American Idol alum Constantine Maroulis has landed himself a feature role in the upcoming musical production of Jekyll & Hyde.

The fourth season finalist, who finished sixth overall, will take the lead role in the production which begins a 25-week national tour in San Diego on October 2 before a limited run on Broadway in spring 2013.

This year’s season of American Idol already looks to be struggling to match last year in terms of audience numbers.

Down a whopping 24% on last year’s premiere, this season’s debut failed to match the hype of Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler’s entrance at the beginning of 2011 and the trend has continued.

Wednesday night’s American Idol return was down 24% on last year’s premiere, according to Nielsen estimates.

The 11th season kicked off with an average of 21.9 million viewers, well down from the 26.3m that last season’s premiere drew and even further away from the 29.9m that saw 2010’s debut.

American Idol wannabe Amy Brumfield ... the 24-year-old singer who lives in a tent ... has a long criminal record ... revealing a serious battle with alcohol.

According to police records obtained by TMZ, Brumfield has been arrested at least 6 times in the past 7 years ... with 3 arrests involving booze.

Brumfield -- who blew the "Idol" judges away with her rendition of Superwoman by Alicia Keys -- was arrested in Tennessee on August 22, 2010 after cops say she was so drunk, she peed on herself in the lobby of a Baskin Robbins.

Ford, Coca-Cola and AT&T will all return as sponsors of the latest season of American Idol this year.

Fox, FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment announced this week that the three principal sponsors are all on board again for season 11.

Ford has sponsored the show since 2002 and will continue to give its cars as prizes to the winner and runner-up of the show.

American Idol will face more competition this year in the talent show genre than it ever has in its previous ten seasons.

With the introduction of The Voice and The X Factor onto the scene, Idol now has major competitors in a genre that was once its own.

USA Today’s Idol reporter Brian Mansfield says: You are a month away from the end of 'X Factor' and a month away from the beginning of 'The Voice'. And so you do wonder if, even though 'X Factor' was not as big a success as Simon Cowell had anticipated, if it managed to cannibalize viewers from 'Idol.' And I think that is the big question going in.”

It’s official: viewers still prefer American Idol over all the others.

The Fox reality series has claimed the award for favourite competition show at the 38th Annual People’s Choice Awards, which took place on Wednesday.

Idol kicked clear of Dancing with the Stars, America’s Got Talent, The Voice and So You Think You Can Dance.

Former American Idol finalist Stefano Langone has signed a record deal with Hollywood Records.

The season ten finalist is now the seventh contestant from the season to sign a major-label deal.

The Washington native, who finished seventh on last year’s Idol season, has been working in the studio for a month now.

Recent X Factor USA cast-off Drew Ryniewicz says she believes her life is “only going to get better” following her elimination last week.

The 14-year-old was sent home in the double elimination results show after signing off against Marcus Canty.

Ryniewicz told Fox All Access: “I wish I would have done something upbeat. I believe I could have won if I'd really showed how versatile I could be. That was a mistake made not only by Simon [Cowell] - I know he took the blame - but also by me. I should have fought and fought and fought for what I wanted to do.

American Idol alum Kelly Clarkson and singer Bruno Mars will both make appearances this week on The X Factor USA.

Clarkson will debut her new single ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’ on the results episode this week while Mars will perform ‘It Will Rain’ from the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 soundtrack.

This week will see two acts leave the competition in a special double elimination, which has been a mainstay in the original UK version for a while now.