'American Idol': Allison Iraheta, Orianthi on 'So You Think You Can Dance'

"American Idol" Season 8 finalist Allison Iraheta graced the "So You Think You Can Dance" stage Thursday (July 29) to perform "Don't Waste the Pretty" during the live results show. Allison is currently on tour with fellow Season 8 finalist Adam Lambert -- in fact, her tour with Adam was just extended.

Allison was dressed in brilliant pinks, blues, and yellows. I loved the routine.

Besides reality shows, hip-hop battles, and ballroom dance competitions, I don't think of dance as competitive in that way. Results: Jose and Kent were up first. DROP THE AXE, SHOW.

Next up: AdeChike and Billy, the former dressed like a Dickensian street urchin. Finally, Lauren and Robert. Tony from Season 5?! The first guy eliminated that season? Man, this kid's voice sucks. Solos: Jose did lots of leg flairs and some tumbling. Musical guest 2: Allison Iraheta, with Orianthi, doing "Don't Waste the Pretty." Hm. Nigel talked about how Lauren's the only girl left because young female voters go for the cute young boys. As for Billy, he is technically a brilliant dancer, one of the most memorable dancers we've ever had on the show.

Ellen DeGeneres is out on "American Idol."

Fox Broadcasting Co. announced late Thursday that Ellen DeGeneres will leave her role as a judge on "American Idol," in what is likely to be the first of several changes aimed at rejuvenating the aging reality-TV series.
Ms. DeGeneres had spent just one season as a judge on the nine-year-old singing competition
Ms. DeGeneres's departure comes as Fox executives and "American Idol" producers prepare significant changes to the show's judging panel for its 10th season. Simon Cowell, the acerbic judge whose withering critiques

Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal.

"American Idol" remains the most-watched show on U.S. television by a solid margin, averaging 24.3 million viewers in its most-recent season, according to Nielsen Co.

Top Fox executives are scheduled to appear before reporters Monday in Beverly Hills, Calif., for the Television Critics Association press tour, and will likely face questions about "Idol" changes.


After days of furious rumors, Fox just made it official: Ellen DeGeneres' much-criticized tenure as the fourth judge on "American Idol" has sputtered to an end after just one season, with the show in the midst of a massive overhaul
Ellen DeGeneres is out on "American Idol."

DeGeneres will not return as a judge on the hit singing competition series, Fox announced Thursday. And more judge changes are in store as the network tries to stem the show's alarming loss of viewers.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez appears to be the show's new Paula Abdul.

A Fox rep declined to comment.
For J-Lo, a move to "Idol" would mark a return to the Fox network.

Sources say the suits behind the show were happy with Ellen's exit.

Sources say the swap-out of Ellen, who survived just one season on the show, is not the producers' last move.

This past season -- Ellen's first and, as it turns out last, Lythgoe was the show's most outspoken critics, telling pretty much anyone who would listen, including Zap2it.com last April, "I would replace the entire judging panel."

The comic-turned-sitcom-star-turned-daytime-talk- show-host started her new "Idol" judging career on the same day Simon came to Winter TV Press Tour 2010 to announce he was quitting the show.

DeGeneres was never comfortable performing the responsibilities of an "Idol" judge

Maradona Out as Argentina's National Soccer Coach

Diego Maradona's tenure as Argentina coach ended yesterday when the country’s soccer association decided against renewing his contract because he wasn’t prepared to accept changes to his staff.

The federation had offered Maradona a four-year contract to continue through the 2014 World Cup. But Maradona said he would stay only if his entire staff remained. That was unacceptable to Julio Grondona, president of the Argentine Football Association. Grondona had asked for several assistants to be replaced. The federation’s executive committee sided with Grondona.

According to a report on ESPN Soccernet, Maradona's replacement could come from either Estudiantes head coach Alejandro Sabella, Racing Club's Miguel Angel Russo or Sergio Batista, who coaches Argentina's U-20 club.

Salt Movie

"Salt" the film and Evelyn Salt the character are perpetually in motion and that's a good thing for its own sake and because it keeps audiences from dwelling on how unapologetically preposterous the plot in question is.

Angelina Jolie stars in 'Salt,' a contemporary espionage thriller about a CIA agent who is accused of being a Russian spy and becomes a federal fugitive.

As a CIA officer, Evelyn Salt swore an oath to duty, honor and country. Her loyalty will be tested when a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy. Salt goes on the run, using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative to elude capture. Salt's efforts to prove her innocence only serve to cast doubt on her motives, as the hunt to uncover the truth behind her identity continues and the question remains: "Who is Salt?"

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Universal Pictures has only three weeks left to establish “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” in the public’s preoccupied consciousness. The studio made a lot of progress at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Thursday night.

There is a reason why Scott Pilgrim vs.The World, Edgar Wright's wildly innovative film adaptation of Bryan Lee O'Malley collection of graphic novels, is, in the parlance of its characters, an epic win. Beneath the dazzling special effects, catchy music, layers of sound design and more sight gags you can shake a +2against girls hummer at, beat the hearts of confused young people in love.


Other movies may have louder buzz out in the world outside of Comic Con, but here in the rarefied air of comic book geeks, dorks and other strange beasts, there’s only one hero that gets their pulse racing. It’s Scott Pilgrim. And he’s here to kick some ex-boyfriend butt.

Lois the Corpse Flower

After a week of waiting, the stinky giant flower is blooming. Also called Lois the Corpse Flower, the flower is open for public viewing.

If you'd like to avoid the swooning crowds and 1 hour wait, the Houston Museum of Natural Science is staying open 24 hours for Lois visitation.

The 5-foot-tall Lois has courted thousands of visitors this month at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, romancing the public with her mysterious story as a special flower with a knockout smell of rotting flesh.

Tropical Storm Bonnie

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Miami area and much of South Florida.

A weather system moving over the southern Bahamas has been upgraded to a tropical storm, with sustained winds now reported at 40 miles an hour, as it heads toward the southern tip of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.

The system has been named Tropical Storm Bonnie. At 8 p.m. ET, it was moving northwest at 14 miles an hour over the central Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is expected to move through the area of the Gulf where the oil spill cleanup effort is taking place on its way to its predicted landfall near the Louisiana-Texas border. The federal government’s oil spill chief says he'll decide Thursday evening whether to evacuate ships helping with cleanup

North Korea denounces US sanctions

North Korea denounced new U.S. sanctions against its regime and said next week’s naval exercises involving South Korean and American forces posed a threat to regional peace.

“The sanctions are a direct expression of intensified hostility,” Ri Tong Il, a member of North Korea’s delegation to Asia’s biggest security forum in Hanoi, said today. “The U.S. should make concrete steps toward engaging in dialogue if it is serious about ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.”

Ri’s comments coincided with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s arrival in the Vietnamese capital to attend the same Asean Regional Forum. Clinton announced the trade restrictions against North Korea yesterday during a visit to Seoul, where she urged the regime to acknowledge that it sank a South Korean warship in March, killing 46 sailors.

The US has announced a series of joint military exercises aimed at deterring the North from any future attack.

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, and his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-Young said the drills off the Korean peninsula's western coast were designed "to send a clear message to North Korea that its aggressive behaviour must stop".

However, Ri on Thursday criticised the planned naval drills, saying the military exercises pose a major threat to global peace.

"The decision to hold military drills is a major danger for the security of the region," he said.

"Such movements pose a great threat not only to the peace and security of the Korean peninsula but also to global peace and security."

The US has sent the 97,000-tonne aircraft carrier USS George Washington to take part in the drill set to begin on Sunday in the Sea of Japan.

The exercises will involve about 20 ships and 200 fixed-wing aircraft, according to military officials.

The drills are the first overt military response to the sinking of the Cheonan, and underscore US support for Seoul.

The North has denied it is responsible for the incident and a United Nations Security Council statement condemning the sinking did not name North Korea as the culprit, apparently after Chinese pressure.