Idol Chatter

IDOL CHATTER: The blogosphere continues to buzz over last night’s American Idol episode in which favorite Casey Abrams was spared elimination with a dramatic, last-second save by the judges, resulting in 11 finalists going on tour this summer instead of 10. Next week, two contestants will be ousted to make up for it. Rumors of Casey’s demise had been all over the Internet earlier in the day, spurred by executive producer Nigel Lythgoe’s tweet that there would be a shocker in that night’s results show, and the fact Abrams was the lowest-rated on www.dialidol.com, which tracks busy signals to estimate final phone-in voting. When Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson stopped Abrams in mid-song of Ray Charles' “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” and told him they didn’t need to hear him sing, that he belonged, the bearded Seth Rogen lookalike appeared as if he might pass out. All in all, it was apt that Hulk Hogan made a guest appearance previously on the show, because this Idol smacked of some reality manipulation, but hey, it sure made for great TV. (3/25p)