Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Newlywed Jason Castro will also have new music on the way to fans next week.

The fourth-place finisher from season seven married longtime girlfriend Mandy Mayhall Saturday (here’s a link to the story and photo of Jason and Mandy from “People.”)

And, next week, he’ll release a five-song EP called “The Love Uncompromised.”

The EP will include an acoustic version of Jason’s first single, “Let’s Just Fall in Love Again,” the title track, “You Can Always Come Home (featuring Serena Ryder),” “If I Were You” and “Sweet Medicine.”

The EP will be released digitally next Tuesday (the same day Idol returns). EPs will be available at the merchandise booth on Jason’s upcoming tour with Matt Hires. It includes a stop at World Cafe Live in Philly on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Fans who have already pre-ordered the full-length album will receive the EP free of charge, according to Jason’s Web site. No word on whether this will affect the timing of his full-length album, which was already pushed back from November to spring.

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Anoop Desai fans are gearing up to support their favorite season eight contestant in his post-Idol endeavors.

A reader (thanks DaisyKary on Twitter) tipped me off to a New Year’s Eve interview Anoop did with WRAL of Raleigh, North Carolina.

During the interview, Anoop says he’s busy recording his album in Los Angeles, that he hopes to release a single in late March or April, followed by a full-length album in April. Here’s a link to the interview.

No more details at this point, such as an album title. But via Twitter, Anoop notified fans that he’d be doing a photo shoot for his Web site and the album today (Tuesday).

Anoop hails from North Carolina and was co-hosting WRAL’s First Night coverage in Raleigh.

One person predicting big things for Anoop is Brandon Rogers, an American Idol contestant from season six. When Idol Chatter interviewed Brandon in November, he was just coming off an all-night writing session with Anoop.

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Americanidol.com just posted a new interview with another season eight contestant working on new music — Matt Giraud.

Matt told Idol he’s hoping to put together an EP of four or five of his best originals to send out to labels in hopes of landing a record deal.

He also said he’s writing music “with some of the best people in the country.” Here’s a link to the interview.

Via Twitter, Matt alerted fans that he plans to release a single via iTunes in February and that he’s started rehearsing with his new band.

“They really give my music a sound,” he says in one tweet. “It’s get me pumped for the upcoming shows.”