Celebrity Gossip Report

Kris Allen, was asked which male celebrity he would take to a desert island.His reply was Jake Gyllenhaal.

It’s never easy making it all the way through Hollywood Week and then getting the boot after your first performance as one of American Idol’s Top 24, but Season 9’s early exits were pretty accepting and gracious. Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Muñoz and Tyler Grady spoke to the press about what-ifs, judges, friends, and giving your fans what they want. – Cynthia Wang

Only One Regret: Janell Wheeler, the 24-year-old from Orlando who demonstrated star power during Hollywood Week with her rendition of “American Boy,” regretted only one thing, and that’s leaving her six-string behind. “In order for me to really have ensured my place in the next round,” she says, “I really should have gone ahead and brought my guitar out and performed a top 40 hit like ‘American Boy.’ I think I knew exactly what [the judges] wanted from me; I just was choosing to do it the second week.” On a positive note about her performance of Heart’s “What About Love,” Wheeler says, “If there is any way to go out, I’m so proud of the way I did. Several of the girls have even texted me and said, ‘Janell, you have so much poise and you’re a class act.’ I kept it together, I sang my song better than the first time and I’m really happy with how it went.”

Judging The Judges: Ellen, Randy, Kara and Simon aren’t afraid to share their opinions, and neither are the contestants! Ashley Rodriguez, 22, from Chelsea, Mass., says the judges “weren’t taking any chances this week! I think a lot of people thought that they would be a little lenient considering it was our first live show but it turns out they were coming in throwing punches! I wouldn’t say they were too hard, but we definitely could have used some love from them. They were very quick to give a lot of criticism but not back it up with anything positive, which is unfortunate, because you always can find something in good from a performance, even if it falls apart. There is always something positive you can take away.”

New Friendships: Although 20-year-old Joe Muñoz from Huntington Park, Calif., is leaving Idol early, he’s taking with him some lasting friendships, including one with Tim Urban, who stood next to Muñoz on the chopping block Thursday night. “I got to see Tim right before I left the hotel,” he says, “and he’s a really nice guy and I said goodbye to Todrick Hall also. He’s become one of my best friends. Everybody is so cool! Everybody’s so different but they are all really, really nice.”

Keeping It Real: Tyler Grady, 20, of Nazareth, Penn., will continue rockin’ with his Lehigh Valley band Wailing Waters, but being on Idol “made me really appreciate performers who do television,” he says. “I’ve never been in that situation before and it’s really a different ballgame.” When asked, had he continued, if he would have taken criticism or just done his own thing, Grady says, “I respect the judges and I think they are very qualified to be critiquing the contestants on the show, but at the same time, when you are building a fan base and your fans are supporting you, they are supporting you because of what you are doing. I’ve been consistent from the Boston auditions until now, and if you’ve ever seen my band play, that’s exactly the style of performance I give every time.”

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'American Idol' finalist Elliott Yamin was reportedly in Chile at the time of this morning's 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

Yamin -- who finished in third place on the Fox reality series -- was in the country for the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, and used Twitter to capture his entire experience, according to USA Today.

"Huge earthquake just now in Chile!!....I swear I thought this was the end of my life!!!!!" he tweeted.

"Complete and utter chaos on the streets...no power...," he continued. "my heart is beatin outta my chest!....tsunami warnin...I am only a mile inland!"

Yamin later spoke to a number of morning news programs, including 'Good Morning America,' 'Today' and CNN.

"The building was swaying back and forth, as was my room," Yamin -- who was in his hotel at the time of the earthquake -- told CNN. "Things were starting to fall off of the wall. The lights were starting to flicker on and off, and then that swaying very abruptly turned into ... a very violent shake."

"I just feel very lucky to have sought out safety," he added.

In other tweets, Yamin said that his medical condition is now becoming a major concern. "Imma Type 1 diabetic, and was sppsd 2 leave sunday.I only packed enuf insulin pump supplies 2 last til then....airports r closed!" he wrote.

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Iraheta will perform 'Scars' on the show; Allen will perform and show footage from trip to Haiti.

American Idol has a long tradition of inviting former finalists back to grace its stage, and on Thursday two of last season's top finishers will join that club. According to a spokesperson for the show, last season's fourth-place finisher, flame-haired rocker Allison Iraheta, will perform her latest single, "Scars," on the one-hour broadcast.

She'll likely be a ray of sunshine on an otherwise tense 60 minutes during which four of the top 24 finishers will see their dreams of stardom dashed as the first two men and women semifinalists will be sent packing. The performance will make Iraheta's first trip back to the "Idol" stage since she was eliminated last spring. It could also provide a boost for the sales of Iraheta's modestly selling debut, Just Like You, which debuted at #31 in December before sliding out of the top 200 just five weeks later, with sales to date totaling less than 100,000.

Thursday's elimination episode — which will follow Tuesday night's performances from the top 12 female finishers and Wednesday night's turn by the top 12 males — will also see the return of 2009 champ Kris Allen. The Arkansas singer will perform and also share some of the footage he shot on a recent trip to Haiti in an effort to raise awareness of the United Nation Foundation's work in the Caribbean nation in the wake of last month's devastating earthquake.

The Foundation is one of the organizations that will benefit from this year's "Idol Gives Back" special (April 21) and viewers will be asked to make donations online or by text during the episode.

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