Scott MacIntyre

Tempe, AZ, enjoyed a special treat last night after winning an online contest — the hunky guys of X-Men Origins: Wolverine were in town for the US premiere of their film. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman struck a few poses for the cameras, as did Taylor Kitsch, will.i.am, and Lynn Collins. Liev Schreiber, meanwhile, made a statement about their movie being leaked online. The cast was due to make their next stop in Mexico City, but that screening was canceled due to the swine flu threat. Hugh's been traveling the world for weeks already, but he's sure to be a little disappointed not to celebrate south of the border.

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Scott MacIntyre, the latest singer to be eliminated from American Idol, hopped on the phone with reporters today to talk about his experience on the show and his plans for a music career going forward. He joked about bringing out "my shredder" for the power-pop Survivor tune that turned out to be his farewell song, opened up about his songwriting (which ranges from adult-contemporary tunes to punk to jazz), and generally sounded upbeat about his future in music. Here are highlights:

• On his reaction to the judges' decision not to save him: "I was actually very thrilled to know that it was a split decision between the four judges. That was a very nice thing to walk away with. . . . I also sensed that there was some inner turmoil in [Simon] making that decision."
• On getting criticized for playing guitar after Paula asked him to come out from behind the piano: "My decision to play the guitar this last week was more based on the fact that I wanted to shock America a little bit than it was on Paula's comment about coming out from behind the piano. But it is a very common thing — they tell you one thing one week [and the next week the opposite]. Some of the criticism is undue, but I respect the judges."
• On the lessons he's learned from Idol: "I really learned that, No. 1, I worked more quickly than I ever thought I could. There's a very fast-paced atmosphere involved with Idol, and preparing new songs each week — sometimes a couple of songs because of the group number — and because of things going on in the midst of shopping and Ford shoots and mentor shoots — it's crazy and it's really taught me to budget my time extremely well."
• On what made him think he could be an American Idol: "From the very beginning I have felt that I have a story to share through my music, and because of my life story and what I have overcome, and because I have pursued music as my main passion. . . . All of that combined, I felt it would be a shame not to share that with the world. Idol has given me the platform I've been hoping for for many years."

To hear why Scott auditioned for Idol this year and what he'll miss most about the other singers, just read more

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