After the 16-year-old shockingly ended up at the bottom of the heap and in danger of finishing seventh, Jennifer Lopez wanted to make sure there was no doubt that the judges were using their seasonal save to keep the kid around. She grabbed the microphone right out of Jessica's hand!
What feud?! Steven Tyler's longtime bro and bandmate Joe Perry showed up to strum "Happy Birthday" for Tyler's 64th birthday, and a week later, Aerosmith announced plans for their summer Global Warming Tour.
Heejun Han pretended to flub his timing to get a laugh as he launched into a more upbeat Billy Joel song, ripping off his jacket to reveal what apparently was supposed to be his version of style.
Without much (heck, any) explanation, the show decided to go with a top 25 rather than a mere 24 this season, and Jermaine Jones was the lucky duck invited back over Johnny Keyser, Richie Law and David Leathers Jr. Luckily, the sonorous 25-year-old from New Jersey proved that someone had the right idea—he was voted into the top 13 with a stirring comeback performance of Luther Vandross' "Dance With My Father."
Two weeks later, however, Jermaine was suddenly disqualified after producers and Fox found out about a couple of run-ins with the law in his past. "Awww I will no longer b on the show," he tweeted-and-deleted before the official announcement was made.
Jessica Sanchez took a risk covering Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"—and it paid off. Aside from the standing ovation the 16-year-old got from everybody, Interscope Records chair Jimmy Iovine called it the "best performance of anyone I've seen on American Idol."
Early frontrunner Phillip Phillips experienced severe stomach pains and needed an emergency trip to the hospital the morning after the top 13 performed. He was back on camera by elimination time (he was so safe) but our backstage moles say he was looking tired and appeared relieved when the taping was over.
Ryan Seacrest didn't want to be the one having all the Oscar fun! Steven Tyler made obvious fun of Jennifer Lopez's rumored wardrobe malfunction by pulling open his shirt to expose his left nipple, saying "Who am I?" "There was no nipple," J.Lo insisted when Ryan called the joke an "Oscar reenactment."
The puppy-sweet Jeremy Rosado—a particular pet of Jennifer Lopez's—was one of three wild cards selected for the top 13. Alas, there's a reason why they were wild cards: Jeremy was eliminated the following week (and fellow w.c. Erika Van Pelt was in the bottom three).
The 19-year-old Joshua Ledet identified himself as a force of singing nature with his shockingly good version of Christina Perri's "Jar of Hearts" during the first solo runs after the group round.
Imani Handy, taking the stage with her group barely an hour after passing out, couldn't make it all the way through the performance. She collapsed, trembling, into Johnny Keyser's arms, even prompting a bleep-bomb from Ryan Seacrest as he and Imani's family raced to the stage. We will always wonder if Johnny's decision to keep singing a few notes as his teammate lay prostrate on the ground contributed to his demise in Vegas.
Amy Brumfield, best known perhaps for being the girl who lived in a tent in the woods of Tennessee when she first auditioned, ended up with another mark of dubious distinction after she became the first of many hopefuls to get visibly sick during Hollywood Week.
After an impressive yet random performance of "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" (why did the 16-year-old pick such an old tune?) during Hollywood Week, Symone Black appeared disoriented, stumbled forward and fell off the stage. But all was well, thankfully. Doctors diagnosed dehydration and she was back in time for the group round.
We should've known by the near-identical smile, but it took a big reveal in her bio video to let us know that it was Jim Carrey's daughter, Jane, auditioning in San Diego. She gave the judges and the blogs something to talk about for a couple of weeks, but she didn't make it out of the sudden-death a cappella round in Hollywood.