'American Idol': Jimmy Iovine Recruits Akon as Guest Mentor

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We've said it before, and we'll say it again: Jimmy Iovine has more celebrity connections than Simon Cowell.

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This week, the tough-yet-fair American Idol mentor and Interscope chief recruits singer Akon to help him guide the latest crop of finalists. Recent celebrity mentors include Stevie Nicks (she crushed on Phillip Phillips), Gwen Stefani (she critiqued DeAndre Brackensick's "worried" facial expressions) and Diddy (he was not a fan of Heejun Han's deadpan humor).

Akon, whose hits include "Smack That" and "I Wanna Love You," previously graced the Idol stage as a celebrity performer.

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And speaking of performances, the top seven from season 11 will sing songs from "This Decade," aka 2010, 2011 and 2012, show producer Nigel Lythgoe announced via Twitter.

Perhaps, then, song choice selection might be easier than normal. Recall "Billy Joel Week," when Joshua Ledet claimed to not know who the music legend was; his rendition of "She's Got a Way" was fairly shaky.