Idol Schedule set

American Idol fans can mark their calendars with dates for all of the upcoming audition shows. Any Idol fan knows that the seventh season starts up with a two-night event January 15th and 16th. But according to zap2it.com, Fox has mapped out the whole Idol audition schedule, with one-hour early audition episodes on January 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th, as well as February 5th and 6th. They'll include footage from San Diego, Dallas, Omaha, Atlanta, Charleston, Miami and Philadelphia.

For those who want to skip the preliminary stuff and get to the Hollywood round, the first episode airs February 12th. The top 24 will be revealed the next night.

The top 12 guys and top 12 girls will perform in two-hour shows on February 19th and 20th, followed by the first round of fan voting. Then two guys and two girls say good-bye elimination night, February 21st.

With the field narrowed, the top 10 guys will perform Tuesday, February 26th, with the top eight singing the following Tuesday, March 4th. The girls have Wednesdays, with the top 10 singing February 27th and the top eight on March 5th. Zap2it reports that elimination nights will be Thursdays at 8 p.m. The top 12 will be revealed on March 6th and start vying for the Idol title on March 11th.

Tina Fey...sharpen the claws!

The next time SIMON COWELL mixes it up with PAULA ABDUL, he may want to give TINA FEY a call. In an interview with Playboy magazine, Fey blasted Abdul for the job she did hosting Saturday Night Live back in 2005. Fey, who was still on the show at the time, said Abdul, quote, "was awful." Fey said she remembers thinking at the time, quote, "She's a disaster! I gotta prop this lady up and get her on TV." Fey also said Abdul made life difficult because she wouldn't play herself in an American Idol sketch, forcing AMY POEHLER to portray Abdul.

When speaking about her current show, 30 Rock, Fey said ALEC BALDWIN'S character is based on Saturday Night Live creator LORNE MICHAELS. She added, quote, "I may be the only SNL alumnus who has created a character based on Lorne who's not lying about it

So You Think American You Can Idol Dance?

Next summer's American Idol tour could become a real song-and-dance show. The New York Post reports that Idol executive producer NIGEL LYTHGOE would like for the tours for the singing competition and another hit Fox reality series, So You Think You Can Dance, to combine into one show.

Lythgoe has also repeated his desire to focus more on the contestants and less on the mentors during Idol's seventh season. He says, quote, "There are legends in our business that hopefully will come along as mentors on Idol this season -- but not every single week."

Another possible change on Idol for the upcoming season? Contestants may have the chance to play an instrument on the show. Lythgoe says, quote, "We'll make a decision when we see how many really talented people we have."