American Idol

Don't worry, Carrie Underwood, we haven't forgotten about you!

As we sing the praises of new American Idol hopefuls - such as Kady Malloy and Michael Lee Johns - we still have time for our favorite contestant of all-time.

Check out Carrie's video for her new song, All-American Girl:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub3PLcI6lOA&eurl=http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/all-american-girl/[/youtube]

Fact: The top 24 American Idol contestants were selected this week.

Rumor: The following is a list of those finalists, according to one show source. How do you feel about these choices (some of whom are yet to audition on an episode)?

Top 12 Girls
Asiah Epperson
Alaina Whitaker
Alex Lushington
Amanda Overmyer
Amy Davis
Brooke White
Carly Smithson
Joanne Borgella
Kady Malloy (pictured)
Kristy Lee Cook
Ramielle Malubay
Syesha Mercado

Top 12 Guys
Chikeze Eze
Colton Berry
Danny Noriega
David Archuleta
David Cook
David Hernandez
Garrett Haley
Jason Castro
Jason Yeager
Luke Menard
Michael Johns
Robbie Carrico

Similar to Kady Malloy, Krisy Lee Cook, and Michael Johns before her, London Weidberg is an American Idol contestant in season seven with a singing background.

Unlike the aforementioned contestants, though, Weidberg wasn't signed to a recording deal. She simply fronted a couple of bands during her time spent trying to fulfull the dream of earning a career in music.

Sadly, this career was put on hold a few years ago when her dad was suffering from cancer. He succumbed to the diseases three years ago, but London was not given a ticket to Hollywood last night out of pity. The girl can definitely sing. Check it out:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNsNzsb8Czc&eurl=http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/london-weidberg/[/youtube]

Bands that London Weidberg has sang for include The Foxy Mondays and Joy Ride, a six-piece 80s rock cover band. There's also a rumor that she taped a song for the NBC show, Las Vegas, but we cannot confirm this.

Kristy Lee Cook is the (very, very, very) early favorite on season seven of American Idol.

While some critics have voiced their concern over her professional background, the following story makes it evident that Cook is far from an established, pampered star:

According to The Seattlest website, Kristy failed her first Idol audition in July in San Diego. From there, she wanted to give it another shot... but couldn't afford a ticket to Philadelphia.

Therefore, Cook reportedly sold her horse for $3,000. We can't say for sure if this story is true, but we can prove that Kristy Lee once owned a horse, or was at least pictured on top of one:

Kristy Lee Cook is seen here atop a horse. Did she really sell it in order to audition for American Idol?

Perrie Cataldo brought viewers to tears last night with his story of being a single father, one whose baby's mama was killed two years ago for being "at the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing."

Now, however, it sounds as though this American Idol hopeful wasn't always in the right place, either.

TMZ has obtained an arrest record revealing that Cataldo - after being kicked out of a bar for fighting - carried a handgun back inside the joint in Glendale, Arizona in 2006. According to the arresting officer, Cataldo was "concealing" the gun under his clothing, confronted by security and arrested.

Cataldo plead no contest to carrying a concealed weapon (a misdemeanor) and was fined $568. FOX had no comment, but allow us to say:

We hope Perrie gets the chance to turn his life around. After all, Antonella Barba didn't get bounced from the show for her past with a weapon a certain male friend had been concealing underneath his clothing.

David Archuleta and Michael Johns were two of the top performers on American Idol last night. Each received tickets to Hollywood.

Like Carly Smithson and Kristy Lee Cook, however, each also has an extensive professional background. To wit:

Michael Johns was formerly the lead singer of two bands: The Rising and Film. He used to be known as Michael Lee and was actually signed to Maverick Records while leading Film. Things get even juicier:

The group was set to release a debut album in 2003, until - according to one of the group members - Michael allegedly screwed over Film by leaving the band and stealing their songs, claiming he wrote them.

While not evidence of that claim's validity, the MySpace profile for Fame is shown above - at least proving Johns was its lead singer.

Nothing about David Archuleta is as controversial, but his background isn't exactly amateur, either. The 16-year old singer won Star Search when he was 12 and has appeared on numerous programs ever since.

David Archuleta even sang once for an audience that included Kelly Clarkson. Check out the grainy video now:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8SJXDPE_sQ&eurl=http://www.rickey.org/?p=6887[/youtube]

There were singers aside from Carly Smithson that impressed us during last night's American Idol auditions. Three in particular stood out:

1. Michael Johns: That Australian accent might be enough to help this crooner continue to advance. We certainly swooned as soon as Johns opened his mouth. Once he sung "I've Been Loving You Too Long," though, we agreed with and Simon Cowell that he sounded great, like a "white soul singer."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Ug1-kA8zA&eurl=http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/michael-johns/[/youtube]

2. David Archueta: This 16-year old suffered from vocal chord paralysis growing up, but that didn't stop him from an impressive rendition of "Waiting on the World to Change." Sob story alert! Viewers love that.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRZps_AEMpU&eurl=http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/david-archuleta/[/youtube]

3. Samantha Musa: Probably has less of a chance to advance far as the prior two gentlemen... but we loved Samantha! She was joined in her audition by her sister, who sat on Simon's lap and told the judge he was one of three people in the world she wanted to meet (along with Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, naturally).

Musa seemed legitimately humble, adorable - and talented! Check out her audition of "Until You Come Back to Me."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4WUJ6YqCEg[/youtube]

We interrupt the praising of American Idol contestants from week one of auditions - such as Kristy Lee Cook and Drew Poppelreiter - to bring you the worst of the worst.

At least that's what Renaldo Lapuz was hoping for.

The "singer" came dressed to his Dallas audition as a pimp, belted out a song he wrote for Simon Cowell called "I Am Your Brother" and tried his hardest to become the next William Hung.

Think this will result in a record deal?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuH0v7GIIwI[/youtube]

Forget Kady Malloy, Colton Swon and the excitement over the new crop of American Idol contestants.

Here's far bigger Idol news (courtesy of a clip from season two we just dug up again): Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell had an affair! Kind of!

Take a look:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0y8B_PHxbs&eurl=http://www.idolstalker.com/[/youtube]

She may or may not be voicing Knut the polar bear in a new movie about the ursine specimen, but Suri Cruise looks destined to be an entertainer.

Not only is the 21-month-old a fan of the Spice Girls, but according to mother Katie Holmes, she has also become a fan of American Idol.

Holmes â€" who is getting panned by critics for her comedy Mad Money â€" told Ryan Seacrest about Suri's American Idol passion on his radio show.

When Seacrest said he could probably hook the Cruise clan up with some tickets, the soft-spoken Holmes said, "I would be very grateful."

Holmes did not comment on whether Suri believes current Idol hopefuls Kady Malloy, Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Hennessy are all ringers.

Maybe Suri Cruise will audition for American Idol herself one day.

For now, Katie has her hands full with baby Suri, who is "is growing fast and talking more and more. I am constantly surprised."

She probably felt the same way about that Tom Cruise Scientology video.