Apparently Guitar Hero is sponsoring the Idol tour this summer. Whatever. The fascinating part of the article is this picture.

Everyone remember this when you think about trying out for AI8. You have to do this. And again... Carly manages to look like an idiot in every picture she appears in. 

In the worst marketing decision of the 21st century, a company named Beckley has apparently decided to use Syesha Mercado, Carly Smithson, and Brooke White in their new commercial. We found pictures of the commercial at Entertainment Hotline. How Carly made it into a commercial that isn't about anti-nausea medication is beyond us, but we fully expect sales at this store we've never heard of to plummet even lower. What would be a more appropriate commercial for these 3? Let us know in the comments.

If David Archuleta's voice coach can be believed, he wants everyone to know that the fix is in. Voice coach Dean Kaelin said in a Fox Utah interview that the producers really rigged things last week to help David Cook. Dean says that the producers asked David to sing his best song first, while David Cook was told to sing his best song last so that the audience would remember it better. Gaspy also practiced singing "Longer" with an uptempo beat but was then told by producers that he had to sing it slower. Why? Probably because it might have sounded better that way. Lastly, Gaspy was going to sing "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing", which had been cleared for him for a few weeks, but the song was taken away afrom him and given to David Cook. Dean also says that Syesha wanted to use strings (probably the full orchestra that David Cook used) in one of her songs and was told she couldn't. Who got to use the strings? David Cook of course. We believe Dean, because Idol is a shady show that does whatever it can to get the reults it wants. But what can Gaspy do (see picture for his options)? If the fix is in, the producers will stop at nothing to crown Cook. All we can do is expose the madness and try to help our gasping friend.

Planning to sleep through Syesha's performances tonight like us? Well if you want to see her sing Randy's choice "If I Ain't Got You", she already did it when she was a contestant on that crappy cancelled show "The One". Watch, snore, whatever.

Here is Syesha Mercado in a recent Ford Sync commercial. And who sponsors American Idol? Ford! These plants just get more ridiculous every day.

Click "read more" to see if your favorites are rumored to have made it to the top 24. This is all thanks to JoesPlace.

Did plants like Kristy Lee Cook and Carly Hennessy make it? How about inoffensively bland Drew Poppelreiter, Colton Swon, and Brooke White? Read on and find out. (Photochop by Unravel)

When American Idol debuted in 2002, its supposed goal was to find the best undiscovered talent in America. Singers like Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken, who had dreams of stardom but never had the connections, were catapulted to megastardom. The producers found diamonds in the rough and launched their careers. But a disturbing trend has surfaced with the spoiled contestants of American Idol 7 – they’re no longer even remotely undiscovered talent. A large percentage of them are failed singers and entertainers who have already had their shot at fame. Yet Idol thinks that repackaging these failures is a good idea to make us watch their show. Gone are the days where you or your friends could try out for Idol and make it big. Now you have to already have connections. Read on to find out more about how this year’s show will just be a boring hash of recycled pseudo-celebrities who weren’t good enough to make it the first time around. And keep checking back as this article is updated almost every day with new information.

(Last updated 1/26/08 with the top 24)