James Durbin didn't get to rock out with the resident rocker on the 'American Idol' (Wed., 8PM ET on FOX) finale, but he still got to take to the stage with a legendary band. It was a beautiful vocal harmony between Durbin and Judas Priest's Rob Halford as they tackled a medley of two of Priest's biggest hits.

As we know you were anticipating, there was plenty of fire and explosions to help make sure we knew this was a James Durbin performance. All in all, he looked completely comfortable with the band and it was a great preview of the type of career he might have.

In a package on the most shocking elimination of the season, Durbin equated his own elimination to that of Chris Daughtry -- both wound up in fourth place.

Save the rocker. Save the diva. Save 'Idol.' Save the world?

'Idol' is notorious for its "shocking" results shows, but some contestants just plain go home too soon. Each season, one talented front-runner has failed to advance as far as the judges predicted, and the Judges' Save -- which allows for the 'Idol' judges to keep one eliminated contestant in the competition, despite America's having voted him or her off -- was created to solve that very problem.

Last season, it was used for pianist Matt Giraud, who ultimately placed fifth; last week, it came in handy for Michael Lynche, who must now try to avoid the dreaded double-elimination.

The rule was only introduced in season 8, but it would have been useful on 'Idol' during most prior seasons. Read on to see who we think the judges would have saved had the rule been in place from the start.

Yet another results show has come around, and Ryan starts things off by asking, "Who will graduate from the Idol school of rock, and who will just get schooled?" You know, Ryan, I'm available if your writers are on strike. Call me.

Anyway, sounds like it was a dramatic week on American Idol - a large column collapsed and in a separate incident, a staffer was injured on a stair mishap. Whew. But the show must go on, and we'll find out tonight whether Allison, Danny, Adam or Kris will be going home. The other three get to go home, too, but for a big hometown parade with cheerleaders and town leaders gushing praise on them.

The premiere of American Idol's new season is tonight; can you stand it? Last year brought us a format change with the addition of instruments; this year, we have a new judge. Controversy has been following Kara DioGuardi since she was named AI's fourth judge. Is she taking Paula's place? Are there catfights? Will she screw up the balance of the show?

To help drum up enthusiasm about the new season and ostensibly to answer some of these questions, FOX set up a conference call with Kara. Unsurprisingly, she stayed as far away from minefields as humanly possible, instead gushing about how wonderful everyone on the show is and how well they all get along, and blah blah blah, puppies and rainbows. Luckily, she also chatted about what she thinks of the newest crop of contestants as well as past Idols.

Kelly ... Ruben ... Carrie ... David ...

They may all own the title of 'American Idol,' but winning is one thing -- turning in one of the show's most memorable performances is something else entirely.

We scoured through the past seven seasons to come up with the 16 best. Then YOU, the fans, voted for the No. 1 greatest 'Idol' performance of all time. See who topped the list.

First, the good news: each of the final three American Idol contestants are guaranteed record deals and a music career. The bad news? I have this awful feeling in my stomach, the way I sometimes feel after eating too many potato chips, that David Cook is going to win the whole thing. That would be a shame.

I know that there are a lot of Cook fans out there, but I'm wondering: have you noticed that he sings just like 88% of the bands you hear on the radio right now? I don't want to call him a poseur, but I'm curious if he has that voice and style because that's how other successful, current singers sing. Don't we already have a Chris Daughtry?*

Welcome back to "AI Aftermath," where we explore Idol's past. Each installment, as one more American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated at the same point. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Jason Castro's elimination last week, we'll be looking at other fourth place finishers.

This week: 4th place finishers, featuring featuring Tamyra Gray (Season One), Joshua Gracin (Season Two), LaToya London (Season Three), Anthony Federov (Season Four), Chris Daughtry (Season Five) and LaKisha Jones (Season Six).

You'll recognize them immediately: Randy's "pitchy" problems; Paula's patronizing critiques; Ryan and Simon's on-stage bickering.

These are just some of the clichés that have dominated the 'American Idol' airwaves from the beginning.

We're counting down the 11 biggest clichés ever. Check them out ... after the jump.

The fine folks over at AOL Television put together their "11 Biggest American Idol Cliches," but as the self-proclaimed guru of all things Idol, I figured my legions of fan (yes it's singular on purpose) are clamoring for my take. You have to figure that after nearly eight years on the air any show is going to rack up it's long, long list of annoying things.

And yet, I don't get nearly as annoyed when Jeff Probst yells "Come on in guys. [Team A] getting their first look at the new [Team B]. [Contestant Name] voted out at the last tribal council," even though he does it every single week. "[Team members], you're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you that you've both been eliminated from The Amazing Race." No big deal. So why do Ryan, Simon and the gang at American Idol drive us so crazy week after week?

Uh-oh. Just keeping it real, you didn't really bring anything of your own to "Feels Like Tonight." In fact, it sounded like like you just took The Asphalts' "Tonight." Okay, it didn't go down like that, but The Asphalts have brought allegations of plagiarism against Daughtry. They even put together a snazzy video that samples both Daughtry's "Feels Like Tonight" and their own "Tonight" so you can judge for yourself.

Unfortunately for Daughtry, Chris apparently climbed in bed with a guy by the name of Dr. Luke who wrote "Feels Like Tonight." This, even though Luke has already settled in a similar case brought against him and Avril Lavigne for her single "Girlfriend," which bore a striking resemblance to a band called the Rubinoos' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." You know how sometimes you get a tune stuck in your head and you can't get it out? Apparently Dr. Luke has that problem a lot. Only he writes it down and makes "new" songs out of it.

Way back in the early days of American Idol, and by early days I mean "Season Four," there was a girl who was a little bit country and a long-haired fellow who was a little bit rock and roll. I think we all know who went on to win that season, but that southern rocker was a pretty amazing presence of his own. In fact, they were so strong together in the final, they both released "Inside Your Heaven," the Idol single for that year. And they even swapped spots at number one with the track.

Now Bo's out promoting See the Light, his latest album which is more true to his southern rock roots. But that doesn't mean he's not willing to take a break from his touring schedule to spend some quality time with the kids down at American Idol Camp this summer. The program, which began last year, is for 10-15 year olds and runs in five two-week sessions throughout the summer.

There, kids can go to learn about the music industry and hone their craft as musicians, as well as experiencing all the traditional things that make summer camps fun, just with the added bonus of hanging out with and learning from Idol alumni like Bo. For more on Idol Camp check out the official American Idol Camp website. For more on my chat with Bo Bice, follow me after the jump.

So it looks like Chris Cornell has responded to the "controversy" about David Cook's performance of "Billie Jean" last week on American Idol. While Ryan Seacrest clearly introduced him by indicating he was doing Chris Cornell's version, that introduction doesn't seem to have been enough. The incident is similar to one during Season Five when Chris Daughtry performed Live's arrangement of Johnny Cash's classic "I Walk the Line." Then, as now, the judge's didn't seem to realize that the contestants were singing other artists arrangements of the pieces, instead praising their bravery and originality.

And they weren't the only ones. Even in my review of the episode I clearly stated that it was Chris Cornell's arrangement, and yet I still got comments from people who thought David was trying to pull one over on America by pretending it was his own work. Cornell didn't see the episode as he was returning from abroad, but he was immediately deluged with emails blasting the judges for praising Cook's brave 'arrangement.'

In a press release today, FOX announced that Ellen DeGeneres would again be taking on co-hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest for the 2nd "Idol Gives Back" special, airing Wednesday April 9 7:30 - 10:30 pm ET. Just like last year, Ellen will host from the Kodak Theatre while Ryan covers from the American Idol stage.

The talent roster continues to expand as well. The complete list (so far) now includes Maroon 5, Heart, Gloria Estefan, Boyz II Men and The Clark Brothers along with already announced Bono, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Fergie, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Annie Lennox, John Legend and Snoop Dogg. Most of these will be the pre-recorded "Give, give, give" but I'm looking forward to seeing Boyz II Men back in action.

Call it what you will -- the downfall of pop music or its savior -- there's no denying that 'American Idol' is a fickle god-maker.

Some winners have found great success (hello, Kelly!), some have been dumped by their labels (so sorry, Ruben and Taylor), while some also-rans have gone on to bigger and better things.

We check in on 30 'AI' alums and fill you in on which ones are in trouble with the law, which are still giving it their best shot ... and which have fallen off the radar.

'American Idol''s are usually easy on the ears.

But occasionally, the show finds contestants who aren't too bad on the eyes, either, making each season that much more enjoyable to watch.

AOL users recently nominated their picks for the sexiest 'Idol' ever, and we're counting down the top 10.