The highly-anticipated FOX executive session got underway with a bit of non-news, with the network's entertainment chairman, Peter Rice, saying that "No one has signed a deal yet on either side of the camera to join 'American Idol' that wasn't there last year."

This means that there's no deal for Jennifer Lopez or Steven Tyler to be judges, no deal for Nigel Lythgoe to return as executive producer. Rice and FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly both deflected questions from the gathered critics about the 'Idol' judging panel, including the status of Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson. Rice would not get into speculating about the judges because "it's not fair to those being speculated about."

All he would really say is that some of the speculation around who the new names are going to be is close to true, and a lot of it is wildly false. One thing Reilly did say in the reporter's scrum after the panel is that the goal is to announce all the changes at once. Whether they'll be able to do that or not is obviously going to be determined on when they get the deals done.

More on the FOX exec panel after the jump...

Ellen DeGeneres' abrupt resignation from 'American Idol' yesterday looks like only the beginning of a period of upheaval at the judges' table. By the time the dust settles, Kara DioGuardi may be gone as well -- and those three vacancies (the third coming from Simon Cowell's long-planned departure) may be filled by only two judges. And one of them will almost certainly be Jennifer Lopez.

Confused? Here's a roundup of all the 'Idol' news that's broken over the last half-day or so since Ellen DeGeneres' announcement.

In the wake of past comments by Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Kara DioGuardi's "necktitude" -- nodding head movements that the 'American Idol' judge frequently makes -- Hasselbeck and DioGuardi spontaneously engage in a contest to determine who can bob and weave their head the best on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated).

On 'The Simpsons' (Sun., 8PM ET on Fox), grouchy bartender Moe Syzslak discovers that he has an unexpected talent for judging contests. Of course, according to the logic of 'The Simpsons', this inevitably leads to Moe guest-judging an episode of 'American Idol.'

[Spoiler alert.]

Should we just give Lee DeWyze the crown now and be done with it? Seriously, who would have imagined, at the beginning of the 'American Idol' live shows, that Lee would be in a position where he could take it all?

In every interview the judges gave before the season started, 'American Idol' season 9 was heralded as a girls' year. And for a while, it seemed as if the most talented female, Crystal Bowersox, would win this season handily. But the last few weeks have seen contender, Lee DeWyze coming up in her rear-view mirror, and he may have overtaken her tonight.

Of course, Lee had a little help from his mentor this week, Simon Cowell, who picked Lee's song for the Judges' Choice round.

Last March, Kara DioGuardi's father Joe announced his run for a New York seat in the U.S. Senate. Fast forward to Kara's nude spread in 'Allure' magazine, and some tricky father-daughter moments have since transpired.

But as the 'American Idol' judge explained on 'The Tonight Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC), "I emailed him before I did it, and he wasn't running then." She told him at the time, "It's sort of naked but not naked."

While perusing the magazine article, Jay Leno countered, "I looked for clothes all over here, and I couldn't see anything." Fellow 'Tonight' guest Samuel L. Jackson added, "Is that your real body?"

DioGuardi defended it, but admitted to an awkward conversation with her dad after the piece was published.

Here's my deal: We need to have a Crystal/Casey finale, and Siobhan needs to go tonight. While the judges loved her, my ears told me that she sounded like a cat being mauled to death last night. I honestly do not understand the praise that is being heaped upon her. I'd be just as happy if Aaron the wedding singer left, but even I can admit that he hasn't had a bad performance in several weeks.

But no matter who actually goes tonight, one thing's for certain: there's going to be about 50 minutes of filler leading up to it. Tonight, we get Rascal Flatts, Shakira, vampires, emo violinists, and a whole lot of other things that only the evil geniuses behind 'Idol' can dream up in an effort to stretch 5 minutes of show into an hour.

There are six contestants left on 'American Idol,' and everyone did really well tonight, which means it's anyone's guess who will go home. After noting that a whopping $45 million was raised on 'Idol Gives Back' last week, Ryan Seacrest introduced this week's mentor, Shania Twain, and we got right into the performances.

Lee DeWyze, 'You're Still the One.' Per Shania's suggestion, Lee starts the song with just voice and piano, adding in guitar later. It sounds a little forced to me, but I like the ending. Randy Jackson says it's one of his favorite songs of all time, and Lee found a way to make it his own. Ellen DeGeneres agrees, saying "you couldn't look cuter" and "all aboard the Shania Twain!" Kara DioGuardi likes that Lee cracked a smile a few times, and Simon Cowell thinks it was "absolutely the perfect song" for Lee. Then Simon and Kara started arguing about whether Lee smiled or had some other weird facial thing going on. He was smiling! He's still just a little nervous!

It's "Inspiration Week" on 'American Idol,' which means the Idols sang inspirational songs on Tuesday, and 'Idol Gives Back' was on tap for tonight. It's truly amazing how much this charitable endeavor helps people around the globe. It's not easy to see all of the suffering going on in the world -- especially the children -- but it's really easy to pick up the phone and make a small donation that could save a kid's life.

Tonight, celebrities reported on the huge malaria problem in Africa; Save the Children; a food bank in Monrovia, Calif.; and global health, among others. At the end of the show, Simon Cowell reported that $15 million had been raised during the two hours the show aired. That's awesome. For more info and to learn how you can give, check out 'Idol Gives Back.'

This season has actually gone by pretty quickly for me. Top 7? That's completely nuts, yet here we are. Plus, we get a bitchin' mentor this week: Alicia Keys. The theme this week is the nebulous, "songs of inspiration," which could either be completely ridiculous or pretty cool.

Unfortunately, it's a little bit more of the former instead of the latter. I don't know what it is, but when left to basically their own devices, these guys aren't very good at picking songs. Just about everybody gave pretty much a "take it or leave it" performance. Of course, it wouldn't be 'Idol' if there wasn't a standout or two in the crowd.

Larry King has interviewed some 40,000 politicians, athletes and entertainers -- basically every individual the culture's currently buzzing about. Last night on 'Larry King Live' (weeknights, 9PM ET on CNN) he spoke with 'American Idol's' judges, and it was time to get to the bottom of the Simon Cowell-Ryan Seacrest banter: Is it an act, or do they really not like each other?

Watch the video after the jump.

After Big Mike's dramatic save last week, this show is being set up to be super-intense. Not only have the judges used their only save, but as the title indicates, two people are going home. But before that, we need a lot of filler. We have performances by Brooke White and Adam Lambert, which wow -- I enjoyed Brooke when she was on the show, but I can honestly say I haven't thought of her since.

We don't start off the show with any of this. Instead, we start off with the longest Elvis medley ever. It was so long, in fact, that I'm pretty sure they sang every single Elvis song ever written, four songs written by Elvis impersonators, and a verse from "Allison," just to round things out a little bit.

"My tongue is not nearly as talented as yours." - Ryan Seacrest to Adam Lambert

It was an interesting night on 'American Idol,' as that statement suggests. Obviously, Ryan was talking about Adam's tongue action while singing, but when he said it, Adam's eyebrows went up. He and Ryan would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?

Anyway, Ryan's mom was in the audience, too, which made things even more interesting. That and the fact that after Big Mike's save last week -- which I'm thankful for -- the Idols are definitely feeling the pressure. Two -- count 'em, two -- people will be sent packing this week.

Based on the performances, I'm guessing they won't be the ones we predict. Meaning that Tim Urban and Andrew Garcia will still be here after tonight. Ok, maybe not Andrew.

Now that she's off 'American Idol,' perhaps she could speak frankly on a few things about 'Idol' that appear to be bugging David Letterman. That seemed to be the premise when she visited the 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS) last night and performed Kara DioGuardi's "Terrified."

Dave asked her, "By the way, why is Ryan Seacrest on this show?" and "What about that Simon Cowell -- what is he sitting on?"

Didi gave some tactful answers and added that -- like other ex-'Idol' contestants this year -- she was grateful for Ellen Degeneres' presence on the judges' panel. "She added comic relief," Didi explained.

Watch the video after the jump.

We're finally into the single digits tonight, but we're still going for two hours. It's Lennon/McCartney night, and Seacrest starts out by saying they have the most recognizable songs in the world. Would you agree with that? Do you think that they or Elvis were more popular worldwide? In any case, Paul McCartney gave his blessing to these contestants, so here's hoping they don't screw it up. Of course, just based on Siobhan's outfit alone, I'm a little nervous going into it.

Turns out, though, I have nothing to be nervous about. Overall, this is my favorite episode of 'Idol' so far this season. There were several performances that I enjoyed, and many that took me by surprise. Plus, 'Idol' instituted a new thing that I actually like: the interviews in which the contestants talk about each other. It was cool to hear how people are perceived in the house, but more than that, Crystal's comment about how she loves the fact that Andrew and Lee can get married and have lots of "little Danny Gokey babies" is still cracking me up.