USA Today's Bill Keveney is spending time behind the scenes with American Idol's final four singers, watching their singing, wardrobe and promotional duties as they prepare for Tuesday's performance show (8 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT).

His full report will appear in the paper on Tuesday. Here's a brief description of Thursday's activities:

Only 14 hours after saying goodbye to Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson, American Idol's four remaining competitors - Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks - were back at Idol's studio complex narrowing down song choices for Tuesday.

With preliminary Bee Gees song choices in hand, Blake and Jordin went to separate rehearsal rooms, each conferring with a vocal coach and music director to pick two songs and find the right musical interpretation. After more rehearsal, they will work with the Bee Gees' Barry Gibb at a mentor session this weekend.

At the same time, LaKisha and Melinda went shopping, each picking out her clothes for next week. Blake went for a fitting in the afternoon, with Melinda and LaKisha returning to pick their songs and record a version for arrangers and the Idol band. As the one remaining singer under 18, Jordin had school responsiblities for three hours.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.