Colton Dixon to Return to American Idol During Series Finale April 7

Colton Dixon will return to the American Idol stage Thursday, April 7 to perform at the 15th and final season of the popular singing competition. The finale will air live on Fox from 8-10:06 pm ET.

American Idol helped launch Dixon’s career when he made it to the top seven on Season 11.

American Idol’s grand finale will be filled with surprise appearances and star-studded performances as the show pays tribute to the past 15 seasons before the final American Idol is crowned. Thursday’s final episode will have all-star performances by former contestants, including Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Scotty McCreery, Chris Daughtry, Clark Beckham, Danny Gokey, Diana DeGarmo, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Lauren Alaina, Melinda Doolittle, Pia Toscano, and more.

Kris Allen Makes Mark on the Charts

The 2009 "American Idol" champ, Kris Allen, is the show's 10th former contestant to reach the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart's top 10, following Kimberley Locke (seven top 10s), Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry (with Daughtry) (four each), Clay Aiken, David Cook, and Carrie Underwood (two each) and David Archuleta, Jordin Sparks and Elliott Yamin (one).

With "Live Like We're Dying" having peaked at No. 3 on Adult Pop Songs and No. 10 on Pop Songs, Allen is the series' first graduate to send a debut single into the top 10 on all three charts.

Kris Allen helps out Haiti

“American Idol” season eight winner Kris Allen returns to the “Idol” stage Thursday night for a good cause.

Allen traveled to earthquake-ravaged Haiti as part of the philanthropic “Idol Gives Back” program and returns to the show to share footage of his experience, as well as perform.

During a media conference call on Monday, Allen said he had some lasting memories of volunteering in the country – especially the resilience of the Haitians.

“I got to sing a song for them and hold a couple of babies,” said Allen, who sang “Amazing Grace” for some of the survivors. “They just seemed so happy. It was a really cool experience.”

Returning to the show that made him a star is “nerve-racking,” he said, but he is happy to be involved with such a worthy cause.

“Every time I was on that stage last year it was about me, but for this it’s not,” said Allen, who participated in mission trips with his church before he entered the “Idol” competition. “This feels like a really good thing to come back for.”

Allen said he had planned to participate in the star-studded Haiti telethon, but at the last minute received an even better offer.

“I was walking into the offices at [management company] 19 [Entertainment] and Simon Fuller walked up to me said ‘How would you feel about going to Haiti?’ ” Allen recalled. “I owe all this to him, that I was able to go and actually do something. [The telethon] raised so much money and was really moving as well, but to get to go there and talk to the Haitians and see what the U.N. is doing was really great.”

Allen said that he hopes to impart to “Idol” viewers that there is still so much work to be done in the impoverished nation.

“This thing is not going away,” Allen said. “They need so much help right now, and when I say 'help,' I mean they need a lot of money right now.”

Officials said the funds will go to the United Nations Foundation Fund for Haiti to provide food, shelter, sanitation and help for rebuilding the tiny country.

Mat Kearney teams with Kris Allen

Mat Kearney has been heard everywhere from "Grey's Anatomy" to on tour with Keane. The next place the singer/songwriter hopes to hear his work is the debut of "American Idol" winner Kris Allen.

Kearney teamed up with Kris in early August to write a tune (watch interview with MTV News below).

Amid a flurry of the usual "Idol" collaborators, Allen surprised many when he announced that he was also working with Kearney according to MTV. The singer/songwriter was just as surprised. "I think [Kris] was just a fan," Kearney said of how they ended up collaborating. "What he told me was that he was just picking bands that he liked." (Those bands apparently include Semisonic, Daughtry, the Fray and the Calling — members from each of those groups have all been mentioned in connection with Kris' album.)

MTV Shows

Kris Allen Releases First Single

Kris Allen, American Idol Season 8 winner, has released his first single, "Live Like We're Dying."

The first song is compelling. Partial lyrics:

"Sometimes we fall down and can't get back up
We're hiding behind skin that's too tough
How come we don't say I love you enough
Till it's too late, it's not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won't come
We could make a feast from these crumbs
And we're all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you
What would you wish you would've done?

Yeah gotta start
Lookin' at the hand of the time we've been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start pickin' it
Every second counts on a clock that's tickin'
Gotta live like were dying

We only got
864 hundred seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell 'em that we love 'em
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying"

Did Christians Help Kris?

Kris Allen was the underdog going into the "American Idol" finale on Wednesday evening. So was it the Christian vote that prevailed in Allen's favor?

The 23-year-old UCA student has been on the worship team at New Life Church for years, but unlike previous winners such as Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood who made their faith very well known, Allen consciously refrained from making mention of his virtuous values throughout the competition.

"This is a singing competition, not a church thing," Allen told Fox News earlier this week while Lambert added that the "vote is based on talent and performing, not religion."

Support for Kris most likely surged over the last week when Danny Gokey (who was extremely open about his involvement with the church) was voted off and thus Christians turned their full devotion to Allen.

Allen spent much of the season in the shadow of fellow worship leader Danny Gokey, who many assumed would make it to the finals with Lambert. Gokey's poignant personal story (his wife passed away just four months before he auditioned for the show) and soulful sound helped propel him to the finals.

But Allen proved that his ability to interpret songs and play instruments was a stronger asset than either Gokey's soulful vocals and back story or Lambert's big vocals and theatrical stage persona.

Worship Leader in American Idol finale

The two-part finale of juggernaut "American Idol" begins tonight. The show has become such a vehicle to promote Adam Lambert, it has gotten sickening. His competition is Kris Allen, a 23-year-old worship leader at New Life Church in Conway, Ark., who was doing missionary work in Asia and Africa during the years Lambert was building his pop resume.

Allen is one of several actively Christian musicians to make this year's Top 10, most notably being sentimental favorite Danny Gokey who finished third.

Worship Leaders Lead the Way on American Idol

It's interesting to note how many of this year's top 13 American Idol finalists are involved in their church or Christian music.

* Kris Allen - works for his church's worship ministry
* Matt Giraud - has released two indie Christian music CDs
* Danny Gokey - is a music teacher at Faithbuilders Ministry in Milwaukee
* Scott MacIntyre - performs with the Gospel quartet, The MacIntyre Family Singers
* Michael Sarver - leads a praise team at Harvest Church in Jasper, TX