‘American Idol’ notes: Phillip Phillips’ new gig, Jessica Sanchez’s milestone

“American Idol” has booked their first guest for a live results show later this season, and this one should not come as a surprise to anyone at all: the show’s reigning champ.

According to Interscope Records, producers have booked Phillip Phillips for the March 14 show, where he will be performing his new single “Gone, Gone Gone,” which is starting to make an imprint on the Hot AC music charts. This single was released earlier this year in an effort to follow up the runaway smash that was “Home,” and thus far it is doing a pretty good job picking up hits on the Hot AC chart. While appearing on “American Idol” is hardly a guarantee of future success since many of these viewers are already Phillip fans, it’s never a bad platform by any means.

We presume that the show is going to once again fulfill the tradition of having a former contestant perform during every results show this season, and Jessica Sanchez, Colton Dixon, and Carrie Underwood (arguably one of the two biggest stars to come out of the show) are the closest things to locks right about now. We would not be surprised if Scotty McCreery stops by at some point, and personally we’re still hoping that Casey James (or someone from season 9) finally gets a chance to acknowledge that they exist. Both Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox made appearances back in season 10, but that was it.

Speaking of Jessica, we also want to point out one thing that is very exciting for her: reaching the 1 million milestone on Twitter! This makes Jessica the first former contestant since Adam Lambert to make it to this milestone, and like Adam, she is boosted by the fact that she has an enormous audience around the world cheering her on.

Who do you want to see perform on “American Idol” later this season? If you want to see where we think some of the current contestants stand, be sure to check out our new rankings over at the link here.

Photo: Fox