Posted Feb 11th 2010 9:45PM by Nick Zaino
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, Casting
Just about everyone seemed to love Ellen DeGeneres's debut on
'American Idol' this week, including viewers and fellow host Kara DioGuardi.
TVWeek.com reports that ratings for Ellen's Tuesday night debut were up one percent versus last year's first episode in Hollywood (although they note that the first episode on Hollywood always gets a bump in ratings). The site also reported that 27.7 million people tuned in, the most viewers the show has had this season.
DioGuardi lauded Ellen's
debut to TV Guide, explaining that Ellen "knows more about music than you think she does" and saying she was a good judge of talent who speaks to contestants "with kindness, but also had criticism in there."
Continue reading Everyone Loves Ellen on 'Idol'
Posted Feb 11th 2010 1:18AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
It's the end of Hollywood week, which means group performances! This is always a crazy point in the season, because it seems more like the Wild West than any other point of the show. People are singing songs they barely know, rehearsing until 4 in the morning, choreographing dance moves -- it's like 'Fame' the movie in miniature and on repeat. It's always interesting to see who cracks and who makes it through.
We start out with a mess of people finding groups and choosing songs. Is this how it always is? I seem to remember people being assigned groups, but maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about. During rehearsals, there seems to be a lot of Lady Gaga, which automatically makes this a lot more interesting than years past. However, while this group day may be more interesting, it is not necessarily better, as poor song choices and nerves end up taking a lot of people down.
Continue reading 'American Idol' - 'Hollywood Round 2' Recap
Posted Feb 9th 2010 11:03PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Episode Reviews
(
S09E10) ELLEN! I've been waiting for this. I've been a huge Ellen DeGeneres fan for years, so I was psyched to hear she was going to be a judge this year. A lot of people are worried that she'll rely too heavily on the comedy, so tonight is a big night; we finally get to see how she does.
It's also a big night because it's the beginning of Hollywood week. I always feel terrible for the people who get sent home, but I'm trying to remember this: at least they got a sweet free trip to Hollywood. That's something, right? All in all, it's a pretty good group of people, but there are several who just completely biff their auditions. How does that happen? It's a mystery for the ages. Let's ponder it together, shall we?
Continue reading 'American Idol' - 'Hollywood Round One' Recap
Posted Feb 9th 2010 5:35PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip
This morning, Brad told you about
the possibility of Howard Stern eventually replacing Simon Cowell on 'American Idol.' Stern didn't exactly do anything to shoot down those rumors, but producers of 'Idol' are.
Richard Rushfield at The Daily Beast says that not only have there been no talks with Stern about replacing Cowell, it has never even been a consideration.
Stern did talk about it a little on
his SIRIUS show, but he never said "yes, I'm talking to the producers" or anything like that. He could be just talking about it to get people talking about him.
Howard Stern on 'American Idol?' That would hurt Stern, actually. His diehard fans would expect him to do something outrageous to sabotage the show, and 'Idol' devotees would instantly say "I'm never watching that show again!" Why not have him judge one of the early audition episodes next season? That might be kinda fun.
Posted Feb 5th 2010 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip, Casting
The question of
who will replace Simon Cowell as an 'American Idol' judge began in earnest today with Page Six claiming that
Howard Stern is the 'Idol' producers' top choice to take Simon Cowell's throne. Stunt casting? Attention-grabbing? Total bull? You can take your pick because this smacks of a PR turn if ever there was one.
For a moment, though, let's consider the possibility. Howard's contract with Sirius XM Radio wraps next January. That contract was in the $100 million neighborhood. Could
'American Idol' fork over a pay-out equal to that? Umm, yes. They make enough. Will they? Hard to imagine. The figure mentioned in the report was $50 million a year, which is what Simon will earn this season, but that's based on the fact that Simon has a track record with 'Idol.'
Continue reading If 'Idol' Producers Get Their Way, Howard Stern Could Replace Cowell
Posted Feb 4th 2010 4:48PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Video, Judges, Contestants, News and Gossip
Last night, we just had our
eighth audition episode of 'American Idol,' and I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm ready to get to Hollywood. As much as I enjoyed
Neil Patrick Harris and
Kristin Chenoweth, I'm also ready to see what
Ellen DeGeneres is going to do in her new role as Idol's fourth judge.
Luckily, FOX has just released a promo for Hollywood week, which is next week. At that point, DeGeneres joins the judges table for the first time to whittle down the 181 people who received Golden Tickets to 24 semi-finalists. For those of you who have watched the show in previous seasons, you know it's not a quick process: these contestants will be performing over three nights, with the Top 24 not being revealed until Wednesday, February 17.
Continue reading First look at Ellen DeGeneres on 'American Idol'
Posted Feb 4th 2010 12:40AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
(S09E08) This is the last episode before we get to Hollywood, and you know it's going to be good for two reasons:
Victoria Beckham's back, and they start it off with "Pants on the Ground" (Although, how could they leave the classic
Brett Favre version out of the montage?).
However, Beckham is only back for a little while, as this is a montage of auditions from all of the stops that we haven't seen yet. It's kind of weird how it's set up, because even though we haven't seen these people before, this still seems like a strange kind of clip show. In any case, it wraps up the audition process, in which 181 golden tickets were handed out, and gets us ready for the real show to start next week, when
Ellen DeGeneres permanently joins the cast, which is what I've been waiting for.
Continue reading Review: 'American Idol' - 'Road To Hollywood'
Posted Feb 2nd 2010 2:28PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
There seems to be two things that
'American Idol' fans have been waiting for patiently. One was the new season of the FOX show to start (duh), and the second is the episode where
Ellen DeGeneres makes her debut as one of the judges (taking over for Paula Abdul). Some fans are probably confused that DeGeneres hasn't already made her first appearance on the show.
Well, relax fans: Ellen's first appearance is set for next Tuesday, February 9. She wasn't been involved in the early audition rounds of the show because most were recorded before she was named as a judge. She began her judging duties when the show went to Hollywood to start winnowing down the huge pool from the auditions. Too bad she wasn't there for some of the early, crazy, awful singers. I would have liked to have heard what she had to say.
Continue reading Ellen DeGeneres' Idol Debut Set for February 9
Posted Jan 27th 2010 11:00PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
(S09E06) So last night,
Avril Lavigne made me want to kill myself, and
Katy Perry was surprisingly tolerable. I'm thinking things are going to be better tonight, as we have
Neil Patrick Harris who is great, and
Joe Jonas, who is a Jonas Brother, and as such is supposed to be cute and sweet, right? That's their thing? Anyway, we're in Dallas, home of
Kelly Clarkson, so the big question is, does the city have the next Kelly on its hands?
I don't know about that, but I do know that NPH is my new idol. He asserts himself, and is tough while remaining charming. In fact, it seems as though he even takes the lead and goes over Simon's head a little bit: I like that.
Continue reading Reviewcap: American Idol - Dallas Auditions
Posted Jan 26th 2010 11:15PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
(S09E05) 11,000 people showed up for the Los Angeles auditions, which actually seems like kind of a low number to me. Maybe they heard the guest judge was going to be
Avril Lavigne and said, "eh, maybe I'll skip this one. There's always season 10!" Okay, that's not nice. I'm sure Lavigne is a perfectly lovely lady. But who really cares? All that matters is whether or not she's a good judge.
...Except for the fact that she's a 25-year-old divorced woman who is wearing a hoodie with devil horns
sewn into it. Not only that, but she insists on wearing the hood with devil horns sewn into it up on her head, while inside a building, so she can show off said devil horns, while she is evaluating people who are singing their hearts out to her. Because, God forbid she let anyone's hopes and dreams, or you know, professionalism, take precedence over her pseudo-punk lifestyle. Dear Avril, you are no longer 15; please dress and act accordingly.
*Deep breath* Okay, that's better. Now on with the show.
Continue reading Reviewcap: American Idol - Los Angeles Auditions
Posted Jan 25th 2010 1:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, The Office, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, 30 Rock, Ratings, Judges, TV Squad Lists, Emmys, Reality-Free, Modern Family
A couple of weeks ago, Kona wrote about the campaign to convince
ABC to save Better Off Ted. Despite these grassroots efforts, the rating for
Ted continue to be dismal and ABC probably has "cancel
Better Off Ted" on the corporate to-do list.
That's a shame, because the more I watch of
Better Off Ted, the better I think it is. Smart, funny, observant and surreal,
Ted is an office comedy that makes deserves to survive. If more people gave it a shot, I think it would be a success. Maybe not a monster hit, but there aren't many of those in the sitcom field right now. Emmy winner
30 Rock is anything but a ratings hit.
Continue reading Five keys to saving Better Off Ted
Posted Jan 20th 2010 11:13PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
(S09E04) Sweet!
Kristin Chenoweth is the guest judge, which means that this episode is going to be awesome. Okay, perhaps that's overstating it a bit -- it is the audition rounds after all, but it's surely going to be just a bit sunnier. I'm really looking forward to this one, especially since Chicago had such a disappointing turnout (I mean, really... 13 Golden Tickets out of 12,000? Seriously?).
Orlando doesn't disappoint, and actually ends up getting 31 people to Hollywood. However, Kristin is only there, for the first day, so I feel a little ripped off. If I have to deal with
Avril Lavigne at some point, shouldn't I get at least two days of Kristin Chenoweth? Come on!
Continue reading Reviewcap: American Idol - Orlando Auditions
Posted Jan 19th 2010 11:00PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
(S03E09) We begin the show with Frank Sinatra's, "Chicago," which puts me in a good mood, but it's ruined by a bunch of never-weres sharing their heavily-bleeped opinions of
American Idol and the judges. However, I am quickly buoyed by the woman waiting in line who says confidently to the camera, "I believe I have what it takes to become
America's Next Top Model." God Bless you, ma'am. Thank you for being real and saying what no one else will: sometimes it's just about being on TV.
You would think that since it's the 3rd time
Idol has held auditions in Chicago, that we would end up with a great group of talent, but you would be wrong. They may have used up most of the good ones the first two times, because Chicago doesn't actually turn out too many golden tickets.
Continue reading Reviewcap: American Idol - Auditions #3: Chicago
Posted Jan 18th 2010 10:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, Casting
Now that
Simon Cowell's future has been determined and this is his
last season with American Idol, his head is really into the next phase of his life, Fox's
The X Factor. With that in mind, it doesn't come as a surprise that
Simon would like Paula Abdul as a judge on The X Factor. We've actually written about it before and it seems more than likely to come to pass now.
It makes perfect sense, too. Simon would be drawing viewers from
American Idol to
The X Factor from the start. There would be both a curiosity factor, seeing Simon and Paula shoulder to shoulder together again, and there would also be a familiarity factor. It would look and feel like
Idol, making fans settle in to the newer show no what matter the differences in the competition.
Continue reading Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul bound to be together again
Posted Jan 14th 2010 4:22AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip, Episode Recaps
The
American Idol crew stopped in Atlanta to look for their next standout star. Did they find him or her there? It's hard to say, but there were definitely a few contenders among the 9,000 hopefuls who crowded into the Georgia Dome.
R&B star Mary J. Blige sat in as a guest judge, and she seemed to get along really well with the other judges. And of course, she definitely knows her music, not to mention what it's like to stand on a stage and sing for thousands of fans.
Ryan Seacrest also reminded us that not only was he born in Atlanta (they showed a picture that can't possibly be him, because it looks like someone's aunt), but three Idols came out of previous auditions there: Fantasia, Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson. On with the show!
Continue reading Reviewcap: American Idol - Auditions #2: Atlanta
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