Tonight, checkout out the 90 minute American Idol retrospective, “American Dreams” featuring interviews with the judges, staff and former Idols. Plus clips of your favorite and most memorable moments. FOX 8/7c PM. The Voice is airing a clip show recapping the competition so far at 8/7c PM on NBC.

“American Idol’s” Long Goodbye Starts Tonight, but Creator Says the Show Will Return “for Sure” – “You had this live TV show on every week and people dropped what they were doing and sat down and watched,” says MJ Santilli, the woman behind the premiere Idol fan site MJsBigBlog. “They sat down and watched with their friends…[and] their families, and I think that prior to that — other than sports — you just didn’t really have a show that engendered such a feeling of community.” – Read more at ABCNewsRadio

Family Entertainment Network INSP Announces New Original Series State Plate – INSP has commenced production on a new original weekly series, State Plate, with plans for the series to debut on the network in the fall of 2016. The announcement was made by Doug Butts, SVP of Programming at INSP. Butts also announced that Grammy award and former American Idol® winner, Taylor Hicks, has been named as the host of the series. State Plate will celebrate the unique food traditions of all 50 states. “In each episode we dig into the distinctive foods of a particular state,” Butts said. “Unlike most food shows, we won’t be touring restaurants; this is about the food itself, how it is grown and the people who bring it to our dinner tables. What emerges is the trivia and unknown stories behind our states’ most emblematic foods.” – Read more at Benzinga

‘American Idol’ Stars of the Past: Catching Up With Sanjaya, Crying Girl and More – The end is near for American Idol, which made proper stars out of Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and the like, and viral stars of William Hung and Crying Girl — long before the word viral entered the lexicon. Where are they now? The Hollywood Reporter checked in on a few of the Fox show’s most memorable characters. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter

When ‘American Idol’ Met Billboard in Season 2: How ‘Hot 100 No. 1s’ Night Was Born – I said, “Nigel, I have an idea.” Lythgoe asked what it was, and that’s when I suggested a themed episode of Idol where the editors of Billboard would choose songs for the contestants. Lythgoe smiled and said, “Absolutely not. We learned a lesson in the U.K. If you choose the songs for the finalists, when they go home, it’s your fault. So they must choose their own songs.” That was the end of the discussion as the event was about to begin. I took my seat inside the theater and for the next two hours tried to come up with another Idea that Lythgoe would like. After the event, attendees were standing outside the theater schmoozing, and I spotted Lythgoe and approached. “Nigel, I have another idea.” Lythgoe laughed but wanted to know more. Since I was the author of The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, I suggested the Idols sing No. 1s from the Billboard Hot 100. Lythgoe shouted out to Mike Darnell, president of alternative programming for Fox, “Hey, Mike, how about a show with Billboard No. 1 hits?” Darnell gave a thumbs-up. – Read more at Billboard.com

Checking in With 5 Former ‘American Idol’ Contestants – “American Idol” brought pop stardom to just a handful of contestants, but others who competed over the years made an impression.
Many have faded from view, while others parlayed the talent show’s spotlight into ongoing music and other careers in show business. As “American Idol” wraps its 15-year run this Thursday, five former performers shared highlights of how “Entertainment Boot Camp 101” — as one fondly termed the “Idol” experience — helped lead them to today. – Read more at the Associated Press

Why LGBT Performers Never Won ‘American Idol’ – The meanness and the packaging of the outrageous contestants only ramped up as seasons went forward, with Idol realizing that fans would watch early to see the worst, and they stuck around later to hope for the best. Bad auditioners like William Hung became national memes, and now-defunct organizations like Vote for the Worst banded together to push forward the worst or funniest options during the national voting rounds. While American Idol showcased all sorts of contestants, and was happy to call out anyone as bad, there was always a special sort of meanness reserved for auditioners that fell into the queer end of the spectrum. If you showed up in drag, if you lisped, if you were a boy winking at Simon instead of Paula, you were easy fodder for the cameras, but you weren’t going far. – Read more at Rolling Stone

Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini became ‘American Idol’ game-changers – But out of those shaky early steps, two unknown figures began slowly to emerge — a boy with a flashy mop of curls and a taste for flamboyant, ’70s-style shirts, and a bubbly young Texas girl with down-home appeal and a volcanic voice. Armed with distinctive talent, electric charisma and a bit of romantic chemistry, Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson became two of the key game-changers that helped propel “American Idol” into the zeitgeist. As the curtain starts to fall this week on the entertainment sensation in its final season, those long associated with “American Idol” have reflected on the magic of the first season fueled by Clarkson and Guarini.- Read more at the LA Times

‘American Idol’ Begins: When Kelly Clarkson Wasn’t Even on the Radar & More Season 1 Memories – While all 10 had demonstrated talent and personality, the producers were certain they knew who the top two would be. “Justin Guarini and Tamyra Gray — we all said right from the beginning — those two. Tamyra was going to win,” says Lythgoe. “Kelly didn’t come through. The only thing that stood out was her humor. It was only when we got into the top 10 that all of a sudden, [when Kelly sang] people would stand there open-mouthed.” – Read more at Billboard.com

‘American Idol’ became a big star, but now it has been voted off – “Idol’s” endurance was all the more amazing given that it took place during a time that saw the explosion of YouTube and streaming, on-demand programming.”The show demonstrated that network television can indeed be relevant if the programming can connect with the audience,” said Jeffrey McCall, a media studies professor at DePauw University. In addition to spawning competitors — including rival singing show “The Voice,” which is still a hit for NBC — “Idol” proved that live musical performance can attract a big audience on the night it airs, as opposed to scripted series that viewers increasingly watch at their convenience on a DVR or streaming service. – Read more at the LA Times

‘American Idol’ Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard says the show has changed the music landscape – The audition was fast, smooth and easy. There were no snide comments — even from Simon Cowell. Oddly, the acerbic judge never uttered a mean word to him, “which is surprising because he has something mean to say to everybody,” Studdard said. Studdard, now 37, reflects on those early days of “American Idol” as he checks into a Los Angeles hotel. Walking across the lobby, people flock to him. – Read more at the Daily News

With ‘American Idol’ in his past, Kris Allen works on ‘Letting You In’ with new record – The music venue and restaurant is owned by former Dutchess County resident Daryl Hall, one half of the rock band Hall and Oates.“In my musical journey, you run across so many different types of music,” Allen said. “I listen to Hall and Oates and I love how R and B-and-soul-influenced it is. It’s so cool, you know. I have a couple of their early records. They’re amazing. Come on, it’s Hall and Oates.” Allen’s musical journey has taken him to places that lie far away from the fame he eventually found on “American Idol.” Back when he was selling sporting goods by day and performing at clubs at night, “I was playing for two to three hours, by myself for the most part. – Poughkeepsie Journal

Whirlwinded winner: Kris Allen doesn’t remember much about winning ‘American Idol’ – “Because it all happened so fast, I started forgetting things and forgetting experiences and people I’d met or things that I’d done. I feel like bits and pieces come back to me now, more than I ever thought I was going to remember. “I mean, it was my first tour and we were doing stadiums! That was the norm. And the show was so big back then and we were packing in those places. “There were 15,000 to 20,000 people coming to see us every night. The production was insane. The meet-and-greets had hundreds of people. It was just a blur, because you’re not easing yourself into it like a lot of people do. And now it’s slowly starting to come back, which is good timing.” – Read more at NWSOnline

Lauren Alaina Predicts American Idol Finale Results and Talks Justin Bieber