Bits and Pieces

It's time to bone up on your Brits to get ready for Tuesday's British Invasion. So here's a homework list for those too young to remember and extra credit for those who have fond memories of these songs.

BTW, here are song suggestions for the contestants:
LaKisha Jones - "Goldfinger" (Shirley Bassey)
Chris Sligh - "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (Gerry & The Pacemakers")
Blake Lewis - "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" (The Animals)
Sanjaya Malakar - "Lola" (The Kinks)
Gina Glocksen - "Wild Thing" (The Troggs)
Phil Stacey - "Go Now" (The Moody Blues)
Melinda Doolittle - "The Man Who Sold the World" (Lulu)
Chris Richardson - "Friday on My Mind" (The Easybeats)
Haley Scarnato - "A Sign of the Times" (Petula Clark)
Stephanie Edwards - "All Cried Out" (Dusty Springfield)
Jordin Sparks - "Georgy Girl" (The Seekers)

What are your song suggestions for the remaining 11? Please let us know by commenting!

Listen and watch:
Dave Clark 5 - "Because"
Dave Clark 5 - "Bits and Pieces"
Dave Clark 5 - "Glad All Over"
Dave Clark 5 - "Over and Over"
Dave Clark 5 -"You Got What It Takes"
Dusty Springfield - "All Cried Out"
Dusty Springfield - "I Only Want to Be With You"
Dusty Springfield - "Son of a Preacher Man"
Dusty Springfield - "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"
Gerry & The Pacemakers - "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying"
Gerry & The Pacemakers - "Ferry Across the Mersey"
Gerry & The Pacemakers - "I Like It"
Herman's Hermits - "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat"
Herman's Hermits - "I'm Into Something Good"
Herman's Hermits - "Silhouettes"
Herman's Hermits - "There's a Kind of Hush"
Los Bravos - "Black Is Black"
Lulu - "The Man Who Sold the World"
Marianne Faithfull - "As Tears Go By"
Petula Clark - "A Sign of the Times"
Petula Clark - "Downtown"
Shirley Bassey - "Goldfinger"
Spencer Davis Group - "Gimme Some Lovin' "
Spencer Davis Group - "Keep on Running"
The Animals - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
The Animals - "It's My Life"
The Animals - "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"
The Easybeats - "Friday on My Mind"
The Hollies - "Carrie Anne"
The Hollies - "Dear Eloise"
The Hollies - "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"
The Hollies - "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)"
The Hollies - "On a Carousel"
The Kinks - "A Well Respected Man"
The Kinks - "All Day and All of the Night"
The Kinks - "Lola"
The Kinks - "Tired of Waiting"
The Kinks - "You Really Got Me"
The Moody Blues - "Go Now"
The Seekers - "Georgy Girl"
The Seekers - "I'll Never Find Another You"
The Troggs - "Love Is All Around"
The Troggs - "Wild Thing"
The Yardbirds - "For You Love"
The Zombies - "She's Not There"
The Zombies - "Tell Her No"
The Zombies - "Time of the Season"
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders - "Game of Love"
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders - "Groovy Kind of Love"

... Jennifer Lopez appeared on Extra recently and said she is counting the days until her April 11 appearance on Idol. The mentor for Latin Week, Lopez will perform a Spanish song from her latest release, "Como Ama una Mujer," on the Wednesday results show.

... According to TV Guide, Paula Abdul insists she is "great friends" with Simon Cowell in spite of their controversial onscreen relationship.

But the 44-year-old singer-turned-"Idol" judge admits she tries to avoid the star when he's being overly facetious. She said, "Simon and I actually get along great. We have cultivated a fun relationship. He's actually become a really good friend."

And Abdul is adamant any rumors of a romance between the pair is way off the mark. She explains, "He makes this stuff up. He said, 'Paula, people want us to hook up so bad.' I said, 'That's disgusting.' He goes, 'Paula, I know you want me,' and I go, 'Like a cold sore.' "

We have fun playing up the chemistry, but there's also times when I would cross the other side of the street so I wouldn't have to look at him."

... People magazine reports that six-foot-one-inch Taylor Hicks has shed nearly 22 lbs., going from 215 to 193, since his "American Idol" win last May. How'd he do it? By ditching fast food and such southern comforts as fried chicken. In their place: Salads, brown rice, fish and chicken noodle soup. "It's good for your throat," he says. "It's also comforting, but it's light." Not that the 30-year-old Alabaman – who's currently on a 53-city tour to promote his self-titled album – is completely denying himself. He calls his day off from the tour "kind of like my one sin day. I look for chocolate cake. If you're gonna do it, you might as well do it that way!"

Now the same weight as when he played high-school basketball, Hicks follows a serious exercise regimen, running for 45 minutes every other day, no matter where he is. "I just take off running, with a hat on," he says. And when covering up his distinctive gray mop, "I've walked through a thousand fans and nobody notices." Aside from the running, "I use a lot of the stage as exercise," says the singer, who calls his dance style "signature me ... it's original and it's authentic." Plus, it's more cardio: "I wear jackets, and with those lights, I'm sweating off, like, two pounds a night!"

... People magazine also revealed these things you didn't see on last week's show: Diana Ross' daughter, "Girlfriends" actress Tracee Ellis Ross, jumping out of her seat in the audience to watch her mom do her thing ... Melinda Doolittle star-struck when the original Dreamgirl put her arm around her during her performance of "More Today Than Yesterday." Jordin Sparks was seen mock-fanning a flushed Melinda ... the back story behind Ryan Seacrest introducing Simon Cowell as "all of Simon Cowell"? Simon's white button-down shirt was unbuttoned down to depths that no man should venture unless he's posing for a Harlequin romance book cover. Naturally, Ryan took the opportunity to point out the judge's revealing fashion choice to the world ... Season 5 finalists Paris Bennett and Lisa Tucker and Season 4 finalist Anthony Fedorov hung out in the audience and greeted members of the production crew with hugs before the live show began ... Chris Sligh's wife, Sarah, mounted a cutout of Chris' upper body on a popsicle stick and waved it in the air. Chris spotted his cutout bopping in the air and pointed it out to Blake Lewis, who laughed along with him. When it was announced that Chris was safe from being voted off, Sarah's mom – who flew into town with Sarah's father from South Carolina – pumped her fist in the air ... Blake Lewis and Gina Glocksen have become chummy and their families have gotten close: Blake's mom loaned Gina's mom and two sisters her "Mom loves you Blake! Vote for Blake!" sign, which they used the back of to design their own "Party Like a Glockstar" sign to wield during elimination night ... Brandon Rogers' mother wiping away tears as her son gave his final performance. At the end of the show, Blake was overwhelmed and started tearing up, hugging Brandon on stage for a long time and then hugging Jordin who was also a little weepy to see Brandon leave the group.

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