Posted Mar 31st 2010 5:19AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary
We're inching ever closer to the end of season nine of
'American Idol,' and I'm seeing some clear standouts from the pack. My favorites as of tonight are Michael Lynche, Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, Aaron Kelly, and Casey James. I'll add in Siobhan Magnus, but I'm not as big a fan as the judges (though I liked her performance this week better than they did).
It's R&B/Soul week, and Usher is the celebrity mentor. Unlike some mentors, he actually seems to give the contestants something useful in his critiques. He drills home the fact that they have to connect with the audience, which, of course, is important and something they might overlook while trying to bring the performance together on stage. And he's also got his new album to promote, 'Raymond v Raymond.' In fact, while I was writing this review, I got an email from iTunes about it, so good timing there, marketing people.
Continue reading 'American Idol' - 'Top Ten Perform' Recap
Posted Mar 25th 2010 6:27AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Predictions and Trends, Celebrity Commentary
Last night, we learned the Top Ten who'd be going on the
'American Idol' tour this summer. Out of all the contestants who made it into the Top 24, I'm ok with who's left. There are really only a handful of standouts for me -- Crystal Bowersox, Michael Lynche, and Siobhan Magnus -- but all of the contestants have their moments.
What I love about this season is there's such a diverse group of singers, each with their own fan base. We've got Crystal's bluesy-folksy vocals, Katie Stevens' teen pop, Michael Lynche's soulful blues, Casey James' guitar rock, Aaron Kelly's mad vocals (I'm convinced he can sing anything well), Tim Urban's Zac Efron vibe, and Siobhan's edgy pop-rock. Lee DeWyze, Didi Benami, and Andrew Garcia don't really pop out at me, but there's still time.
Did the right person go home last night? Let's talk about it after the jump.
Continue reading 'American Idol' - '1 of 11 Eliminated' Recap
Posted Feb 9th 2010 9:10AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Celebrity Commentary, Casting, Reality-Free
Love him or hate him, Howard Stern
has confirmed his interest in Simon Cowell's seat on
'American Idol'. This goes along with
the earlier announcement that 'Idol' producers are interested as having Stern as a judge.
This entire situation seems more sound and fury and it's unlikely that anything would come of it. All Stern has in common with Cowell is the ability to be obnoxious and denigrating of other people. Cowell at least had ties to the music industry before appearing as an 'Idol' judge. While Howard Stern does work in radio, he thankfully has not released a CD of himself singing the Beatles' greatest hits. If he has, I missed it.
Most likely this situation is being used by Stern as a bargaining chip for a renegotiation of his contract with Sirius. Stern would be too much of a turn-off for the majority of viewers for 'American Idol'. If he does end up replacing Cowell, then it could signal the beginning of the end of 'American Idol'.
Posted Mar 18th 2009 12:15AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Predictions and Trends, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
It's country week on
American Idol! It's always fun to see the country singers shine, and the rockers and R&B singers try and muddle through. Randy Travis was on hand to offer advice to the singers, and you can tell that most of them were star-struck about having a one-on-one with him. Let's get to it:
Michael Sarver sang "Ain't Goin' Down Til the Sun Comes Up." He did a pretty good job with it, other than flubbing the lyrics a little in the middle. Randy Jackson liked the song, but wasn't sure about the vocals. Kara thought it was fun, but she missed the big notes. Paula thought the genre suited him, and Simon said it was clumsy and he couldn't understand the words. On a scale of 1 to 10, he'd give it 1.2. Really? It didn't seem that bad to me.
Continue reading American Idol: Top 11 Perform
Posted May 22nd 2008 9:03AM by Michael Maloney
Filed under: American Idol, Interviews, Judges, Contestants, Host, News and Gossip, Celebrity Commentary
The battle of the Davids has come to a close, with David Cook emerging as the victor for the seventh season of
American Idol.
The highly anticipated finale had everyone -- bloggers, fans and even celebrities -- buzzing about which David would be the next Idol. But even after David Archuleta's much-praised performance Tuesday night (and Simon Cowell's endorsement), many were predicting Cook to win the title.
Still, backstage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, the result had the press gasping. Cook himself seemed surprised that he received the majority of 97.5 million votes cast. "I walked into this competition with no expectations and I'm walking out with out any," Cook told the press.
Continue reading Backstage at the American Idol finale
Posted Apr 30th 2008 8:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
(S07E36) What an underwhelming evening for the most part. In fact, I'd like to scrub that first round of songs from my memory banks completely. The contestants should be ashamed that they took a good catalog of songs (Neil Diamond's catalog) and made it so interminably boring. As Simon said, luckily they had second songs to redeem themselves, and a few of them even managed to do so. Only Syesha had two strong performances with true heart and emotion, so we'll see how that plays out. Is it the end of the road for Jason? Brooke? Neil Diamond and Natasha Bedingfield are performing. Won't you join our live chat and let us know what you think, starting just before 9:00 PM ET? There's virtual cookies and milk.
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Top 4 Revealed
Posted Apr 29th 2008 7:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary
(S07E35) Hey look, another mentor that's a solid hundred years older than every single contestant. But Neil Diamond's still a cool cat so I forgive him. Oh and what do you know? Neil has an album,
Home Before Dark, coming out next week. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. He really did the show because he enjoys it and truly wants to help the contestants. Not to promote an album. That Neil he's a swell guy. Why don't you drop by tonight and chat us up about it in our live chat?
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Top 5 perform
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 8:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary
(S07E34) That was a bit of a departure from typical
American Idol fare wasn't it? There were a couple of really great performances and a couple of really not-so-great performances on Andrew Lloyd Webber. And if the
comments to that post tell us anything it's that you guys are passionate about who you like and who you don't like. That's what makes shows like this fun, and chatting about them online live as they happen even more fun. So feel free to stop in tonight to the hottest live chat on the 'net, starting just before 9:00pm ET. And let's try and be nice to one another.
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Top 5 Revealed
Posted Apr 22nd 2008 7:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary
(S07E33) It's really coming down to it now. There's only six contestants left and we get back-to-back mentors. Following on the heels of Mariah Carey is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Don't know the name? He's the mastermind behind such Broadway classics as
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats and
The Phantom of the Opera. So now Simon has an excuse to say everyone sounds like they're in some Broadway musical production rather than a pop-star. We're going to keep liveblogging these bad boys, tonight's starting just before 8:00pm ET.
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Top 6 Perform
Posted Apr 22nd 2008 11:23AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, News and Gossip, Celebrity Commentary
Is Jeff Archuleta, father to
American Idol wunderkind David, a supporting father figure or the "stage dad" from hell. There have been quite a few reports simmering all season that he's been very heavy-handed in steering his son's fate on the show, from dictating song choices to bringing the young crooner to tears backstage. Reports are that Jeff was banned from the backstage area during David's
Star Search tenure for attempting to "psych out" the other contestants.
Now, former
Star Seach judge Naomi Judd is coming out backing up the claims that at least on that show,
Jeff Archuleta was a horrible "stage dad," who at one point had to be put in the security guard's box to stop him. The last report to come out about Papa Archuleta's antics came during a recording session of "We Can Work It Out," the Beatles song that David infamously flubbed the lyrics to during the live performance. Supposedly, Jeff wasn't pleased with David's performance and brought him to tears with his criticisms. Maybe that means the
Idol staffers have managed to shush him.
Continue reading Archuleta dad mired in accusations of being horrible stage parent
Posted Apr 16th 2008 8:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
(S07E32) Well, I think the Mariah Carey performances went better than expected. We got slid vocal performances from all three guys and at least half the girls. I'd predict a three-female "Bottom Three," but last week showed us just how unpredictable this show can be. And Mariah Carey performs because what better way to whore her new album,
E=MC2, than to do it on the largest stage in America. Join us, won't you, to chat, chat, chat live during tonight's episode, starting just before 9:00pm ET.
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Top 6 Revealed
Posted Apr 9th 2008 7:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, News and Gossip, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
(S07E29) Well, this is what you've all been waiting for, right? What's that? Finale? Yeah, I guess that'll be cool, too. But if you've listened to Ryan all season then you know TONIGHT is really what it's all about! If you're looking to find out who got eliminated by vote last night you're going to have to wait until tomorrow. But if you're looking for two-and-a-half hours of entertainment chock full of celebrities and song and charity, then you're looking for "
Idol Gives Back."
Last year's inaugural edition was very good, and
Kristin's report of the Idol Gives Back taping from this past Sunday was also very positive. We don't have any pesky (non) eliminations to deal with like last year, so just kick back, donate and enjoy. And, if you want, join us online and chat about it in real-time with other giving
Idol fans.
You can join the chat starting just before 7:30/6:30pm CDT by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Idol Gives Back 2008
Posted Apr 2nd 2008 8:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
(S07E27) Was Dolly's appearance as big as we all hoped? Are this year's mentors hit or miss? Did
anyone do a great job last night? And most importanly, who's going home? Tonight's live chat of the
American Idol results show will start shortly before 9pm ET. Check out the Ford commercial and see if Dolly's still got it herself as a performer (my guess is yes).. And see if America got it right ... or if Kristy Lee is still alive ... again.
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.
Continue reading American Idol: Top 8 Revealed
Posted Apr 1st 2008 7:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
(S07E26) The success of these live
Idol chats just keeps growing and growing. So come on in and join the hottest
American Idol party on the web this week during both the performance and results show. Tonight the festivities begin in time for the live 8pm ET performance show. This week's theme, mentor and guest performer tomorrow are all Dolly Parton. Dolly's written some great songs, but we've only got one hour tonight so expect wall-to-wall music. Come on in, the chatter's fine!
You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.Continue reading American Idol: Top 9 Perform
Posted Apr 1st 2008 3:23PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip, Celebrity Commentary
We got a tip from TV Squad reader 'Alice' detailing what 'she' claims is the set list for this week's performance show. Now,
Entertainment Weekly has their own
song list for "Dolly Parton Night." And the two lists couldn't be more different.
EW's list comes from a "a pretty solid source" while mine comes from an anonymous person from Singapore or Zimbabwe named 'Alice' using a fake email address. But maybe Alice is the secret name Ryan Seacrest uses when he wants to feel special and he's got the real scoop. I'll know for sure he's legit if I get an offer to make millions of dollars just by transferring funds through my bank account. Ryan wouldn't lead me astray.
The celebrity mentor and theme
is Dolly Parton (so they both got that much right), though reports have it that she refused to judge the contestants because she couldn't bring herself to be mean. I guess she decided that one Paula was enough. I'm glad to hear this as 90% of the celebrity guest judges do nothing but gush over everybody's performance, and I don't think I could take Dolly telling Kristy Lee Cook how she's such an amazing performer and could win the competition.
Continue reading Rumor alert: Dolly Parton Week song lists revealed?
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