Posted Jun 12th 2009 4:29PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants
It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Kris Allen was crowned the new
American Idol champion (it was), but
auditions for the next season have already begun! As this photo from
The Boston Herald shows, contestants had to stand out in the rain at Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots). This is the first of seven cities where auditions will be held. (There's also video at the link above, where you can see one or two singers that might have their dreams crushed.)
Posted Jun 9th 2009 6:07PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Contestants
American Idol runner-up
Adam Lambert is on the cover of the new Rolling Stone, and he reveals a lot of information. Eight things I learned:
1. He's gay.
2. He's "glamboyant." (To quote Liz Lemon, that's a thing now?)
3. He doesn't tuck.
4. He had a crush on Kris Allen.
5. He has only dressed in drag three or four times.
6. He's not a civil rights leader.
7. He had a "psychedelic experience" at Burning Man
8. Seriously, he's gay.
Posted May 28th 2009 2:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants
If the reports coming from the
Arkansas Democrat Gazette are true, maybe the news that we had yesterday about
American Idol voting irregularities is meatier than we thought. One fan that says she voted for Kris Allen over 10,000 times.
It's also interesting that
Idol rules state that power texting, the kind of texting that AT&T reps showed Kris Allen fans how to do, is
against the rules. Isn't there some sort of built-in safety net for the voting? How can one fan vote over 10,000 times for one person? Shouldn't it be one person, one vote? Or one household, one vote? Or maybe one phone number, one vote? I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the results. I have no idea. But it does seem that a better system could be in place.
Posted May 27th 2009 4:32PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Dancing With The Stars, Contestants, Alumni, News and Gossip
What's great about this is that it's an actual news story all by itself, and I'm not helping matters any by writing about it. The AP has published a story stating that
Danny Gokey says he would like to try Dancing With the Stars. That's it. Of course, Paula Abdul has been saying that for years and she had to settle for dancing on
Idol. But now that a rejected
Bachelor finalist was a worthy competitor, why not a rejected
American Idol finalist? Of course, Danny's main focus is his music and a new foundation he's set up in his late wife's name.
But he'd do it if it meant exposure for the foundation, which it would. And more exposure for him and any forthcoming projects he might have coming up as well. I see a real good trend here with reality castoffs sashaying across the dance floor. Who wouldn't want to watch
Survivor's Coach doing a fox trot. Or Ron from
The Biggest Loser. Of course, he'd want to give the title to his son.
Posted May 22nd 2009 12:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Contestants, Alumni
I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess the
American Idol runner-up isn't a fan of another runner-up, Adam Lambert.
I couldn't be happier with the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season and only to see what the set looks like. This year, I happened to turn it on during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing "Ring of Fire," and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him.
Gawker has more.
Idol fans, discuss.
Posted May 21st 2009 12:22AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, Host
At long last, the season 8 finale of American Idol has arrived! It's been fun watching all of the Idols grow in their musical prowess (that's a Paula word), especially Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, the final two performers who couldn't be more different, but are both awesome in their own way.
Ryan started things off by introducing the judges, along with a funny video clip for each of them -- Randy Jackson saying "For Me" throughout the season; Kara DioGuardi saying "sweetie" and "honey" to people who didn't make it past the audition process; Paula's round-up of colorful adjectives (vocal prowess, masterful and effortless, palette, etc.); and Simon's issues with hearing what people say (as in, he could probably use a hearing aid!).
Continue reading American Idol: We have a winner!
Posted May 20th 2009 6:15PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Contestants
When Adam was singing "No Boundaries," the new song written for the
American Idol winner, I couldn't help but think that things were stacked a bit in his favor. I also was
agreeing with Kona that it was a terrible song. But the fact remains that Kara DioGuardi should have done a better job of writing a song for all of the potential finalists. I'm not sure when she wrote this song, but why did it have to have such a huge range and be so high? Was it so Adam would win?
The last impression is very important, and writing a song that not everyone can sing isn't fair to do to the contestants. Especially if "the show," or at least a representative of the show, is involved in the writing. Should Kris be punished for being a different kind of singer than Adam, or for not having his upper register? Hell, even Kara said that she hoped Kris wouldn't be judged based on that song, so she knew it wasn't a good song for him. And yet it was her job to write a song that all the finalists should be able to sing well. Shame on you, Kara!
Posted May 20th 2009 12:13AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host
"Two are left standing, but only one can take it all." Seacrest breaks it down for us this evening, just in case there was anyone who didn't know what was going on. Each contestant is performing three songs tonight: a song that they've already performed on the show, one chosen by Idol producer Simon Fuller, and the winner's single, co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi.
And what a winner's single it is. Hoo boy. I had no idea a song could be that awful. It truly plumbs the depths and nearly ruins the entire night. Luckily, the guys have two previous performances that hopefully people will remember instead of the final one. Because, wow. Just, wow.
Continue reading American Idol: Finale part 1 - Adam and Kris perform
Posted May 15th 2009 7:06PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: American Idol, Watercooler Talk, Contestants, Alumni
Attention, Rosie O'Donnell: Simon Cowell promised that next week's
American Idol will be a ding-dong finale. Break out the Drake's Cakes! Actually, Simon wasn't referring to Rosie's favorite chocolate cake treat, he was using perhaps the strangest euphemism he could come up with to hype the finale which he anticipates -- and rightfully so -- a great showdown between two singers who could both be deservedly crowned the winner of
American Idol.
Adam Lambert vs. Kris Allen might seem like a heavyweight versus a bantam weight, one guy who's already been splashed on magazine covers -- last week's Entertainment Weekly -- as the presumptive champ, while the other was nearly knocked on his butt by the judge's song choice that was so bad that Simon faulted Kara and Randy for setting him up to fail.
Continue reading Anticipating a ding dong American Idol finale
Posted May 14th 2009 12:22AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, Host, Predictions and Trends, Episode Reviews
It's getting down to the wire, and all three of the remaining contestants are certainly talented enough to be crowned the next
American Idol. While I've been an Adam Lambert fan all along, I'd be fine with whomever wins this season.
Things start off tonight with the Ford commercial, kind of a fun little cartoon-oriented ad with Adam, Danny and Kris singing "Break My Stride." It must be really fun to see yourself as a cartoon/comic book character.
Continue reading American Idol: 1 of 3 goes home
Posted May 13th 2009 7:55PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Contestants, Predictions and Trends
For the most part, people tend to make their picks for who should win
American Idol pretty early on. And for now the odds-on favorite remains Adam Lambert. Last night Simon told Kris that he'd all but written him off for the finale, but after his second performance he'd put himself right back into the thick of things. It's hard to argue that all three of these finalists are amazing talents. But has anyone done anything to make you change your mind about who should go to the finals or possibly even win the whole thing?
We've been building to a Danny/Adam finale pretty much since the beginning. Kris though, Kris kind of came out of nowhere early on, and I think he blew the other two boys away last night. Yes, I know Adam fans think he was amazing, but he again worked his patented "rock scream" into both songs and it didn't belong in either, particularly "One." Danny opened disastrously before redeeming himself, but Kris had that something special in both songs. Is it even possible to change people's minds at this point?
Next Page >
(S05E12) We're welcomed to the show by Cat Deeley lamenting Thursdays. I'm often confused by Cat mentioning the dancers dancing their "own style." It must have been a Donyelle rule. I guess we'll never see Karla channel her inner Boogie Bot. 
A mysterious source close to the production of I'm a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here! reports that Janice Dickinson tapped out of the show after being rushed to a Costa Rican hospital this weekend.
