American Idol Season 10 | featured news

A slight uptick in the ratings for “American Idol” reverses a trend and makes the show look increasingly like a cultural fixture.

Any changes are unlikely to take effect this season, which has already seen the early exit of four female finalists, including presumed front-runner Pia Toscano.

Paul McDonald kept grinning despite being gouged on "American Idol." The smiley singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tenn., was revealed to have received the fewest viewer votes on the Fox talent contest Thursday after kicking off Wednesday's film-themed performances with Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll" from "Risky Business." Jennifer Lopez requested the 26-year-old sing Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" as his swan song, and he happily obliged.

Jennifer Lopez isn't sure "American Idol" viewers will be calling in for finalist Haley Reinhart. Lopez said the bluesy 20-year-old college student from Wheeling, Ill., didn't dial up her best performance with Blondie's "Call Me" from "American Gigolo" on the Fox talent competition's evening of film tunes Wednesday. The show's lone female judge was reluctant to criticize Reinhart because every eliminated finalist has been a woman this season.

Justice is served. America has been in an uproar over the American Idol ousting of standout competitor Pia Toscano -- even celebrities like Tom Hanks and Jennifer Hudson were tweeting their disbelief. Today, Pia's people can rejoice: the 22-year-old has just scored a record deal, independent of her American Idol ties.

Pia Toscano, 22-year-old former contestant on "American Idol" and Howard Beach native, has signed with Interscope Records, MyFoxNY reports. According to a report from US Weekly, Interscope Records, chaired by "Idol" mentor Jimmy Lovin, are rushing Toscano into the studio to record an album.

The judges are extremely unhappy with the “American Idol” voters for their decision to send Pia Toscano home on Wednesday. “I’m shocked. I’m angry. I don’t even know what to say,” J.Lo ranted, faulting the voters for failing to read her mind and discern which of the nine heavily praised finalists she loved better than others.

"American Idol" finalist Pia Toscano is on a high. After weeks of expectedly performing ballads, the soaring 22-year-old songstress from Howard Beach, N.Y., earned praise from the Fox talent competition's judges for strutting around the stage while powering through Tina Turner's up-tempo tune "River Deep - Mountain High" on Wednesday's rock `n' roll edition. Toscano previously promised to sing that tune.

Naima Adedapo and Thia Megia both had been in danger before and neither did particularly well on Wednesday, so it would have been surprising had they not been in the bottom three. Adedapo’s reggae number was more corny than innovative, and Megia’s vocals didn’t stand out from the crowd, so neither was able to gain traction among the voters. As a result, they ultimately were the two sent home.

Casey Abrams wasn't squeezed out of "American Idol." The fiery 20-year-old film camp counselor from Idyllwild, Calif., who stomped through Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" on Wednesday, was revealed to have received the fewest viewer votes on Thursday, but the judges unanimously decided to save Abrams in the middle of his last-chance performance of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor."