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(S07E28) This is a big week for American Idol. We have three episodes; the performance and results shows sandwiched around the two-and-a-half hour "Idol Gives Back" star-studded spectacular airing tomorrow at 7:30 ET. But first, we have a theme of "Inspirational Songs" and eight Idol contenders to get through tonight. Join us, won't you, for another spectacular non-star-studded live chat during tonight's episode, starting just before 8:00pm ET.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, and how well the internet can predict eliminations. We'll also see how each contestant fared week to week in each poll, moving up or down. And we can see how amazingly wrong some of these polls can be. After all, none of them predicted little Ramiele going home, and most of them had Syesha at the bottom, who didn't even land in the bottom three.

What this means is that we need to spend less time voting online and more time dialing our phones. We have millions of thirteen-year old girls to compete with and I have carpal tunnel. I need your help!

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(S07E27) Was Dolly's appearance as big as we all hoped? Are this year's mentors hit or miss? Did anyone do a great job last night? And most importanly, who's going home? Tonight's live chat of the American Idol results show will start shortly before 9pm ET. Check out the Ford commercial and see if Dolly's still got it herself as a performer (my guess is yes).. And see if America got it right ... or if Kristy Lee is still alive ... again.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

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(S07E26) The success of these live Idol chats just keeps growing and growing. So come on in and join the hottest American Idol party on the web this week during both the performance and results show. Tonight the festivities begin in time for the live 8pm ET performance show. This week's theme, mentor and guest performer tomorrow are all Dolly Parton. Dolly's written some great songs, but we've only got one hour tonight so expect wall-to-wall music. Come on in, the chatter's fine!

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

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Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, and how well the internet can predict eliminations. We'll also see how each contestant fared week to week in each poll, moving up or down. And we can see how the polls compare to one another. Is one source generally more on-track, are there any that seem to be way off, and how different are they from one another. Can any of them be trusted? Everybody loves polls, right?

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(S07E25) Hey, let's just keep this chat love going and going and going. And I promise the link is there now. Go ahead, click it. If you haven't joined in on one yet, you should check it out. We're getting some lively and opinionated discussions going. What's better than real-time commentary from fans just like you? Tonight's live chat will start shortly before the 9pm ET elimination show. Watch the results and see what bizarre wardrobe choice Paula goes with tonight. Talk about Clay Aiken's BFF Kimberly Locke coming back to the Idol stage. And see if America got it right ... or if Kristy Lee is still alive.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

(S07E24) Since everyone seems to like getting together to share in Idol goodness, we'll continue running these live chats during both the performance and results show until the end of the season. We'll be hosting one during the live 8pm ET broadcast tonight. Watch the Top 10 perform songs from the year they were born tonight, and be sure and come back tomorrow when former contestant Kimberly Locke performs.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

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(S07E23) Everyone had so much fun in the live chat during the Top 11 performance show that we're doing it again! We'll be hosting another live chat during the live 9pm ET broadcast tonight. And we may just do it for the rest of the season, too. Watch the results and sound off about the painful group number as it happens. Critique Kellie Pickler's return to the Idol stage and vent about all the "filler" Ryan subjects us to before voting out ... well who do you think it will be?

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

(S07E22) In response to the huge excitement and interest in this season's batch of American Idol contestants, we'll be hosting a live chat during the live 8pm ET broadcast tonight. Watch the show and share your throughts with other Idol fans in real-time. Don't agree with what Simon said? Speak out and be heard! Tonight, the Top 11 continue last week's theme by performing songs from the John Lennon/Paul McCartney catalog of classic hits.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

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Rather than have all these various posts about this American Idol poll and that American Idol poll, we decided to pool them all up into one delicious post each week. We will look at a few online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after this week's performance show, but before the results were revealed Wednesday.

That way we can see how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, and how well the internet can predict eliminations. We'll also see how each contestant fared week to week in each poll, moving up or down. If you don't like waving at boring numbers, you might just want to move onto that nice article below this one. It looks friendly enough. But if you like getting mired in stats and rankings and seeing more than any sane human should ever need to about eleven singers, follow me across this jump...

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The songs of Lennon/McCartney again?! The "best" Top 12 -- okay, 11 now -- continues to tackle some of the greatest songs ever written. To celebrate enthusiasm for this year's crop of finalists, we're hosting a live chat during tonight's live performance episode (8pm ET). It's a great opportunity to sound off on the performances and offer your own critiques of the contestants ... and judges.

The chat will begin shortly before the show starts. A link to the chat will be provided in the recap post, so check the front page later tonight to join the conversation. See you tonight!

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Well, the final results are in from AOL's Idol Poll, running from the end of the competition on Tuesday to the "Results Show" on Wednesday. While there's not a great deal of deviation from the preliminary results we reported on Wednesday, it's interesting that David Hernandez actually went up slightly in their rankings, from 9th to 8th, before ultimately getting eliminated. They were way off on this one. What's the margin of error, I wonder.

The only other change of any significance was Carly dropping from the #2 slot all the way down to #4, allowing David Cook and Brooke to each move up a slot. This I can understand as both of them had really good nights. But what's up with all the Syesha haters? The final tally is "after the break."

(S07E21) For the first in a season full of hour-long American Idol results show, I'll give Idol credit for filling it pretty well. It was nice to see past runner-up Katharine McPhee perform on the Idol stage again, as well as the video footage of the Idols reacting to their sudden fame. What they need to do is turn the Results show into more of a classic variety show. And keep those past Idol contestants coming, too. American Idol has been around long enough now that it has it's own legacy and tradition, so keep honoring that.

As for the results, while the person who left wasn't necessarily the consensus choice, it was someone that I'm perfectly alright with seeing leave at this early stage. In fact, I could have lost the whole "Bottom Three" tonight and not lost any sleep over it.

What a difference a day makes. After the surprising performances on last night's Top 12 performance show, AOL's American Idol poll has shown some significant shifts. While David Archuleta has been a strong favorite across most polls, I don't think anyone can argue that last night he had a pretty dramatic misstep, forgetting lyrics and generally turning in a pretty bad performance.

The question is, will the David A. faithful continue to flock behind their golden boy, or is one bad performance enough to knock him off the top perch. And what about Chikezie, who turned in his strongest performance of the competition so far. Was it enough to bring him up in America's hearts? I've got two sets of poll results for you. The first from the week prior to last night's show, and the second after last night's performance.

(S07E20) After what went down last week, I'd be scared to death to perform first. On the girls' side, Asia'h performed first, followed by Kady. For the boys, it was Luke up first followed by David Archuleta and then Danny. So, other than David, all four eliminated contestants sang first on their respective performance shows. Do we forget so quickly, America? Maybe a whole night of Beatles classics will make it all a bit more memorable for you.