American Idol

So, there we were ... giving one of our awesome TMZ Hollywood Tours this week ... when we spotted this dirty, hippie-looking dude playing a guitar on the side of the road with a giant stuffed gorilla.

And then we realized ... the beatnik was former "American Idol" finalist Casey Abrams.

The whole encounter was kinda strange ... a shoe-less Casey scatted his way through a song ... and then laid down on the ground with his giant blue stuffed animal, while waving to the people on the bus (totally nice guy).

We're guessing Casey is pulling the stunt to promote something ... then again, maybe he really did go full Joaquin Phoenix.

Former "American Idol" contestant Jermaine Jones has a message for the "Idol" castoffs threatening to sue the show for racism -- keep his name THE HELL OUT OF IT!!

Jermaine -- who was disqualified from "A.I." back in March 2012 for outstanding arrest warrants -- tells TMZ ... he is "offended" his name was cited in the current legal battle brewing between the reality show and several former contestants.

TMZ broke the story ... nine African-American ex-contestants are threatening to sue the show, claiming "A.I." honchos are targeting black contestants for disqualification ... by using illegal background checks.

In legal docs ... the lawyer for the "Idol 9" cited Jermaine's premature elimination -- which only happened after a background check revealed his prior arrests -- as a catalyst for the planned lawsuit.

But Jermaine tells us ... "I am offended they tried to paint me as a victim of discrimination."

He continues, "I appreciate the experience from 'Idol' and embraced the good and bad from it."

Just months before ex "American Idol" contestants Terrell and Derrell Brittenum took legal action against the show -- over allegations of racism -- they publicly THANKED Nigel Lythgoe for giving them their big break.

TMZ broke the story ... the twins -- along with seven other African-American former contestants -- are planning to sue ... claiming "A.I." unfairly targets black contestants by using information obtained by illegal criminal background checks ... in order to disqualify them from the competition and boost ratings.

But get this ... TMZ obtained footage of Terrell and Derrell back in September ... which tells a very different story.

Specifically the brothers spot Nigel out in NYC -- they were all attending the same Broadway show -- and couldn't be happier with the encounter, even unleashing a massive hug session on the "A.I." head honcho.

Not only that, one brother points to Nigel and exclaims "Mr. Nigel Lythgoe, who gave me MY start!"

Four "American Idol" finalists from different seasons -- two of whom are black -- insist the singing competition is many things ... but racist is NOT one of them.

TMZ broke the story ... nine black ex-contestants are planning to sue "Idol" producers, claiming the contestants were publicly disqualified based on their dubious criminal backgrounds ... solely because they're African-American.

But Season 6 finalist Melinda Doolittle adamantly disagrees, telling TMZ, "It is shocking to see such allegations. In my experience on the show, the 'Idol' team strives to champion everyone, regardless of race. However, each contestant is explicitly told that the withholding of information that may compromise the show or artist, can and will result in immediate disqualification."

Season 4 finalist Vonzell Solomon adds, "I didn’t experience any of that [racial discrimination] ... all of our contracts were clear about how the background checks worked and that we could be disqualified if we lied about our past."

Two other former contestants -- Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks and Season 10 finalist Casey Abrams -- also agree.

Casey says, "I don't know why they are biting the hand that fed them. Those guys beat thousands of people who wanted to be on TV. Idol is picky, but I'm not sure about racist."

Taylor -- whose Vegas show is still going strong -- adds, "American Idol is for everyone. All walks of life go through the show. Not once did I see the show discriminate towards anyone. It’s all about the votes."

FYI -- "Idol" has had three black winners in its history ... Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino and Jordin Sparks.

The "American Idol" contestant who was seriously injured in an accident 3 DAYS before her audition is finally back on her feet ... and off the crutches ... after undergoing 3 OPERATIONS to fix her busted leg ... TMZ has learned.

In case you missed it ... Megan Miller -- aka Miss Baton Rouge -- scored a golden ticket to Hollywood ... after blowing off a doctor-recommended surgery to treat an infection.

TMZ spoke with Miller ... who tells us she went straight to the surgeon after her audition ... and had to spend a week in the hospital to recover.

Now, Miller says her leg's all healed up ... and she's focusing all of her attention on prepping for Hollywood week.

As for whether the injury will affect her ability to compete, Megan says she's not worried ... "Unless they make us do a marathon."

Nine black former "American Idol" contestants -- from various seasons -- are banding together to SUE the show ... claiming they were all FORCED off "Idol" as part of a racist (and illegal) plot to boost ratings.

TMZ has obtained a letter, submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by NY attorney James H. Freeman -- in which he asks for permission to sue Idol and FOX on behalf of his clients ... who have all appeared on the show: FYI, Freeman is required to file with the EEOC before filing suit.

Corey Clark (Season 2), Jaered Andrews (Season 2), Donnie Williams (Season 3), Terrell Brittenum (Season 5), Derrell Brittenum (Season 5), Thomas Daniels (Season 6), Akron Watson (Season 6), Ju'Not Joyner (Season 8) and Chris Golightly (Season 9).

In his letter, Freeman claims he noticed something fishy about "Idol" when Jermaine Jones was kicked off on March 15, 2012. Producers had claimed Jones failed to inform them about multiple outstanding warrants out for his arrest.

Freeman claims he conducted an investigation into the show -- and found that producers had only publicly disqualified 9 other people from the show since it first hit the air ... and they all happened to be black.

Freeman now alleges that "Idol" has been conducting a "cruel and inhumane" scheme to exploit and humiliate black contestants for ratings.

According to the letter, Freeman believes the annual "scheme" begins during the background check stage of the show -- when producers ask wannabe contestants the question -- "Have you ever been arrested?"

Freeman claims the question is a violation of CA employment law ... and since his clients were essentially applying for "employment" with Idol, the show was FORBIDDEN from asking contestants about their arrest history.

But Freeman claims ... the ill-gotten information from the question, coupled with arrest records obtained by private investigators working for Idol, were used to humiliate the black Idol contestants on national TV ... and in the process, perpetuated "destructive stereotypes" about black people.

Freeman also claims the show made his clients appear to be "violent criminals, liars and sexual deviants" ... when they weren't.

What's more ... Freeman claims the show has "NEVER once publicly disqualified a white or non-black American Idol contestant in the history of the eleven season production."

According to Freeman, NONE of the contestants who were disqualified from the show based on their criminal backgrounds were convicted of the crimes for which they were charged at the time of their disqualification.

But Freeman adds, "Yet their personal and professional lives remain permanently and severely impaired by [the show's] continuing violations of our nation's laws."

Freeman's letter is the first step towards a lawsuit -- and we're told as soon as he gets the green light from the EEOC, he plans to file the docs in court.

We spoke to "Idol" honcho Nigel Lythgoe ... who tells us he was "shocked" by the "ridiculous" allegations.

He explained, "We treat everybody the same ... no matter the race, religion or sex."

"I think we've always had a fantastic share of talent from contestants both black and white ... I don't think I've ever seen racism at the show."

A rep for FOX declined to comment.

It was judgement day for a singer dubbed "The Turbanator" on "American Idol" Wednesday night ... and TMZ has learned the Sikh community is already hailing the guy as a MASSIVE success.

In case you missed it ... The Turbanator -- aka Gurpreet Singh Sarin -- won himself a ticket to Hollywood, while proudly sporting one of 50 turbans he claims to own. Dude says he color coordinates his turbans with his outfits.

TMZ spoke to a rep from The Sikh Coalition who tells us they're totally stoked for Sarin ... saying, "The Sikh American community is celebrating Gurpreet's achievement every step of the way."

The rep adds, "We are thrilled that the rest of America is going to learn more about our wonderful community."

Check out the video to see The Turbanator in action ...

Ryan Seacrest is the lifeblood of "American Idol" ... and without him, the show would struggle to survive -- so says executive producer Nigel Lythgoe.

Nigel was out in L.A. yesterday when we asked if Seacrest was considered dispensable, much like the judges -- and Nigel replied, "Ryan Seacrest drives the entire program. He's not on an earpiece or anything. He's not beholden to anybody. He controls the show. He's really important."

He added, "It would be very, very difficult to replace Ryan Seacrest."

"American Idol" winner Kris Allen and his pregnant wife Katy were in a head-on collision car crash on New Year's Day.

Allen, Katy and their dog, Zorro, were all in the car. Kris suffered a broken arm. Katy suffered some injuries. The dog is fine.

It's unclear how far along Katy is in her pregnancy, and there's no word if the accident had any impact on it.

Kris sounds optimistic about the baby though -- he tweeted, "Thank you @Ford for equipping me with a car that kept my whole family safe ... and the little one we have on the way safe."

Kris's mom, Kimberly, says Kris is in a lot of pain and may not play guitar for awhile.

Carrie Underwood is ditching her last remaining tie to "American Idol" -- the modest crib she bought in Tennessee to celebrate winning the crown in 2005.

Now that Carrie's a bonafide country music multi-millionaire ... she just sold off the 2,956-square-foot home in Franklin, TN (Google it ... tons of celebs live there) for $372,500.

The country superstar bought the 3-bedroom, 3.5-bath house for $384k ... ya know BEFORE she sold over 15 million albums and married a pro hockey star.

The house is pretty great -- for a non-famous person -- hardwood floors, spacious kitchen, garage, fireplace ... all that normal house stuff.

Carrie's far from homeless -- she and husband Mike Fisher dropped $3.2 million on 400 acres of land in nearby Nashville back in 2011 to build their dream home.

"American Idol" finalist Kevin Covais got eliminated from the show singing Doris Day, but his karaoke repertoire is a lot more modern ... and involves rapping instead of singing.

The 23-year-old -- who took "Idol" by storm as a teenager in 2006 -- grabbed the mic at the Social Sports Kitchen in New York City the other day and channeled his inner white boy rapper for a rendition of Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie."

Covais tells TMZ, "I was having fun with friends rapping at karaoke. And for the record, I think I did a pretty good job with this. I spit hot fire."

Steven Tyler says the personal management company he fired has no business complaining about it, because the guy who ran the company was disrespectful, rude, and insulting to his fiance and his family.

TMZ has

filed by Steven, in which he explains why he gave Allen Kovac's company the boot.

Tyler had been using a personal manager -- Kovac Media Group -- to negotiate his contract with "American Idol." Kovac brought in a lawyer, Dina LaPolt, to help negotiate the contract, but according to Kovac, LaPolt began trashing Kovac to Tyler and A.I., and Tyler ultimately fired the Media Group.

Kovac has sued LaPolt, and Tyler is caught in the middle.

In the declaration, Tyler says when he hired Allen Kovac's company, he never wanted Allen himself to work with him -- he liked another guy in the company, but Allen kept inserting himself.

If you love dogs and you love "American Idol" ... then you just missed the opportunity of a lifetime, because David Cook unloaded his Hollywood mansion -- and it came with it's own customized DOG YARD!!!!

The Season 7 "Idol" champ recently sold off his Beachwood Canyon pad -- which has a killer view of the Hollywood sign -- for a cool $1,365,0000.

The 3,000-sqaure-foot house is pretty amazing too ... it's rockin' 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, wrap-around decks, and a FULL recording studio.

But best of all, it features a specially-designed dog yard -- which non-dog owners would call ... a yard.

UPDATE: We realized you might need a refresher on who David Cook is ...

Steven Tyler says Nicki Minaj is dead wrong ... he's not a racist ... and has now issued an Angus T. Jones-style quasi-apology for the controversial comments he made about the new "American Idol" judge.

Minaj had publicly unloaded on Tyler ... after the Aerosmith singer insinuated Nicki doesn't appreciate rock music and "would have sent [Bob Dylan] to the cornfield" if he had appeared on the show.

Nicki fired back on Twitter, "That’s a racist comment. You assume that I wouldn’t have liked Bob Dylan??? why? black? rapper? what? go f*** yourself and worry about yourself babe."

But yesterday, Tyler finally explained himself on the Canadian talk show, "eTalk," saying, "I apologize if it was taken wrong, Nicki ... but I am the farthest from [being a racist]."

He added, "I am the last thing on this planet as far as being a racist. I don't know where she got that out of me saying I'm not sure how she would've judged Bob Dylan."

No word if Nicki has accepted the "apology."

"American Idol" finalist Elise Testone is a no-good man-thief who broke up the 6-year marriage of an 'Idol' guitarist -- at least according to the dude's wife, but Elise tells TMZ she never did the deed.

Here's the deal ... Elise met Errol Cooney during Season 11 of 'Idol' -- when she made it to the top 6, and he played guitar for the band. Both Elise and Errol were on Idol's summer tour.

Just last week Errol's wife Erin Cooney filed for divorce in LA County Superior Court ... citing "irreconcilable differences" -- but a rep for Erin tells TMZ the real reason for the breakup is an alleged affair between Errol and Elise.

The rep claims ... back in September, Erin stumbled upon what she believed to be incriminating emails between Elise and Errol, and immediately confronted him.

The rep says Errol confessed to everything.

In addition, TMZ obtained an email Elise sent to Erin last week ... in which Elise says, "Errol was the only person who I felt really loved me in my entire life."

Elise also apologizes to Erin for "any pain you feel I may have caused you, but this is not my fault."

When we contacted Elise ... she denied having the affair, saying ... "We developed a friendship on Tour and he developed feelings for me."

Elise adds, "Their divorce has nothing to do with me and has been a long time coming." Attempts to reach Errol were unsuccessful.

Phillip Phillips might consider a career in boxing ... 'cause when we asked about the rift in his family yesterday, the "American Idol" champ bobbed and weaved like he was Mike friggin' Tyson.

Phillips had just arrived at LAX yesterday when we asked him why he's refusing to help out his financially-struggling family ... which has been forced to sell the family pawn shop.

Phillips couldn't have been nicer when we asked the question ... but did everything he could to deflect.

For example -- "I have no comment ... but my album's coming out soon."

Ultimately, Phillip told us he loves his family, but wouldn't get into details about the situation on the home front.