reason no. 17

The 17th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

How do they fill 10 hours with bad auditions? Look no farther than this guy.

reason no. 16

The 16th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

Stage moms.

reason no. 15

The 15th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

These girls auditioned. Possibly without tops.

reason no. 14

The 14th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

A deluge of really, really bad imitations involving the term "dawg."

reason no. 13

The 13th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

I don't know the full story behind this Miami audition photo, but I'm fantasizing it involves handcuffs, Seacrest and Randy Jackson's Bedazzler.

reason no. 12

The 12th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

The obligatory old bearded guy who sings country and/or rock songs, but doesn't make it very far.

not jamie lynn, but...

AI disaster Jessica Sierra is reportedly pregnant, according to this article.

And there's apparently a sex tape on the way.

Better or worse off than Britney?

reason no. 11

The 11th reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

Sometimes Atlanta auditioners DON'T make us proud.

reason no. 10

The 10th reason to get excited about AI, season seven:

Sometimes Atlanta auditioners make us proud.

reason no. 9

The ninth reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

Three words: After the break.

reason no. 8

The eighth reason to get excited about AI, season seven:

The obligatory tough rocker grrrl.

(Who's forced to show her soft side on a love songs week.)

reason no. 7

And the seventh reason to get excited about AI, season 7:

The season's hottest contestant might be single by the end of the "Idols Live" tour.

congrats, jordin!

Jordin Sparks will sing the national anthem before Super Bowl XLII, according to this article.

With luck, the appearance will boost her popularity amid relatively disappointing record sales. The aforementioned article says of Sparks, "Her album debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, the weakest opening ever by an AI winner."

Good luck, girl!

fourth place gets you...

The most popular album of 2007, at least if you're Chris Daughtry.

Billboard has named Daughtry the top-selling band of 2007, according to this article.

Do you think results like this undermine, or help, AI's credibility?

In other words...does AI become a less credible vehicle for finding talent when its fourth-place finalist outsells its champion?

no gimme more on AI

AI execs have no interest in featuring Britney Spears as a guest judge on the reality TV show, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said in a conference call today.

He also confirmed predictions that this season will have much less an emphasis on guest mentors.

Get the full story here.

In other AI news, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis will perform on this year's "New Year's Eve Live" on Fox. Details here.

reason no. 6

The sixth reason to get excited about AI, season seven:

The always-awkward departure song.

(Incidentally, there's a discussion happening now on the AI message boards regarding which sendoff song will be used in the upcoming season. My favorite suggestion is "Another One Bites the Dust." Weigh in here.)

reason no. 5

The fifth reason to get excited about AI, season seven:

Sometimes a picture really does speak 1,000 words.

reason no. 4

The fourth reason to get excited about AI, season seven:

The show's hypnotic power makes people actually pay to see these guys in concert.

gives back comes back

Ugh.

Remember slitting your wrists in boredom during last season's Idol Gives Back special? Um, yeah. You're going to have to do that again.

The fundraising special, which last season featured a duet with Celine Dion and dead Elvis, will happen again in season seven, according to this article. Producers have even set a date, April 9. Prepare to waste two hours.

Last year, producers "surprised" the remaining six contestants by announcing that no one would be eliminated during the "Gives Back" week. Lots of bloggers are wondering how they'll handle that situation this year.

How do you feel about the return of Idol Gives Back? Which alive/dead celebrity duo would you love to see?

simply the best

AI was the most popular television series of 2007, according to analysis by Nielsen Media Research. Get the full story here.

Do you think the title is warranted? After all the criticism of AI's last season, what -- other than Sanjaya, of course -- kept people watching?

spoiler fans, rejoice

We haven't even hit the one-month mark in the countdown before season 7 premieres, and there's already an AI spoiler scare.

And this one appears to be legit, many sources report.

Online AI forum JoesPlace has a list of this season's top 50 contestants, including singers who made it through Hollywood Week and ones who have been cut. It also gives info on the MySpace accounts, and personal Web sites, of many of the included contestants.

Interestingly enough, the site includes siblings of two singers who have already appeared on AI: Fantasia Barrino and Chris Sligh.

But is it real?

That's hard to say. This MTV article gives a pretty comprehensive look at the potential spoilers. The writer visited MySpace accounts of many of the mentioned singers, and concludes that several of the reported finalists seem to know each other.

An excerpt:

Despite living in separate cities and states, they've all been leaving each other friend comments, and most of them share the same top friends — each other. While that's not definitive evidence that the list is solid, we did hear from some "Idol" hopefuls — both in the running and out — who verified that at least some of the names appear to be legit.

Thoughts?

reason no. 3

The third reason to get excited about the seventh season of AI?

The infamous group song.

(Read: A guaranteed weekly results-show bathroom break.)

stacey in the studio

Phil Stacey, also known as the bald alien guy from last season, is in the studio working on his debut album, according to this article.

Let's just hope he doesn't sport his (unfortunate) trademark cancer patient hat on the disc's cover.

reason no. 2

And my second reason to be excited about season 7 of AI: the inevitable dirty-photo scandal.

in summary...

So a lot of AI-related stuff has happened since I last updated this blog. Not too much, however, to make me unable to recap the events in a five bullet summary.

Here goes:

*Last season's winner, Jordin Sparks, released an album. Unsuccessfully. She had the lowest-charting debut by an "Idol" champ, this article notes. Somewhere, Taylor Hicks is laughing. At a 50-and-older early bird buffet, most likely.

*Blake Lewis, last season's runner-up, also released an album. His first single is called "Break Anotha." I'll stop there.

*Melinda Doolittle, a sixth-season favorite also known as Shrek, has moved on to a prosperous future of Zaxby's commercials, which you can watch here.

*Fourth-season finalist Jessica Sierra's exploits continue to make headlines. Get the full story here. I think I'll skip on the possible sex tape, though...

*Season 7 auditions happened. I was there -- for part of the ordeal, at least. I also met Ryan Seacrest. My life has never been the same.

season seven, here i come

OK, so I vow this blog will be back in full force every day until season seven starts Jan. 15.

In addition to rumors and gossip, I'll be providing one reason a day to get excited about the new season.

Today's reason to be excited = The likelihood that your favorite contestant could soon have his or her very own mugshot.