‘American Idol’ notes: Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Jessica Sanchez

American Idol LogoFor today’s “American Idol” notes, let’s start things off with some great news from the Kris Allen camp: a new song! During a performance at Ladder 11 in Dayton, Ohio on Friday night, the season 8 champ unveiled a lovely new midtempo track called “Unique.” It’s a catchy, bubbly little love song that is sure to make a few people go “aww” when they hear it for the first time. (Heck, we certainly did.)

There’s no word yet on when Kris is actually going to be able to release some new tunes, as he parted ways from his label following the release of his last album. He has, however, released a few Christmas tracks on his own, and we imagine that he will figure out a way to get some new music out to his fans soon enough.

For now, let’s just take a minute to enjoy the music he has out there.

Speaking of videos – Lee DeWyze gave a performance at CityWalk in Los Angeles on Saturday, and while there are no complete audio clips of it online at the moment, we do at least have a solid 90 seconds of him performing a new song called “You Don’t Know Me.” Lee has been hard at work for months on a sophomore album, and hopefully we’ll have some more details relating to a release date within the weeks and months ahead.

Jessica’s new gig – Finally, we thought that inquiring minds would be interested in knowing that Jessica Sanchez is going to get quite an opportunity to open for a major star. In New York City on May 14, the season 11 singer will get the opportunity to open for none other than Latin pop superstar Enrique Igleasias! Really, this is just the latest example of “American Idol” stars getting to hone some of their performing skills alongside big names in the industry. Lauren Alaina, Phillip Phillips, and Scotty McCreery are all examples of singers who have opened for such people as Brad Paisley, Matchbox 20, and more.

In case you missed our story on where we think the current contestants on “American Idol” stand this season, be sure to check out our new contestant rankings over at the link here.

Photo: Fox

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