(photo: AP/ Tom Gianni)The triple-homicide trial of William Balfour--who is accused of the 2008 killings of "American Idol" star Jennifer Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson; her 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson; and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, in the Chicago home where Jennifer grew up--is finally underway. And on Monday, Jennifer herself took the witness stand amid a media frenzy. The Cook County sheriff's office has reportedly issued more than 30 press credentials, for reporters from People, E!, TMZ, and others, to cover the high-profile, month-long trial.

"American Idol" Season 5 champion Taylor Hicks reared his famous silver head on this past Thursday night's "Idol" results show, not only to very excitedly introduce guest performer Kris Allen, but to announce his upcoming residency on the Las Vegas Strip: Taylor will headline an eight-week run at Bally's, kicking off June 26. Reason for a road trip?

Anyway, Taylor is the first "Idol" alum to get his own Vegas show, and it seems like a good fit for the goofy and gregarious showman. It's also a full-circle career move for him, since his first "Idol" audition was actually in Vegas. Back in 2005, Taylor was stranded in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and when his flight was cancelled, he was given a free airline voucher; he used the voucher to fly to Vegas, auditioned there for "Idol," and the rest was history.

Season 8 champion Kris Allen returned to the "American Idol" stage Thursday night to perform his new single, "The Vision Of Love," introduced by an extremely excited Taylor Hicks. (Who knew the Soul Patroller was such a big Kris fan?) Afterwards, Kris headed backstage, where he chatted briefly with Reality Rocks about his just-launched "Vision Of Love" remix contest, his reaction to Colton Dixon's surprising elimination, and his forthcoming album, Thank You Camellia. Enjoy Kris's interview, and "Idol" performance, here!

Last night, Colton Dixon shockingly went home in seventh place, and today, my "The Day After" co-host Matt Whitfield and I are still in mourning. (Hence our somber, all-black attire.) In this particularly opinionated "Day After" chat, we discuss theories (conspiracy or otherwise) as to why Colton went home this soon, as well as postulate on what his exit means for the rest of the season, especially in terms of how it will affect surviving contestants like Phillip Phillips, Jessica Sanchez, and Skylar Laine.

photo: Hollywood RecordsI freely admit that when Stefano Langone was on "American Idol" last year, I wasn't really feeling him. Like, at all. But I started to understand his appeal once he was off the show and on the 2011 Idols Live Tour, when he was finally able to do his own thang. His Hi-NRG performance of Usher's "DJ Got Us Falling In Love" was actually one of the tour's overall highlights: Stefano seemed more relevant and current than pretty much anyone else in the top 11, and suddenly, I could really envision him crossing over, getting radio play, even getting on MTV. And now that I've heard his aptly titled debut single on Hollywood Records, "I'm On A Roll," I genuinely believe this guy could be "Idol" Season 10's surprise breakout star.

photo: FoxMany "American Idol" viewers were shocked when seeming frontrunner Colton Dixon went home in seventh place Thursday night, but the devout Christian rocker appeared less surprised than most. Speaking to Yahoo! Music backstage immediately after his elimination, Colton cited his controversial decision to cover Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" this week as the reason for his downfall, realizing in hindsight that it probably alienated his core fanbase.

"I strayed too much from who I am. I would not have chosen 'Bad Romance' if I had to do it over again, just because I think the meaning behind the song is not something that I necessarily connect with," Colton explained. "I don't know why I didn't catch that. I think a lot of my fans were shocked that I chose that song. Nothing against the song or Lady Gaga--she's got a thing going on that's cool--but it's just not me, who I am as an artist, and I think I let a lot people down with that...Just for me and who I am, what I stand for, it would have been smart to choose a different song."

photo: FoxThis week, seeming fan favorite Colton Dixon went home in seventh place, and all the blogosphere and Twitterverse was instantly abuzz. But of course, this was hardly the first shocker elimination in "Idol" history. Each "American Idol" season has featured at least one unceremonious ousting of a former frontrunner, a singer who seemed untouchable, invincible, virtually guaranteed a golden ticket straight through to the Hollywood finale. For some of these prematurely ejected rejects, it was the end of an era--but for others, it was just the beginning of a fabulous new career.

It remains to be if Colton will become an A-lister despite his early exit, or if he will just be performing "Idol"-themed, family-fare showcases at Disneyworld in the near future. But in honor of this latest "Idol" outrage, I'm taking a look back at past "Idol" rejects, many of whom weren't fortunate enough to even have a chance of taking advantage of such a thing as a "Judges' Save." So here, in ascending order of overall shockingness, are the seven biggest (non-Colton) surprise eliminations in "Idol" history.

Colton goes homeAfter 53 million votes--the highest tally of this "American Idol" season--it turned out that millions of people can be wrong, as one of this year's most talented and original contestants, Colton Dixon--who had never been in the bottom three before, and even seemed destined to make the finale--was eliminated Thursday in seventh place. This was literally one of the top shockers in "Idol" history, and definitely one of the series' greatest injustices.