Minutes before he was kicked off of American Idol, DeAndre Brackensick was dancing with fellow bottom-two dweller Elise Testone as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Backstage after the show, he repeatedly told press that he had a feeling he might go home, and he chose to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster” because he wanted to go out with an upbeat number that let him end things quite literally on a high note. (You can check out EW’s video exit Q&A with the golden-maned teenage crooner below.)

It was that kind of night at American Idol in general — breezy and untroubled and maybe a little rote. READ FULL STORY »

I wish I could handle bad news with the levity that Heejun Han displayed last night. Heejun, the 22-year-old Korean American from Flushing, N.Y., was eliminated Thursday night after the judges chose not to save him. About an hour and a half after the show, Heejun strolled into the media room pretending to sob into a white handkerchief. “No questions!” he shouted dramatically.

Thus began a series of interviews during which Heejun deadpanned one witty remark after another. “I’m going to try out for The Voice next year,” he joked to one reporter. When one journalist asked Heejun about the outfit he was wearing, he replied, “These are my Thursday elimination clothes.” And Heejun said he was willing to consider any post-Idol gig offered to him, save for doing an adult film or singing at your wedding.

By the time I got to interview him, Heejun had seemingly exhausted his comedy material. Instead, we discussed the advice that Randy Jackson gave Heejun after the show, his brief acting career in a 2007 gangster indie called West 32nd, and his bromance with Phillip Phillips. Click through for the video interview with Heejun, plus my on-the-scene observations from last night’s results show: READ FULL STORY »