads with her name splashed in large, bold type popped up all over New York City. A mad scramble for tickets erupted. Fans squealed the moment she stepped on stage. Crowds mobbed her at the stage door, clamoring for autographs and pictures. And producers of the show rejoiced in their financial good fortune. But all this fuss isn't over Julia Roberts and her theatrical debut in Three Days of Rain.

Fatal Song Choice: "Turn the Beat Around" What Went Wrong: While her look said bold tigress (the animal print, the exposed bra strap, the trashy hair), her voice mewed like a kitten. Idol's pageant queen was simply overwhelmed by the syncopated pace of the song and the power of the band. To her credit, she tried her hardest to sell it -- but alas the American Idol stage has no stripper pole. Shining Moment: British Invasion week's song wasn't "Shake Your Moneymaker," but it sure felt like it. Her exuberant rendition of "Tell Him" had enough charisma to make up for what she lacked in vocal talent and, well, clothes.

The metamorphosis, if you will, is fascinating to watch. During the past five seasons of American Idol, we've seen talented female vocalists -- awkward and unpolished -- blossom into confident, heavily styled contenders to pop divadom. Their voices soar and barrel through familiar fare: Motown, disco, even show tunes. Sure, Clay Aiken's transformation during Season 2, from jug-eared nerd to spiky-haired heartthrob, was amazing -- freakishly so. But the aesthetic evolution of the female Idol contestants is usually stunning and far more glamorous.

When you watch the four finalists on American Idol sing and shimmy their way through tonight's episode, you may notice something missing from the show: testosterone. American Idol has a boy problem. This first became clear two months ago, when the show revealed the 12 finalists culled from a casting call of thousands. Eight were women, and they were fantastic - divas and Southern belles of the highest order, with the talent and looks of true idols. The other four finalists were men, and they were uniformly awful.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Carrie Underwood has easily had the fastest, and most consistent, start of any American Idol winner. In a year and a half, she went from small-town girl finishing her college degree in journalism to having Billboard's No. 1 album of 2006 and being voted the Country Music Association (CMA) female vocalist of the year. Talk about meteoric rise. "It's one of those rare combinations where she can start with such a huge fan base and you have an absolutely great record," said Gregg Swedberg, program director of Twin Cities country station K102.

Hallie Day, a 24-year-old waitress at the the Cheesecake Factory in Towson, made it into the semi-finals on "American Idol" and will compete in a live telecast Wednesday. Day, who lives in Nottingham, says she hasn't sung much professionally, and her appearance Wednesday  will be her first with an audience that size. "I performed with the Jazz Caravan, a jazz band, one time," she said. "And then, I led worship at Second Presbyterian Church in Towson. Other than that, I haven't really performed a lot. So, a lot of this is very new to me. " Day, who says her favorite genre is "soul" music, says she started singing in church at age 5. "I loved the little solos that I would get, and I think that's maybe when the diva started to come out," she said with a laugh.

Tonight's another two-hour episode as the competition heads to Vegas, baby! Seventy contestants travel on a bus from Hollywood to Vegas as the judges continue to trim the roster before the live shows begin. These contestants are to perform in groups again, this time on the Viva Elvis stage. They will sing songs from the 1950s and will be told right after the performance whether they are in. Sounds pretty simple, right? Except there were a lot of great performances. And after the judges make their initial eliminations, they call the contestants who have made it through back to the stage after all the group performances are done, and make more cuts until there are 42 left.

Tonight, "American Idol"gives us two hours' worth of coverage from the remaining days in Hollywood week. If the previous episode was all drama, this one has ... drama. But we are finally treated to performances as well. Hooray for having our cake and eating it. too. Some highlights from both the group performances and the individual performances: Group Sauce, composed of Reed Grimm, Creighton Fraker, Aaron Marcellus, Nick Boddington and Jen Hirsh, sets the bar high for the group performances with great harmonies on "Hold On, I'm Coming" and receives a standing ovation from the judges.

The episode opened with one of the biggest stars to come out of American Idol: Carrie Underwood. Carrie documented her journey to her audition in St. Louis - and guess where tonight's audition city is? THIS! Is St. Louis! The city that introduced us to Carrie Underwood produced two awesome singers who bookended the episode: Johnny Keyser and Lauren Gray. But first, let's hand out awards... Best Support: The staff of the hotel where the auditions were held. A number of them came to see the audition of hotel auditor Mark Ingram, who delivered an off-key version of one of my favorite songs, Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed.

When Kelly Clarkson won the first season of American Idol, the humble waitress from middle-of-nowhere Texas embodied the rags-to-riches story that has become the hallmark of the reality show. An obscure but talented singer is plucked from the heartland of America, moves to Hollywood and is launched into pop superstardom. It was Southern single mom Fantasia in Season 3 and Oklahoma farm girl Carrie Underwood a year later. But that looks unlikely this year. Season 7, which producers call the most "talented" year ever, is stocked with finalists all too familiar with fame.

In a rain of confetti and tears, Jordin Sparks, who was turned away from her first audition on American Idol, left the stage last night the winner of the show's sixth season -- a household name and an instant recording artist. With 74 million votes cast, the 17-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., edged out Blake Lewis, the 26-year-old beatboxer from Seattle. Here's how it happened: What she sang --Christina Aguilera's "Fighter," Martina McBride's "Broken Wing" and "This Is My Now," the song that won a competition as the first recording for the new Idol champion.