The show airs on the Fox network Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 PM (ET). Check your local listings. The nine current finalists in the popular making-a-pop-star reality series will each sing a song from the songwriter's grand oeuvre. After narrowing down thousands of wannabe-singers from auditions across the country, including Hawaii, the audience votes upon who will make it through the next round each week. Music industry folk including singer-choreographer Paula Abdul, producer Randy Jackson and the infamous record exec Simon Cowell — who is known for his honest, at times brutal, critique of the contestants.
It is traditional for the final weeks of the show to shuffle through different genres of music — country, Motown, etc. — testing the young hopefuls on various themes. Guest judges are usually added to the panel to comment on the singers' performances. Slated to appear as a guest judge for the upcoming Barry Manilow evening is the Harmony composer himself.
Recording artist Elton John, known internationally for his pop songwriting career of over 30 years, is currently represented on Broadway by the long-running Disney collaborations The Lion King and Aida. He is also working on the developing musicals The Vampire Lestat (based on the Anne Rice novels) and Billy Elliot (based on the film).
Among the dozens of topselling and Grammy Award-winning pop songs he has penned include "Your Song," "Tiny Dancer," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Daniel," "Rocket Man," "Candle In The Wind," "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me," "Bennie and the Jets," "I'm Still Standing" and many more.
For more information on "American Idol," visit the FOX website at www.idolonfox.com.