Lil Rounds of “American Idol” fame was supposed to hook up with me this weekend, but – as you can imagine – she is really busy and did not get a chance to make the call. I did speak to her mom, Dolline Coburn, though.

Coburn says Lil is in good spirits and has been really busy this week preparing and filming a commercial.

“Lil feels like she is doing exactly what she is suppose to do and that is just being herself,” says Coburn. “This week my husband and I are going there to support her. Lil is excited and is just going to have fun with all of it!”

The Memphis singer still survives after she was placed in the bottom two of the seven contestants.

Judge Simon Cowell had been critical of her performance of “The Rose” from the 1979 Bette Midler film of the same name on last Tuesday night.

“The song was too soft for you, too middle-of-the-road; some nice moments, but no excuses anymore. You’re not the artist I believe we met seven or eight weeks ago,” Simon said.

Rounds delivered this much-needed response: “You guys want me to go R&B. I thought I did it!”

In the end, it was Matt Giraud who received the lowest number of call-in votes. Surprisingly, the judges used their single “save” to keep him in the competition one more week.

After this week’s Tuesday night performances, two contestants will be eliminated Wednesday night.

This week’s theme is disco songs. Here’s the question: Will this give Rounds, with her gospel and R&B vocal flavor, a possible advantage?

As the competition toughens, it gets even more imperative for Memphis watchers to weigh in with their support for the hometown diva. The outcome is determined by all the call-in votes from viewers.

“American Idol” is on Fox-TV Channel 13. Check your local listing for details.

The next “Idol” Watch Party will be Tuesday night (April 21) at Abner’s Restaurant, 787 Goodman Road East. For more information contact Jackie Bougard by e-mail: jbougard1@yahoo.com

Remember to check out www.LilRoundsFan.com

(E-Mail “All Over Town” Nyah Nile for Questions or Comments or if you just want her at your next Big Event @ nyah@tri-statedefender.com)

NOTE: The history-making "American Idol Tour” will hit music-loving Memphis ON July 26 at the FedEx Forum. The summer 2009 tour dates were announced last week and, as expected, we’ll get to see the top ten finalists.

Joining our Memphis Diva Lil Rounds for the 50-city go round: Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy, Michael Sarver and Scott MacIntyre

Tickets for all the American Idol Live 2009 tour dates are scheduled to go on sale Saturday, May 9 beginning at 9 a.m. CT unless otherwise noted. More information is available via Idol's website.

The American Idol Live 2009 tour schedule is: