Season 3 finalist Jon Peter Lewis turns 30 on Saturday. After his run on American Idol, Jon spent time composing original music. Jon’s birthday also marks the third anniversary of the release of his debut album, Stories From Hollywood. This record made Jon the first Idol finalist to independently release an album of original songs.

Jon’s sophomore album, Break the Silence, dropped on July 22, 2009. The CD received rave reviews from critics and fans and even receive a “Critic’s Choice” review from Billboard Magazine. We debuted Jon’s music video for “Break the Silence” on AmericanIdol.com. Watch it now.

These days, JPL is working on his online show, “American Nobody,” and making music.

Happy Birthday, Jon Peter Lewis!

View photos of Jon and the rest of the Season 3 gang on American Idol.

Season 3’s top placing guy, George Huff, is celebrating his birthday today. He made it to the Top 12 as Simon Cowell’s wild card pick, and found success singing tunes that showed off his smooth voice. Throughout the competition, George had a constant smile on his face.

After his time on American Idol, George followed his love of Gospel music and pursued a career in the genre. He released an album, Miracles, in 2005. The first single off the album, “Brighter Days,” sold over 18,000 copies and was featured briefly in Tyler Perry’s movie, Why Did I Get Married? On April 7, 2009, George released a self-titled album.

In 2007, George toured a bit with Season 5’s Mandisa for the third annual “Christmas on Main Street” concert. The next holiday season, George and Season 6’s Melinda Doolittle performed in Michael W. Smith’s “It’s a Wonderful Christmas Show.”

Happy Birthday, George!

View photos of George Huff performing on Season 3 of American Idol.

Season 5 finalist Bucky Covington recently released his brand new music video for his current single, “Gotta Be Somebody.” Directed by Devin Pense, this live performance video spotlights his hometown community of Rockingham, North Carolina. Filmed in the local town square during Bucky's recent homecoming concert, the video features a packed crowd of over 6,000 fans, friends, and family who all roared with excitement to be a part of this surprise video shoot. The video made its debut on CMT.com where it quickly rose to become one of the top most streamed videos of the week. "Gotta Be Somebody" can now be viewed at various online outlets and will air on TV starting next week.

"Playing back home is something I've wanted to do for a long time as a thank you to everyone in Rockingham," Bucky said. "And to surprise everyone with the video shoot was fun! Seeing the excitement from my fans, friends, and family in the crowd was incredible."

Recently, Bucky Covington released  "Gotta Be Somebody" to radio, his country style version of Nickelback's No. 1 hit, written by band members Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake, along with co-producer Joey Moi. Currently climbing the country charts, this song is from his much anticipated sophomore album, I'm Alright, to hit streets in spring 2010. Just over a week ago, Bucky performed for NASCAR fans and previewed some of his new songs for them.

In an exclusive interview with AmericanIdol.com, Bucky discussed his recent charity concert, his new album, and more. Read the article.

Season 3’s third place finisher, Jasmine Trias, is 23 years old today. Recently, Jasmine has been busy performing all over the country. On August 8, Jasmine performed at the Ford Amphitheatre in Los Angeles for the Bahay Kubo Center for Philippine Culture and Arts' "The Music of Life" concert. Just over a week ago, she took part in the Green Aloha Concert in Waikiki, Hawaii. For this event, the city and county of Honolulu and artist Henry Kapono teamed up to provide the residents and visitors of Honolulu with a never been done before free concert, and they asked Hawaiian native Jasmine to perform. From November 6 to December 27, 2009, Jasmine will perform with the Society of Seven at the Gold Coast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This won’t be her first time performing with the Society of Seven; they teamed up in Las Vegas in 2007.

In 2005, Jasmine released a self-titled CD. She has appeared on many TV shows and has been part of many commercial campaigns in Asia. Jasmine has also won many awards for her music in Hawaii and the Philippines.

So put a flower in your hair and celebrate – Happy Birthday, Jasmine!

View photos of Jasmine performing on Season 3 of American Idol.

American Idol Carrie Underwood’s much anticipated third album, Play On, is now available for download and in stores. For this album, Carrie re-teamed with producer Mark Bright, who helmed her Carnival Ride collection as well as seven tracks from her 2005 album debut, Some Hearts. To date, Underwood has amassed more than 10 million in U.S. album sales between her two albums. Along the way, she has consistently broken new ground and earlier this year became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 #1 singles from their first two albums.

Of the 13 Play On tracks, seven were co-written by Carrie, who admits, "I'm not an easy person to get to know, and I feel like I keep a lot of myself closed off to the world. It's really nice to be able to scratch the surface and to be able to open myself up a little more." Carrie also talked about her appreciation for American Idol, saying, “I do credit the show for every single thing that I have, and as long as they want me to come back year to year and perform, I am so there.”

Play On includes the hit single “Cowboy Casanova,” which has already set records. American Idol creator Simon Fuller is confident in Carrie’s third album. "I think we'll exceed the success of the last album with this album," he stated. "It's stronger in depth and there's more variety. The first single is just a complete smash."

To promote her album, Carrie traveled to countries such as Singapore, and has a busy schedule hitting up talk shows in New York and Los Angeles over the next few weeks. On November 11, Carrie will co-host the 43^rd Annual CMA Awards with Brad Paisley. In addition to hosting the award show, Carrie will also perform and she’s nominated for two awards: “Female Vocalist of the Year” and “Musical Even Of The Year: ‘I Told You So’ feat. Randy Travis.” On November 22, Carrie will perform on the American Music Awards. She is also nominated for “Favorite Female Artist” in the country genre. In addition, the People’s Choice Awards has announced their preliminary nominations for 2010, and Carrie is nominated for “Favorite Country Artist.” You can vote for Carrie and learn more about the PCAs here.

Tune into FOX on Monday, December 7 from 8:00 - 10:00PM for Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special. Carrie will perform skits, sing songs from Play On and some of her older hits, and perform with special musical guests including Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, and fellow American Idol David Cook.

A four-time GRAMMY Award winner, ACM Entertainer of the Year, and reigning three-time CMA and ACM Female Vocalist winner, Carrie’s style has morphed from the Oklahoma girl in overalls to a style icon. Check out her Idol style in our transformation gallery.