‘American Idol’ notes: David Archuleta’s new album, Carrie Underwood, Kris Allen

Let’s start this “American Idol” notes with some breaking news straight out of the David Archuleta camp: the season 7 star is going to be pushing out a new album on March 26!

The announcement was made in a press release on Thursday that the new album, entitled “No Matter How Far” (see the image to the left), will contain some brand-new tracks along with some previously unreleased material to American audiences. (Sadly, there is no official track list available yet, so it is hard to tell if there will be any music on here from releases in the Philippines.) The first single, “Don’t Run Away,” is going to be sent to adult contemporary radio in February.

David is currently on his lengthy Mormon mission in South America, so the fact alone that he continues to put out new music (and that he thought this out so far in advance) is pretty incredible. It is likely going to be hard for him to promote the album, so much of this instead will likely be reliant on word of mouth.

Carrie Underwood hypes up Oklahoma auditions – Do you want some more evidence as to how much “American Idol” is looking to tap into the country market this year? Know this: the show already had auditions in Charlotte, Baton Rouge, and San Antonio, but they are still going to Oklahoma on Thursday night.

One famous lady from the state in Carrie Underwood (who admitted that she still has her golden ticket) was certainly excited about this, and posted the following on her Twitter account:

“I can’t wait for tomorrow when they’re showing the Oklahoma auditions! I know how much talent is there! OK has so many great singers! #idol“

Kris Allen’s new cover – Speaking of Oklahoma, Kris was in Tulsa this week for his “Out Alive” tour, and he chose to rock out a song that you knew was going to be awesome: “Hey Ya.” It’s an AC artist taking on a pop / hip-hop song and somehow making it country. Never thought we’d quite see that.

Want to read more reaction to Wednesday’s episode? You can do so over at the link here.

Photo: David Archuleta