Melanie sings the praises of Pepsi"X Factor" viewers may recall that the winner's $5 million prize package included a Pepsi Super Bowl commercial, one which would put the winner in the same iconic company as Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Kanye West, and Season 1 champion Melanie Amaro's own idol, Mariah Carey. Melanie's ad will make its television debut this Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, obviously--but it's already available online before the big game.

Lambert & Queen at the 2011 MTV EMAsIt is an indisputable fact that Adam Lambert's Season 8 finale collaboration with Queen stands as one of THE best "American Idol" moments ever. Their "Idol" performance was in fact so stupendous, rumors quickly ran rampant that Queen had invited him to join the band lineup permanently. That of course did not happen, but there was always the possibility that the two would someday perform together again--and then, late last year, that possibility was thrillingly realized, when Adam sang with Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast. That brilliant performance reignited hopes for more Lambert/Queen duets, and now Britain's Daily Star is reporting that the two may be joining forces again at Britain's Sonisphere festival this summer.

The two faces of AdamRemember how at the Season 8 "American Idol" finale, Ryan Seacrest described the Kris Allen/Adam Lambert showdown as "the guy-next-door vs. the guyliner"? Well, Adam is apparently a more complex man than Ryan gave him credit for. In Adam's new video for "Better Than I Know Myself," Adam takes on both roles--the light and the dark, the innocent and, as Britney Spears might say, the not-that-innocent--and the result is the most compelling music video Adam has ever done. Clearly, two Adams are better than one.

photo: TwitterMany "American Idol" alums--notably Fantasia Barrino, Constantine Maroulis, and Clay Aiken--have gone on to great success on Broadway, but ironically, Broadway has always gotten a bad rap from the judges on "Idol." Ever since the Simon Cowell days, "too Broadway" has been a common criticism on the show, and now with Simon gone, it seems like remaining original judge Randy Jackson has taken up the show's unofficial anti-Broadway crusade. Last week, one of my favorite Season 11 contestants so far, the purple-haired Angie Zeiderman, auditioned with "When You've Got It Flaunt It" from The Producers,  and while she eventually got a golden ticket--only after singing a second, non-Broadway song, "Blue Bayou"--she almost didn't, because her more theatrical first number displeased The Dawg. "The showtunes, that turns me off," Randy grumbled. "The problem is that it brings out that vibrato I don't like."

Well, on Thursday, Betty Buckley, a Tony Award-winning stage veteran probably best known for her remarkable rendition of "Memory" from Cats,  got fed up with "Idol's anti-Broadway bias, and with Randy in particular. And she therefore let it rip on Twitter, in a rant that was actually more entertaining than many of Season 11's "Idol" auditions.

Carrie Underwood in Season 4Eight years ago, a little Oklahoman farmgirl you may have heard of named Carrie Underwood tried out for a little show called "American Idol," and the rest was history. So when "Idol" returned to Carrie's original audition city, St. Louis, this Thursday, they milked it for all it was worth, all in an attempt to convince viewers that The Next Carrie was somewhere to be found here in the gateway to the West. (Or "the gateway to 'Idol' success," as Ryan Seacrest put it.) They kind of failed.

Last night, "American Idol" headed to Portland, where the judges found an adorkably awesome indie girl (Brittany Zika), a breakout R&B diva (Jessica Phillips), and a few other promising contenders. But with only one more auditions episode left (tonight in St. Louis) before Hollywood Week, and with "Idol" ratings continuing to slip,  my "Day After" co-host Matt Whitfield and I are starting to worry if there's enough standout talent in the mix to keep Season 11 going. Is Nigel Lythgoe saving the best for last? Or for Hollywood? Let's hope...

Melanie's singleMelanie Amaro is the girl who won "The X Factor" last year, in case the hoopla this week about all the shocking "X Factor" cast changes made you temporarily forget about her. But these days she apparently has the XC Factor. ("XC" is the Roman numeral for "90," fellow dorks.) Yes, Melanie may have sang mostly ballads during her run on the show, but on her new single--a '90s-retro, Hi-NRG, Hi-BPM cover of Aretha Franklin's "Respect"--she's definitely picking up the pace. And now I'm wondering if she was right to stick with ballads before.

Yes, I always wanted Melanie to branch out and try more uptempo tunes on "The X Factor"...but now that she's gone the full-on '90s clubby/remixy route, I'm not really feeling it.

Have a listen here:

Sure, this song would be fabulous if it were a C+C Music Factory/Crystal Waters mashup being performed on Downtown Julie Brown's "Club MTV" back  in 1990. (Wubba wubba wubba!)  Or maybe if it were being lip-synched by "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestants. But

Sarah has the spirit of St. Louis!Diehard "American Idol" viewers will remember Sarah Sellers as the geek-chic food blogger who made it to Hollywood Week last year. (Watch her Season 10 audition here.)  Sarah has since continued her food-blogging, and has been cooking up scrumptious snack suggestions for any "Idol" viewing party and posting them here exclusively in Reality Rocks. And she's back this season to get your mouth watering every Wednesday and Thursday night.