‘American Idol’ notes: Adam Lambert, Lee DeWyze, and Carrie Underwood

For our second edition of “American Idol” notes Friday, we’re going back in time to some past seasons — which seems appropriate right about now considering that so much attention has been given to season 11 as of late.

Adam talks Queen tour – In the midst of his promotional tour for “Trespassing,” it’s almost easy to forget that Adam Lambert is also going to be touring this summer with Queen.

Speaking out in a new interview to promote the tour (which includes three shows in Britain this summer at the Hammersmith Apollo), Adam did his best to explain what his goals are for taking center stage with one of the greatest bands of all time:

“You can’t replace Freddie. But playing with Queen is the best thing that could happen to me, and my intention is to pay tribute to Freddie.

“We want to keep the music alive and give it an energy that would have made him proud.”

Lee DeWyze gives another outdoor performance – We’ve spoken at lengthy about Lee DeWyze, Thia Megia, Blake Lewis, and Elliott Yamin all performing in Branson as a part of their “The Finalists Live” show. They are there until the 16th, and will be replaced soon after by another crop of performers.

While it’s not exactly clear how big of an audience these shows are getting, we do have a new video of Lee, Blake, and Elliott out promoting the show with a performance of “Hallelujah” — one that became one of Lee’s biggest moments from season 9. It’s one of those performances where you really would think that the beat-boxing from Blake wouldn’t work, but it surprising does.

Carrie Underwood talks women on country radio – There’s a rather interesting dichotomy at the moment when it comes to country music. While you typically see women like Carrie, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Lambert dominating awards shows, they only really make up a small percentage of what is played on radio stations serving the genre.

Speaking to CMT, Carrie actually gives a pretty fascinating look into how she feels about women on the radio — and is happy that a few select artists are doing so well, even though there could be more:

“I could totally lie right now and be like, ‘I totally wish there were more [women on the charts]’ … I wish it was more accepted. I’m sure at some point we all feel a little … ‘oppressed’ isn’t the right word, but we’re all part of this boys club. So maybe a little out of place. But the ones that we got are killing it, so maybe it’s not about quantity. Maybe it’s about quality. If us five or so can dominate, then I’m OK with that.”

As always, be sure to check back soon for more of the latest “Idol” news!

Photo: RCA Press / Lee Cherry