Lil Rounds

Lil Rounds may have been kicked off this week, but that doesn't mean she didn't go out in style. For her last performance, Lil sang "I'm Every Woman" wearing an Express vest over a Love Stitch blouse and black leggings. Fornarina boots completed her sassy style. Shop it all now.

Photo courtesy of Fox
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For the past several weeks on American Idol, early favorite Lil Rounds had been struggling with criticism from the judges that she wasn't showing off who she was as an artist. Maybe those comments finally got to voters, because Rounds was sent home on Wednesday alongside Anoop Desai. In a call with reporters on Thursday, Rounds said she had a pretty good feeling she'd be heading home but didn't fault the judges for their criticism. Here are highlights:

• On whether she felt the judges had turned against her: "I don't think it was like that at all. . . I felt like they were giving me constructive criticism to improve me. It was OK because in the end, I'm going to take everything that they gave me and push forward with it, because I definitely have some albums to come out, and everything they gave me is going to make that a great success."
• On charges that she didn't make songs her own: "When I would hear that, I automatically, first of all, thought that I did make it my own, especially vocally. But I guess they wanted me to do more of a change as far as music-wise. Whenever I would do a song I always stayed true to the way the music went. . . Vocally, I felt like I did do some changing because I wanted it to make sure it fit who I was as an artist. I'm sorry the judges didn't quite agree with that per se, but they never took anything away from me. I felt that I knew who I was as an artist and I felt I made it my own."
• On why she argued with Simon on movie night: "It seemed to me like [the critiques] started going back and forth — one week they'd tell me one thing, and the next week they'd tell me the opposite of that and flip it. I wanted to make it clear — not to go toe to toe with Simon or the judges or anything like that —but I wanted America to know that I really am an artist . . . and I love to do the R&B, the soulful vibe."

To hear what Rounds learned from Idol and how she felt about her ever-growing hair, just read more

During the results show, Lil Rounds took America's feedback looking as cool, calm, and fabulous as possible. She wore a green dress designed by Project Runway star Kara Janx over a pair of Rich & Skinny jeans and t-strap Modern Vintage shoes. Get the whole look here.

Photo courtesy of Fox
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Lil Rounds rocked Celine Dion's "I Surrender" in a dress that even the pop diva would've been proud to wear. The one-shoulder number was created by Ema Savahl, which you can buy online in a slightly lighter hue. Shop it with all of her Virgin, Saints & Angels jewelry.

Photo courtesy of Fox
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Lil Rounds shimmied and shook in her ombre fringe dress on this episode of American Idol. For her performance, she sang "Heat Wave," and her Foley + Corinna stunner turned up the temperature, as did her jewelry and shoes all from Aldo. Shop the entire look now.

Photo courtesy of FOX

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Lil Rounds got her Bebe on during the Michael Jackson episode of American Idol. As she sang The Way You Make Me Feel, we took note of her asymmetrical top, silk pants, and shiny necklace — all from Bebe. Shop those items, with her Aldo shoes, now.

Photo courtesy of Fox

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After one final twist on American Idol on Thursday, the show has set its top 13 for the year. Last week, I got to chat with Allison Iraheta, Adam Lambert, and Kris Allen about their experiences making it through the semifinals, and this week, the final seven contestants into the final group — Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, and Jorge Nunez from Wednesday and Jasmine Murray, Megan Corkrey, Matt Giraud, and Anoop Desai from Thursday — hopped on the phone to share some of their thoughts. Here are some tidbits of what I learned:

• Matt will try singing pop/rock again. The judges slammed him during his semifinal round for his take on Coldplay's "Viva La Vida," but they put him into the finals on the strength of his bluesy riffing on "Who's Loving You." So will he ever go back in the pop direction? Sure! "I definitely will attempt" a poppier sound again, he said. "I've heard some rumors of some certain theme weeks coming up that I can definitely sing some pop stuff. I definitely want to get back into it — maybe even do a [Justin Timberlake] song one day."
• Megan Corkrey loves Bjork. "I fell in love with her when I was 16," Corkrey said. "She's changed my life. Her music is so beautiful and original and different, and she's so emotional." She said she'd love to sing a Bjork song on the show if the opportunity arises, but she knows it could also draw a lot of criticism from the judges if it was too out there.
• Anoop wants to work with Kanye West. "Hopefully I'll get to meet him and we can talk about some collaboration in the future," Anoop said of West, who will perform on the show next week. He's also a big Ne-Yo fan and lists Ludacris among his other dream collaborators.

To hear from this week's other additions to the top 13, just read more