American Idol

TMZ spoke with a source extremely close to Lusk ... who tells us Jacob never wanted to perform the Jordin Sparks /Chris Brown duet, "No Air" on Wednesday's show ... but Iovine pressured him into it.

We're told Lusk really wanted to perform the Gnarls Barkley hit, "Crazy" -- but Iovine was so insistent on "No Air" that he basically "beat it into his brain" until Lusk finally gave in and agreed to perform the song.

During the show, Randy Jackson told Lusk, "I don’t think that’s the direction for you ... I don't think anybody on this stage should be doing duet songs."

Sources close to Casey tell TMZ ... Abrams has been telling his friends, family and hometown supporters in Idyllwild, CA to stay united ... and use their votes to send Haley through to the next round.

Casey has denied being in a romantic relationship with Haley -- but last week, he referred to her as his "special musical friend." So ... yeah, they're totally dating.

Sources connected to the deal tell us ... Pia has agreed to perform at a private birthday party on May 8th ... which happens to be Mother's Day. We're told the deal will only require Pia to perform a small handful of songs.

According to sources, Pia was initially offered $50,000 for the gig and she TURNED IT DOWN ... but the people throwing the party wanted Pia so badly, they immediately doubled their offer ... and Pia signed without batting an eye.

We're told Pia will be picked up in L.A. in a limo and chauffeured directly to the party ... though it's unclear exactly where the party will go down.

Lauren's hometown of Rossville, Georgia -- population 3,500 -- was devastated by the twisters ... leaving most homes without power, land lines, or mobile phone service.

Now Lauren's friends and family tell TMZ they're concerned because Lauren's main supporters couldn't see the show and weren't able to vote.

One friend said, "It would be a travesty if she was taken off the show because of an Act of God" -- and another added, "I do believe the weather should be taken into consideration when it comes to the voting."

One friend who was outside the damage zone tells us she voted more than usual for Lauren ... and made online appeals for others to do the same.

25-year-old Paige Miles -- who claimed 11th place on the show -- was on her way home from rehearsal in Florida ... when something went terribly wrong and her SUV caught on fire.

Miles, who documented the terrifying incident on her Facebook page, explained, "The electric shut down, the car doors wouldn't open, i jumped out my window and watched my mother's Envoy blaze."

Moments after she emerged from the fiery wreck, Miles said she was crying and shaking ... and her blood pressure was through the roof ... but she didn't seem to have suffered any major injuries.

Afterward, Miles took photos of the charred remains of her mom's ride -- pretty damn scary.

TMZ spoke with Barreto -- a Top 24 finisher -- who tells us he reached out to Secada after performing the Grammy winner's hit song "Angel" ... hoping to get some feedback from his idol.

Jon told the kid he was impressed -- and offered to take 23-year-old Barreto under his wing ... "kind of like a mentor of sorts."

Jovany immediately moved to Miami to pursue the opportunity -- and Secada tells us there are plans in the works to record something together in the very near future.

Tyler dropped a whole series of truth bombs during an interview with Rolling Stone ... in which he explains, "Did I take this job to show the band? F**k, yeah. Not to show them, but that I can't be held hostage anymore. I will be my own hostage. The band can't throw me out."

During the interview, Tyler also reveals he went on a drug binge with Joe Perry a few years ago during an "ill-fated attempt to cut a new album."

Tyler told the mag ... the album never got made because, "Joe was high and he couldn't play ... I couldn't sing, really, because I was snorting everything, and it f**ks up your throat. It was the wrong time."

The music video shoot will go down Monday.

By the way ... Tyler has a memoir called "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?" coming out on May 3.

The man doing the suing is Joel Postorino -- who claims he suffered a serious disc injury in his neck after a woman driving a 2005 BMW smashed into the back of his Porsche at an L.A. intersection last May.

In his lawsuit, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Postorino claims the only person in the BMW during the crash was a woman named Christina Kline ... but Kara happens to be a registered co-owner of the BMW, so the man feels the former "Idol" star should have to pay up too.

DioGuardi's rep tells TMZ ... Kline used to work for Kara ... and she only co-signed on the car to help her employee out several years ago.

The rep explains, "When Ms. Kline left Kara’s company in November 2009, she was asked to remove Kara’s name from the registration, but never did. She was in a car accident in May 2010 that Kara did not know about until yesterday when she was served papers."

Adam has a beard. Who knew?

It's been in the works for a while -- and an hour ago, the deal was sealed.

Pia's performance signifies a borderline incestuous cross-pollination between the two biggest shows on TV ... "American Idol" and "Dancing."

And if that's not enough -- Pia will be back on "Idol" tomorrow for a special cast-off reunion.

As we previously reported, Pia and Mark went out on a date the NIGHT AFTER she got the boot from "Idol" ... and have since ratcheted up their romance.

There's a report out that Pia unceremoniously dumped her caterer boyfriend Carlos Nunez to trade up to Ballas.

But our "Dancing with the Stars"/"American Idol" spies tell us ... Carlos was history long before Mark entered the picture.

It all started back in February 2009 -- when cops cited Jacob for riding on an L.A. metro train without buying a ticket. Jacob blew off his court hearing and an arrest warrant was issued.

Fast forward to Nov. 2010 -- a day after Jacob auditioned for "Idol" and got his golden ticket to Hollywood -- Lusk was pulled over for a traffic stop. The cop discovered the warrant and arrested him.

Jacob went to jail and then to court the next day and pled no contest to the train-hopping charge. He was sentenced to 3 days in jail and 2 years probation.

Jacob served his time and then went back to court, telling the judge "Idol" wouldn't let him on the show if he was on probation. After his emotional plea, the merciful judge terminated his probation.

Fun Fact -- On night one in the pokey, Jacob sang to 170 inmates, who liked it a lot. Thing is, the guard wasn't a fan, screaming through the loud speaker, "This isn't a f**king singing contest."

Undaunted, we're told Lusk sang over the next day-and-a-half, preparing for "Idol." And on his last day, Lusk sang a farewell song, and another guard went on the loud speaker and said it was "bad ass!"

Sources connected with tonight's Minneapolis reunion show tell TMZ, Dr. Chris Kammer -- a giant toothbrush-carrying dentist who was cast off early in the season -- contacted the show organizer and fellow reject Caleb Hawley ... to see if they needed an MC.

Caleb wasn't into the idea -- and responded to Dr. Chris via email, writing, "Though I really appreciate your offer to MC, I think we'll hold this one down on our own."

Kauffman appeared on "Good Morning America" this AM, where she explained how the whole ordeal allegedly went down ... and also took the time to correct a few parts of her story that are circling around that AREN'T true.

Kaufman admitted she WASN'T forced to sit all the way in the back of the studio -- more like six rows back from the stage -- and that she DIDN'T have to sit alone without her friends.