Author: Shirley Halperin

Michael Becker / Fox

American Idol’s top 7 were ready to rock on Wednesday night, as the show kicked out some old-timely jams — and one Evanescence song — for its theme this week. Most handled the challenge competently, which could make Thursday’s results slightly less predictable. Until that riveting moment, 15 things you didn’t see on TV to hold you over…

1. Ryan Seacrest sometimes has to pre-tape a variety of introductions — or “cold opens,” as they say in the biz — to satisfy the producers or for any number of reasons. Wednesday was one of those nights. Seacrest, ever the consummate pro, delivered his trademark line, THIS is American Idol, while audience members were tasked with jumping to their feet at different times. Television’s not always glamorous, nor spontaneous, but that’s how it goes with a well-oiled machine like Idol.

2. Virtuoso guitarist and 19 Entertainment artist Orianthi is directed to her spot by stage manager Debbie Williams, who also instructs those in the mosh pits to clap above their heads during the first number. The song: Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name,” performed by Burnell Taylor.

3. Burnell’s was a valiant effort to venture outside of his comfort zone, but even with the pyro ending, no one stood at song’s end.

PHOTOS: ‘American Idol’ Season 12: The Top 10 Finalists

4. This being rock night, there was all kinds of six-string noodling going on during the commercial breaks. It must be said: that Orianthi can shred — and the members of Ray Chew’s band are no slouches either. 

5. Lazaro Arbos’ duet with Angie Miller was a virtual repeat of his group number from last week, when he forgot the words. You could almost feel a collective wince from the crowd during that “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” moment .

6. Nicki Minaj used her commercial breaks productively, furiously typing away on her phone and paying no mind to the “We love you, Nicki!” screams coming from the crowd.

7. Mariah Carey is a Kree Harrison believer. Not only was she feeling the Tennesseean’s take on Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart,” the diva sang along complete with stage-ready hand gestures. The performance also prompted the first standing O of the night.

8. Janelle Arthur is nothing if not adorable. Everyone knows it — especially stage manager Debbie, it seems, who took a moment before the cameras rolled to quickly fluff the finalist’s hair.

9. A commercial break reveals that Idol season 11 alums Hollie Cavanagh and Joshua Ledet are in the house. It was only a year ago that they were both on that very stage.

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10. While waiting for their cue to start, Janelle Arthur, Kree Harrison and Amber Holcomb signed autographs for fans in the front rows.

11. A ridiculously endearing moment transpired during a commercial break as Keith Urban took an adorable little girl, presumably his daughter Sunday, to meet his fellow judges. As she departs with a minder, he blows her a kiss. Swoon.

12. Security must be costing the production a pretty penny this year — there were no fewer than nine ear piece-sporting suits creating a perimeter around the judges’ table. (And it should be noted: we have yet to see Minaj and Carey interact other than the more-than-occasional eye-roll.)

13. Candice Glover’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was the one time the studio audience truly leapt to its feet. Fitting, considering the pain she was in having broken her toe.

14. The judges also allotted but one enthusiastic standing ovation. The recipient: Amber Holcomb, who sang Heart’s “What About Love.”

15. As the recap clip rolls and finally reaches Angie Miller’s show-stopping “Bring Me to Life,” Janelle Arthur points to the goosebumps on her arm.

For more on season 12’s rock night, read Idol Worship’s recap.

Twitter: @Idol_Worship

Michael Becker / Fox

American Idol is keeping the cameras rolling on its eliminated contestants starting with this week’s results episode.

The new feature, appropriately called “Still Rolling,” will allow fans of the show to see what really happens after the final voting verdict is handed down. Viewers will see promos running on Thursday’s Idol, then get a behind-the-scenes peek during special airings of Fox’s New Girl and The Mindy Project.

Credit the network’s marketing department for the Idol add-on, which has previously been featured on americanidol.com. “When we locked the New Girl and Mindy episodes behind Idol, the marketing team tried to come up some ideas that we thought could help pull some of those Idol viewers through the night and into the comedies,” Shannon Ryan, Fox’s EVP of marketing  and communications, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We thought it could be interesting to bring that concept — seeing those sort of raw, real, intimate post-show moments and reactions — to our air in these quick pops throughout the night.”

PHOTOS: ‘American Idol’ Season 12: The Top 10 Finalists

Indeed, when tears are rolling — and the cameras too — you never what you might catch, including another fireworks moment from judge Nicki Minaj. Ryan puts it more diplomatically. “All the judges are different when they’re not behind the desk, so this will let viewers at home catch an inside glimpse of how they are with the contestants after the show is over, especially on elimination night when emotions run so high,” she says.

Pulling off video of the moment will be challenging enough. The show will employ three cameras to do so along with a jib arm. Then, Ryan explains, “Using Idol’s EVS system, a special ops team will capture the line feed, select the 15-second snippets that we want to highlight, and then quickly get that back to the control room. There, lower third messaging will be dropped in, and it will be fed over to our network operations.”

VIDEO: ‘American Idol’: Devin Velez’s Last Words

Look for the first piece to air around 9:14 p.m. EST and the second piece five minutes later. The other two will follow shortly after (around 9:44 p.m. and 9:52 p.m. EST).

“Needless to say, getting this shot and onto our air so quickly is a huge technical undertaking and requires a lot of close collaboration,” says Ryan. “Ultimately, it will happen super quickly, so it’s both nerve-wracking and exciting!”

Tune in to Fox on Thursday to see how it all goes down.

Twitter: @Idol_Worship

Smallz & Raskind

You could say the Jessica Sanchez that American Idol fans saw on Thursday’s elimination show was older, wiser and edgier than the girl who came in second on season 11. And that’s just judging by her new single “Tonight,” which she performed on the show with hitmaker Ne-Yo.

As it turns out, the 17-year-old Chula Vista, Calif. native is not that innocent, telling The Hollywood Reporter that she’s approaching her upcoming two-episode arc on Glee (airing May 2 and May 9) by being ready for just about anything. “I’m all about risqué — I love that stuff,” she says proudly. “I love to be creative — that’s what the entertainment business is about. You have to be out there sometimes, and Glee is so colorful and unexpected with everything. I’m really excited to see what they have planned for those episodes.”

One thing she hopes will happen: a scene shared with Naya Rivera. “I love me some Santana, she’s amazing,” says Sanchez. “I can’t wait to meet her. I hope I get to.”

PHOTOS: ‘American Idol’ Season 12: The Top 10 Finalists

By her description, which she only recently received from producers, Sanchez will be playing “a student from a rival school who’s this legendary diva powerhouse singer.” So viewers can expect to hear a ballad or two, as was her trademark on Idol.

But when it comes to her own music, Sanchez takes a slight departure from the constant crescendo of a big note, opting instead for more of a pop-R&B flavor to her debut. “I’ve always wanted to be more of an urban singer,” she explains. “I did a lot of ballads on Idol to show my vocal technique. People don’t necessarily want to see you dancing and losing your breath on the show every week, so I’m glad I could show them this side of me.”

The Ne-Yo collaboration, curiously, came as a result of him being a fan of hers. “He reached out to my people and it just happened and it’s amazing.”

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“Tonight,” co-written by Ne-Yo with Stargate, is the first single from her forthcoming album, Me, You and the Music, due out April 30. Says Sanchez: “I’m so very lucky and very blessed to be working with such big producers.”

To be sure, she credits patience as the key ingredient. “I wanted to make it perfect for the fans and supporters that have been waiting for the music,” she says. “If I had rushed it, this wouldn’t have happened with Ne-Yo. It’s all about timing.”

As for her return to Idol, Sanchez says it’s an entirely different experience. “Because it was such a stressful moment for me and something I wanted so bad and it finally happened. This is where it all started — it’s so surreal and weird.” But ultimately, she did her best just to have fun. “I wasn’t being judged this time,” she laughs. “I felt like a bird. I was free and I could just sing.”

Twitter: @shirleyhalperin