Every week American Idol's contestants perform in front of millions and millions viewers, and the only thing that's as memorable as how they sound is how they look. We chatted with American Idol's style gurus Miles Siggins, the guys' stylist, and Soyon An, the girls' stylist, about season eight's contestants, finding fashion that works on stage, and what they think of Simon Cowell's style advice.

See more of season eight's contestants.

Natalie Broulette: What's the collaborative process with the contestants like?

Miles Siggins: We discuss what they're singing and what they think they'd like to wear, and we start from there. Even if people have a general idea about what they want to wear, it does kind of change once we go shopping. And because it's a competition, it's totally up to the guys what they want to wear. I can't force them to wear anything.

Soyon An: The way I work with the girls is I kind of pull aside a few looks that would be good for them, so that we can make the most of the two-hour shopping time. They come in with their idea based on their song choice or whatever they had in mind, and then we do fittings. Whatever we don't find in the fitting, whether it be a pair of pants, shoes or accessories, we go out and shop for.

NB: How do the performance night outfits differ from the results night outfits?

SA: For performance night outfits, we definitely factor in the song that they're singing. I like to actually either look it up on iTunes or they bring in their CD and then we play it, so in the fitting we really get the feeling of the song, and we bring it out. While they're trying the stuff on in front of the mirror, they kind of show the way that they would perform, like a dance move or the way that they might walk. For the girls, it's very important that they can walk in their shoes. We kind of test that out a bit. For Wednesday nights, it's a little bit more casual. It's not as put together as the show night.

NB: Can you talk about each contestant in detail? What do you see their style as or how their style has changed over the course of the competition?

SA: Allison Iraheta -- Allison is definitely a rock 'n' roll chick, and I think she knew that coming in, but we've just made it more defined. The way that she's changed from the beginning of the show to now is that we're still keeping an element of her very rocker-esque, but we're pairing it with more couture and tailored lines. She is young -- we don't want to take that away from her -- so I'm not trying to put too much higher fashion on her, but we're trying to get her to a place where it's put together in a more fashionable way than her just shopping at Hot Topic or grabbing something that's red and black.

Lil Rounds -- Lil came from a place where she wasn't really aware of how beautiful her body is. She always thought that maybe she was a heavier set girl. She had a body she didn't really understand, so she would always wear things that weren't fitted. Now she's way more tailored and sophisticated. She is a true hourglass-figured girl, so we need things that will fit her all around. We're still keeping it very R&B, but we're trying to edge her up a little bit. She's very open to that. We call her the tailored diva of the group.

Megan Joy -- Megan's my quirky girl. She's quirky and chic and with her we can have fun with colors and prints. She's down with big chunky jewelry. She came in just being more casual. She loves to wear sweatpants and flats. Since she's been on the show, she's been open to more of like a stiletto heel -- she likes wedges more -- but she's open to stilettos. She's worn skirts that show off her legs and things that were more fitted. With Megan, she's definitely graduated into being bohemian chic instead of just casual sweats and a t-shirt kind of girl.

MS: Anoop Desai -- When Anoop came in, he was literally in jeans and sweatshirts. We've given him a lot more streamlined stuff, a lot more fitted. We kind of talked about the way he saw himself and he wanted to channel Kanye West, so we've kind of taken his fashion from that. He's worn some good labels. He's definitely changed. Here's the thing about the show, people wear things they would have never dreamed of wearing before, and he's definitely one of those people.

Kris Allen -- Kris hasn't really gone too far out of his comfort zone, which is fine. He's very much the boy next door and he's young-looking and his fan base is young, so he doesn't want to alienate them. Anything I put him in is fine. He's gonna start branching out though I think.

Adam Lambert -- Adam comes in every week and sort of says this is what I'm feeling, this is what I want to look like, this is the kind of vibe I want to convey. Adam to me is like David Bowie, a modern version of David Bowie. Anything he can do, he does to become the character. He's kind of taught me a lot because we've been customizing a lot of things for him.

Danny Gokey -- Danny's kind of taken a little while to get to where he is now. We've had some missteps like that white jacket. Danny and I talked about it and that was a mistake. It was one of those things that looked great on him in the store, but as soon as he got on camera, it made him look heavier than he is. We've really worked on updating his look. I think he realizes how much better he looks now.

Matt Giraud -- With the fedoras and the leather jackets, it's sort of what Matt would normally wear. The week with the suit, he came to me and said I want to look like Michael Buble. With Motown week, he wanted to do a throwback, but still modern, almost like Justin Timberlake. I kind of like it. I like people who don't have a defined image, they have some variance in their image.

Scott MacIntyre -- It's very interesting for me because when we go shopping, I have to stand there and describe in detail what I'm looking at, so he can form some kind of picture in his head of what he's wearing. His vision is like looking through a straw, so there are certain things he can see, like he can visualize color. It's been very interesting. He's actually turned out to be the fastest shopper.

NB: How do you respond when the judges criticize the contestants' outfits? Do you make adjustments based on their criticism or do you do just brush it off?

SA: I think it's a little bit of both. I care a lot about all three of the girls, and right now I'm down to two. I want them to respect me and I always want to make it better. I do hear what the judges say, and I try and incorporate that into the fittings. At the same time, it's [the contestants'] artistry and it's who they are. So we care, but we don't care, so we can stay true to who that individual is.

MS: Well, the main person that criticizes is Simon, and I think a man who wears a gray v-neck sweater and jeans and boots should concentrate on commenting on things he knows about. He's a very savvy man, but I don't think fashion is one of his strong points.

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