Say Candy and Ronnie have you seen them yet?

Haley performing HOTRS in San Jose, CA on 7/13/2011

While some contestants chose new songs to perform on the Idols Live! tour, Haley decided to stick with the two songs that best defined her successful Idol run last season (yes, I know some of you only consider winning Idol 'success,' but I consider it an 'Idol curse' and finishing third is certainly nothing to be ashamed of).  'House of the Rising Sun' is the most memorable Idol performance in years and made Haley a sex symbol in the eyes of many, and thanks to her we'll never listen to this classic folk ballad the same way again.  'Bennie and the Jets' is considered to be the turning point in Haley's Idol journey, as her jazzy cover of this poppy Elton John tune was when she really hit her stride and proved that she's, to coin Randy's overused cliché, 'in it to win it.'

For the tour Haley jazzed up her two songs even more, giving them a sultry 'night at the jazz lounge' cabaret feel.  Wearing a hip-revealing shiny black dress that accentuates her figure rather nicely and moving around in that teasing, seductive way she perfected onstage, Haley seems determined to reinforce her newly acquired sex symbol status and manages to steal the show every night.  Her performance of BATJ has become a crowd favorite during the show, as Haley urges the audience to 'sing it with me!' throughout the performance.

With 17 cities down and 28 more to go including the finale overseas in Manila as of this update, Haley and the other top 10 Idol contestants will be busy until the end of September.  Be sure to see her live if the tour has yet to stop in your city.  Of course, you can also follow her live in concert on YouTube.

Haley signs with 19 Recordings / Interscope

It's finally official!  The spotlight's hitting something that's known to change the weather.  Yes, it's tested the patience of Haley fans everywhere, but had the inevitability of this ever been in doubt?  You just knew it's going to happen (didn't you?) when Haley was 'mum' and would neither confirm nor deny the rumors whenever it was brought up during an interview, but dropped subtle hints such as that she's been writing music on the bus while city-hopping on the Idol Live tour.  And why else would she be writing new material if it wasn't for a new album?  All the same, congratulations Haley!

So what type of album could we expect from our favorite Idol?  Would it be the "sultry bluesy rock" à la HOTRS that Haley hinted the day after being prematurely booted from the show, with perhaps a dash of jazz, soul and R&B thrown in?  Interscope is the perfect fit for Haley; Jimmy Iovine had worked with Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, U2 and Dire  Straits among others.  For the most part, I believe he had also given Haley sound advice throughout the season.  My favorite is when he told her she should put some ooomph into 'Get Up!' during her performance of Carole King's 'Beautiful' for Top 6 week as if she's trying to get her lazy boyfriend or future husband (lucky bastard!) to get off the couch.

Haley said she will take her time working on this album and not rush its release just for its own sake.  It'll be a hard wait for us fans but all good things are worth waiting for, right?  So stick around, cus' we'll all be hearing electric music and solid walls of sound before too long.  Stay tuned.

Here's lookin' at you, kid!