Fox has announced that it will reveal "some" of American Idol's Top 24 ninth-season semifinalists during Tuesday night's special two-hour broadcast.

American Idol's Tuesday night episode will begin with the 71 contestants who survived Hollywood Week's group performance round taking the stage one final time to perform a solo number in front of judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen DeGeneres.
Following the performances the judges will deliberate and -- "for the first time in Idol history" -- announce some of the Top 24 semifinalists, according to Fox.

Although most of their identities appear to have already leaked online, the remaining semifinalists will then be revealed during Wednesday's one-hour broadcast at 9PM ET/PT.

American Idol's ninth-season semifinals will begin on Tuesday, February 23 when the Top 12 female semifinalists perform for the first time.  The Top 12 male semifinalists will follow on Wednesday night, with home viewers casting their male and female votes immediately after each broadcast.

Two male and two female semifinalists will then be eliminated on American Idol's first live ninth-season results show on Thursday, February 25 at 8PM ET/PT.

Adam Lambert signs autographs as he arrives at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.

By Christopher Polk, Getty ImagesThere's not a lot of movement on the American Idol airplay chart this week. But, according to Mediabase, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert continue to add spins for their singles, with Adam's Whataya Want From Me moving into the top 30 (N0. 26) at Hot AC. Whataya Want From Me moves from No. 7 to No. 6 for overall Idol airplay. Kelly Clarkson's Already Gone remained the most-played Idol song last week.

On the country side, Carrie Underwood's Temporary Home goes Top 10, and Danny Gokey makes its debut inside the top 40 ( No. 38).

 1 Kelly Clarkson, Already Gone (12059) (#6 AC, #4 Hot AC, #20 Top 40)

 2 Kris Allen, Live Like We're Dying (7935) (#33 AC, #8 Hot AC, #17 Top 40)

 3 Daughtry, No Surprise (6913) (#4 AC)

 4 Daughtry, Life After You (6818) (#30 AC, #7 Hot AC, #25 Top 40)

 5 Carrie Underwood, Temporary Home (6113) (#10 Country)

 6  Adam Lambert, Whataya Want From Me (4186) (#26 Hot AC, #21 Top 40)

 7  Carrie Underwood, Cowboy Casanova (4121) (#37 AC, #23 Hot AC)

 8 Kellie Pickler, Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You (3378) (#18 Country)

 9 Carrie Underwood, Before He Cheats (2982)

 10 David Cook, Time Of My Life (2727)

Los Angeles, CA, United States (CNS) - Simon Cowell may be leaving "American Idol," but the nastiness wouldn't leave the Fox hit reality competition show. Shock jock Howard Stern is said to be in talks to replace Cowell next season.

According to New York Post, "Idol" producers want the Sirius XM radio host to take the seat about to be vacated by Cowell.

Stern, whose $100 million per year contract with the radio station ends next January, is reportedly holding out on the contract. Despite what he has been saying on air, he isn't ready to leave radio so he would like Sirius to come up with a new contract with a bigger pay.

The source said, "We believe this is a ploy to make Sirius pay up and keep him on his huge contract. But if Sirius can't pay him the money he wants, he may negotiate to film 'Idol' on the side."

Last month, Cowell confirmed that he will leave the show next season. The current ninth season premiered on January 12 and is expected to conclude in May.

Randy Jackson isn't used to stealing the show -- but according to a new lawsuit, that's exactly what he did with "America's Best Dance Crew."

The Dawg and MTV are being sued by a guy named Dwight McGhee -- who claims the two powerhouses ripped off his idea for a reality show about a dance crew ... called "International Breakerz League."

According to the lawsuit, filed last week in L.A. County Superior Court, McGhee claims he pitched his show idea -- which he calls "uncannily similar" to ABDC -- to MTV back in 2004.

Fast forward four years later: ABDC premieres on MTV ... and McGhee is pissed, claiming he and MTV struck an "implied" contract when he pitched his concept.

Now, McGhee wants Randy and MTV to pay more than $2,000,000 for his trouble

It seems one high-pitched "American Idol" favorite is not who she appears to be -- at least when it comes to her accent -- because Nicci Nix has been on all sorts of reality shows before ... with a completely different voice.

Season nine of "American Idol" is under way, and judge Randy Jackson can't believe how much the show is about to change. With Paula Abdul out and Ellen DeGeneres in — not to mention that Simon Cowell will bid a fond farewell after this season — fans will certainly have a lot of interesting shake-ups to look forward to.

They will also have some amazing talent to watch grow as the season forges on. "Simon's leaving. There's no Paula there. Ellen's coming in. It's a very, very different season, but the talent that we saw on the road is amazing," he told MTV News when he stopped by to promote the Paper Tongues, a new band he's managing. "You guys are seeing the auditions now, and the guest judges we had on the road, they all held their own."

But Jackson notes that in the back of everyone's minds is just who will replace Cowell when it's all said and done. "Dude, it's so hard. I don't even know. We've been thinking about it since he announced it. It's like saying who are you going to get to replace [Minnesota Vikings player] Brett Favre or who are you gonna get to replace [New Orleans Saints player] Drew Brees. You know, it's a hard thing. I don't really know.

"There were rumors that Conan O'Brien was going to do it," he continued, also addressing the LaToya Jackson judge rumors. "That's wild. Hey, we love the Jacksons. ... I think everyone should just take a turn."

Of course, as is the case with all spoilers, these should be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, just two cities worth of auditions and there's already a handful of names on this list that I recognize. Not to mention, a couple I'm shocked to see missing.

As of 5:30 pm (PST) 20 21 22 all 24 23 names have been leaked as members of the Season 9 Top 24.

Top 12 Boys:

1. Aaron Kelly
2. Alexander "Alex" Lambert (video of him performing the Barney song, really.)
3. Andrew Garcia
4. Benjamin "Ben" Honeycutt (covering Kings of Leon "Use Somebody) (Rumor was, he was cut in the group round.)
4. Casey James
5. Christopher "Chris" Golightly (featured on Idol previews)
6. David Duke
7. Jermaine Sellers (Atlanta Auditions, church singer who auditioned with "What If God Was One of Us")
8. John Park (Chicago Auditions, doing a Glee version of "Falling Slowly")
9. Lee DeWyze
10. Michael Lynche (Reports state he may be disqualified for breaking confidentiality clauses. Reports also state Antwan Michael will take his place.)
11. Tyler Grady (Boston Auditions, "Let's Get It On"...with two broken wrists!)

Top 12 Girls:

1. Ashley (Makailah) Rodriguez (Boston Auditions, Simon said she had "it.")
2. Haeley Vaughn
3. Janell Wheeler (Orlando Auditions)
4. Katelyn Epperly (Chicago Auditions)
5. Katie Stevens (Boston Auditions, a sob story with pipes...and the Portuguese Grandma)
6. Lacey Brown (made it to Hollywood week during season 8)
7. Lillian "Lilly" Scott
8. Michelle Delamor
9. Maddy Curtis (Boston Auditions, the one with siblings who have special needs)
9. Crystal Bowersox (auditioned in Chicago but was never shown)
10. Siobhan Magnus (Boston Auditions)
11. Vered Didi Benami
12. Paige DeChausse (Chicago Auditions, the girl who almost died from an asthma attack)
12. Paige Miles

An insider told Life & Style that they're considering singer and Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx to take over Simon Cowell's vacated slot next season. He was a mentor last year, after all, although I'll be honest, I can't remember him standing out. Another name in the toss-up? Jimmy Iovine, co-founder of Interscope Records and the man responsible for launching Eminem's name. But reports also say Idol creator Simon Fuller is eyeing Madonna as a replacement...

"Obviously I wanted to do something to help out," he told a New Orleans radio station before performing at the NFC Championship Game earlier. "I was actually going to do that telethon, but then somebody hooked me up with going and just helping out in the next few days ... This is the stuff that means the most to me, going out and helping people. And obviously, the thing that happened in Haiti was just a tragedy. I feel blessed that I get to go out there and help people out."

Brett Favre became an Internet sensation last week not because of his abilities on the football field but because of his attempt to sing the now famous and very catchy "Pants on the Ground" song that General Larry Platt performed on "American Idol."

The quarterback admitted last week at his two news conferences that he "choked" in his attempt to sing the song as his teammates laughed following the Vikings' playoff victory over Dallas last Sunday. Well, odds are the guy the Vikings met today did a better job.

Wide receiver Bernard Berrian tweeted that the players had "just met" Platt. Left tackle Bryant McKinnie and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe both tweeted that fans "would not guess" who was at the team meeting before Berrian revealed it was the 62-year-old Platt. McKinnie posted video of Platt singing. It's not very clear but you will get the point.

The move is a pretty savvy one by coach Brad Childress. The Vikings don't play until 5:40 p.m. and that means players have a lot of time to think about this game and get nervous. There is little question that bringing Platt into the room probably gave many guys a good laugh and took away some possible tension.