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.

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.

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.