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?
Posted Apr 1st 2008 1:08PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, News and Gossip, Celebrity Commentary
So it looks like Chris Cornell has responded to the "controversy" about
David Cook's performance of "Billie Jean" last week on
American Idol. While Ryan Seacrest clearly introduced him by indicating he was doing Chris Cornell's version, that introduction doesn't seem to have been enough. The incident is similar to one during Season Five when Chris Daughtry performed Live's arrangement of Johnny Cash's classic "I Walk the Line." Then, as now, the judge's didn't seem to realize that the contestants were singing other artists arrangements of the pieces, instead praising their bravery and originality.
And they weren't the only ones. Even in my review of the episode I clearly stated that it was Chris Cornell's arrangement, and yet I still got comments from people who thought David was trying to pull one over on America by pretending it was his own work. Cornell didn't see the episode as he was returning from abroad, but he was immediately deluged with emails blasting the judges for praising Cook's brave 'arrangement.'
Continue reading Chris Cornell responds to Idol (non)controversy
Posted May 24th 2007 11:21AM by Jon Peter Lewis
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrity Commentary
I don't know how the show sounded over TV, but it was really good in the Kodak Theatre. And, even though there were some yawn moments, I felt like it was the best show of the year -- a nice recap of the season.
I'm very proud of Jordin. You know how every finale song has some inspirational message about making your dreams come true? Well, I think she is one of the few contestants who could sing that and not be at odds with the songwriting or the sentiments. I have a feeling she won't be one of those who later decides she wants nothing to do with her Idol roots.
Continue reading When I first met Jordin Sparks ...
Posted May 23rd 2007 11:19AM by Jon Peter Lewis
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrity Commentary
"So, the bitch is OK" -- at least that's what Ryan says. Hmmm, I suppose we'll never know for sure.
I've been here at the Hollywood and Highland complex all day basking in the presence of past, present and future Idols and schmoozing it up with Fox affiliates and top 40 DJs. Oh joy! (Despite the sarcasm, it's a lot of fun.)
It's been a circus here all day. Every third person is toting a Fox News video camera with an anchor in tow while the rest have digital cameras cocked and ready to snap at any passing celebrity behind the barricade. I feel like I'm at a high school reunion. Well, what I imagine a reunion might be like...
Continue reading A run-in with the Idol "crying girl"
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