American Idol | featured news

Jackson out. Randy Jackson, the lone original "American Idol" judge, says he won't be returning to the Fox talent competition. "To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on `American Idol,' I have decided to leave after this season," Jackson said in a statement Thursday. "I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry."

Did Mariah Carey almost get voted off “American Idol”? According to report from The Hollywood Reporter, “Idol” execs were considering replacing the singing sensation with veteran judge Jennifer Lopez mid-season in an attempt to boost ratings.

In the heyday of "American Idol," the notion that it could fall ratings victim to a zombie slugfest or standard crime drama would have been laughable... When it comes to advertising dollars, the series "will have the top price for the 2012-13 season," said analyst Jon Swallen of Kantar Media. Last season, "American Idol" grossed a leading $836 million in ad revenue.

Ending its three-night live round, American Idol (3.5/10) pared it down to the final 10 contestants of Season 12 on Thursday. Spilling two minutes over, the scheduled 90-minute live show had a lot of Ryan Seacrest shuttling back and forth to the holding room to bring the lucky ones back on stage. It also had a mixed bag of ratings results.

On the second night of its three-night live round American Idol (3.7/10) saw a surprising flameout by contestant Charlie Askew over criticism from the judges. Besides the profound dismay from judge Nicki Minaj over Askew’s performance, the two-hour show also saw Idol continue its weekly Wednesday ratings slide.

Fox's "American Idol" continues to lose ratings ground on Wednesday, with ABC's "Modern Family" appearing to have edged it out as the night's top show among young adults for the first time. In another first, NBC's rookie drama "Chicago Fire" edged past CBS vet "CSI" to win the 10 o'clock hour in demos.

During the all-male Hollywood Week episode, tensions were high and one judge did little to dispel them.

'American Idol' contestant Matthew Farmer has admitted that he lied about his military service on Wednesday night's episode of the popular singing show, this after first denying he had made false claims, and blaming the show's editors for misrepresenting him.

"American Idol" judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey disagree on advice to a contestant causing one to walk off set.

Headlines over the past week have been dominated by a fiery, often bitter fight, and we’re not just talking about Obama vs. Romney. We're talking about the nasty feud between “American Idol” judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey. Behind-the-scenes audition video showed the young rapper ripping Carey with scathing remarks like "off with your head" and "I will knock you out.” The jaw-dropping outburst prompted Carey to tell Barbara Walters that Minaj went as far as to threaten to shoot her, which reportedly resulted in Carey hiring extra security.