B-Bro's American Idol Wrap-Up

Where Are They Now: Season 4 + Wise Words from Paula

2006-01-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

Before we get to this week's wrap up, we have some sage words from Paula Abdul. She's so wise. Once again, she's fawning on the boys...big surprise, I know. Who will this year's Corey Clark be. And will the Idolettes get presents from her once again even though the judges have been mandated to not fraternize with or shower the contestants with gifts? How will they ever control the ever-generous Paula?

Paula Abdul thinks that the upcoming fifth season of "American Idol" may be the strongest season yet, "so it's kind of exciting for us," she told People magazine. "It's the first season we've had strong males and strong females
together." She wants to warn female viewers, though, that they should watch at their own risk, since two of the contestants will make them swoon once they sing. "The one girls are gonna fall in love with is Ace," she said. "Man, oh, man, girls are going to fall in love with him. And a guy named Patrick, too. They both have great voices." "American Idol" premieres January 17 at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Now, here's what's going on with those crazy kids of Idol 4...as told by MSNBC. It seems like only yesterday that they were all over the television. But let's catch up with them anyway. Don't forget the dreadful auditions start next week...Tuesday, January 17th. So the posts will be fresh and new...but not really great until the show gets into full swing.

“American Idol 4” changed the rules. Instead of limiting auditions to those aged 16 to 24, producers increased the age limit to 28. The result was the addition of some talented older finalists, such as Bo Bice, Constantine Maroulis, and Nadia Turner. Certain finalists, who were 28 when they auditioned, even turned 29 while the show was continuing, leading to confusion.

After the auditions, which saw the biggest crowds ever (21,000 in DC), and the participation of celebrity guest judges such as Brandy and Gene Simmons, the show moved on to the semifinal round. For the first time, "Idol" featured 12 men and 12 women, who were voted off two at a time each week, thus assuring a top 12 that was evenly split by gender.

The season was infused with several controversies, notably Corey Clark’s interestingly timed claim that he’d had an affair with judge Paula Abdul. But weeks before that, well-liked top 12 contestant Mario Vazquez dropped out of the competition right before the finals began. He cited family-related “personal reasons,” although his mother said she was unaware of any such problems. After leaving, Vazquez hired the same lawyer Clay Aiken used to free himself from the "Idol" contract, and has since signed with Clive Davis’ J Records — the same company that has the option of signing “Idol” finalists.

Many of the other finalists haven’t had time to record and produce a record, particularly since they were touring as a group last summer. Since the show, though, many have made various media appearances, and a few have continued to nurture their Clay-like followings.

Among those with obsessive fans is Ukraine-born Anthony Fedorov, who recovered from a tracheotomy as a young child, went on to place fourth in the competition. While he’s yet to sign with a label, he toured with the other finalists, and he’ll appear on the reality show “Fear Factor” this February with Carmen Rasmusen from the second season.

Former mail carrier Vonzell Solomon placed third. Although she left her post office job, she’s maintained a connection to the organization. Along with Nat King Cole, Nick Lachey, and Alicia Keyes, Vonzell was featured on a postal-service CD collection called “Dear Santa,” produced as a tie-in for a FOX special.

But it was two of the show’s older contestants, both more rock than pop, who have had the greatest success among the losing finalists. Constantine Maroulis, who ended up in sixth place, returned to his band “Pray for the Soul of Betty” after the show. He’s now working on a solo album — and a television sitcom. Besides performing musically, Constantine has also worked as an actor on Broadway and in films. More significantly, Kelsey Grammer’s production company is working on a show for ABC that’s based on Constantine’s life. Constantine will star in the show, which will shoot a pilot episode next fall.

The other rocker of season four, Bo Bice, made it to the final two. Touring with “Idol” over the summer, he broke his foot while performing. In August, he left the tour for emergency surgery related to intestinal blockage, and complications sent him back to the hospital in mid-December. Despite those setbacks, he’s done very well. Shortly after “Idol” ended, he and his girlfriend were married, and they had a son, Aidan, in September. They eventually left Alabama for Nashville, and the couple offered their Alabama house to a family who lost theirs during Hurricane Katrina. Bo’s solo album, “The Real Thing,” which was released in mid-December, debuted at number four, and last summer, his first single, "Inside Your Heaven," debuted at number one, bumping Carrie Underwood’s version of the same song from the top of the single’s chart.

Still, it was Carrie Underwood, the winner of “American Idol 4,” who sold more copies of the single in its first week. She was only the third artist in the chart’s history to debut at number one — and other two, Clay Aiken and Fantasia, were “Idol’ runners-up and winners respectively. Like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie took home the prize after never ending up in the bottom three, so she was never threatened with elimination.

Her fans have kept her successful; last fall, her first album, “Some Hearts,” debuted at number two, with more copies sold than either Fantasia or Kelly Clarkson sold in their first weeks. Carrie’s album went platinum a month later, and by mid-December, had sold almost 1.5 million copies. Also in December, she won three Billboard music awards.

Who will be the next performer to capture our hearts or our hatred? Who will sell albums, and who will fade into obscurity? Whose fans will be slighted, and whose fans will be elated? Which auditioners will become instant celebrities, and which ones will make our ears bleed? We’ll learn the answers to these questions when “American Idol 5” debuts Jan. 17.

Diana Gets Hired Again?

2006-01-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

I know, you're thinking? Who would hire this pig-faced child? Well, somehow she's got herself another Broadway show...she must have wowed them as Maria in WEST SIDE STORY. But this gig is in the form a tour. Good for her. Too bad the show really sucks. I guess that's why they couldn't get anyone really good. Enjoy the article from Playbill.com...

Former “American Idol” contestant Diana DeGarmo and Tony Award winner Melba Moore will head the cast of the upcoming national tour of Brooklyn.

Jeff Calhoun, who directed the Broadway production of the pop musical and who will also helm the tour, told Playbill.com that DeGarmo will play the title character and Moore will star as her nemesis, Paradice. Cleavant Derricks, who appeared in the New York company, will re-create his role as the Street Singer.

Brooklyn will mark the first national tour for 18-year-old DeGarmo, who shot to fame during the 2004 season of “American Idol.” “Diana came in and auditioned for us, and she blew us away,” Calhoun said. “Brooklyn is an 18-year-old pop star, and that’s what [Diana] is. You’re not going to do better than that!

“It’s very exciting,” Calhoun continued. “We have an ‘American Idol’ star and two Tony Award winners. And, Diana is a huge fan of Melba Moore. Melba was one of her idols.”

Calhoun will also co-produce the tour with Producers Four and John McDaniel. The latter will serve as musical supervisor, as he did for the Broadway production.

Calhoun previously said that the tour will launch at the Bushnell Center in Hartford, CT, in June. Additonal venues and dates will be announced shortly.

The show itself will not be changed for the tour. "It doesn't have to be refined," Calhoun said, "because it's already 90 minutes without an intermission and I think very touring-friendly."

Brooklyn, according to production notes, concerns a band of performers, who "tell a wondrous sidewalk fairy tale about a young girl searching for fame and the father she never knew. With just one clue to lead her, she lands in the city that bears her name, Brooklyn." Song titles include "Heart Behind These Hands," "Christmas Makes Me Cry," "Not a Sound," "Brooklyn Grew Up," "Creating Once Upon a Time," "Once Upon a Time," "Superlover," "Brooklyn in the Blood," "Magic Man," "Love Was a Song," "I Never Knew His Name," "The Truth," "Raven," "Sometimes," "Love Me Where I Live," "Love Fell Like Rain" and "Streetsinger."

The Broadway production, which starred Eden Espinosa in the title role, played its final performance at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre June 26, 2005. Brooklyn, which features a book, music and lyrics by Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson, began previews at the then-Plymouth Theatre Sept. 23, 2004, with an official opening Oct. 21. The musical played 28 previews and 283 regular performances.

Melba Moore was last on Broadway in Les Misérables portraying the ill fated Fantine. A singer with a multi-octave range, Moore began her career as a back-up singer for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick and Liza Minnelli. Her work in the original company of Hair led to her Tony winning role in Purlie, and since then Moore has performed in concert arenas throughout the world. Her R&B hits include “I Am His Lady,” “Falling” and “Read My Lips,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award. Moore was also recently seen in the Paramount film “The Fighting Temptations.”

Cleavant Derricks won a Tony Award for his work as James Thunder Early in the original cast of Dreamgirls. He also received a Tony nomination for his performance in Bob Fosse’s Big Deal.

King of All Media?

2006-01-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

You know I love me some Ryan Seacrest. And the boy is everywhere these days. He just landed a sweet deal with E! that is going to make him millions...literally. Good for him...he's worth every penny (in my eyes). Here's the article...

Ryan Seacrest Lands $21 Million TV Deal

Though he still has to pen a best-selling book to qualify, Ryan Seacrest is leaping closer to becoming the new King of All Media.

The American Idol host, who turned 31 on Christmas Eve, and his Ryan Seacrest Productions have signed a $21-million contract with the E! cable network to develop, produce and host a variety of programs that, in some cases, are scheduled to run simultaneous with his duties on Idol.

The new deal, which is said to cover approximately three years, calls for Seacrest to executive produce the network's Live from the Red Carpet awards-show coverage, starting with the Jan. 16 Golden Globes Awards. In addition, he will serve as managing editor of E! News; will produce and host celebrity interview specials; act as tower host of red-carpet shows; and start – in March – as lead anchor E! News.

Seacrest will also continue as host of Idol, which returns to FOX on Jan. 16, and he will still occasionally fill in as host of CNN's Larry King Live, according to an E! press release, which also notes that Seacrest is being groomed to be sole host of ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. (Last Saturday night, a debilitated Clark, 76, reappeared on the show after missing it last year due to a stroke, the effects of which were strikingly apparent on the air.)

"I am looking forward to being part of the E! team," Seacrest said in a statement. "This unique opportunity allows my company to take the next step in providing multimedia content."

On radio, Seacrest will continue to host the weekly American Top 40 as well as the Los Angeles KIIS-FM morning show On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

In his personal life – though with his heavy work schedule, it is a wonder how he could have one – in April 2004 Seacrest brushed off stories that he became quietly engaged to his girlfriend, Shanna Walls. While the New York Post claimed that boyish bachelor Seacrest wanted to keep the engagement under wraps because he didn't want to dampen his popularity with young girls, his rep told the paper, "They are just dating."

Where Are They Now: Season 3

2006-01-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit about Season Three...from MSNBC.

The third season of “American Idol” started with a bang. Literally.

“She bangs, she bangs,” sang college student William Hung during the auditions, attempting to cover Ricky Martin but failing miserably. But that performance, which included Hung's stiff dancing, instantly made him a household name and an example of what the show had become. While the first season’s applicants may have been shocked by Simon Cowell’s harsh comments, by the third season, people unquestionably realized that while auditioning would only result in success for the most talented singers, the worst singers would probably appear on television.

Others may have been angry at the criticism they received, but although Simon told him, “You can’t sing, you can’t dance,” William Hung showed a positive/delusional attitude (“I already gave my best and I have no regrets at all,” he said) that turned his performance into a career of sorts. He was quickly signed to a record label and released an album of cover songs, and has since released two more, including a Christmas album. Earlier this year, he was in a film, “Where is Mama’s Boy?”, and a documentary focused on his quick rise to international fame. He’s now doing commercials and talking about a second film, even though his third album didn’t do well at all.

As horrifying as it may have been for the “Idol” producers to have a talentless performer become an icon for the series, William Hung was great for ratings. And eventually, the third season would find its voice in a single mother from North Carolina who has received accolades from musical luminaries such as Patti LaBelle, Donna Summer, and Elton John.

Since the show, Fantasia Barrino has dropped her last name, going just by "Fantasia." She released her first album last fall; it went platinum and was just nominated for four Grammys, an “Idol” record. Before that, her first single, “I Believe,” hit number one, and also was the number one-selling Billboard single of the year in addition to being Billboard’s number one-selling R&B/hip-hop single. Before being asked by Kanye West to tour with him this fall, Fanatasia wrote a memoir, revealing, among other things, that she’s functionally illiterate and had to memorize songs while on the show. Fantasia reportedly will be returning to the recording studio in 2006.

Compared to Fanatasia and finalists from previous seasons, season three's other finalists haven’t had breakout careers, although most have been actively recording and performing. Runner-up Diana DeGarmo, who was just 16 during the show, saw her first single debut at number two and eventually hit number one. Her album, however, was released a year ago and has sold fewer than 200,000 copies.

Many of the contestants have branched out into specific genres. George Huff released his first album this fall, an R&B/blues record on a Christian label; John Stevens released a jazz album last summer; LaToya London released an R&B album this fall; and Jasmine Trias has released self-titled albums in both the Philippines and the US. Jon Peter Lewis has not released an album, but he has released singles on his Web site, and Camile Velasco has signed with Motown Records, and her album is expected in early 2006.

But Jennifer Hudson may have the most to brag about, as she just beat out Fantasia for the lead role in the film adaptation of “Dreamgirls.” Still, it’s a testament to both women and to the franchise that two talented “Idol 3” finalists were competing for the lead in a musical.

Where Are They Now: Season 2

2005-12-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

Here's your update from the Season 2 gang...as told by MSNBC.

After weeks of drama, including two people being disqualified in the middle of the competition, the second season of “American Idol” ended with even more drama. Ryan Seacrest and/or the producers might have massively screwed up by announcing different vote totals during the live finale, but ultimately, Ruben Studdard won “American Idol 2,” beating the runner-up by about 130,000 votes.

Clay Aiken was the runner-up. But you’d never know he didn't win, at least based upon the two performers’ album sales and, more significantly, fan base. Clay Aiken has perhaps the most obsessive and devoted fans in the entire “Idol” universe. Clay’s first single went platinum and debuted at number one, and he’s released two albums, including a Christmas album last year; it debuted at number four, while his debut album debuted at number one. Clay is currently on his fourth solo tour, his second this year — and that’s in addition to leading the Bubel/Aiken Foundation and serving as a UNICEF ambassador.

Ruben, the only male to ever win “American Idol,” released two records following his win. They performed quite well — he beat Kelly Clarkson’s first-week sales — but Clay’s album still sold better. Ruben’s second record, “I Need an Angel,” was a gospel album that topped the gospel charts and went gold. Since then, he’s remained relatively out of the spotlight; his Web site lists no current tours or appearances. Last spring, Ruben was in the news after he sued his manager for stealing money from him; later, his manager (who’s also his godfather), countersued.

Perhaps the most notorious season two cast member is Corey Clark, who was kicked off “Idol” when it was revealed that he’d been arrested for assaulting his sister. After disappearing for a few years, in the middle of “Idol 4,” Corey popped up and announced that he’d had an affair with judge Paula Abdul while he was still on the show (Coincidentally, he was also promoting his new album and a tell-all memoir at the same time.) FOX investigated, and late last summer cleared Paula, although the network added a no-fraternization policy, preventing the judges from having any sort of contact with the contestants.

Third-place finalist Kimberley Locke had a number of hit singles from her first album, “One Love,” and her holiday song “Up on the Housetop” recently hit number one on the Billboard AC chart. This past year, she also signed with Ford Models and is now working as a spokesperson and model for Lane Bryant. But she's continuing to perform and record; her second album is due in March.

Josh Gracin, the Marine who appeared on the show during the Iraq war’s early days, released a country music album, was nominated for the Billboard’s 2005 “New Country Artist” award, and his video for “I Want to Live” was nominated for as a “breakthrough video” in the CMA Awards. His wife gave birth to their son last year. Carmen Rasmusen also released a record last year, and she’s had parts in films, including “Down and Derby” and a version of “Pride and Prejudice.”

Some of the other second-season contestants have found success on the stage. Frenchie Davis, who was kicked off the show once it was revealed that she’d once been featured on an adult Web site, was cast in the lead role of the musical “Dreamgirls.” Vanessa Olivarez released a single that was a hit in Canada, and she went on to star as Tracy in a Canadian production of “Hairspray.”

Despite the impressive accomplishments of the second season’s finalists, North Carolinian Clay Aiken is the one who’s become synonymous with this season, mostly because his fans won’t let him be forgotten.

Where Are They Now: Season 1

2005-12-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

MSNBC has started a little retrospective on the past Idol Season...as a lead in to IDOL 5 which starts on Tuesday, January 17th. Thanks to Sarah Norris for getting the articles to me. Here's the first installment from them...

Four years ago, no one knew who Kelly Clarkson was. Today, she’s superseded even the title of “American Idol,” becoming an equal alongside established and famous stars of the music industry.

While three other people have since shared the “idol” title with her, Kelly has lived up to it perhaps more than any of the others, becoming an actual worldwide idol. Besides placing second in the “World Idol” competition, her songs have been top 10 hits in countries from the US to Australia. She just finished touring in New Zealand and Australia, and will embark on an 11-city tour in Ireland and Great Britain early next year.

It hasn’t been an easy path: Remember the disaster that was “From Justin to Kelly,” the craptacular film that starred both Kelly and runner-up Justin Guarini? Since then, Kelly has pulled away from the “Idol” machine, divorcing herself from her “Idol”-mandated management and contract. Her second album’s title, “Breakaway,” made it clear that she was no longer just a reality TV show winner.

“Breakaway” was a little more rock than pop, and it was a smash. For the past year, since its release, it’s been in the top 20 of the Billboard 200. The album was nominated for a Grammy this year, as was its aggressively catchy second single, “Since U Been Gone,” which surprised many people who wrote Kelly off as just another bubblegum pop star. She’s such a huge star that someone tried to auction off an abandoned water bottle that allegedly carried Kelly’s DNA on eBay.

Other season one top-10 finalists have had mixed success. Nikki McKibbin and Ryan Starr have each gone on to little more than reality TV fame; they competed together in Bravo’s “Battle of the Network Reality Stars,” while Nikki appeared in E!’s “Kill Reality” (and the resulting film “The Scorned,” which was almost as bad as “From Justin to Kelly”). Ryan filled the reality TV star role on a season of “The Surreal Life.” The only openly gay "Idol" competitor, Jim Verraros, got a makeover and released his own solo album, and had a part in an independent film.

But it’s Tamyra Gray who has gone on to the most mainstream success. After “Idol,” she was dropped by her label, J Records, for being regarded as “difficult,” she says, because they wanted her to perform songs similar to those of season-three winner Fantasia Barrino. Instead, Gray released an album with 19 Entertainment. She also wrote the lyrics to “I Believe,” the song performed by season three’s two finalists, Barrino and Diana DeGarmo.

Outside of the music industry, Tamyra has appeared as a guest star on a number of TV shows, and she’s also starred in a film, “The Gospel,” and in a Broadway musical, “Bombay Dreams.”

Season one runner-up Justin Guarini has not, however, had the same sort of three years as either Kelly, Tamyra, or some of the other finalists. Justin was dropped by RCA after his album failed to sell more than 134,000 copies, he was ticketed after almost hitting a five-year-old girl with his jet ski, and he got sued for more than $100,000 after being involved in a car accident. (The suit was later settled, but the amount and details were not disclosed.)

Justin, who also hacked off his trademark hair, has just independently produced a jazz album titled "Stranger Things Have Happened, which is available via his new Web site. The site notes that he “continues to entertain in various locations all over the country, and the world, and looks forward to many more concert, television, and film appearances in 2006.”

As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough that other top-10 finalists have done better than Justin, the next season’s runner-up quickly proved that winning the competition isn’t necessary for success. Coming in second place can, we learned after “American Idol 2,” make for a wildly successful career.

DRUGS!!!

2005-12-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

I know it may be hard to believe, but poor Julia DeMato has been arrested for drug possession. She was such a pillar of virtue in her "can you see my coochie" skirts and her "I only do it with my shoes on" stilleto heels when she was on the show. Who would have thought she would turn into a crack whore? Or maybe she was one while on the show too? It certainly wasn't her talent that was carrying through the competition. Oh yeah...and of course it's all not true (according to her). She must have been framed...aren't all the obscure Idol wannabes targets these days? Maybe she's putting out an album and needed a little extra publicity. Check out the article...and thank Jill Frese for it (she sent it to me).

UPI News Service, 12/06/2005

"American Idol" finalist Julia DeMato says her weekend drug bust was a "misunderstanding" that "will be taken care of in court."

The 26-year-old hairstylist and finalist on the 2003 edition of the Fox TV show was arrested early Sunday in Brookfield, Conn., for driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of marijuana and cocaine, MTV.com reported Tuesday.

A Brookfield police report said officers questioned DeMato after she pulled into a restaurant parking lot more than an hour after it had closed. She failed a field sobriety test and officers found in her vehicle "two marijuana pipes, a small quantity of marijuana and a glassine baggie with a small amount of white powder in her purse that field tested positive for cocaine."

The would-be singer was released on $10,000 bond with a court date set for Dec. 16.

"I am not a drug user," DeMato told the Danbury (Conn.) News-Times. "This was just a misunderstanding. It's going to be taken care of in court, and that's that."

Christmas Trees, Diet Coke and A Turkey Baster

2005-11-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

You might be trying to figure out what these three things have in common. Well it can only be one thing, of course...Clay Aiken. Just when you thought the boy wonder of Idol 2 had disappeared forever, he returns with another holiday tour. Check out the interview from am New York.

Crooning machine
Pop’s top G-rated star spreads the holiday cheer
BY MINA HOCHBERG
amNewYork Staff Writer

Holiday tunes may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if anyone can claim to do it well, it’s Clay Aiken.Aiken’s “Merry Christmas With Love” tied with Celine Dion for Billboard’s biggest holiday album debut in 2004, not to mention it was also the best-selling holiday album. Aiken spoke with amNewYork about his “Joyful Noise ’05” tour, which hits the Beacon Theater Dec. 2-4.

Q: It’s actually your birthday tomorrow [Nov. 30], right?
CA: Is it? [Laughs.] I think so. I know it’s this week some time. I literally don’t
know what day it is.

Q: You’ve been singing holiday songs for a while now. Do you ever get jingle belled out?
CA: For some reason I don’t really get tired of the Christmas music that much. It’s more exciting to me, it’s got more meaning.

Q: Any less favorite holiday songs?
CA: “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman” songs for me are not as meaningful, so we don’t do those on the show.

Q: Your music is a lot more G-rated than other pop music.
CA: Especially at Christmas, I’d hope so!

Q:What do think of music that carries all the sexual innuendo and profanity?
CA: You have to respect someone’s right to record whatever they want to record. I personally don’t believe it’s appropriate and I personally don’t think it’s necessary to express your feelings and say what you wanna say in a negative way. My biggest concern when it comes to things like that is that there’s so many artists who are role models for kids, who have kids listening to what it is they’re saying and are looking up to them. What examples are they trying to set? For me, I just want to make a conscious effort to make sure that I’m setting only the kinds of examples that I would want for kids who I care about.

Q: You’ve said you’re a singer, not a songwriter.
CA: I definitely think so. I’m more of a Christmas tree than a songwriter.

Q: Did you ever have to come to terms with being exclusively a singer, not a writer?
CA: Oh God no, I’m happy with the gifts that I was given. You don’t have to come to terms with not being a Diet Coke, because I’m not one. It’s not something I have the
gift to do, so I don’t worry about it.

Q:What’s the strangest thing a fan has sent you?
CA: They get stranger and stranger. A few years ago I got a turkey baster from a fan. I don’t really know what that meant, and if I do understand, I really don’t want to.

Tragedy Averted

2005-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

Give it to Sarah Norris for getting the scoop on this one. I honestly had no idea there was a chance that Simon Cowell wasn't going to be on this season of Idol. But all is well in Idol-land...so you can rest easy. Here's the article...

Pop Idol judge Cowell settles legal action
Tuesday November 29 11:59 AM ET

Music moguls Simon Cowell and Simon Fuller have reached a settlement in a multi-dollar legal case, apparently clearing the way for Cowell to extend his contract with the hit "American Idol" TV series.

Although details of the out-of-court agreement were not disclosed, both Simons said on Tuesday they had patched up their differences over the origins of Cowell's "The X Factor" talent show, which Fuller said ripped off his own "Pop Idol" creation.

"I am happy that we have been able to sort out our differences and find an amicable solution to our problems," said Cowell, who is best known as the acerbic judge on hit shows Pop Idol and American Idol.

"This means we can go forward and concentrate on working together for the next five years on developing other successful projects," he added in a statement released by his agent.

"Simon and I have shown just how well we work together in recent years. We have remained friends throughout this dispute and I think that it was this friendship that allowed us to settle our differences."

Fuller, who worked with Cowell on Pop Idol and its U.S. offshoot American Idol, added in the same statement:

"When Simon and I are focused and working closely together we are capable of great things and I'm looking forward to us delivering more hits around the world."

On the same day, the producers of American Idol said they had reached a deal with the Fox television network for up to six more seasons of the broadcaster's ratings mainstay.

CKX Inc. owns 19 Entertainment, the creator of the wannabe-celebrity series Idol.

The company said it reached a joint agreement with producer FremantleMedia, Fox, Cowell and record label Sony BMG to continue the series for four more seasons with an option to renew for an additional two seasons.

Cowell has agreed to stay on for at least five more seasons beginning with the next installment of the series in January.

CKX said its subsidiary as well as FremantleMedia will receive a "significantly increased" license fee from Fox in line with the higher advertising rates set for the coming season.

Fuller, best known as the manager of the Spice Girls band, had accused Cowell of copying his ideas in the hugely successful television talent show format, a claim dismissed by Cowell as "utterly ridiculous."

Fuller's company 19 TV, creator of both Pop Idol and American Idol, had taken legal action against Cowell, his firms Simco and Syco and FremantleMedia, a unit of pan-European broadcaster RTL Group.

Jennie's A Star

2005-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

OK...so I already knew this. But now it's official.

The diva, who was booted much too early from Idols 3, is finally getting her due. She even beat out the winner of that season, Fantasia Barrino, for the plush role of Effie in the Dreamgirls movie. You can read the article below. It just makes me so happy.

As most of you know, this a star-studded cast. I was having my doubts about whether or not I would be ablt to sit though it (mainly because of Beyonce). But now I will march myself to the theater to enjoy Jennie belting out the tunes...and stealing the show.

I don't like to brag. But I stated a while back that I thought Hudson would beat out Frenchie Davis (the most obvious choice) for the role of Effie. I didn't even think of Fastasia as a choice at the time (and I still think that she was completely wrong to even be considered). I'm glad someone knows that Jennie's got the talent..."America" surely didn't.

This is the article for Playbill.com...

The New York Daily News reports that "American Idol" finalist Jennifer Hudson has landed the much-sought-after role of Effie White in the upcoming film of "Dreamgirls."

"American Idol" winner Fantasia had long been rumored for the part that made a Broadway star of Jennifer Holiday, but it seems the role has gone to Hudson, who appeared in the Actors' Fund benefit concert of Hair.

Hudson told the Daily News, "I was sure Fantasia got [the part]. But they said they wanted me. They said I was born for this."

As previously announced, the "Dreamgirls" film musical will feature Beyonce Knowles as Deena Jones, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson, Jamie Foxx as Curtis Taylor Jr., Eddie Murphy as James "Thunder" Early, Danny Glover as Marty Madison and Hinton Battle as Wayne.

"Dreamgirls" is being produced by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. Bill Condon, who penned the film's screenplay, will also direct "Dreamgirls," which will employ the original score by Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger. Production for the film is scheduled to begin in January 2006, and the new movie musical is set to hit screens around the country in December of that year.

"Dreamgirls," according to a recent casting release, is described thusly: "Set in the early 1960's to the 1970's, this is the story of the amazing 'Dreams' — three African-American girl singers from the projects of Detroit who break their hearts on the path to stardom."

Dreamgirls, which concerns the rise of a Supremes-like singing group amid a flurry of infighting, debuted at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre on Dec. 9, 1982, playing 1,521 performances before closing Aug. 11, 1985. The original cast featured Obba Babatundé, Cleavant Derricks, Loretta Devine, Ben Harney, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Deborah Burrell. The show lost the Tony for Best Musical to Maury Yeston’s Nine. A 1987 revival at the Ambassador Theatre starred Lillias White, Alisa Gyse, Kevyn Morrow, Weyman Thompson and Arnetia Walker.

Dreamgirls song titles include "One Night Only," "I Am Changing," "When I First Saw You," "Family" and Effie's first-act show stopper, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

Carrie Who?

2005-10-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Unless you have seen Carrie Underwood hawking those "retro candy bar" tees on commercials...or have seen her Sketchers print ads around Manhattan, you may be wondering what the latest American Idol winner is doing now that the tour is over. Well, she's finally got a gig...and it's kind of a fun one. Although, I have to state one more time how much the "judges" of American Idol hate it when a singer sounds "too Broadway." Well, they all seem to end up there eventually...and Miss Country Music 2005 is no exception. OK, so it's not a real show...but it still counts. Here's the article....

Broadway performers will sing country tunes, and country singers will croon theatre fare at the upcoming benefit concert at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway Meets Country.

The Nov. 12 evening, which will benefit The Actors' Fund of America and the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, will be co-hosted by Brian Stokes Mitchell and Lee Ann Womack. Those scheduled to perform include Broadway stars Jason Danieley, Reneé Elise Goldsberry, Marin Mazzie, Andrea McArdle, Idina Menzel, Donna Murphy, James Naughton, Marian Seldes, Ben Vereen and Patrick Wilson as well as country recording artists Trace Adkins, Glen Campbell, Billy Currington, Raul Malo, Richie McDonald, Jamie O'Neal, Julie Roberts, Carrie Underwood and Trisha Yearwood. Stephen Oremus is the musical director for the concert, which begins at 11 PM.

Concertgoers can expect to hear Glen Campbell's rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone," Billy Currington's "On the Street Where You Live," Marin Mazzie's "9 to 5," Andrea McArdle's "Fancy," Donna Murphy's "Walking After Midnight," James Naughton's "I've Been Everywhere," Carrie Underwood and Patrick Wilson's duet of "Suddenly Seymour," Ben Vereen's "King of the Road" and Trisha Yearwood and Idina Menzel's pairing on Wicked's "For Good."

Frederick P. Rose Hall is located in the Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at West 60th Street. Tickets, priced $350 (show only) and $1,000 (concert plus pre-show cocktail reception with the performers), are available by calling (212) 212-869-4535. Visit www.livebroadway.com/BroadwayMeetsCountry/Index.html for more information.

Queen for a Day...or possibly forever

2005-10-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a little article that I read in today's Metro...

'If you've ever wanted to call Ryan Seacrest your queen, head out West. The host of "American Idol" will be the "Queen of the Carnaval" at the 18th annual West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnaval on October 31st. With more than 450,000 people expected to attend the event - which was originally a costume competition - along a mile-long stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard, it has long been compared to Mardi Gras. For more information: visit westhollywood.com'

But you don't have to visit that website...I've done that for you. Here's what it says...

'TV and radio personality Ryan Seacrest will be crowned "Queen of the Carnaval" at the 18th Annual West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval set for Monday, October 31, 2005 between 6 p.m. and midnight on Santa Monica Boulevard between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood. The honorary title of "Queen of the Carnaval" is a highlight at the Carnaval, with the coronation taking place in front of more than 250,000 anticipated revelers this year.

Most recognized as the host of FOX's #1 hit show, "American Idol," Seacrest was recently awarded a prestigious star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and voted as one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful," as well as one of their 2005 "Most Eligible Bachelors." Seacrest recently signed onto a long-term deal to executive produce and join Dick Clark co-hosting the 34th edition of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," live from Times Square in New York on December 31st airing on the ABC Television Network.'

And my thoughts on this...

Ryan certainly has no problem perpetuating those gay rumors about himself, does he? Is he really that secure in his heterosexuality? I don't think so. Ryan, baby, just come out already. These little glimpses are just not enough for me. First you take on the "Ryan Out" catch-phrase. Then you view a gay porn because the host of the show has the same name as you. Now you're the "queen" of one of the gayest events in one of the gayest towns in America. Ryan...we get it. Now just say it!!!

DeGarmo = Latin Princess?

2005-10-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Your favorite little pig-faced gal from American Idol has got a new gig. And it's a crazy one. The article from Playbill.com is listed below. But make sure you check out the link too...there's a picture. Her wig is priceless. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/95621.html

Diana DeGarmo, "American Idol" Season Three runner-up, will star in the upcoming American Musical Theatre of San Jose's staging of West Side Story, starting Nov. 1.

Stephen Bourneuf will direct the California staging to play at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts through Nov. 13.

Fans of the popular Fox make-a-star reality show may remember the Snellville, Georgia teen for her renditions of "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Do You Love Me," Turn The Beat Around" and "Don't Cry Out Loud." Since losing the third season contest, DeGarmo has released her debut "Blue Skies" and appeared on the soundtrack for "Ice Princess."

DeGarmo will play Maria opposite Aaron Ramey as Tony, JoAnn Hunter as Anita, Michael Balderamma as Bernardo and Chris Cobb Olsen as Riff.

Vince Pesce choreographs the production and Barbara Day Turner serves as musical director. The design team features Karen Spahn (lighting), Thomas G. Marquez (costumes), Sharon Ridge (hair and make-up) and Hage Van Dijk (sound).

West Side Story featuring a score by Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) with a book by Arthur Laurents resets the William Shakespeare tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet to New York City in the last days of the summer of 1957. Two star-crossed lovers are caught in the battle for turf between the Jets and the Sharks.

Tickets to American Musical Theatre of San Jose's West Side Story at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd. In San Jose, CA are available by calling (888) 455-SHOW or (408) 453-7108. For more information, visit www.amstj.org.

I's Cain't Read!!!

2005-10-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

For some of you, this may not be a surprise. But apparently Fantasia (American Idol #3) is illiterate. GASP!!! Can it be true? I guess so. She "wrote" a memoir. OK, she dictated a memoir (because she's illiterate) and it's coming out soon (or may be out already). Who really knows. But here's a little article about her sad story...

Fantasia: 'illiterate'
'American Idol: winner reveals she can't read.

"American Idol" winner, Fantasia Barrino, reveals in her memoirs that shse is functionally illiterate and had to fake her way through some scripted portions of the televised U.S. talent show, which she won in 2004.

"You're illiterate to just about everything. You don't want to misspell," Fantasia told ABC's "20/20." "So that, for me, kept me in a box and I didn't, wouldn't come out."

The 21-year-old R&B singer says she's signed record deals and contracts that she didn't read and couldn't understand. But the hardest part, she said, is not being able to read to Zion, her 4-year-old daughter.

"That hurts really bad," she said, adding that she is now learning to read with tutors.

In her memoir, "Life Is Not a Fairy Tale," which she dictated to a freelance writer, Fantasia also said she was raped in her early teens by a classmate. She says the boy was disciplined, but she blamed herself for the attack.

She dropped out of high school that year and became and unwed mother at 17.

Paula & Constantine

2005-08-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

No...it's not a new gossip item. Get your minds out of the gutter. But it is a little news on the both of them. Thanks to Jilly Fresh for the stories...

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The tables have officially been turned on Paula Abdul, whose own fate on "American Idol" is now in the hands of a panel who'll pass judgment.

FOX and the producers behind the hit series have hired an independent counsel to investigate Corey Clark's claims that Abdul had sex with and coached the singer while he was a contestant during the 2003 season.

Addressing the Television Critics Association on Thursday (July 28), FOX Entertainment President Peter Liguori called the show's credibility "extraordinarily important to us" and said, "Any allegations against this show we take quite seriously," according to The Associated Press.

Liguori said the investigation's results are expected soon and will be made public. He did not address whether Abdul would be fired if the claims proved true. Clark has said he does not think she should lose her job, noting, "she didn't do nothing but have sex" (see "Corey Clark Meeting With 'Idol' Producers Over Paula Flap").

In the past, FOX has kicked off contestants who have lied about criminal activity, including Clark himself (see " 'Idol' Dismisses Corey Clark After Battery Charges Surface"). Abdul has denied Clark's allegations (see "Paula Abdul Denies Affair Allegation As 'Idol' Producers Investigate").

So far, however, FOX and the "Idol" producers have continued to support the judge, allowing her to finish the fourth season and then hiring her for "So You Think You Can Dance," which airs later this summer.

Abdul has been questioned, along with Clark and other corroborating witnesses. Liguori said the investigators, who are experienced "in this type of inquiry," are not being rushed by the network so as to clear up the situation in time for "Idol" auditions in August. "I'd rather be able to come to a ... definitive answer and conclusion," he said.

Around the same time Clark's debut album hit stores last month (see "Corey Clark Nabs Scott Storch, Peas Members For His 'Hot To Death' LP"), he was arrested for misdemeanor battery after a food fight in Sacramento hotel (see "Food Fight Puts Corey Clark In Another Messy Situation"). Charges were later dropped.

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The next time you see "American Idol" finalist Constantine Maroulis on TV, he may be playing a musician on his own family drama series.The popular New York rocker told MTV.com he has signed a deal with Kelsey "Frasier" Grammer's production company and the two are developing a TV drama series.

"We're looking to find the right home for that," he said of the project. "It's something I think is missing in TV today, a great family drama. We're being very picky right now 'cause we really believe in the project and we want it to last."

Maroulis says he's been "busting my butt" working on a solo album and booking a fall tour with his band Pray for the Soul of the Betty.

In the meantime, he's whipping across the country with the American Idols Live tour and will have a cut on the star-studded CD, "Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen" due out Aug. 9.

Is too much reality a bad thing?

2005-07-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

THIS...should NOT be missed. It is just going to be too much fun. Of course, I'll be watching. My girl, Nikki McKibbin, from Idol #1 is on it (along with Ryan Starr from the same season). But even more exciting is that Charla (the midget) from Amazing Race will be on it too. And I LOVE HER!!! And a bunch of other wannabes who can't let go of their 15 minutes of fame (Omarosa versus Nikki once more...she better watch her back).

Battle of the Network Reality Stars
Premieres Wednesday, Aug 17 @ 9/8c

Bravo's summer debut of "Battle of the Network Reality Stars" will take some of today's biggest stars - 32 leading men and women from 16 reality TV shows - and pit them against each other as they test their athletic limits in honor of the hit series from the 70's. The six episode one-hour series originating from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Sideline reporters include Omarosa Manigault Stallworth from "The Apprentice," Bob Guiney from "The Bachelor," and Trishelle Cannatella from "The Real World," who will join the program's play-by-play host Mike Adamle, former host of NBC Sports and "American Gladiators."

The reality TV stars battling it out for cash and prizes include Chip & Kim and Charla & Myrna from the "The Amazing Race," Nikki McKibbin and Ryan Starr from "American Idol," Brittany Brower from "Americas Next Top Model," Heidi Bressler and Bradford Cohen from the "The Apprentice," Adam Mesh from "Average Joe," Tina "Fabulous" Panas from "The Bachelor," Will Kirby (winner) and Mike "Boogie" Malin from "Big Brother," Evan Marriott from "Joe Millionaire," Matt Kennedy Gould from "The Joe Schmo Show," Wendy Pepper from "Project Runway," Coral Smith and Mike "The Miz" Mizanin from "The Real World," Theo Gantt from "Road Rules," Duncan Nutter from "Showbiz Moms & Dads," Richard Hatch (winner) and Susan Hawk from "Survivor," Rachel Love Frasier (winner) from "The Swan," and Valerie Penso from "Temptation Island," among others.

The updated format of the much-loved series is complete with teams of sweatsuit and Speedo-clad reality stars that will partake in physical and aggressively competitive challenges reminiscent of the original program. TV's most cherished and loathed reality stars will compete in a joust, navigate a kayak race, and battle it out in the famed tug-of-war, among other challenges. In a nod to today's reality shows, twists and turns along the way force team members to vote each other off, create alliances, and generate unending drama and tears.

Rocker News

2005-07-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Rockers news from People Magazine...

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He didn't win American Idol, but Constantine Maroulis's career is going strong. The 29-year-old rocker from Brooklyn, N.Y., is heading out on the road with Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice and the rest of the top 10 Idol finalists on the American Idols Live! Tour 2005, which kicks off July 12 in Sunrise, Fla. And the 2002 Boston Conservatory grad – who's still based in New York City – also has plans for a solo album and, hopefully, his own TV show. Maroulis talked to PEOPLE about kicking out the jams, ignoring the "haters" and wanting to be a dad.

How are tour rehearsals going?
They're going really well. We have a great show in store for everyone. We're really stoked.

What can people expect?
Big group numbers, lots of solo time, a great band and a big light show. It's gonna be hot. I'm going to be doing three songs I did from the show and one of them is "Bohemian Rhapsody," so I'm really excited about that.

Are you planning any duets?
You never know. I got another rock-and-roller in my crew here that might have to come out and jam with me a little bit on one song in particular. If Bo and I had it our way we'd be out there doing different tunes every single night. You know, just rippin' it up with the guitars and everything.

What it was like for you when you got voted off Idol?
I felt like I was going along pretty well on the show. That just goes to show you that's the name of the game. You can go from first to last in an instant. I felt that I was in a comfortable situation, but I always prepared myself, week after week, to go home. The fact that I even got that far – some long-haired kid from New York no one even knew at all before. All of a sudden we're the chatter around the water cooler in the morning. It's pretty cool. I got no complaints.

How's life post-Idol?
I've been very busy and very grateful. I got really lucky. I sort of hit the jackpot here with the opportunities. Everyone's talking to me about doing my own album. We're trying to figure out the right place to make that happen – it would go down after the tour sometime. Look for that in the late fall. And I'm on the Killer Queen record, which is a tribute to Queen with a bunch of rock stars on it – Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Sum 41, Joss Stone, Gavin DeGraw. I did "Bohemian Rhapsody." It's going to be out in August.

What else is happening?
I'm also an actor. So we've been talking to people about a lot of different film and television opportunities. We're psyched about this one television show in particular that hopefully will work out. It would revolve around me as the central character. It would be like a Party of Five kind of School of Rock thing. It's sort of a family show, drama, something you can sit down with the family and watch.

And are you still with your band, Pray for the Soul of Betty?
The great thing about Pray for the Soul of Betty is it's something that'll always be with me. It's something that I can just get up there, grab the mic and rock out. We're looking forward to doing some shows together in the fall. You have to capitalize on this moment.

You experienced some backlash from your band members about going on Idol.
They weren't entirely psyched, but I think they slowly realized what a great opportunity it was for me and for them. It put us out there.

And others questioned your credibility as a rocker.
I think any time you're a part of a huge phenomenon like American Idol, there's going to be haters. There's going to be people in the rock community like, "Oh, he's not real rock because he's on the show." I can't spend my time dwelling on that. It's not like I haven't been busting my ass for over a decade trying to get by in this business. And I auditioned on a whim – an ex-girlfriend literally dragged me there, and I can't thank her enough now.

Are you single now?
I am single. I'm meeting a lot of great girls, but it's tough. I'm very focused on the tour and the work at hand and definitely the future. There will be plenty of time for that when the time is right. I look forward to meeting someone and settling down and stuff – I'm not getting any younger, certainly.

Do you see marriage in your future?
Oh, absolutely. Children, I love that.

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American Idol runner-up Bo Bice and his girlfriend, Caroline Fisher, have gotten married in their home state of Alabama, PEOPLE has confirmed.

The couple, who have been together for almost two years, exchanged vows on June 15. Bice and Fisher's marriage certificate was granted Thursday in Shelby County, Ala.

"It was a small, intimate wedding," Bice's publicist, Roger Widynowski, tells PEOPLE.

Fisher, 24, met Bice, 29, before he stole the spotlight on FOX's talent hunt – when he worked as a guitar store clerk and frequented the Ragtime Cafe in Hoover, Ala., where she waited tables.

Bice finished in second place on this season's Idol, behind Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood. But being a runner-up hasn't hurt Bice's career: He signed a record deal with RCA less than 24 hours after the Idol finale and his single of the show's original song "Inside Your Heaven," has topped the charts.

Bice, known for his down-to-earth-rocker style, tattooed a bird on his wrist to commemorate his finale performance with longtime idols Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose "Freebird" he sang earlier in the season. "It was such an incredible experience," he says.

Idol Rejects in the News

2005-06-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of articles from Jilly Fresh...ENJOY!!!

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The “American Idol” contestant who claims to have had an affair with judge Paula Abdul was cited on a misdemeanor battery charge after allegedly getting into a food fight with his record company manager.

Corey Clark, 24, was ordered to appear in Sacramento County Superior Court on July 22 after police were called to Sacramento’s Sheraton Grand Hotel on Saturday morning by guests, Sacramento police spokesman Justin Risley said.

Clark and the CDC Records executive, Laura Kathleen Troy, were having breakfast in one of the two rooms they rented when they began arguing over an incident from Clark’s Friday night concert in West Sacramento, Risley said

“It ended up as a food fight, throwing dishes. The injuries were relatively minor,” Risley said. “I think it was mutual, a back-and-forth kind of thing.”

Police found both Clark and Troy with scratches on their arms and cited Clark for misdemeanor battery. Troy, 34, did not want charges filed, Risley said.

Clark’s representative, Jed Wallace, did not return a telephone message Monday from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Risley said it’s standard police policy to cite and release those charged with misdemeanor battery.

Clark has said he had an affair with Abdul and that she coached him on how to do better during the 2003 “American Idol” competition, a claim Abdul denies. Clark was dismissed from the Fox network show for not disclosing that he had a 2002 misdemeanor arrest alleging he assaulted his younger sister in Kansas.

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William Hung, best known as being the most memorable, rejected talent show contestant on Fox's "American Idol" has released an album of U.S. summer songs.

"Miracle: Happy Summer From William Hung," is a collection of classic American summer songs sung from the heart, according to Hung, a civil engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley.

His rejected "American Idol" rendition of "She Bangs" garnered him a fan base and Hung has appeared on video and in commercial endorsements with companies such as Cingular Wireless and AskJeeves.

The album's first single will be "Achy Breaky Heart," the country hit made famous by Billy Ray Cyrus. Cyrus is scheduled to appear in the tongue-in-cheek music video.

Other tracks include "Tie A Yellow Ribbon," and "I Love L.A."

Second Update (this week)

2005-06-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Some more Idol news for you to enjoy. Two articles...both about pink-haired Idolettes (and Nikki isn't one of them). Thanks to Sarah for the Amy Adams news. If you don't remember who she is, she's was the 3rd pink-haired contestant on Idol. You have to read down the second article to find the happy news about Vanessa Olivarez (one of my personal favorites). Both articles are from Playbill.com...in case you want to check them out there yourself. Apparently the Broadway voices are the real stars of American Idol...there certainly have been lots of work for them through the stage.
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"Patrick Cassidy will headline an upcoming national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat opposite former "American Idol" hopeful Amy Adams.

Cassidy will star as the titular Biblical boy who is sold into slave by his brothers who envy their father's favor towards him. Joseph then embarks on a journey which leads him to Egypt where — because of his portending dreams — he saves the country from famine and eventually his brothers from death. Tim Rice provides lyrics for Webber's music.

The actor was last seen on Broadway opposite his mother Shirley Jones in 42nd Street. He has also appeared on the boards in Aida, Annie Get Your Gun, Leader of the Pack and The Pirates of Penzance as well as Off-Broadway in the original cast of Assassins at Playwright's Horizon as The Balladeer.

Adams will take on the role of The Narrator in the production of Joseph.... The pink-locked songstress from season three of "American Idol" got to sing "Power of Love" by her self-proclaimed sound-alike Celine Dion.

Tour dates (subject to change) are as follows:

· Milwaukee, WI (Sept. 6-11) - Uihlein Hall @ the Marcus Center
· Minneapolis, MN (Sept. 13-18) - Orpheum Theatre
· Appleton, WI (Oct. 4-9) - Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
· Pittsburgh, PA (Oct. 11- 16) - Heinz Hall
· Kalamazoo, MI (Oct 25-27) - Miller Auditorium
· Akron, OH (Oct 28-30) - E.J. Thomas PAC
· Boston, MA (Nov. 1-13) - Colonial Theatre
· Chicago, IL (Nov. 22-Dec. 4) - Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University
· Palm Beach, FL (Jan. 3-8, 2006) - Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
· Orlando, FL (Jan. 10-15, 2006) - Carr Performing Arts Centre
· New Orleans, LA (Jan. 17-22, 2006) - Saenger Theatre
· Baltimore, MD (Jan. 24-Feb. 5, 2006) - Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick .A.C.
· Cincinnati, OH (Feb. 14-26, 2006) - Procter & Gamble Hall-Aronoff Center for the Arts
· Philadelphia (Feb. 28-March 5, 2006) - Merriam Theater
· San Antonio, TX (Mar. 14-19, 2006) - Majestic Theatre
· Salt Lake City, UT (Mar. 21-26, 2006) - Capitol Theatre
· Seattle, WA (Mar. 28-Apr. 2, 2006) - Paramount Theatre
· Portland, OR (Apr. 4-9, 2006) - Keller Auditorium
· Madison, WI (April 12-15, 2006) - Overture Hall at the Overture Center
· Tampa Bay, FL (Apr. 18-23, 2006) - Carol Morsani Hall @ TBPAC
· Indianapolis, IN (Apr. 25-30, 2006) - Murat Theatre
· Columbus, OH (May 2-7, 2006) - Palace Theatre
· Tempe, AZ (Jun. 6-11, 2006) - ASU Gammage Auditorium
· Costa Mesa, CA (July 11-23, 2006) - Segerstrom Hall @ OCPAC
· Omaha, NE (Jul. 27-30, 2006) - Orpheum Theater

For more information, visit www.broadwayacrossamerica
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Nominations for the 2005 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, celebrating excellence in theatre, dance and opera in Toronto, were announced June 13, with the resident production of Urinetown and the Canadian production of Hairspray among high-profile nominees.

The awards are split into five divisions that address differing production sizes and budgets, as well as different disciplines: General Theatre, Independent Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences, Dance and Opera.

In the General Theatre division, CanStage leads the nominees with 22 nominations for six productions and Necessary Angel Theatre Company comes in second, honored with 13 nominations for two productions. Tarragon Theatre is third with nine.

In the Independent Theatre division, Theatre Extasis and The Theatre Centre lead with eight nominations for That Time.

Opera Atelier is the front-runner in the Opera division with seven nominations. Dancer and choreographer Susie Burpee leads with three nods in the Dance division and Roseneath Theatre does the same in the Theatre for Young Audiences division.

Production-wise, CanStage's Urinetown obtained 10 nominations, the most nominations for any individual show: Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Musical for John Rando, Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role - Musical for David Keeley, Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role - Musical for Frank Moore, Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role - Musical for Mary Ann McDonald, Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role - Musical for Jennifer Waiser, Outstanding Lighting Design for Brian MacDevitt, Outstanding Sound Design/Composition for Keith Handegord, Outstanding Musical Direction for Stephen Woodjetts and Outstanding Choreography in a Play or Musical for John Carrafa.

The Canadian production of Hairspray earned eight Dora nominations, for Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Musical for Jack O'Brien, Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role-Musical for Jay Brazeau, Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role-Musical for Vanessa Olivarez and Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role for Fran Jaye as well as Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Choreography in a Play or Musical.

Many view the new-works categories as the most important part of any theatre awards because they indicate the industry and vitality of the resident theatre community.

The Independent division nominees for Outstanding New Play or Musical are Erika Batdorf for Poetic License, T. Beagan for Thy Neighbour's Wife, Andy Massingham for Rough House, Gord Rand for Pond Life and Rick Roberts for Kite. In the General division the New Play nominees are Claudia Dey for Trout Stanley, Keira Loughran for Little Dragon, Rick Miller & Daniel Brooks for Bigger Than Jesus, John Mighton for Half Life and David S. Young with the company for No Great Mischief. New Musical nominees in the General division are David Finley for Aladdin and Guy Mignault for Autour de Kurt Weill.

The winners in the Independent Theatre division all receive a $1,000 cheque from Mrs. Bluma Appel.

The Dora eligibility year runs from June 1 to May 31. The 26th Dora Mavor Moore Awards will be held 8 PM June 27 at the Winter Garden Theatre Centre. For more information, visit www.tapa.ca.

First Update!!!

2005-06-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

You thought it was over...but there is always Idol news. So here's the first one.

In case you don't want the FOX morning show (maybe only in NYC). But Idol cast-offs are sitting at the anchor desk this week. Nadia was on yesterday and Anwar was on yesterday. I'm not sure who will be on tomorrow. But I did see everyone's favorite sex-boy, Constantine, on the commercial. So check it out if you feel like it. They really have no purpose of being on the show. They randomly get to say something. And I don't know if they are on the whole show...but they are on when I get up at 7:30 a.m. So check it out it you must.

If you have resisted in buying this year's Idol compilation of songs, good for you. Not that I know what it sounds like because I haven't bought it either. But past Idolette, Jennifer Hudson, is on a new release. This CD is worth the money. I pre-ordered a copy months and months ago...in order to get it before it was released. And it's quite enjoyable. It's the Actors' Fund Benefit Recording of HAIR. It's a star-studded cast. And Lady Jennifer gets to sing the soul-wrenching EASY TO BE HARD (as only she can sing it). However, Lillias White singing AQUARIUS, Raul Esparza singing HAIR, Annie Golden singing FRANK MILLS, Liz Callaway singing GOOD MORNING STARSHINE are all fantastic. The show-stopping number on the disc is Julia Murney (she makes my heart skip a beat whenever she sings) belting out WHERE DO I GO. So orgasmic (for me at least). Anyway, run out and get it. Here's an article on Playbill.com today about it...with the full track listing.

The Hair CD — recorded Oct. 1, 2004 at the Hit Factory — was based on the Sept. 20, 2004, benefit concert at the New Amsterdam Theatre. The single CD boasts a host of Broadway favorites, including Rent's Adam Pascal, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Raul Esparza, Wicked's Ana Gasteyer, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' Sherie Rene Scott, Taboo's Euan Morton as well as American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson.

The Sept. 20 Hair featured musical direction by Seth Rudetsky, who conceived the concert with the Actors' Fund of America. Devanand Janki and Christopher Gattelli co-directed and co-choreographed the concert, which featured three onstage staircases and two above-the-stage screens with projected images. The creative team also featured Paul Weimer (scenic designer), Jeff Croiter (lighting designer), Scott Stauffer (sound designer), Michael Crowler (costume coordinator), Elaine McCarthy (projection designer). Gattelli, Janki and Tim Pinckney adapted the musical for this concert version.

The complete "Hair" track listing follows:
"Aquarius" (Lillias White)
"Donna" (Lea Delaria)
"Hashish" (Tribe)
"Sodomy" (Jai Rodriguez)
"Colored Spade" (Chuck Cooper)
"Manchester, England" (Euan Morton, Harris Doran)
"Dead End" (Ana Gasteyer)
"Sheila Franklin"/"I Believe in Love" (Shoshana Bean)
"I'm Black"/"Ain't Got No" (Tribe)
"Air" (Harvey Fierstein)
"Initials" (Laura Benanti)
"I Got Life" (Adam Pascal)
"Going Down" (Gavin Creel)
"Hair" (Raúl Esparza)
"My Conviction" (Charles Busch)
"Easy to be Hard" (Jennifer Hudson)
"Don't Put it Down" (John Tartaglia/Christopher Sieber)
"Frank Mills" (Annie Golden)
"Be-In"/"Hare Krisna (Tribe)
"Where Do I Go" (Julia Murney)
"Hippie Life" (Eden Espinosa, Harris Doran)
"Electric Blues" (Toxic Audio)
"Black Boys" (Kathy Brier/Orfeh/Ann Harada)
"White Boys" (Brandi Chavonne Massey/Ledisi/Shayna Steele)
"Walking in Space" (Sherie Rene Scott)
"Yes I's Finished on Y'All's Farmlands" (Tribe)
"Four Score"/"Abie Baby" (Billy Porter)
"Good Morning Starshine" (Liz Callaway)
"Three Five Zero Zero" (Tribe)
"What a Piece of Work is Man" (Darius de Haas/Paul Castree)
"The Flesh Failures (Let the Sun Shine In)" (Norm Lewis, Harris Doran, Tribe

Hair focuses on a group of hippies — called The Tribe — in New York City in the late 1960's, and gives voice to their passions and frustrations in loose scenes and interactions, including a rant against war, an embrace of free love (including a group nude scene) and odes to nature, life, drugs and multiculturalism. Book and lyrics are by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, music is by Galt MacDermot. Tom O'Horgan was the original director. Heather MacRae, Melba Moore, Keith Carradine and Joe Morton were among performers in the early Broadway run of the show, at the Biltmore Theatre.

For more information, visit www.sh-k-boom.com or www.ghostlightrecords.com.>

Kelly, Uh Carrie, Wins

2005-05-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

The results are in…at last.

Ryan’s all fancy again…and lookin’ good.

Congratulations to all of you out there. You have made it through 5 full months of American Idol. You all deserve a round of drinks.

We start the show with a big group number of all the rejects from the top twelve. And what a group number it was. Fatty got to sing falsetto…badly. Nadia shows the world that she’s a boy by wearing the most unflattering top ever (she has no breasts at all…not even man boobs). Mikalah and Lindsey sound as hideous as ever…obviously they haven’t taken any vocal lessons over the past weeks. Nikko’s still blathering his way through songs…and turning them into R&B every chance he gets. If you take out Mikalah and Lindsey, this is what you have to look forward to on the tour. Hope you didn’t run out to get your tickets early. If you did, maybe you can sell them off.

There’s a gaggle of musicians in the house tonight. They’ll be singing and playing with the kids later in the show.

Someone had the brilliant idea to give Mikalah a microphone and let her loose on the red carpet. I fear that she’s going to be the new spokeswoman for Idol. EEK!!!

Our first montage of the evening…city by city to the finals last night. That’s all I can really say about it.

We visit Bo in his dressing room…and the feed from Alabama. At this venue, we get LaToya London from last season as our host. She’s dressed like a drag queen in a hot pin boa and a big Miss America tiara. We are informed that yesterday was deemed Bo Bice Day in Alabama (Sarah mark your calendar for this as a national holiday). At the close of the segment, Ryan admitted that he has the same outfit as LaToya…the big queen. Out to the stage where Bo will be singing “Vehicle” again. I wish these kids had the time to rehearse other songs…even if it’s something they have sung previously. I just get tired hearing the same songs over and over. Sing something that you sang week one…anything. He sang it well…again. He should after all the times he’s sung it for us.

Onto Carrie’s dressing room…and the feed from Oklahoma. Our host there, Matt Rogers? Where did they did him up from? And when did he come out of the closet? At least he was amusing. Carrie’s taken the stage and is singing her show-stopping number from last night, “Angels Brought Me Here.” She did her hair for the night, that was nice of her. She could have dressed up a little more…after all, I did predict that this would be her night. I’m glad that she’s FINALLY enjoying herself on stage…it’s taken a long time. I guess that could be because the competition is over. Flash to her family…at least they are all dressed up.

Can you believe it? All of this…and we’re only a half hour into the show. What lies ahead for the next hour and a half? I know…let’s hit the judges’ dressing rooms too.

In Randy’s room we learn that he’s wearing white shoes with pink laces…now there’s some fashion. Sadly, the rest of his outfit wasn’t nearly as pimped out as he shoes. After viewing the tape from last night, he thinks that Carrie will win it (as do I).

Onto to Paula’s domicile. Ryan didn’t even bother to ask her who she thought would win…because no one really cares what Paula has to say. But she admits that she and Simon are closer now. They have a love/hate relationship. And Simon grows on you like a fungus (and I’m sure she knows plenty about fungi). Why do we even bother to let her speak?

Commercial break. It’s to the tune of “Reach.” And because they were so busy this week, it’s just clips from all the previous commercials. So lame.

We’re back, and in Simon’s dressing room. He says that Bo looked uncomfortable last night…and that Carrie will win as he predicted on day one. Then he complimented Matt Rogers. He even suggested that Matt come back as Ryan’s co-host next season. To which Ryan suggested they have more guest judges. They just love fighting like girls…it’s so amusing. But we’re going back to LaToya from Simon’s dressing room. Simon just kept saying that LaToya was drunk…over and over. Then we jumped over to Matt. He was with Grandpa Carl (Carrie’s oldest fan). He’s getting lots of action from Carrie’s success…and he loves all the ladies. Then we got to meet Carrie’s youngest (and smallest) fan…some dog. Matt proceeded to lick the dog at this point.

There was some kind of top three…I’m not sure what it was for. But here it is.
#3 Regina…she pawned her wedding ring to get to the auditions and secure a place in Hollywood, and that was the last we heard of her.
#2 Mark Strogans…he rammed his head into the wall when he didn’t make it to Hollywood.
#1 Mrs. Clark…she passed out when her son made it to Hollywood, then we never heard about him again either.

This year’s auditions started off with the National Anthem being sung by DC native, Leandra Jackson. Well, let’s check out her audition again. Then be thrilled with the live rendition when Leandra walks out…dressed to kill. There hasn’t been a rendition of this song done so well since Whitney sang it at the Super Bowl years ago.

Then we get to see the credits for the show again…in case you skipped the first hour and are just joining in now.

The hour starts with Bo and Carrie singing “Up Where We Belong.” A fitting song for the two of them to sing. It was the best “group” number of the season. It was the perfect song for the two of them to sing. I only wish that Bo would have sung it like Joe Cocker…that would have been amusement. For those who don’t know who Joe Cocker is…you should find the original and listen to it

Both of them are given cars…and they match.

The next montage is the Carrie and Bo journeys. And it started off to Donny and Marie’s, “I’m a Little Bit Coutry, I’m a Little Bit Rock ‘n Roll.” I have nothing more to say about it.

Another montage is up next. This time, it’s the top ten worst auditions of the season.
#10 Darren Beck
#9 Derrick Braxton (Toni’s alleged cousin)
#8-5 Jason Smith…and his band of one
#4 Robert Solomon
#3 Bobbi Vay (the psychic)
#2 Maurice Thomas
#1 Leroy Wells
I recognize most of these people by sight and sound. But the only one that I remember by name didn’t even make the list…Mary Roach. Where was she? She was the best. We do get another glimpse at the sad boys who became best friends…Dirk and Adam. They wanted to be together at the finals of the competition…and they are (in the audience). And there’s an empty seat next to Dirk…to be filled by his idol, David Hasselhoff. I have to give up to Idol for bringing back a few of the rejects this year…that made me happy.

Auditions for Season Five start this summer…I only caught four of the cities, but I think there were seven. Austin, Denver, Boston and Chicago (that’s all I got…feel free to fill in those I missed).

BIG CONTROVERSY!!! The made up a fake expose. Randy is pointing the finger at Simon. He’s apparently having a fling with someone. However, Randy is also promoting his CD and book. Constantine gets a role in the show…with a big moustache. And a surprise guest at the end…William Hung (he’ll never go away). The whole thing is a big sham. And the outcome…Simon’s affair is with himself. HA HA HA!!! We all get it. Can we dump Paula now?

Only ½ left now!!!

The big All-Star Medley is up next. The Idolettes get to sing with some famous people.

Carrie and Rascal Flats are singing “God Bless The Broken Road.” It was good…and better as a duet.

Anthony, Anwar and Kenny G are doing “I Believe I Can Fly.” It was really weak. You know it’s not good when Kenny G is the best part of it. And I thought that Anwar had cut his hair when I saw him sitting in the audience last night. But apparently he didn’t…it’s still long.

Constantine, Jessica, Nadia and Kenny Wayne Shepard are rocking to “Walk This Way.” It was a big mess. I didn’t understand a single word until Nadia started singing. And poor Jessica had her belly hanging out of that shirt that didn’t fit her at all.

Scott, Nikko and George Benson did “On Broadway” for us. I guess Scott couldn’t learn a new song either. It was ghetto-licious. George was the highlight…as expected.

Vonzell and Billy Preston belted out “Born Again.” It was brilliant. Probably the highlight of the night for me. She’s a class act. And this song was perfect for her. She’s the real winner. Although, my votes still go to Nadia as entertainer of the year.

Lindsey, Mikalah and Babyface screeched some song that I don’t know the title of. It was a disaster. I felt bad for Babyface getting stuck with these two…but he actually fit right in. It was like a battle of the three divas…they all tried to out-sing each other. And none of it was good.

Bo and Lynard Skynard rocked out to “Sweet Home Alabama.” And everyone joined them on stage. It was enjoyable.

Final thoughts from our judges (why not, they should earn their pay).
Randy…he wished them both luck and stated that they were both winners already.
Paula…who cares what she tried to say, she never makes sense anyway.
Simon…congratulated America for getting it right this season.

Some geek who runs the voting phone system came out with the results. He told us that all records were broken this season with over 500 million votes. There was no mention of last night’s total…so I guess that didn’t break any records.

Our winner…Carrie Underwood (as predicted). Her single will be out June 14th for any of you who wish to buy it. It’s called “Inside Your Heaven.” She tried to sing it…but didn’t do very well. I guess it’s understandable since she just won. But there were pyrotechnics…and lots of confetti.

IDOL NOTE…
No past winners were present this year. What happened to them all? Kelly is obviously too big for the show now…since she dumped them. But what are Ruben and Fantasia doing? They can’t be that busy.

For the last time this season…BARRY OUT!!!

Idol Schmidol

2005-05-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ryan started off the evening by telling us that Bo and Carrie are vying for the "most sought after title in television." I guess that's true. But isn't this show supposed to be about the music? He also mentioned that this is the "most talked about finale of the year." I know that I'm not really that I'm not really talking about it because I don't really care who wins. Then he reminded us that it's boy versus girl...and that hasn't happened since Justin versus Kelly. Then in a bit of comedic genius, he hoped that there wouldn't be another movie. Say what you want about the snubbed FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY, it thoroughly entertained me. I'm not sure I have ever laughed so much during any film.

Ryan flipped the "special" Bo and Carrie coin last week to see who gets to sing first. But in his own slick way, he mucked it all up. The coin fell into the grating on the stage and had to be rescued by the stage hands. Once the coin was recovered, it was tossed again. This time, our hero caught it and Carrie won the toss. She chose to let Bo sing first. Was that the right decision? Will singing last give her that extra edge? Or will following Bo be her downfall?

Bo is up with an original song, titled "Long Long Road." I'm not sure if this song was written with him in mind, but it sure didn't sound like it. It was a big piece of crap...definitely and Idol song. It was not good from start to finish. He even let the back-up singers take the lead when they joined it...he just stopped singing (like he did in many of the group numbers). So unimpressive and not the way to start off the final night.

Carrie got to sing "Inside Your Heaven." Our second orginal song of the night. She sounded really nervous at the beginning. It was all kinds of out of tune. I'm not sure she can hear the band because they aren't in the same key at all. She got back on track once the back-up singers started singing...they helped her to find the right key (at last). It was another horrible Idol song. How do they keep coming up with this crap? When it was over, she looked like she was going to vomit while she was talking to Ryan.

Bo is up with his favorite song from this season, "Vehicle." You'll remember that he sang this during the 70's DANCE CLASSIC nights. However, when Ryan announced it this time, he called it 70's NIGHT. Isn't it nice that they changed the genre of the whole category for him since he didn't sing a dance classic? OK, so I still haven't gotten over this...I'm holding the grudge. He did sing it very well though. He had good energy on the stage and a great presence. This is definitely what he should be singing.

Carrie came out singing her favorite from this season, "Independence Day." I wouldn't have picked this song if I were her. I would have chosen the Tiffany song she sang way back at the beginning or "Cryin" from last week. Those were much better performances...and the only time that I've really liked her. But the song was short and sweet. She sounded good. She had a little bit of energy...which is a whole lot for her. So it was decent.

Bo is back with the original song that Carrie sang earlier, "Inside Your Heaven." He did sing it better than Carrie. But it still wasn't great. There was none of his personality in the song at all. If this is the single that the winner gets to release, then it should never be released at all. It's just a whole mess of crap.

Carrie is back with an original...oddly enough, not the original that Bo sang earlier. This one is called "Angels Brought Me Here." Now, this is the epitome of an Idol song. WOW!!! She sang it incredibly. It was a show-stopper...and her decision to sing last will pay off. I think this song alone may have won her the competition. She even showed some emotion and connection to the song...it was like a whole new person on the stage.

There was a long drawn-out montage of the whole season...that I really didn't pay attention to all that much. Then we went to the judges to get their opinions of the whole season.
RANDY...he thought it was the best season ever.
PAULA...she thought they had the most amazing talent ever.
SIMON...he just thanked America for listening to him.

Simon predicted that Carrie would win the whole thing months ago. Will she? I think so. There has only been one other contestant to NEVER be in the bottom group any week...and that is Kelly Clarkson. Carrie has many similarities to Kelly. I don't think Carrie will sell nearly as many records as Kelly, but she could be the next big country/pop singer out there (for about a year). Then she'll just fade away into the land of obscure country singers hanging out in Nashville.

With that said, America doesn't always agree with me. So Bo could win it all. I don't think it will happen, but it's possible. I'm still picking Carrie.

We'll meet again one last time...after the finale tonight.

White Trash & a White Chick

2005-05-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

Last night’s studio audience got to see the new STAR WARS movie last night after the show. How exciting for them. Then Carrie did Yoda…not sexually, she just tried to imitate him. Her actually doing him might have been more entertaining.

Vonzell’s hometown trip to Fort Myers, Florida started off with radio and television interviews. Then she visited her peeps at the Post Office. Off to a CD signing at the local Wal-Mart. Then a cruise with her family on a $4M yacht. A mob was waiting for her when she got off the boat. The mayor gave her the key to the city (on a plaque). Then she got to have a big family dinner with her family.

She’s singing “Chain of Fools” tonight. She has on the cutest, sparkly green top. And she’s just great. I love everything about her.

Our Ford commercial this week (and hopefully the last one) is to “One Way or Another.” It was a big mess. They sounded horrible. The whole gist was that they were racing around in various Ford vehicles to get away from the paparazzi. It was a big old piece of crap.

Bo’s visit home to Helena, Alabama started with him being greeted by Lynard Skynard…well, two guys from the group anyway (maybe they were the only ones still alive). Then he was off to his radio interview. The CD signing was next (but I didn’t notice what store it was). He was also given the key to the city (on a chain). Then he cried in city hall…maybe because the last time he was there was for drug charges. He was paraded to his show where he go to sing with the boys who greeted him when he got off the plane.

He picked his a capella number from last night, “In the Dream.” I think I called it “Within the Dream” last night. I guess I don’t know the actual name of the song. Anyway, his vocals really are great on this song. But his eyes are really creepy on those close-ups…and he makes his singing look so hard for him with his facial expressions. I think he’s enjoying himself…but it’s hard to tell from his face.

Carrie was wisked off to Tulsa, Oklahoma before heading to her actual hometown. She stopped off at the Fox studios for her interview there. Then off to the radio station for an interview there. Finally she’s off to Chekotah, her actual hometown. And to start things off there, she’s in a parade with her grandpa. She sang the National Anthem at some county fair…or livestock show. The governor proclaimed it Carrie Underwood Day in the state. She also got the key to the city…a Certificate of Achievement from her university…and a place in the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Then she had to go sign some CD’s at her old high school. Finally, she gets to actually go home to see her family…and of course her animals.

She chose “Cryin’” as her song for the night. It really was a great song for her to sing. She sounded great on it. But she was wearing the oddest, beaded bustier thing.

Ryan informed us that 37 million people voted last night. And the one with the least amount was Vonzell. Poor Baby V is done. Well, she’ll be back next week for the big group numbers on the last show. But this really wasn’t a huge surprise.

Just when you thought you had gotten away with no group number this week, they surprise you by sticking it at the very end of the show. And what a big piece of crap it was. I guess it’s called “United We Stand”…but you know the song even though I may not know the title. It was just dreadful sounding. At least they let Vonzell be the show-stopper on it. And she gave all the judges hugs and kisses…and she thanked Simon.

Next week at the big theater. One more week. WOO HOO!!! It’s almost over.

Don’t forget to watch the worst auditions ever Thursday night on Fox. I won’t be watching them…I’m going out drinking instead (I do have my priorities). Feel free to watch them and write all about them on my blog…you can be the star for the day.

One More to Go

2005-05-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Next week we’ll be moving to the Kodak Theater for the finals. Who will be there? Two of these three kids will…and one will walk away with a recording contract and the title of 4th American Idol.

Luckily we didn’t have to sit through all the hometown visits. But we will be subjected to them tomorrow night.

Ryan came out as the true queen that he is in a shirt proclaiming CELEBRITY GOSSIP.

He told us that the remaining contestants have only 1% of votes between them. I guess that’s from last week’s totals since the voting isn’t cumulative…unless they just aren’t telling us that this year.

Clive Davis in on the judge’s panel this week since he’ll be taking over the career of the winner.

The kids will be singing three songs this evening. One chosen by Clive, one chosen by the Idol kids themselves and one chosen by the judges.

CLIVE’S CHOICES

Vonzell is stuck singing the horrendous Dionne Warwick song, “I’ll Never Love This Way Again.” If memory serves me correctly, Anwar sang this song at some point in the competition this year as well. She started off really shaky with this one, but she found herself in the chorus. The song still sucked, but at least it wasn’t her fault. She’s wore a wonderful dress. She needed to really step it up this week…sadly she was given a crappy song to start it off. I blame Clive for this one.

Bo gets to sing the Elton John great, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” And he sang it really well. It was a stupid arrangement. And it was incredibly dull and unexciting. Again, I’ll repeat, he sang it really well.

Carrie got the Roy Orbison song. “Cryin’.” It was a great song for her to sing. It really showcased her voice. And she sang it great…if you could stay awake through it. It was yet another robotically dead performance from her.

IDOL’S CHOICE

Vonzell picked Aretha’s “Chain of Fools” for herself. She sang this at her first audition as well. And she knows what kinds of songs she should sing. She had incredible vocals and got to show off the fun personality that has brought her this far. She proved why she’s there.

Bo picked “Within a Dream” as his own song. I think Ryan said it was by Badlands…but I could be wrong. He took a bold step by singing without the band. His vocals were outstanding. It was still boring…but the fact that he didn’t’ have any accompaniment made you pay more attention to his vocals. It was like one of those commercials that the person just stands there singing acapella and you can’t figure out what they are trying to send you. I was waiting for them to zoom in on his shoes (or jeans or hair) at the end.

Carrie picked Air Supply’s “Makin’ Love Out of Nothin’ at All.” And who doesn’t love a little Air Supply? With this performance, we didn’t just get to see and hear Carrie’s personality…we got to see four of them. She started out singing it a little poppy. Then she jumped right into the country sound. Then she did some really strange transition with a high squeaky note. Then she rocked it out to the end. It was crazy. I guess she was saving up all the personality for this one particular song. And then she ended on a really bad note too.

JUDGE’S CHOICE

Vonzell got to sing Donna Summer’s, “On the Radio” as proclaimed by Simon. I think that Vonzell could actually be Donna Summer. She sounded eerily like Donna on this song. I was afraid that it was just going to be a mimic of original. But that changed. She was just out there having so much fun. And they even gave her the big reverb on the end…it even made her laugh too.

Bo gets to sing the old Rolling Stones classic, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” as dictated by Paula. At least he got to b animated on an upbeat song. But he lost all of his vocals with it. And he moved around the stage way too much…it was more distracting than anything else. And the ending was awful.

Carrie gets to go country/pop with Shania Twain’s, “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” selected by Randy. She started out with her fake voice again. It’s odd that this only happens when she sings country songs. Yet when she’s singing any other genre, she manages to sound decent with her natural country twang. It’s so strange. I felt that she did OK…but nothing special. She could have had so much more fun with song if she tried. But you can’t get much more out of a wooden figure.

Tomorrow night is it for one more contestant. Who will get sent home? It’s hard to pick. They are all different…and they all offer something different. I would say that Bo is safe because the judges just raved over him (and it sounded like Clive has already recorded his album). I’d say that Vonzell is safe because she’s just great…personality, style and voice. And I’d say that Carrie is safe because Simon predicted that she would win several weeks ago. Who would I pick to go home? Probably Carrie. Who do the judges thing should go home? Probably Vonzell. Who will America send home? Probably Bo. His first two songs were vocally the strongest of the night…and America has a history of sending the contestants home on their best weeks.

The Trach Takes A Break

2005-05-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

When the show started, I predicted at home that it would be either Carrie going home…or no one. I felt it had to be this way because of the possible scandal of wrong numbers appearing in the closed captioning on Tuesday night. But I was wrong. They didn’t even bother to mention it.

Ryan got all dressed up again. He’s cleaned up and looks good. Maybe he had a funeral earlier in the day and just didn’t have time to change. And he opted to recap every song that the four kids sang last night…because they don’t have enough to even fill a half hour show anymore.

Our group number is going country this week…rather than soulful. “Islands in the Stream” was the song of choice. I was waiting to hear someone sing Dolly last night, but it never happened. So they threw her in the mix today. And what a great song it was…originally. This was not so great. These kids just don’t sing overly well together because all of their styles are so different. You have the diva, the country gal, the rock star and the pop idol…they just don’t mix. And then Bo forgot the words (this isn’t the first time this has happened) when he was singing his duet part with Vonzell. She was singing the words and he just kind of grunted some sounds.

The commercial was too the tune of “Ready to Go.” Marty was disgusted that they chose this song…he’ll have to explain why that is. Bo got a new hairdo for this one. The kids wanted to know who styled him…so he was going to show them. I was hoping it would be Nadia coming back from the dead, but it was just a roller coaster ride. Then they all had new hairdos…except for Carrie (she wears her hair like that every other week on the show).

Flashback to all their original auditions, including a never before seen audition by Bo. This time we get to get a reaction from the kids themselves about them.
VONZELL…she thought her audition was funny (I think she’s just fun).
ANTHONY…he thought he looked goofy (he still does in my opinion, but he looked better with the glasses).
CARRIE…she thought it was all worth the eight hour trip (she has never sounded as good as she did at her audition, except when she sang that Tiffany song).
BO…he revealed on live television that his real name is Harold (but we all knew that already).

The three who get to go on in the competition will get a card from MarquiJet to go home and visit their friends and family…and all the publicity that comes along with that. And the one leaving will just get a one-way coach ticket home. The others have to come back to sing again next week as well.

Bo is safe.
Carrie is safe.
Vonzell is safe.
Anthony is going home.

So I guess in a way my prediction (well, one of them) was right. I can’t really claim a full victory since I explained why each of them would be sent home. But it was Anthony’s strongest week, and they like to send people home when they do their best (it poses a threat to the winner that they selected months ago). So he’s going home.

Anthony gets to sing us out…as usual. But he started singing a little too early. How embarrassing for him to screw up his swan song in front of 400 billion people…all of who would have voted from him if the closed captioning was correct on their screens last night. The camera kept flashing over to Carrie, who couldn’t control her emotions. It’s so nice to see that she got to get coverage from Anthony’s farewell song.

Let the scandals begin!!!

A Little Soulful Country

2005-05-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan seems to be on some sort of wardrobe rotation. He keeps recycling his past outfits…completely. Can’t this show afford some new clothing for our favorite host? Paula gets a little highlight for going through all her trials over the past few weeks. And Jasmine Trias from last season and Mikalah Gordon from this season both make an appearance in the audience.

This week’s selections will be from the Idol Road Trip. First stop is Nashville and the sounds of country. Then we’re off to Philly with the songs of Gamble and Huff, who are in the audience tonight as well.

Carrie Underwood

Country Tune “Sin Wagon” by the Dixie Chicks
Her voice had this weird sound to it. I’m sure it was just an exaggerated country twang because I did not like it at all. You may remember that Amy sang this tune in season two…and I think she sang it much better than Carrie (but I really liked Amy). I thought the whole thing was a big mess. She had the chance to really shine with this genre. But it seemed like she couldn’t keep up with the band. She did show a little personality. But I felt she gave up her vocals in order to get that personality out there. The judges all loved it though.

Soulful Tune “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”
She had some really bad eye make-up. And her hair looked bad pulled back like that. I didn’t think her vocals were as bad as the judges did. But she certainly lost all of her personality. It was just another boring performance and completely unenjoyable. She doesn’t get anymore camera close-ups until she takes Constantine’s class of mugging.

Bo Bice

Country Tune ???????
I think Bo took lessons from Bob Dylan in diction. Some of his words were so mumbled that he could have been saying just about anything. He was boring again this week. I actually talked to Marty through most of this song. It just wasn’t worth paying attention to.

Soulful Tune “For The Love of Money”
He was wearing slacks, a jacket, a vest, no shirt, flip flops and a huge rhinestone dollar sigh belt buckle. It was a big time fashion don’t. His performance was much, much better this time around though. He proved that he does have that star quality that so many are lacking.

Vonzell Solomon

Country Tune “How Do I Live” by Trisha Yearwood
I thought that she sounded fine on it. It started off weak, but she pulled it together. She chose a great dress this week…she looked beautiful. I didn’t get a good look, but I think she was wearing leopard pumps. The performance itself was a big snooze-fest…so unexciting. Apparently she had a bad day and was very emotional and nervous. I’m not sure what that’s all about…but feel free to do some research about it and get back to me.

Soulful Tune “Don’t Leave Me This Way”
She was totally back with this one. Her personality just exuded from every word she sang. She’s back to having fun…and that’s when she’s on her game completely. She sounded great. And she completely out-shown all the others with this song.

Anthony Federov

Country Tune “I’m Already There” by Lone Star
Who knew these guys had another song? I thought they only did that one over-played song. Sadly, he sounds great. I was convinced that tonight’s genres would be the end of him. But he pulled it off. It was another dull performance though…no excitement at all. Simon called it “gooey.” Then Paula added “sugary.” They said it in a negative way, but aren’t all the Idol winner’s songs sugary and gooey? That’s what makes them an Idol hit.

Soulful Tune “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”
You may have recognized this as the same song that Carrie sang tonight. Although, it sounded completely different from what she sang. It actually sounded good. He has taken over for Scott with the dramatics and from Constantine with the facial expressions to the camera. He certainly knows that his strength is in singing those ballads. And at some point he grew a soul patch. This is the first time I noticed it…but I’m sure he didn’t just grow it over the week.

Will there be a bottom two this week…or will they just send someone home? Well, they have to keep their dramatics up, so I guess there will be a bottom two. Who would I put in it? All of them except Anthony. Each of them had one really weak performance (except Anthony). I would actually say that Carrie was the weakest this week, but I don’t think America will send her home. Bo would be my second choice, but America loves him as well. So that leaves Vonzell. I think it could be her week. Although, America has a habit of sending kids home on their best week, and that would make it Anthony.

OK, that didn’t eliminate anyone. So my choice for bottom two are Vonzell and Carrie. Sadly of these two, Vonzell would be the one to go.

Ryan is once again, out

Fattie's Gone...at last

2005-05-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

I must clarify that I did NOT vote for Scott Savol…nor have I ever.

I think Ryan looked hot. I liked his cream color suit with the pastel tie. It was quite dainty and full of spring-time joy.

Then Ryan starting listed lots of stuff that you can find on the website. I didn’t write any of it down.

The group number was “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Michael W. Smith (who knew he was still making music). It was #28 on the Adult Contemporary charts this week. I think it was their best sounding number this year. It was very pop, boy band. Bo got to sing lead (Justin Timberlake), Scott got to play second banana to Bo (JC Chasez to Justin Timberlake), Carrie, Vonzell and Anthony got to sing back up (Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass). They are the new *NSYNC. Then they treated Paula with two bundles of flowers to show their support for her. But instead of giving the flowers to Paula, they gave them to Randy and Simon (her handlers).

This week’s commercial was odd…once again. It was to the tune of “A Message to You Rudy.” Rudy was played by a ugly, old dog. But Vonzell lured him to give up the keys with a picture of a hoochie dog.

Anthony (it’s his birthday by the way) gets sent to the couch.
Vonzell is asked to remain on the stage.
Scott also gets sent to the couch.
Bo gets to stay on the stage too.
Carrie also gets to stick around on the stage.

It was the old switcheroo again. That Ryan is so tricky. Will we ever catch on to his shenanigans? It’s made known that the three on the stage are the top three of the night…and the two on the couch are the bottom two. So the groups switch places while we’re on break. Both will sing for us.

We haven’t asked our judges for advice in a few weeks…so let’s give it over to them.
Randy…the right three are over on the sofa this week.
Paula…Scott knows who he is (huh?).
Simon…had nothing to say to the bottom two, but kept dissing on
Ryan.
Scott’s up first with “Every Time You Go Away.” It’s the Brian McKnight travesty from last night. He picked the worse song of the two from last night…maybe it was to prove how stupid he really is). If it’s possible, he sounded worse tonight than he did last night. There were way too many notes out of tune.

Anthony’s singing his big ballad from last night, “Incomplete” by the Back Street Boys. At least he chose the better of his two songs. He is his own boy band. And it was in tune. Too bad it’s such a crappy song.

Tonight, Scott finally got sent home. WOO HOO!!! I have nothing more to say about him. But I wonder who the “Vote for the Worst” people will start voting for now? Anthony?

Idols Times Two

2005-05-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Before you read this installment, make sure that you read the last comment on last week’s Wednesday post. I just added it…because I’m way behind. But it’s some good insight. The post says it’s from me…but it actually came from my pal, Jeffrey. Check it out

Also, check out this website…it may explain why Scott is still there (other than the because Sarah secretly votes for him). www.votefortheworst.com

Someone had a WE LOVE RYAN sign in the audience…and all I can say is, of course we do. He reminded that we have to vote if we don’t want the same thing that happened to Constantine to happen to our favorites. Well, once again I chose to not vote this week. Every time I actually call in, that person gets the boot. Maybe I should start voting for Scott.

Anyway, flashback to last week. We’re in the red room with the remaining five. Ryan tells them that they will be singing two songs next week. The first selection will be from songwriting team, Leiber and Stoller. And the second will be something current from one of the many billboards charts of this week.

Anthony steps up to the mike first. His L&S song is “Poison Ivy.” He chose to wear red All Stars with a dress pant…not a fashionable move on his part. It looked stupid. His song was a disaster. I call it my SO review. So bad…so unenjoyable…so out of tune (I’m not sure there were any that were right). It was just bad from start to finish. He chose it so he could have fun…well, I hope he did because no one got to. His current song is “Incomplete” by the Back Street Boys (their reunion song). It was #28 on the top 40 chart this week. He proved that he can only sing ballads…and that’s about all I can say about it. Well, I guess I can say that it was 1000 times better than his first song. I think we learned that he sings ballads well…and only current ballads.

Scott chose “On Broadway” as his L&S song. He chose it because he wanted to prove to Simon that he does belong here. Then he warned us that he’s not going to stop until he’s a star on Broadway. So are we to assume that he wants to do Broadway now? I sure hope not…that would be a travesty. It looks like Scotty got a hair cut…and a shave. The Idol tape got a little stuck on him…there was some Scotty Strobe going on during his song. The song was good except for those improvised runs…he should have stuck to the song alone. His second number was #39 on the R&B/Hop Hop Singles chart this week. It was Brian McKnight’s “Every Time You Go Away.” The lyrics forced him to say damn…and I’m not sure that’s allowed on Idol (it is a family show after all). I think that they may have dyed his hair black too. He’s basically a dumb white trash whigger (that would be a Caucasion who thinks he/she is African American…take white and add the “n word” and it’ll makes sense…they were big in rural Indiana believe it or not). These people are a blight on society as a whole…and need to be eliminated. The song sucked by the way. And then they showed this row of ho’s…and we’re supposed to believe they are Scott’s friends (although they didn’t applaud for him when the cameras were on them). OOPS!!! But I guess that will happen when you have no friends, family or fans.

Vonzell picked the L&S tune, “Treat Me Right.” It was one strange arrangement of the old Elvis song. They diva’d it up a bit for her. She’s got so much personality…and she is just too much fun to watch. Her vocals were decent with a few off notes…like usual. She’s certainly not the best…but she’s the most fun on stage. She gave a big shout out to the US Postal Service at the end as well. He second song was the #1 Billboard Sales song this week. And it was the Idol-tastic “When You Tell Me That You Love Me.” You may remember the group singing this as the Red Cross song that they recorded. She did a wonderful job with this song. It was an Idol song through and through…from note one to the end. I will say that it sounded better with her singing it by herself…she doesn’t need the group to ruin it. Simon has it in for her this week…she must be posing a threat to the producer’s choice of a winner this year.

Bo picked “Stand By Me” as his L&S song. It was the perfect song for him to sing…and he sang it really well. However, his performance was incredibly lacking…there is no showmanship in him. It was just dull. His second stage appearance brought the #2 song from the Adult Contemporary charts this week. I’m not sure how Bo and Adult Contemporary go together, but I don’t pick the songs. It’s called “Heaven” by Los Lonely Boys (whoever they are). He broke out the fringe jacket for this one…and that’s all I can say about that. He makes the most painful looking faces when he sings…I’m not sure if he’s enjoying himself or if the singing actually hurts.

Carrie is our last singer of the night. Her first song was L&S’s “Trouble.” It’s a great song…and she sang it incredibly. Probably her best vocal performance in weeks. She stole Bo’s mike stand holding stunt. The performance was dull…at first. Then she kicked the mike stand over and lost control of herself. And I have to say, I enjoyed it. It’s about time she tried to do something on the stage rather than just stand there and sing. She started moving…and wailing a little. Although she did break out of her monotony some this week…she still could have had more fun with this song (but it was much better than her usual). He second song is some country song (I think, Ryan didn’t really tell us where it came from or the title). So I’ve named it “God Bless The Broken Road That Led Me Straight to You.” That’s quite a title…but she said it repeatedly, so it’s my title. She started out by sitting on the steps in her beaded skirt and lacy camisol. She sounded good with only a few weird notes…I never know if it’s the notes or the fact that it’s country that makes it sound odd to me. She was back to no personality on this one though. She lost all the fun that she had in the first song…she shouldn’t blow her wad too quickly if she really wants to win this thing. Don’t give it all up on your first number honey…save a little for the crowd.

I’m pretty sure we’ll have a bottom two this week, rather than the bottom three. And they will probably play their little game of chose where you belong with the last person out on the stage…hopefully that will stop sometime soon. But my choice for bottom two are Anthony and Scott. I have put both of them there before…but I’m going to keep them there for now. I think that they would be the “true” bottom two.

However, I’m sure that Vonzell will be there. Simon wants her gone for some reason.

Who’s going home? I still want Scott gone. Or Anthony. Either one could go and I wouldn’t care. But if Scott stays around another week…then I want him to win the whole thing (otherwise, he’s just been wasting our television time). So send the fattie home this week…PLEASE!!!

Poser No More

2005-04-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

The kids got one couch to share this week. All six squeezed into it at the start of the show.

Pamela Anderson and the cast of STACKED are in the audience. Her family’s favorites are the blond and the rocker. Is that Bo and Carrie? Or Anthony and Constantine? Or any other variation of those kids.

The group number is an old Bee Gee’s song that Destiny’s Child covered in 2001 called “Emotions.” Everyone got a nice solo on the song except for Vonzell…she only got to do the riffs at the end. The falsetto voices of the Idolettes were so dreadful. Couldn’t they have just sung them in a range that they could pull off? Bo forgot the words and just stopped singing during his solo. And Scott did his best Cartman impersonation. He should come out dressed as him next week. Then The girls paired up with boys…and left the rockers in the middle of the group standing apart. It was a hideous performance and song from start to finish.

The commercial this week was “20th Century Boy.” It amused me more than any other commercial. We got to see Anthony as a master of disguise. Or is he just “your toy” as the song proclaims.

Ryan informed us that the charity cd is #1 on the single’s chart…thanks to us (or rather those who bought it…I did not). He also reminded us that tour tickets will be going on sale the week end of May 20th…and only the top 10 will be taking the tour. And the person leaving tonight has amassed over 35 million votes over the course of the season…wow.

We’re going to divide the groups into two again. The top three and the bottom three.

Vonzell and Anthony were sent to be one group…Bo and Carrie the other group. Scott and Constantine were left on the couch. After the break, both boys were flanking Ryan in the middle of the stage. Ryan told them both to move to the group that felt they belonged in. Both boys went over to Carrie and Bo. They are some cocky pieces of crap. Rayn told us that Bo and Carrie are safe, so they get sent back to the couch. Then he told Scott that he was also safe. You know what that means? It means that Constantine is in the bottom three (which is where I put him). But what it really means is that Scott got more votes than 3 other people. How can this be?

So the bottom three is Vonzell (my choice to be the winner this year), Anthony (who is probably every pre-teen’s choice to win this year) and Constantine (the clearly insane’s choice to be this year’s winner).

Randy was shocked!!!
Simon was speechless for a brief moment. Then he said that he would have sent Scott home, but he doesn’t make that decision. And then he even congratulated him for getting so many votes.

Vonzell gets sent back to the couch first…this makes me happy.

Anthony also gets sent back.

That means that Constantine Maroulis is gone…and I’m not disappointed at all. He annoyed me a little too much.

Paula was devastated. She couldn’t even speak. The tears were running down her face. I guess she lost her love slave from this year’s group of kids this week. Or maybe the producers got rid of him because he was her love slave this year…and they don’t want anymore bad press to come up before that big expose next week on ABC. Paula has already contacted her lawyers to get the show to be not aired…and that usually means there some truth behind those rumors. WOO HOO!!!

Constantine started singing his swan song before Ryan even finished talking. He’s going to make sure he gets all the air time possible. He was given the longest final song of any Idol contestant. And none of the other kids got to join him on the stage until he moved out to the secondary stage. It all seemed a little too staged to me. And I just didn’t want to hear him sing anymore.

Decade 00

2005-04-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

This week the kids will be singing songs from this millennium…so they have five years worth of songs to choose from. Ryan asked two of the boys what they were doing at the changing of the millennium. Anthony proved how dumb he really is by saying something stupid about “what happens in Pennsylvania, stays in Pennsylvania.” Bo was busy gigging that night, of course. It’s about time they chose this theme…since this is the crap that these kids will be singing if they win (or get some other deal).

Clay Aiken is in the audience for the first time ever. Welcome Clay. I’m surprised that they let him back in the doors since he got himself removed from his contract with the Idol people. But he’s there…and apparently not wearing any socks.

Heather Locklear is also in the audience with her daughter and her daughter’s friend. The little Locklear likes Anthony…the poor thing.

Carrie Underwood is up first. She’s singing what I’m calling “Random Country Song #4” by Martina McBride (I only know this because Randy said it). Carries had some insane hair for her interview. It looked like she just woke up. I hope she doesn’t actually walk around Hollywood like that. She showed us that she’s a farm girl who likes fishing and playing with cows. Then her mom cried when she was talking about her…that was sweet. Anyway, back to he performance tonight. Her hair was much more tame this week…and looked good. She picked a country song to fit her “style.” But it was a little out of control. She would do much better with a ballad (and I don’t say that often because I don’t enjoy when people sing ballads over and over again…but she needs a few). It was just a bad performance. She’s still dull to watch…she doesn’t have any stage presence and has no idea what to do on stage. I think that she made the “Nadia mistake” of picking an obscure song. But maybe it’s not so obscure…I just don’t know country music. Not so great overall.

Bo Bice is up next and he’s singing “I Don’t Wanna Be.” I’m guessing that’s the name of the song. I knew the song, but had no idea of the title. He owns his own house, some dogs, cats and turtles. He also has a girlfriend. Apparently he has 12 guitars…and they are his true love. He’s a family according to his band mates…and he’s a real guy (I think they meant that he’s not fake and not that he’s not secretly a woman). Bo admitted that he’s a bit of a head-banger…but he’s getting to old to actually bang his head without hurting his neck. Tonight Bo is wearing stupid pants…I hated the big rips that looked sewed up on the legs. They were bad…in a bad way. And I felt like I should run to our bedroom closet to see if he stole that shirt from Marty. Marty’s was still in the closet, so he must have gotten his own. He broke out swinging his mike stand as usual. He sang this song well. He knows what he can do…and does just that. But his performance was pretty lack-luster. There wasn’t anything special about it. I find him boring…week after week.

Vonzell Solomon…aka “The Vonz” chose to sing “I Turn To You.” OK, again that may not be the title, but I knew the song at least. Vonzell was a mail carrier back in Florida…and I love that about her. She’s also the youngest child in her family and he daddy calls her Baby V…so cute. She’s a karate master. And her music teacher says that she’s the sweetest person she has ever taught. Then her brothas sported some before and after photos on their shirts for her…and one started tearing up. Awwwwww. Vonzell should not sing any ballads…they take away all her personality on the stage. She started this song off really badly…it was unenjoyable. But once she got to belt a little, it turned out OK. There were way to many riffs…but that’s how the song goes (and how Cristina did it too). So after an overly shaky start, I think she nailed all the belting portions. I love that she is very passionate about her songs when she sings…but I want those up-tempo songs that she sings so well. I will admit that Vonzell is the one that I want to win this whole thing (of the people that are left). I don’t think she will…but I still want her too.

Anthony Federov is singing “I Surrender” by the horrendous Celine Dion. I have repeatedly said that no one should sing Celine. This has usually applied to females…but I’m adding males to the list now. No one should sing her crap. Anthony had some curly angel hair on his head as a child…it was freaky. Then we were forced to listen to a tape of him singing as a child. It was bad…even for a child. He started off tonight’s song by whispering the lyrics to us while sitting on the steps of the stage…so dramatic. Then things picked up a bit when he stood. He has a weird bounce/dance thing that he does every week…and he did it again this week. The poor white boy has no rhythm. His belting was not so good. It’s that Diana DeGarmo disease…if you can’t sing well, then sing loudly. I will say that this was the perfect Idol song to sing…it’s everything the producers love. It’s a big, sweet, sappy ballad that moves from start to finish…basically it would be labeled crap. But that’s what they love…and could really help him out.

Constantine Maroulis picked “This Is How You Remind Me.” OK, again that’s probably not the title…but I knew this song too. He’s a Brooklyn boy from the beginning…this I did not know. His mom said that he was a good baby…but a pain-in-the-neck teenager. He was the President of his youth group…EEK!!! And apparently he had a “Sweet 16” party…and this is when he became a rock star. A sweet 16 party? How much of a girl is he? I will say that he is the best performer of the group…but I’m really hating him lately. He annoys me when he’s on stage…mainly because he’s a big fraud. He forgot to sing rock music apparently…he should stick to just singing songs from now on. This was a disaster. He once again stole Bo’s mike holding signature move (to prove that he is still a rocker maybe). He gave the camera an extremely weak kick…more rocker edge falling away from him. He had no connection with this song at all…but he did connect with the back-up singers this week (last week they only got on the big video screen…this week, full camera shot for them). His performance wasn’t even that spectacular this week…I was completely underwhelmed. However, unlike Bo, he proved that he can still bang his head (even though he’s a couple years older than Bo…the whipper-snapper). Overall, he’s the perfect imitator…and nothing more.

Scott Savol picked “Dance with My Father”…and Ryan called him Little Luther. BLECH!!! Scott reminisced that he comes from a family that doesn’t always get along…sometimes you just have to throw a phone at your ex-girlfirend/baby’s momma. His parents thought that he’d be a priest. EEK…could you imagine? We got a glimpse of his son, Brandon (a darkie…no offense). He was classified as an “average Joe” (who throws phones) and the “heart and soul of America” (who all throw phones). He chose to sing a song for his daddy this week. But I thought he hated his father…he’s always whining about how his father told him that he’d amount to nothing in life and would basically be a big loser (I wonder why he thought that?). He chose to act out his song once again…and usually I enjoy interpretive dance. But I guess I just don’t like anything our tubby little ghetto thug wannabe does. He hit some really bad notes in the song…repeatedly. It was just bad from start to finish. And if you don’t know what to do with your hands while on stage…then don’t do anything. I hate those arm swings. This would be the perfect song to be his swan song. He hates his dad so he sings him a song…and then America proves that they really hate him and make him sing it again. Fattie be gone!!!

I’m not sure if there will be a bottom three this week…eventually they will switch to a bottom two. This could be the last week of a bottom three. So I’m going to pick a bottom two…and an alternate in case they do give us the bottom three.

Carrie Underwood…because she needs to be there at least once.
Constantine Maroulis…because he needs to be taken down a notch.
Scott Savol…because he will always be the bottom for me.

OK, so that was three…and I didn’t mention who would be the bottom two. HEE HEE!!! I’m always wrong, so it shouldn’t matter. So I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Scott and Constantine will be the bottom two…then add Carrie for the extra body.

Scott should definitely be heading home this week. But because I love Vonzell so much, it will probably be her.

Seacrest is once again out…but who isn’t these days?

A Partial Correction...Dropping Another Boy

2005-04-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

I will correct myself for those who pointed out my mistake in yesterday’s post. I said that the theme was 70’s Disco Dance Classics…or something like that. Someone said that I got it wrong and that the theme was actually 70’s Dance Classics…or something like that. So I listened very closely to what Ryan said about last night’s songs. He clearly stated that the theme was 70’s Dance Songs. So I stand corrected. However, I still stand by the fact that Bo didn’t sing a dance song. “Vehicle” is not now, nor has it ever been a dance song. It’s a rock song…nothing more. I will say that he sang it great…but it still didn’t fit the theme. Do I blame him for singing it? Absolutely not. He knew that he would do it justice. But it should have NEVER been an option. Apparently the themes mean nothing…and everyone should just sing whatever they want. Or maybe the producer’s are just allowing their “choice” for this year’s American Idol to break the rules by forcing all the others to follow them. But I just speculate. I stand by the fact that his song is in no way a dance song.

Now that I have said that, I can get on with the update.

Ryan shaved for tonight…and he put on lots of make-up. He also chose a shirt that said “No, I’m Not A Rock Star.” Not to be confused with Anthony’s shirt that said “You Gotta Live Like A Rock Star.” As you may remember Ryan asked Anthony why he was so “happy” last night. And now they are shopping together apparently. Hmmm….

Ryan got all dressed up to receive his star on the Walk of Fame…good for him. I guess that’s why he shaved too. So I guess I’ll let it go this week. But he better be stubbly again next week.

John Farrar wrote a “special” song for the kids. You may (or may not) know John as the great songwriter for most of Olivia Newton-John. I didn’t know it, but now I do. Some of the kids even got to “play” instruments. Anwar was on keyboards and Carrie and Bo were on guitar. I’m not really sure that Carrie was playing her guitar because she was just strumming to some other song in her hear…it certainly didn’t make the music at all. The other kids are apparently musically challenged when it comes to physical instruments. They only have the instrument of voice (for the most part). This song sucked. It was a mess…as most of the group numbers are. These people should never get to sing together. They can’t blend…there are too many different styles of music coming out of them (and they can’t sing anything but their style). Please stop torturing the faithful viewers. Oh yeah, I guess the song was called “Shine.” They kept saying it over and over…so that’s what I’m calling it.

This weeks commercial was freaky. I didn’t get it at all. I couldn’t even figure out what commercial they were trying to copy…as they usually do. The highlights for me were Carrie’s big beehive…and Vonzell on skates.

When picking the bottom three…they tried the trick they did last year by separating them into two groups and making the last poor soul pick who he/she thinks is the top three. This time Bo had to decide…last year it was George Huff. Unlike George, Bo wouldn’t pick…he just stood in the middle (maybe proclaiming his Idol victory early). Poor George picked the “wrong” group last year when he selected to stand with Fantasia, LaToya and Jennifer (this was the sad week when Jennifer went home).

So Ryan moved Bo to the group of Vonzell, Carrie and Constantine…all, including Bo, are safe this week. That leaves Anwar, Anthony and Scott in the bottom three. Paula has no explanation as to why these boys are in the bottom three (all I can say is that I’m glad it’s a boy…for only the 2nd time). Ryan immediately sends Scott and Anthony back to the couches…so Anwar is this week’s casualty. He’s on his way back to Elizabeth, NJ…home of IKEA…and back to his students. It was inevitable that he would be going home soon…so it’s fine. And one can only wonder if it was his voice…or his dance moves…that sent him home. The poor non-rhythmic African American homo…who knew there was such a thing? Such an anomaly is he.

He sings through the credits…THE END

Who Needs a Theme?

2005-04-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Ryan brought back the cute scruffiness that I love on him. And he’s dressed the way he should be. My boy looked good tonight. Alex Trebek is in the audience…for no apparent reason (except maybe that they needed some pseudo-celebrity in the audience who was actually alive in the 70s’).

This week’s theme is 70’s Dance Music Classics. And Ryan has taken to calling it CLUB IDOL. He asked if we could feel the funk? I didn’t know if that was an invitation to touch him in bad places or not? Of course that’s what I chose to believe. Sadly, we will learn that these kids no nothing about disco music. I realize that they were just being born during the disco hey-days…but have they never heard a disco classic ever? It appears so. They were also forced to tape the most retarded song intros yet. Some people should not be allowed to attempt to dance on television…let alone on a fake disco dance floor.

Constantine Maroulis
“Nights on Broadway”
The Bee GeesHis huge zipper on his pants were distracting. It went half-way down his leg. I’m thinking that he hopes the zipper distracted people enough from listening his song. It was not pretty this week. And his hair is a mess…even more than usual. He got some streaks put into it…and they came out really stringy. He really needs to wash his hair…it just looks dirty. His performance was pretty bad from start to finish. There wasn’t anything great about it. It came off really hokey. And he may be the best impersonator that Idol has ever seen. He’s just a big poser.

Carrie Underwood
“McArthur’s Park”
Donna Summer
I would have chosen Vonzell to sing the Donna Summer song of the night. But Carrie stole it from her. She got the stylists to do up her hair again. But she must have told them that it was 80’s night again…because she came back with the same Bonnie Tyler hair that she had for 80’s night. She was so awkward just walking in her shoes…so there wasn’t even a thought about here trying to dance in them. It was so obvious that she doesn’t know this song at all. She sang it so oddly. Marty said that it sounded like a foreigner singing the lyrics that had just been translated word for word. Not a bad description of the travesty of the country singing disco. We have heard people say that Carrie has no stage presence whatsoever (OK, that may have been me)…and that she has the stage presence of a rock. I’m upgrading her from rock to turd this week. Actually I would rather see a singing turd more than watch her be so uninvolved with every song she sings. The judges praised her vocals…but I wasn’t even impressed by them. She was just not good. Her drawn-out last note was the best part (which the judges made special note of)…but her voice also cracked on it and she took a breath. So I wouldn’t claim that as a victory. She’s in my bottom three.

Scott Savol
“Everlasting Love”
Carl Carlton (that can’t be right)
We learned that Scotty can snap this week. Good for him. It’s nice to see when the tards show their motor skills. And of course his arm was being thrust at us over and over again tonight (it’s the only thing he seems to know how to do). He did actually attempt to dance a little on stage, but it didn’t work for him so he stopped right away. Then he gave us what appeared to be the start of a leg kick at the end. But he didn’t commit to it. So it just looked like he was lifting his leg to fart (which I would have enjoyed more than his song). He was bland as usually. However, he was the first contestant EVER to mention “the list” of songs that they are given. Poor Scott, he’s in my bottom three every week…this week is no exception.

Anthony Federov
“Don’t Take Away the Music”
Tavares
Anthony thought that Barry Manilow was in CLUB IDOL tonight…or he was channeling him. It was so very showy and Vegas-style. It made me laugh (which I guess is a form of entertainment). But it certainly didn’t sound like a disco classic to me. Maybe he’ll be invited to be on Clay Aiken’s next special…he would fit right in. This song was horrendous (not that he sang it badly). It was just a horrible arrangement and ruined the whole song. Ryan asked him why he always appears “happy.” And we all know that happy means…(gay, in case you didn’t connect it). Ryan’s always pointing these things out…last week it was Anwar’s body.

Vonzell Solomon
“I’m Every Woman”
Chaka Khan
A bold choice for Ms. Solomon…good for her. Her belt looked like a bunch of cd’s strung together. And she threw Randy’s name into the song…always a good thing to play off the judges. She is just so much fun. I’ve liked her all along (initially only for her name). And she’s growing on stage so much. They will have to dump her soon if they really want that boy to win. She can pull of any song she tries. Probably the best performance of the night for me (so she’ll probably be going home). But I refuse to put her in the bottom three.

Anwar Robinson
“September”
Earth, Wind & Fire
My initial thought was that he will do incredibly well with this theme…and especially this song. But I wasn’t impressed at all. He did march along to the beat for quite a bit of the song. Then he paid homage to the late-departed, Nadia, by doing her signature head snap. And then, he skipped in place for a bit. And of course, how do you end a disco classic? You do the lame finger-point move from SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. Bad choice…he loses points just for that. I didn’t like anything about the performance.

Bo Bice
“Vehicle”
The Ides of March
When did this become a disco song? I don’t feel that this fits the theme at all…and I’m very disappointed. However, he did sing it just like the original…and is a great song for him to sing. I think that he should be eliminated just for singing outside the theme. But the producer’s gave him the choice…so you can’t really blame him. However, on principle, I have to put him in the bottom three.

Simon called Bo’s performance the most authentic. Well, it was. And when you give him the song to fit exactly that is the genre that he sings and you give all the other contestant disco classics (which was the theme)…that’s what you’re going to get. It all adds to the rigging of the show. Give the boy something he can do well when there is no way that he can sing from the category.

So you have my bottom three…Carrie Underwood, Scott Savol and Bo Bice. Any of them can go home and I wouldn’t care. But of course, I would love for Scotty to hit the road at last. But part of my wants Bo to go because they gave him the advantage with the song that wasn’t part of the week’s theme. And Carrie just pissed me off by being so unimteresting.

Can you tell that I had a bad day? I came home in such a pissy mood…and this show didn’t help with that. Only one really good performance in my opinion (by Vonzell). Bo’s was definitely the best of the night…but his song doesn’t count because it wasn’t part of the theme.

OK…I’m done ranting. Ryan has stopped being out. So F*#K HIM!!!

bye…

Get Rid of Those Ladies

2005-04-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ryan started off the show saying that we were in for a shock tonight. I was already shocked that he had on a suit and tie for this evening’s festivities. He’s so fancy. And we were told that there were 34 million votes…but no mention of a record. People just don’t care anymore.

Ryan then chatted with a few contestants. First was Constantine. He was asked about his tongue. It was some kind of homage to Gene Simmons. Anthony said that he felt good because he got positive comments from Simon. And THE VONZ (when did we start calling her that?) said she was having the time of her life being in the studio.

They reunited the top 12 to record that dreadful American Red Cross song. And Nikko told us that everyone in America is going to buy it. So get on out there on April 19th to get your copy. Those other 2 crappy songs are on it too…what a bonus.

This horrendous song is our group number for the night too. It’s newly arranged for our enjoyment as well. I think the only thing that was rearranged was that they had to pick up the parts of the rejects (who may have made it back for the recording, just not back to the show). Constantine got to be one of the girls in order to make the sided equal.

We were treated to a glimpse into the week of an Idol…

Thursday is song choice day. They get to pick a song within the theme. And then chop it all up so that it will only be a minute and 30 cents.

Friday is when they tape their little interviews. They also get to go shopping for the upcoming week’s outfits. We were told that they have a costume designer…but they get to pick whatever they want.

Saturday is recording day. I don’t know if this is regular thing since their song is all done now. Maybe they will get the whole day off instead of just part of it. But even their time of activities are organized as a group.

Sunday they shoot those brilliant Ford commercials.

Monday is rehearsal with the band.

Tuesday they do a walk-through for the camera. They do a quick dress rehearsal. Then off to hair and make-up. And finally show time.

Wednesday they just sit around waiting to be eliminated.

Ford commercial was dumb…again. They can’t seem to come up with a good one. They got to make a car paper car this week.

Ryan went back to the contestants to chat some more (it is an hour show and we have to fill it somehow). Carrie told us that she was sick last night…and she still sounded stuffy tonight (I really hate when people use the sickness plea). Nadia just praised God and said that he has a plan for her (she’s a little too God-happy tonight). And Anwar admitted to being an over-thinker…he has finally realized that he just needs to sing the songs and “be the music.”

Our bottom three all get to sing (once again, it is an hour show). And they don’t have to sing the crap that they sang last night. They get to pick their favorite song that they’ve sung already.

First in the bottom is Scott…singing “Against All Odd.” He screamed it out…and we got a little glimpse into the psycho-anger once again.

Bo is in the bottom as well (one of my predictions). And he chose “Remedy” as his favorite. I still don’t know this song. But it least it was more exciting than his last few weeks of performances.

My girl Nadia is our last bottom three dweller. She picked “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” By far the best performance of tonight’s bottom three…and she loves to snap her head to the side when she sings.

Advice from the judges…
Randy said that they have to be consistent.
Paula reminded them that crazy things happen on this show.
Simon said that song choice is the most important thing for them in the competition. Then he picked on Nadia again for her song choice…but did say that if she had sung the song she just sang, she wouldn’t be there (although she was in the bottom three the week she sang that earlier in the competition). He just wanted her out for some reason.

Scott is first to be safe. It’s absurd.
Bo is also safe.
Nadia is not.

I’m not sure what kind of country we are living in when Scott Savol gets to stay in the competition over Nadia Turner. It’s disgusting to me. But I should expect it. My favorites never win…and get the boot way too early in most cases. I loved Nikki (she lasted the longest of my girls) in year one. I picked Trenyce year two. And of course, Jennifer Hudson from year three. It’s the same again this year with poor Nadia. It’s such a shame.

Anyway, Ryan took off his tie before the show ended. The schlub couldn’t even make it through the full hour. Maybe the show was only supposed to be a half hour when he decided to wear it…then just couldn’t change his wardrobe plans when they extended the show. Who knows…and who cares really.

America sucks!!!

Babies No More

2005-04-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

I’m admitting that I voted tonight. Or I tried to. I couldn’t get through for Nadia. I only voted for her because I don’t want her to go home anytime soon. I’m going to keep trying as I’m typing this and watching the Amazing Race…so I’ll let you know if I ever get through.

Ryan told us that things are going to get personal now that there are only 8 contestants left. And he reminds us that Nikko was sent home to St. Louise last week. We did a little flashback to last week after the show to reveal this week’s theme. The clues…baby pictures. The theme…songs from the year each Idolette was born. It’s a funky idea…I approve. Did anyone notice the thing Ryan was wearing on his wrist. I’m not sure what it was. It may have been a watch with a huge band…or is could be a leather cuff left-over from the S&M club he was at last night…who knows?

Paula had on one of the most hideous tops ever…it was some colored sequence that were enormous. Someone really needs to tell this woman NO when she tries to wear things like that. It was a disaster. Then at the end of the show, she grabbed her crotch. I may have thrown up if I wasn’t laughing so hard.

Hall & Oates joined the audience…maybe because someone chose one of their old songs.

Simon kept mentioning how horrible Nadia was throughout the night…so I’m convinced that he wants her gone. BAD SIMON!!!

Speaking of which, Nadia is up first tonight. She was born in 1977 and chose “When I Dream.” It’s a song that I have never heard of…and neither had the judges. She brought her fro back in full force. But the dress was something special. Initially I thought it was awful…but the more I saw it, the more interesting I found it. Poor Nadia has been plagued with only being able to sing 5 notes…but tonight she added a few more to her range. GOOD FOR HER!!! The song was much too slow…and extremely boring. But I think she sounded good…and looks phenomenal on camera. So that’s why I continue to try to vote for her (it’s 9:46 and I still haven’t been able to get through). Going first is a hard place to be. You need to really wow the audience at home to get votes…this song wasn’t so memorable sadly

Bo is up next. He was born in 1975 and chose “Freebird.” I may be a little biased with this one because I HATE THIS SONG. But he’s back to holding that mike stand. I was unimpressed. He’s lost all appeal for me. I didn’t like it…and I don’t think it was just the song. He was boring and didn’t sing well. But he did do a rock star leap at the end…so I give him a little credit for that.

Anwar was born in 1979 and chose “I Know I’ll Never Love This Way Again.” Another crappy song which came off incredibly dull. He did get to have a big, sustained note at the end of the song. He sound fine but he certainly isn’t the greatest singer in the world like Randy and Paula seem to thing…every week. It was mediocre.

Anthony came to us in 1985 and picked “Everytime You Go Away.” The best song choice so far in the night. It was completely enjoyable. He sang it really well. He’s certainly lucky that he didn’t get voted off earlier in the competition…because he should be very safe for now. And he was dressed better than he has been. He looked good. His jacket did have some weird grommets on the lapels…I’m not sure if that was supposed to give it character or he stole the jacket from IKEA (they grommet a lot of their display clothes).

Vonzell was born in 1984. She chose “Let’s Hear It For The Boy.” I enjoy this song very much. She chose to wear a cut up disco ball for a top…and a glittery denim skirt. I think she always looks really good and classy…or really cute (tonight was a cute night). She picked the most fun song of the night so far. It wasn’t her greatest performance vocally…but it was fun. She’s got personality and knows how to work the crowd. Simon said that Vonzell would outlast Nadia in the competition. I’m not saying that I disagree…but it’s now 10:01 and I still can’t get through on Nadia’s number (so someone must be voting for her…or the producer’s have shut her number down to make sure she doesn’t get any votes).

Scott was born in 1976 (or the year of evil…only because he was born). He picked the Hall & Oates song, “She’s Gone.” They liked it…I didn’t. It had all kinds of bad notes during the verses. The choruses were much better, but I hate this kid too much to say anything overly nice about him. The best part was when Ryan talked over Scott’s intro video and they had to rewind it…and we got to watch it rewind. Good television there.

Carrie came to us in the year 1983. She picked a rocker song this week with “Love Is A Battlefield.” It’s such a great song…and she kind of ruined it. This was by far her worst performance of the competition. It started off really weird…WHOA OH OH OH OH…and it sounded like yodeling in her country twang. Her song was a mess from start to finish. She mentioned that she always messed up the words to songs when she was a child…and her fear of messing up the words happened for her tonight. They were all kinds of wrong. She could have done so much more with this. I would have handed the Idol title if she had learned the choreography from the video…or at least wore the dyed crinoline dress that Pat wore. I learned the dance moves way back when…so I think she could have too. All you really have to do is shake your boobies and walk forward one big step at a time…and be an ass-kicking hooker (or pretend to be one). That’s not asking too much…is it? Did I mention that I didn’t enjoy this?

Constantine is up last. He was born in 1975 (he’s only 4 year’s younger than me). And he picked “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Another fantastic song…probably the best song choice of the night. Sadly, it got all chopped up so that you could enjoy every style that the song offers. It was a brilliant production…they should win awards. From the opening sequence of flashing red lights…to the video footage of the back-up singers…to the Cousin Itt moment when he shook his hair and it all landed in front of his face…to the ending where he found every camera that was on him with a full facial shot taking over the entire screen. He stole this show with this one…the clear front-runner of the competition. He has the odd ability to channel stars. He was doing the Bono thing with his mugging previously…and tonight he let Freddy Mercury take over his body. It was oddly creepy how much he sounded like him on this song. Either he’s truly great…or he just knows how to impersonate people. And his brooch from last week (the weird handcuffs) moved to his necklace this week. I’m still not sure what theyare.

I heard a rumor that tomorrow’s show is an hour in length. I knew it was inevitable…but it’s much too soon for that. A whole hour just to send someone home…how can it be? What are we going to be subjected to? By the way…it’s 10:14 and I still get through on Nadia’s number.

Bottom Three…there may be some controversy with this one. I probably could have picked a bottom five…but I’ll keep it to three.

Bo Bice
Carrie Underwood
Scott Savol

I know, I didn’t put Nadia down there even though she wasn’t great. But I truly don’t think she belongs there. I have put her there in the past…so it’s not my personal preference. I just feel that these people proved to be the worst of the night. In addition to these, I would have added Nadia and Anwar…but I think the others were more wretched tonight. So I’m sticking to it.

And who’s going home…I would love to see Scott get thrown out. I’ve been an enemy of his from day one…and I’m getting tired of waiting. Send his women-beating ass home…and to jail. HEE HEE!!!

10:17…still no luck in voting for Nadia. Is that a good sign?

One Boy Down...

2005-04-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ryan’s sporting another jacket tonight. But it fits him a lot better than the previous ones have. So he’s looking good. Finally the costume people are making a little effort for him. He informed us that last night’s vote broke records for any non-finale ever…again. This time it was 32.8 million.

He also told us that “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” was voted in as Red Cross song. But because there was so much response with the vote, all three songs will be on the cd. No real surprise there…typical Idol.

Fantasia took to the stage. She’s still bopping around the stage. BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCE. The poor girl’s put on a little weight…especially in the trunk. The tight jeans were not so flattering to her. But check out the hoochie boots…they rock!!! Her choir joined her half-way through the performance to that she could belt out that song that Tamyra Gray wrote for her, I mean for last year’s winner. And it’s good to see that she’s still insane. She gave the Idolettes some advice…ACT UGLY. Brilliant words from a true Idol sage.

Reuben’s in the audience because he has nothing better to do…and he can’t sing on the stage because he can’t stand up for too long. But you could have seen him immediately following Idol. He’ll be the behemoth that is singing about fish. But he loves his fried food…that’s probably how they paid him for the gig too.

Commercial break. I have nothing to say about this commercial. It was bad. But Nadia was wearing the same skirt on the show tonight that she had on in the commercial. That was odd.

Bottom Three…I had the most right this season with two people.
Nikko Smith…hooray!
Vonzell Solomon…what?
Scott Savol….at last.

Hmmmm…guess who’s not there? That’s right…NADIA. All of you who dissed my girl can suck it. HEE HEE!!!

Then we got to talk to Bo and Anthony…just to see how eloquent they are. Here’s a couple of snippets.
Bo…”It wasn’t my gendre.” Or is that jandra? I’m not certain, but I think he meant to say genre. Or maybe he was just naming his first bastard child.
Anthony…”…glad that his fans stuck through him.” The stuck through him? With pins? Like a voodoo doll? Wouldn’t that have the opposite affect?

Back from the break…and Vonzell gets sent back to the group. THANK GOD!!! At least there’s some justice in this competition. I was starting to think that they were going to send her home as part of the conspiracy to relieve the show of all talent in order to force a victory from the person that they have already selected as the winner. But she’s safe…all is well for now.

So it’s down to Nikko and Scott…two of the worst in the group. So let’s talk to them a bit. I didn’t listen to Nikko. He rambled something about the whole gang being out of their element with last night’s theme. “WAH WAH WAH!!! My daddy’s a hall of famer…and we don’t like showtunes.” If he learned how to sing, maybe he would have done better. Scott simply reminisced about a necklace that Paula gave to him that told him to “embrace your imperfections.” I’m not sure that’s the nicest advice in the world…but he liked it. And they are both felons…so they stick together. And we all know that Paula has many imperfections…so she can relate. Someone embraced hers long ago…it’s the only way to explain any amount of fame that she has, had or will have.

Anyway…Scott has somehow survived another week. And Nikko is going home…for the second time. We’ll miss him…OK, not really.

That’s it for this week…unless some kind of news comes up.

The Golden Age of the Musical

2005-04-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

Ryan ditched the jackets…and pulled out one crazy sweater. And a shirt with an enormous collar. It was also a bit too long to wear untucked with that sweater. His hair is fixed this week though. So he’s still a hottie.

He informed us that no boys have gotten kicked out…yet. Could that be foreshadowing for a boy leaving this week. I sure hope so. He also told us that Fantasia will be on the show to sing tomorrow.

William Hung is stealing Ryan’s spotlight in the Cingular commercials now too. Is there nothing that this boy can’t do?

And late in the evening, we were told that Rueben Studdard and Kimberly Caldwell will be making a guest appearance on “Life on a Stick,” immediately following tomorrow night’s show.

OK…this week. It’s all about musicals. The theme made me happy. I knew that girls would do really well this week…and that most of the boys wouldn’t. HEE HEE!!! And to top it off, they had to be old musicals…nothing modern. We wouldn’t want little Constantine to have that advantage (since he did that tiny tour). I’m not sure how they came up with this theme. Maybe it was to piss the judges off. They always complain when the contestants sound like Broadway singers…but we’ll find out later that none of them do.

Scott Savol chose “The Impossible Dream” from MAN OF LA MANCHA. And he told us that he knows nothing about show tunes…his momma told him to sing this one. It was completely weak…and there were a lot of bad notes. It’s really obvious that he doesn’t know this song at all. And it ended horrendously. But Paula came to his aid…probably she’s a felon as well and they got to stick together.

Constantine Maroulis is up…and he’s singing “My Funny Valentine.” It was really good. He does have that star quality. But the rocker is dead for him…he cannot go back to it anymore. He needs to stop doing those weird things with his eye…and maybe just open them up a little more. But the boy knows just what he has to do to get the votes. His last note was by far the worst part of the song…no big finishes for him. Does anyone know what that brooch was that he had on? It looked kind of like handcuffs.

Carrie Underwood took to the stage to sing “Hello Young Lovers” from THE KING AND I. My initial thought was that this is a dreadful song choice. But it was an interesting rendition in her country twang way. She really sings songs well. I liked her little blue dress…she looked cute in it. Her hair was a mess though. She seemed disconnected…either from the audience or the song (I’m not sure which…maybe both).

Vonzell Solomon picked “People” from FUNNY GIRL…because Mikalah wasn’t around to steal the Barbra song. She looks stunning tonight. Her dress was gorgeous…her makeup was flawless…and she was in great voice. It was a boring arrangement…but had the big ending to give it a little something. She’s becoming more and more of a star each week. However, Paula may end up dead once Barbra hears the diss she got from Miss Paula. How dare she say that Barbra doesn’t hit those notes? That’s just asking for trouble.

Anthony Federov took to the mike with “Climb Every Mountain” from THE SOUND OF MUSIC. I don’t know why he chose this song…but he’s stuck with it now. He did the boy-band version of this song. It was such a strange arrangement… I can’t even think of anything to say. He did sound much better vocally than he has lately…but the last note was way off. It was just madness.

Nikko Smith picked a duet from WEST SIDE STORY with “One Hand, One Heart.” I knew that he wouldn’t do well with this theme…and he didn’t let me down. He just sucks. It was a dreadful mess from start to finish. However, the back-up singers got to sing most of the song for him.

Anwar Robinson picked “If Ever I Would Leave You.” I don’t know how many layers of clothing this boy is wearing. It seemed endless. And what was up with that scarf thing? He sounded so much better this week. But it was another crazy arrangement. But it was definitely his style of music and it suited him quite well this week. He has a very smooth sound….very old soul.

Bo Bice, the real rocker, picked a song a random. And his choice, “Corner of the Sky” from PIPPIN. I’m not sure that he could have found the most inappropriate song for him to sing. It’s one of the cheesiest songs ever written…and seeing the rocker sing it was overly amusing for me. He proved that he really is true rock-n-roll. But he put forth one hell of an effort. It was in tune until that last note. Good for him. He gets another week just because watching this was so much fun.

Nadia Turner is up last this week. And she’s singing “As Long As He Needs Me” from OLIVER. Miss Nadia pulled out all the stops this week. She looked phenomenal. The dress and the hair and the earring…all flawless. She so magnificent. This is why I love her so much. She puts so much passion into her performances. No one out there can say that she isn’t a star…she certainly proved it tonight. And…she gave us the best ending to any song of the night. Let me try to recreate it for you. HE (beat, snap the head to the left)…NEEDS (beat, snap the head to the left again)…ME (with the big arm sweep). Pure genius!!!

Bottom three this week. I’m putting all boys there again (like last week). I don’t see how any of the girls can possibly end up there this week…but you may noticed that I’ve been wrong in the past.

Scott Savol (again)
Anthony Federov (again)
Nikko Smith (again)

I think that Scott will go home this week. He sounded the worst of all of them…and he has that little felony news that hit the nation this week. So I think he’s on his way out. Hopefully more for people realizing that he’s not that good…and also that he’s a psycho with some anger management issues. Please get rid of him.

B-Bro out!

A Very Bad Boy

2005-04-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

We all knew that Scott (or Scotty, the body as Ryan likes to call him) was evil. And now the truth comes out about him. Check out the article about this year's Idol wannabe with a record (and not the kind that you hear on the radio).

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0331051_american_idol_scott_1.html

Hopefully this will help end his run on the show. Or maybe he'll get the boot because he didn't let them know about it ahead of time...like that dreadful kid, Corey, from 2 years ago. Maybe they'll boot him off and bring back Jessica since she was the last to go...wishful thinking. But it would be justice for last week when he should have gotten voted off to begin with.

Can you tell that I still hate him?

A HUGE MISTAKE!!!

2005-03-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

AMERICA (and when I say that, I mean the producers of American Idol) SUCK!!! But I’ll get back to that.

Ryan finally found a button-down shirt to go with his love of jackets. Sadly the jacket was still too long for his short little body. And his hair is still all funked up…he needs to get that fixed by next week. He informed us that 32.5 million people voted…another record vote (but still not as many as a final yet).

The 3rd and final Red Cross song is coming from the group. And it’s “Everything Is Beautiful.” Probably the most Brady-esque moment ever in Idol history. All of the group numbers come off that way…but this one was really all about the Brady’s. But Constantine proved that he’s a rocker still by throwing his foot at the camera. And we learned that Nikko really can’t sing…he was all kinds of off on his solo part. They did get to enjoy the whole stage this time…and the 2nd stage as well. WOO HOO!!! Then they finished with a big synchronized arm sweep to heaven. It was inspiring. This song has to be the winner of the group number competition…just because it was so cheesy.

The Ford commercial this week is going to win awards. It was the best one ever. Who would have ever thought you could turn the Idol kids into muppets? It was pure brilliance. Ryan even made a joke about it after the break…apparently no one got what the creators and director were going for with this one. If Ryan doesn’t get it…who will?

Bottom Three…travesty of the season!!!
Nadia…so not right. But she got sent back to safety first.
Jessica…once again wrong. And she doesn’t make it through this time.
Anwar…my only pick of the week. But I didn’t think he would be sent home (and I was right).

Simon said that he would replace Nadia with Scott (I agree).
Randy said that both contestants (this was after Nadia returned to the group) deserved to make it through this week.
Paula agreed with Randy…because she can’t really think for herself.

If this bottom three (and poor Jessica getting sent home) doesn’t make you realize that this competition isn’t real, then I don’t know what will. It was just so wrong in every way. And the reaction to this travesty was immediate. The show had just ended when my phone started ringing. I had just sat down at the computer to start typing this up and the “real” America spoke up. They are outraged…and want justice. And the only way that can be is if Scott Savol and Anthony Federov both get sent home next week. They suck and neither were in the bottom three. How can this be?

Jessica sang us out…and sang it well (just like she did last night). Yes, the song was boring…but at least she can sing on pitch. And it made Paula’s eyes glaze over…well, maybe that was whatever tranquilizer she’s on tonight.

Ryan didn’t even get to be out tonight. All he could say was that he didn’t want Jessica to go…and his last words to her were “TAKE CARE,” What a sweet guy…that’s why I love him.

Flashback to the 90's

2005-03-29T23:04:00.000-08:00

We’re going all the way back to the 90’s this week...that's a whole six years at the very least). All 90’s music…and it was a night of crappy song choices and tattered pants. But let’s start with my critique of Ryan…just because I like to. He was wearing another jacket. This one looked a couple sizes too big for him. He must have made someone from wardrobe run out to the Salvation Army to pick it up at the last minute. His hair was a little funky tonight too…something really strange was going on in the front. Paula proved that she needs a hearing aid…old age really is a bitch.

Bo Bice is up first tonight with “Remedy.” The first song of the night that I’ve never heard of…and the first crappy song of the night. I didn’t notice if he had tattered pants though. He started off with his signature mike holding stunt. Then he jumped up on the judges table rather than using the 2nd stage that’s provided. He’s so wacky. While atop the table, he gave his retarded hat to the retarded judge (Paula for those who missed it). He sang the song fine…it was just a bad song. The drummer sure had fun though…he got a nice close-up at the end of the song.

Jessica Sierra took to the stage and sang a song that I will call “After All.” I don’t know if that’s the real title because I didn’t know the song. All I know is that it’s an old LeeAnn Rhimes song. And it sucked. We did find out that it’s her dream to be a Dixie Chick…so maybe there’s an opening. She has a great voice…but this was just so boring to watch. There was nothing there.

Anwar Robinson picked the R. Kelly classic, “I Believe I Can Fly.” He told us that he didn’t get to sing for Bill Clinton when he was President because the bus broke down or got a flat tire or some other reason…and he didn’t go to school the next day because he was so distraught about it. He started the song from the audience…the first one of this kind this year. He his some really bad notes (later Randy called him on it…it’s the low ones). And it just sounded strange. He only knows how to belt…and that’s not good enough (in my opinion).

Nadia Turner went back to being a rocker with “I’m the Only One.” And she kicked some ass…but I’ll get back to that. We learned that Nadia has gone through several hair changes throughout the 90’s…including going bald. It makes me love her more. She picked a great song…it suited her wonderfully. She has such amazing stage presence…she knows exactly what to do. And damn she looks good too. She’s back and not giving up.

Constantine Maroulis chose a cheesy pop tune with “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” He was inspired by the Seattle grunge scene…but chose a completely opposite song to sing for us. Sporting the tattered jeans, he started the trend (unless Bo had them on too). He started on the stairs and worked his way to being upright on the stage. I’m not sure why he chose this song. He’s just proving that he is in fact not a rocker anymore. He added some facial hair this week. He sounded good on the song…so I guess the rocker is dead. He has transitioned into pop…all that’s left is the make-over. He also tried to use his bedroom eyes for the camera…or he was wasted (it was hard to really tell).

Nikko Smith picked another crappy song with “Give Me One More Chance.” This is a made up title because it’s yet another song that I have never heard of…so I made it up. He brought up his famous daddy at last…probably to get more votes from people who might not know that he comes from baseball fame. He had on the most hideous jacket in Idol history…it was a big old mess. He also sported the Idol-boy uniform of tattered jeans. And at one point he ran across the stage to the camera that was on him…I guess he forgot where he was supposed to be. I don’t like this kid. He’s made it too far. Bring back Mario the homo and get rid of him.

Anthony Federov picked another crappy song too with “Something About the Way You Look Tonight.” He reminisced about how America was such a new world when he arrived in it from Russia…how profound. This was probably the crappiest song of the night…and once again, a boy in tattered pants. He looks like a blind person without his glasses…it was kind of amusing (and he looked weird). He must be taking lessons from Mikalah…they are the ones who seem to get worse and worse each week. This could be the end of him.

Carrie Underwood is singing a song by her idol, Martina McBride. I’ll call it “Independence Day” because I don’t know it (probably because it’s country). But she sang it really well…of course. She brought back the glitter scarf as well…I still don’t like it. She is a star on stage when she’s singing something that she really likes. The song could have been one of Kelly Clarkson’s crappy songs from the first album.

Scott Savol is up with Brian McKnight’s, “My Last Cry.” He talked about his various food service jobs and the day he realized he wanted to be a singer. This song sucked. He was awful. It sounded like he and the band were in different keys. He’s just a big fat slob who got lucky. I want him gone.

Vonzell Solomon is up…and I predicted that she would sing a Whitney song. She chose “Close One More Door.” But first she talked about being a black belt in karate…she can kick some serious butt. She has such great stage presence…and she looks great. The hair was fantastic. I normally hate it when the ladies try to sing Whitney…but Vonzell held her own. I think that her saving grace this week is that she didn’t attempt to sound like Whitney on it. Great job…even for a Whitney song.

Bottom three this week…all boys!!! I’m going with Anthony Federov (could be his 2nd week in the bottom three in a row)…Scott Savol (who I continuously put down there)…and either Anwar or Nikko (neither is going to make it too much further).

Going home…Scott Savol!!!

I’m out…with Ryan (not on a date or anything).

Mario is Gay?

2005-03-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Who knew? OK, just about everyone did. It's still not "official." But here's a great article (thanks to Jeffrey for supplying it) on the dearly departed one.

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/stories/feature.cfm?instanceid=63300

Live from San Francisco...

2005-03-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

That's right...I'm coming to you live from California tonight. OK, so I totally didn't see the show live. Because it's on at 9:00 p.m. here in California...which is midnight on the east coast (where's it was also on at 9:00 p.m.). But I am on the west coast...at the hotel's internet cafe.

Ryan looks hot tonight. There's no other way to say it. THe boy should wear all black more often. He informed us that 31.6 million votes were cast the 2nd night of voting.

Group #2 is up...and they are singing "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." My initial thought was who picked this song for them to sing. Then I wondered who arranged that mess. It was a complete disaster. Each person got an average of about 4 words in their solos. Then just started singing over each other with a lot of YEAH's and WHOA's. It was just dreadful. And it makes me hope that this is the one that they end up releasing as a single...just so they don't sell any copies of it.

The Ford commercial came up next. They got to be "rock stars"...or so the song said. And they were all miniaturized. Haven't we seen a commercial where all the celebs are miniaturized recently? They just stole the whole idea.

Bottom 3 for Week #2...
Nadia...I did predict this one in Tuesday's blog.
Mikalah...we all knew she had to be there.
Anthony...a bit of a surprise, but I didn't really mind that he was there.

Anthony gets sent back to the group first. So much for thinking it would be a boy to keep the tour even. It's definitely going to be a girl going home this week...or at least one of our drag queens.

After the break, Mikalah gets the boot. Justice at last for us all. The blond chicks couldn't stop weeping...that was lame.

As usual, she'll get to sing us out...she actually got through most of the song. They just cut her off on the last 2 words. OOPS!!!

See you all next week...I'll be coming to from back on the east coast.

WE'RE STILL #1

2005-03-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

That's right...it's take number two of the number ones. And what a waste of a night. Luckily I had to tape the show because we weren't home. So it was really quick to watch...I got to skip all the performances that I saw last night. If you want comments on them, then simply read (or re-read) yesterday's post...and all the good comments from the locals.

Three people were given the wrong phone numbers Tuesday night...the last three to sing. That would be Mikalah, Anwar and Jessica. Did anyone really even notice that the numbers were wrong? I'm sure there weren't many who did. But it was the fair thing to do. It would only cause more scandal when Mikalah was sent home.

I thought it would be a good episode because the Idols were going to be forced to watch their performances...but they didn't offer any critiques of themselves. However, Mikalah did defend herself...hopefully that doesn't work to her advantage.

I have only composed one line about each of them tonight...so this will be short and sweet. There are a couple of extra little things I picked up from the judges thrown in as well...for humor sake.

Anthony...he busted out the tight tee again to show off the pecs and arms.
Carrie...went back to being a milk maid.
Scott...who cares.
Bo...he stole Ryan's ugly jacket from last week, but opted to wear a button-down shirt rather than a tee (just too be a little different from Ryan).
Nikko...wore an ugly, bright shirt that was about three sizes too big for him.
Vonzell...she has the biggest hips and ass, but she was wearing some rocking shoes.
Constantine...he just thinks that he's the coolest thing around.
JUDGES ALERT!!! Paula proved to us that she truly is wise. She was the only one to figure that Constantine sang the Patridge family in order to make the connection of teen idol of the 70's and teen idol today. And stupid me, I just thought he did it to be wacky and different. So much for it just being fun.
Nadia...dedicated her mohawk to dearly departed Mario (to which Ryan asked why he left).
Mikalah...her shirt said it all, I'M JUST HERE TO ANNOY YOU...then she begged her fans to vote her through on her personality (not on how badly she singss).
JUDGES ALERT!!! Simon said that his problem with her performance wasn't he song choice but what came out of her mouth...and there was clapping in the audience at his comment. I LOVE IT!!!
Anwar...he is very well spoken for being so afraid of the camera.
Jessica...she's just too cute.

That's it kids. I have nothing more to say. I stick by my bottom two...I'm still iffy about the third person. So I'm going with a bottom two of Scott and Mikalah...with Mikki (that's her new nickname...from me) going home.

We're out...Ryan and me!!!

WE'RE #1

2005-03-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

The theme tonight is Billboard Number Ones. Some guy named Fred Bronson gave the Idolettes a book with 930 number one songs to chose from this week. This is probably the most choices they have ever been given. Of course, I’m sure they were only allowed to chose from a few of those number one songs…but that’s mere speculation on my part.

Ryan ditched his jacket this week…and it looking good again. He took my advice…as he should. Paula can’t seem to keep her hands and lips off Simon tonight…she must be really horny this week. Will someone please sleep with here soon…or get her a vibrator?

Anthony Federov starts the night out with “I Knew You Were Waiting.” And we love to hear little white boys sing songs by big black women (and white gay boys). There were some really bad notes tonight. He has no stage presence…and very little rhythm. He was overly bland tonight. He dumped those tight-fitting clothes from last week and lost his buffness…it was all illusion.

Carrie Underwood came out singing a power ballad with Heart’s, “Alone.” And something’s different about her…I can’t put my finger on it. OH…she had a make-over. They stylists turned her into Bonnie Tyler. Bug she sounds great. I said it after she sang that Tiffany song…she will win this competition if she sticks to the power ballads (and maybe some of her favorite country tunes). She wins for the best transformation of any Idol ever. She even worked on some stage presence…she sang to the camera a lot more this week. What a star!!! OK, she really didn’t have to sing anything and I would have loved her just for the new look.

Scott Savol took the stage and sang “Against All Odds.” I don’t remember who, but someone got the boot last year after singing this one. And he did not sound good tonight…it was way out of tune. He through off his hat…then through off his glasses. I was just hoping that nothing else came off…it is a family show after all (and I didn’t need to see anymore). Our television must be broken because the judges keep telling everyone that they sound good…and that did not. Wait, it was just Randy and Paula…Simon actually heard him and said it wasn’t so good. Then Ryan dissed the boy by saying that Scott’s glasses were all greasy…that’s just nasty.

Bo Bice took things way down this week with “Time in a Bottle.” It was fine. He sang it quite nice. It was just really dull. There was no joy in it at all…for me. He seemed really stiff on stage tonight too. He needs the rock song to get him moving around.

Nikko Smith picked “Incomplete” by Sisqo as his number one. I wasn’t aware that Sisqo had any other songs (let alone a number one song) than “The Thong Song.” But I guess I was wrong. I don’t know how that song was a number one…it was kind of out of control. But that may have just been the way that he sang it. Sadly, it was his best performance yet…not that that’s saying a whole lot.

Vonzell Solomon wailed out “Best of My Love.” It was the perfect song for her to sing. She sounded great. She looked pretty good (although I never like those pants that look like a skirt). And she had fun…lots of personality. And she ended the song with a little camera wink…always a winner with that.

Constantine Maroulis chose the oddest number one to sing with “I Think I Love You.” And oddly enough, he could be a descendent of the Partridge family…he sounded way too similar to David Cassidy on this one. It was so crazy…yet so enjoyable. Probably the most entertaining song of the night. He is a true entertainer to the fullest.

Nadia Turner picked “Time After Time.” It’s one of the greatest songs written (in my opinion). She admitted that she had a hard time picking a song because she likes artsy-fartsy songs that never make it to number one (or probably even in the top 40). It was a really bad arrangement of a great song. And she sounds really bad tonight…but is anyone really listening? We have a 2nd stellar make-over of the night. She came out sporting one of the greatest mohawks I have ever seen. I would give her the hairdo of the night…but I think that I still liked Carrie’s Bonnie Tyler do more. I don’t care what she sounded like…she still a star in my eyes.

Mikalah Gordon took to the stage and chose “Love Will Lead You Back” as her number one. I think that I can count the number of notes that were in tune on one hand (maybe even without a hand). It was a dreadful mess. It started bad…and just got worse and worse as the song went on. I can’t enough bad things about her. Her punishment should be that she has to listen to recordings of herself for the rest of her life.

Anwar Robinson took Paula’s advice from a few weeks back by singing a song by the opposite gender. “Ain’t Nobody” is the song of choice. He seems so uncomfortable on the stage. I’m not sure if it’s the song he chose…or if he’s just so terrified of singing to the camera. But he was completely lost up there. He did however sing the song in the same key as Chaka. It was a bizarre performance. He had a really good (big) note in the middle of the song…and that was it.

Jessica Sierra is up last and is singing the greatest song ever written/performed, “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” She opted to sing Bonnie Tyler rather than be Bonnie Tyler (like Carrie Underwood). But what an outfit…it looked really good on her. And whoever sings this song is the automatic winner (for me)…that’s how much I love this song. Some of you may remember that Nikki McKibbin sang this song to get into the top ten the first year of Idol…and that’s what made me fall in love with her too. The song seemed a bit rushed…and they chopped it all up. The lyrics were all chewed up and spit out into random order…it was odd. It’s a song that should never be cut up…you should be required to sing the whole thing anytime it’s sung. With that said, she did sound great with it. Have I mentioned how much I love that song.

So who will the bottom three be this week? Two are easy…picking the third is hard for me. But I’ll try.
Scott Savol
Mikalah Gordon
Nadia Turner

As much as I hate putting Nadia down there, it just wasn’t a good week for her. I don’t think her hair will carry her too far with a performance that was so bad. She won’t be going home, but she may be down there. However, I think that Mikalah has finally done herself in. She is just so consistently horrible…America has to be tiring of her soon. However, the producers may want a boy to get the boot so the tour will be equal boys and girls…and that would mean that Scott is going to have to say good-bye to America.

So I pick Mikalah to go home first…and then Scott. We’ll just have to wait and see how wrong I am.

Ryan’s out…and I want to be just like him (out that is).

And then there were 11...

2005-03-16T21:46:00.000-08:00

Ryan needs to really stop wearing those jackets with the printed tees. Can’t we dress him better. He IS the star of the show after all…and the prettiest thing to grace the Idol stage. Give him something decent to wear…maybe some hot pants and a wife-beater and throw in some combat boots too (now there’s a new look for him).

We get the pleasure of having out first group number as well. I think Ryan said that this was going to be released as a single and the money will be going to the American Red Cross. I lost interest…so that may be wrong. Feel free to correct me if you know what he really said. Anyway, the song is called “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” and it’s a big load of crap. It was like watching the “We Are the World” video. They are going to have a hard time singing as a group together…there are too many different styles going on in the group. It was just so bland…and just not good. I was so stunned by the song that I didn’t get to notice what anyone was wearing…except for Mikalah (she always has to stand out). She had the biggest and tackiest belt buckle on. It was a huge pinkish star that covered her entire cooch (or penis…I’m still not sure she’s female).

They panned to Ruben Studdard…IDOL #2…in the audience. I guess they had to drag him from obscurity to boost those sales. He needs a little publicity…it can even be bad, he just needs some.

I don’t know how I lost my mind but I’m going to blame it on all the computer problems that I had last night with the blog site. But I didn’t pick a bottom three…how was this possible? I did however pick a bottom two…and it was right on.

BOTTOM THREE (week #1)
Lindsey Cardinale…no surprise there
Mikalah Gordon…again, no surprise for me
Jessica Sierra…a big surprise (I was sure it would have been Nikko)

The group did their first Ford commercial too. It was a big dance party in the parking garage…good times. They should have put out a single of the song from the commercial…it was lots better than that crappy group number song. And it looked like they had fun in the commercial.

Jessica gets to go back to the group…she’s safe for another week. Of course she is…especially being in that group of ladies.

Who will it be…Mikalah or Lindsey? Well, Mikalah is safe (not a huge surprise…but I would have loved for her to be the first to get the boot). So Lindsey is gone. As usual, she gets to sing her swan song through the credits. I give her props for holding it together and doing her thing. She even left the stage to shake the judges hands during the song…that’s some class…good for her. Then she took to the 2nd stage and sang to the peeps in the audience. So at least she went out on a good note.

Next week maybe we’ll get to hear them all sing Kelly Clarkson songs…that would be a real challenge.

1960's Night...and Oh What a Night Indeed

2005-03-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

Ryan came out wearing a hideous jacket over a tee shirt that he wore on a previous episode. Is the show so poor that they can’t afford get the poor thing a new shirt? I don’t get it.

Anyway, we’re told it’s a bigger set…and a bigger band…and a bigger audience…and a bigger stage. Can we hope that it will be bigger talent? We can hope…but I don’t think that’s a reality.

Mario is briefly mentioned. He dropped out for personal reasons…something about taking care of his family first. And we all know that Nikko Smith gets another chance to become the Idol. It’s hard to say what boy will win now that the most talented one is gone. There are 3 rumors floating around out there about why this Bronx-boy dropped the show.

1. He got a record deal already and doesn’t need the show.
2. He didn’t like the contract that he would have to sign.
3. He is a homosexual and was going to be forced out of the closet (as if we didn’t know this already). And apparently there’s a rumor floating around that Anwar is a homo too…because he’s so sensitive and nice (I’m not sure how those traits relate to being a homo…most are evil queens).

The kids get to choose any song from the 60’s. We’ve had this decade before…so it’s no real surprise.

Jessica Sierra is up first and she’s singing “Shop Around.” It was the right choice for her “style.” She has a great voice. But she was so boring this time. She gave a great performance last week…and this one was really stale. She needs to bump up her stage presence if she wants to get anywhere in this competition. I realized why she looks so strange on stage as well…she has no neck. She’s got huge shoulders and a huge head…and huge breasts too.

Anwar Robinson chose “House Is Not A Home” for his first song of the top twelve. You may remember this song from year one when Tamyra Gray sang it. It was the week she was sent home…yet Simon touted it as the performance of the competition (and it made the first year Idol cd too). Anyway, Anwar is not sounding so good. It was really off. I wasn’t sure if it was just a weird arrangement or if it was just him. Sadly, it was the latter. He even knew it was bad because he started making ugly faces every time he hit a wrong note (which was frequently). When he started to belt it out near the end, it started to come together for him. But then he toned it down for the ending and it went bad again.

Mikalah Gordon strutted out singing “Son of A Preacher Man.” This is one of my favorite songs…and I wish that she would never try to sing it again. I still hate her voice…and she needs to take some diction lessons. I couldn’t understand a single word that she attempted to sing (and I know the song). It was just dreadful. I don’t know what else I can say about this tragic girl. Oh wait, I just thought of something. She shouldn’t wear (or be forced to wear) those little tummy shirts. She was so uncomfortable in it that when she had to sit with Ryan, she tried to cover her belly with his arms.

Constantine Maroulis chose “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” for some sentimental reason that I can’t remember (something about listening to it while driving in a car with his parents maybe). I’m not sure who this Constantine is. He certainly isn’t a rocker tonight. But he sounds good. It’s odd that he can actually sing when he’s not trying to be a rock star. His pants were dumb…I hated those 2 bleached out stripes on his upper leg. He even belted out the last note…it went a little flat as he tried to hold it out too long.

Lindsey Cardinale picked “Knock on Wood.” I think she started out singing either 2 beats ahead of or behind the band…it was just really off. But they caught up on the 3 set of lyrics. Sadly it didn’t help her…she still sounded bad. She’s just not impressive…and hasn’t been so far. She took a fun song and made it bland. I’ll give her one positive comment…she’s not ugly.

Anthony Federov picked the worst song of all the contestants with “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” What a crappy song…and what a crappy job he did. He started out fine (although very boring)…then he lost it midway through the song and never got it back. And who let him wear that black polo shirt? Is there nothing better in wardrobe? Are they reduced to wearing food service uniforms? I will say that he has bulked up rather quickly for this competition…maybe they put him on some steroids to make him buff (and lessen the Clay resemblances). OK, maybe his clothes were just too small for him.

Nadia Turner came out singing “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.” And Nadia’s looked stunning. Her sultry eyes (and makeup) were hypnotic as she sang directly to the camera. It was amazing. And he voice sounded the best it ever has. She’s such a star. I love her…have I mentioned that lately? I picked her out of the initial auditions…and she’s still my favorite. And I loved that as she was waving good-bye to America, she waved her hand directly in front of Ryan’s face (so it was only her hand in front of him in the camera shot). She’s brilliant.

Bo Bice is up and he’s singing “Spinning Wheels.” It’s a song that he and his band have been doing for years. He is a true performer…and the only one to use the second stage behind the judges. It was a good song for him to chose…or re-sing since he’s been doing it for years. He likes to hold the entire mike stand…I guess that’s his “signature” move now. It was a rather abrupt ending to the song…it just kind of stopped (not unlike a certain play at Playwrights Horizons that just closed).

Vonzell Solomon is singing “Anyone Who Had a Heart.” She came out wearing the best dress of the evening (or so I thought). It was the perfect color for her. And her hair looked great. She looks the part of a great performer. Sadly, as the camera panned back, the dress made her look about 3 feet tall…and made her hips look about 3 feet wide. It was so unflattering. I’m hoping it was jut the camera shot (from head on). She looked fine close up…and even from an angle shot. It was a bad song for her to try to sing. It made her sound weird. I still like her though…she’s got some great talent lurking within her.

Scott Savol chose a Motown song (big surprise) with “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.” First of all, he’s got to ditch the JLo glasses…they are a faux pas in everyway. He sounds fine like he always does. But then he came off the stage and sang directly to the judges…I’m not sure what that was about. Does he think that they have any influence at this point (it’s the producers who pick you dumb-ass). Anyway, like I said, he sing well…I’ll even say that he sings really well. But he’s so boring…there’s just nothing there. He’s not a natural entertainer. He would make a great recording artists because he’s pleasant to listen to. But he cannot be an American Idol because there’s no flair to him.

Carrie Underwood is up next and she’s singing “When Will I Be Loved.” Apparently she (or some vocal group from college) sang this song last year at school. She looks really good…except for that stupid scarf. I think she’s worn sequence every week…and it has to stop. It’s hard to pull off unless you Liza with a Z or a big old drag queen (which she is neither…I think). She still has a great voice though…some very big pipes to belt things out. She also needs stage presence school…she’s very bland up there all by herself. I think that she’s another one who just loves to sing for her own enjoyment (Anwar Robinson syndrome)…which is fine. Sadly, it’s not going to win this competition.

Nikko Smith is up last and he’s singing the aptly titles “I Want You Back.” Although, I’m not the one who wanted him back. He’s wearing a funky jacket…I really liked the big stitching on it. But there was a reason he was voted off (he even admitted that he wasn’t surprised last week with the results). So he really needs to thank Mario…or the people who gave him a contract or the evil queen who is threatening to out him. I’m unimpressed by this kid…and he won’t be around much longer. However, he will make it at least one more week…he’s now the underdog, and people love that.

Twelve kids…and only one will go. How do you pick just one in an overall umimpressive night of showmanship? I’ll try…by picking two. Mikalah Gordon (sorry Jim) and Lindsey Cardinale. They each have one thing going for them. Mikalah has that personality that most of America love (not me)…and Lindsey is somewhat attractive. That’s it? Is it enough to carry them through? We’ll have to wait and see tonight. I think we all know that neither of these girls are going to win (because it’s bound to be boy this year…although it will be hard for them to force this with their most talented boy out of the competition already)…but who will hang on for another week? My bet is on Mikalah sticking around…as much as I hate to say it. Lindsey just doesn’t have what it takes in my opinion.

Ryan is out…and so am I.

Come Back Mario!!!

2005-03-14T11:55:00.000-08:00

As most of you have probably heard by now, Mario Vazquez has dropped out of the Idol competition...for personal reasons. There are articles floating around out there to check out. Sadly that means that they have invited Nikko Smith back to take his place in the top 12. It's happened before...and it is certain to happen again.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/14/tv.american.idol.ap/index.html

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1498063/20050314/index.jhtml?headlines=true

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=578943

I'll miss Mario. He was the only boy that I thought could win the thing. Now I'm leaving it all to the girls (as long as the producers don't fix the whole thing).

America's Top 12

2005-03-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

All the kids got to sit on the stage together tonight...boys in the back row, girls in the front row. They will get pull over to the 12 magic seats on the opposite side of the stage.

Ryan has decided to take on the poetic words of Heidi Klum..."You are either in or you're out." If you don't get this reference, then you have missed one of the best reality shows...and I feel bad for you. You should watch any reruns of it on Bravo...and if you don't get Bravo, you should watch the DVD's when they come out. The show I'm speaking of is PROJECT RUNWAY. But this is about American Idol...not that show. But Ryan is using the IN OR OUT method.

Mario Vazquez, Lindesy Cardinale, Anthony Federov and Vonzell Solomon are all pulled down first. And they are all IN.

Carrie Underwood is IN...Nadia Turner is IN. The rockers, Constantine Maroulis and BoBice are both IN as well. They tried to create some drama with them, but it didn't work.

Anwar Robinson is IN...and Jessica Sierra is IN.

That leaves 3 boys and 3 girls...only one from each group will get to stay.

Travis Tucker, Scott Savol and Nikko Smith are the boys. Who will get to stay? The drama is lacking. If they wanted to make it more dramatic, they would have sent poor Travis Tucker home first. That would have made it a little more exciting to come down to 2 rather than 3. But they didn't. They asked the judges who they thought would get the last seat...Randy and Simon were in agreement that Travis is going home and Paula jus wanted to say how proud she is of all of them. That didn't really answer the question that Ryan posed, but whatever. Scott Savol is IN...the other 2 are OUT.

Mikalah Gordon, Amanda Avila and Janay Castine are the last 3 girls. Who gets to stay? Ryan only went to Randy this time...and he chose Mikalah (who knows why). But Mikalah Gordon is IN. Amanada Avila and Janay Castine are OUT.

Ryan asked the judges for a last bit of advice for the remaining twelve. Simon said that they need to be original. Randy said that they need to sing good. And Paula just said to go for it. Not the most profound advice...but that's what we get.

So one last time...here is your (or America's) top twelve for American Idol #4.
MARIO VAZQUEZ
LINDSEY CARDINALE
ANTHONY FEDEROV
VONZELL SOLOMON
CARRIE UNDERWOOD
NADIA TURNER
CONSTANTINE MAROULIS
BO BICE
SCOTT SAVOL
ANWAR ROBINSON
JESSICA SIERRA
MIKALAH GORDON

And here are my predictions...adn comments.
The top 6 will be Mario Vazquez, Carrie Underwood, Nadia Turner, Bo Bice, Jessica Sierra and Anwar Robinson. My 2 alternates are Anthony Federov and Vonzell Solomon.

As for the other four kids...
Lindsey Cardinale has no chance. She's just not good enough.
Constantine Maroulis has a spark, but he's losing out to Bo. His vocals are just not very good.
Scott Savol has the voice, but nothing more. He won't last too much longer.
Mikalah Gordon made it through somehow. We all hate her (except for Jim). And I will remain the president of the I HATE MIKALAH fan club. The girl can't sing...at all. And my president of the HATE club worked last year...remember little Leah LaBelle. We all hated her...and she got the boot first. (OK...so I guess she did here job because I did speak about her the most as one of the truly wretched).

Ryan's out again...

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2005-03-08T22:50:00.000-08:00

Not much was said at the beginning of the show. Ryan only asked Simon's opinion about what the girls needed to do (we all know that Randy and Paula don't really matter anyway). Simon kept it really simple...the need to be good. Fair enough. Later Simon dissed my boy Ryan by saying that he looks the part, but he's just missing something. My guess is intelligence. But he's only being paid to look pretty...and he accomplishes that for the most part.

AMANDA AVILA is up first tonight and is singing RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH. Oh yeah...she's a Gemini. She looks great and sounds pretty good too. I think that she saved her best performance for tonight. Is she going to win...no. Is she good enough to move on...probably. She had lots of fun singing this song. And it irritated me that the judges complained that she didn't sound like Tina on this song...but they usually complain if the contestants try to imitate the original artist. So who cares what they say. I think she did a good job...and did enough to keep herself around.

JANY CASTINE is a Libra and chose to sing DREAMIN'. I'm not sure why she is still here. She has proved 3 weeks in a row that she can't really sing. Why have the judges let her get this far? I blame them...she shouldn't have been in the top 24 to begin with. She was so off pitch through the entire song. Please send her home before she tries to sing a Whitney song next week. And then Paula appeals to her "fans" to put her through to the top 12. UGH!!! Another reason to truly hate Paula.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD is a Pisces and sang some song that I'll call I BELIEVE (not the Fantasia song from last year). I think she's fantastic. I hate hearing ballads...but that is her thing. She needs to sing country ballads...or power ballads (that would make me moist). She had a couple of off notes in the song...but she has such a pure voice. I love her.

VONZELL SOLOMON is another Pisces and she's chosed RESPECT as her song for the evening. She had it goin' on tonight. It was so much fun. She chose a strange outfit for the song...but we learned later that her daddy came to visit her in LA and bought her the hat and boots. And she did look cute in it...it was just weird for the song choice. She worked the camera tonight...and it liked her a lot. As did I. It was pure enjoyment. Plus, I still think she has the coolest name this year.

NADIA TURNER is a Capricorn and sang TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS. It was quite the performance. From the soulful beginning to the rockin' end. She's a star through and through. How can anyone not love this girl? She's got just what American Idol needs. Pure originality in everything that she does. And she beautiful too. She took a truly great song and made it fantastic.

LINDSEY CARDINALE is an Aquarius and sang and Aerosmith song, DON'T WANNA MISS YOU BAD (or something like that...you know the song). It was a weird selection for her. And it was quite boring. She sang fine...and has a really unique voice. It was just an odd song...and she didn't put much into it.

MIKALAH GORDON is a Capricorn as well and she's sang SOMEWHERE. Can anyone out there hear her singing? There wasn't any part of that song in any imaginable key. It was just dreadful. She wants to think that she's the new Barbra...and she is so wrong. Her voice is so unnatural and phony. But she did take the Idol hints of if you can't sing it well, then sing it loud. It was just bad from start to finish. Please send her home!!! The judges should be fired for letting her get this far as well...what were they thinking?

JESSICA SIERRA is up last. She's a Scorpio and she sang THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN. We also learned that she tried out last year and didn't make it to Hollywood...so good for her for trying again and getting to this point. And she's going far. There is no way that she should be going home anytime soon. It was strange song choice...but totally worked for her. She sings really well...and she likes to have fun. And her breasts are enormous!!! Simon even made the greatest comment of the evening about them...and she didn't get it. He said, "...wearing that top, you chose the perfect song." (or something to that effect) I htink that she may have been a linebacker before she joined Idol...she is one solid girl. But she fun and funky...so she gets bonus points.

Who should go home? Do I even need to say it...again? Janay Castine and Mikalah Gordon. They are the youngest contestants this year...and it shows. Neither is really ready for this. However, America and I rarely agree...so I'll have to throw Lindsey in as my alternate for this week. I'm feeling pretty confident this week...because the choices should be obvious. But we'll just have to wait and see.

Ryan just said good night to the masses today...I guess he's tired of being out.

Bills Will Be Boys

2005-03-07T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ryan started out the show as usual...looking pretty good. The only problem was that he needed a belt. It looked like his tattered jeans were going to fall off...not that I would mind that. I think we all know that I think he's a little hottie. But try to dress yourself fully next time Ryan. The lack of a belt was a bit distracting. Later in the show, he shouted the word ASS for all the children out there to hear. They are going to lose their G rating if he keeps that up...and someone is going to be fined. What can I say...he's pretty, but dumb.

Simon felt that last week was fair...and he wishes that the losers would stop blaming their getting the boot because of low exposure early in the show. I agree. It's a lame excuse. You weren't going to win...so get over it.

Paula thinks that the boys will be bringing it tonight. But she always thinks this because she's a lonely, horny, old woman. But she won't fully admit that she has her favorites. It's understandable. If she chose one or two, she might lose any chance that she has of sleeping with the other six that she doesn't pick. The women aren't an option for her in favorites because she sees them all as threats.

Randy wants them to just sing their songs and stop complaining about the song choice. Is he trying to tell us that the contestants don't get to pick their songs? WHAT? The songs are chosen for them? How can it be? OK, I think most of us knew this already. They are given a list of songs to chose from (I've heard numbers ranging from 3 to 20)...and they do pick off that list. But if he wants the contestants to just sing the songs that they "chose,"...why do the judges always tell them it's about song selection and that they chose the wrong song. Do they put these songs on the list just so they pick the wrong songs? Could be. I'm sorry if I have shattered all your thoughts about Idol...but let's just pretend that this is a reality show and step back into reality for a moment.

SCOTT SAVOL is up first. And he's a Taurus (in case anyone out there wants to date him). He's singinging CAN'T HELP MYSELF. I'm not denying that he has a nice voice...he can sing. There, I said it. Now for the honest opinions. He was "doo-wopping" at the beginning like a back-up singer. It was just silly...and not in an entertaining way. And then I think he just started making up words...I could be wrong. He also hit some really bad notes. I didn't like it overall...but I don't like him for the most part.

BO BICE is up next. He's a Scorpio...and he'll sting you if you mess with him. He's singing Edwin McCain's, I'LL BE. I always go back to when Edwin was on Idol (one of those extra episodes that they just throw in). He said that he loves it when they sing his songs (this is the only one I've ever heard any of them sing)...but he just wants them to sing it well. So tonight the rocker goes pop...and it didn't work overall for me. It was just the wrong song for him to sing. The bridge of the song was actually really good...but the verses and the chorus were not. And we found out that he's a wedding singer...I think I give him extra credit for that.

ANTHONY FEDEROV is out 2nd Taurus of the night and he's singing I'VE GOT YOU (or something like that by Marc Anthony). It seemed a bit odd for this completely white boy from Russia to sing a Latin song. It did not really work for him. I liked the verses...but the chorus was a disater. It was too lyrical for him to keep up with. Simon started talking about wiggles. I didn't really catch is he was saying that Anthony should be one of THE Wiggles...or if he should never try to dance (or wiggle). He's marketable though...pte-teen and teen girls will love him.

NIKKO SMITH has his hat back and is tonight's 3rd Taurus. He chose GEORGIA ON MY MIND for his third attempt. I have to say, it was a smart move. Ray Charles is huge right now...he took home a truck-load of Grammy's this year and his movie didn't do so bad either. So it's a hot topic. His hat didn't stay on his head...it landed on the mike stand. Kind of lame. I find him bland...and I'd like him to go home. However, he had one great note in the song. And sadly, I think Simon wil be right when he said that that note is the only people will remember about his song.

TRAVIS TUCKER is our only Aries of the boys. And he's taking on Bobbie Brown by singing EVERY LITTLE STEP. And guess what? Bobbie won. This was a complete disaster from start to finish. There wasn't anything good about it. From his costume to his dancing to his singing (or lack thereof)...it was all wrong. But Paula liked it. I guess that's because she knows how hard it is to dance while you sing...and Simon called her on it.

MARIO VAZQUEZ is a Gemini and chose to sing a song that I am calling UNTITLED. I usually make up some name based on the lyrics but I was so enthralled in his performance that I didn't pick up on any of the lyrics. He has such a great sound and great stage presence. He delivers a song how it's meant to be done. That's why he remains one of my favorites still. He does need his hat back though...he's got some really bad hair hiding underneath it. And I think that he may think he's really a big black woman...just an observation by the way he sings and the songs that he choses.

CONSTANTINE MAROULIS is tonight's only Virgo...and I always root for the Virgos (we're a very special group). He chose a Sting song in EVERY LITTLE THING SHE DOES. It started out really nice...then went crazy at the verse. Then it got nice again...then back to crazy. IF he had only sung the verses to this song, it would have been great. But the choruse (and all extraneous bits) messed it all up. He also stopped being a rocker with this song. It's the start of his transformation. In a couple weeks, they'll cut his hair. And I'm not sure what the audience was clapping along to...but it wasn't the song that he was singing.

ANWAR ROBINSON is our last and final Taurus boy (that would be four for those who were counting). He chose WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD. He is an amazing vocalist. I love that he doesn't really sing to the audience or the camera...he just sings for the pure love of music. It's refreshing to see. Sadly, America probably won't think so. They love to dump the truly talented. And I love that he sings classic songs that no one else would dare to touch on this show. He's wonderful...but so not and Idol (he's too good). And I really just want him to go home and teach the kids what he knows.

So who will go home. Two more have to. I have to go with TRAVIS TUCKER. I think that he's an obvious choice after tonight. But I've thought he shouldn't be there since we started with the top 24 (remember his rendition of MY CHERIE AMOUR). I think he finally did himself in tonight. And I think that I have to go with SCOTT SAVOL...again (eventulally he will be going home, so I'll be right if I just keep picking him). I just don't find him appealing at all. I know that I only get to kick off 2 of the boys...but I want NIKKO SMITH gone too. I don't like him. A couple others can go...but I don't mind seeing any of them sing again.

BROWN OUT!!!

Four More Gone

2005-03-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE!!! Only a 1/2 hour show...HOORAY!!! I was wondering why they flew through the ladies' eliminations and were dragging out the boys. I just assumed it was another part of the ploy to force a boy to win.

Randy's advice is to pick something you can sing...that's profound.
Paula's advice is to chose a song by the opposite sex.
Simon's advice is that the performance is more important than the specific genre.
Don't you feel enlightened.

Celena Rae is the first to go...right from the start. She had the lowest number of votes of the ladies. She wasn't surprised. Randy told her to follow her dreams...Paula told her to keep going...and Simon told her to work hard. And she doesn't get to sing her farewell...we know why now (because it was only a half hour).

It was down to the two ladies who sang Alicia Keys last night. And Aloha Mischeaux is going home. She's not too disappointed though. She's going to keep at it because she knows this is what she's meant to do. It's too bad that she's gone...she was fun to watch and she had a good voice (and a cool name). Paula was shocked...Randy can't believe it either...even Simon didn't think she should have gone home this week (maybe next week). But she doesn't get to sing either.

Joseph Murena got the least number of votes...so he's gone. He blames low exposure as well (it's a fad). I guess it didn't matter that his songs/performances sucked.

David Brown has the second lowest number of votes...and he has nothing to say about it. But what I can say is...I FINALLY GOT ONE RIGHT!!! I picked him last week as well though.

I'll be coming back to you next Monday after the boys sing. And it should be out last week of Idol 3 nights a week. WOO HOO!!!

Good Girls Gone Bad

2005-03-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

At the start of the show, Ryan asked only Randy what he thought would happen on the episode. He simply said that he thought girls would be on their game. So lame. But enough chit-chat...on with the show.

Aloha Mischeaux gets to sing first and she chose Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name." She has chosen to be this year's contestant to wear the signature flower...that alone will guarantee her a spot in the tope twelve. We had Trenyce with it in year two and Jasmine Trias in year three...sadly there wasn't one the first year. Her performance was fine...just nothing special. I will give her credit for singing the most current songs of any Idol performer.

Lindsey Cardinale was up next with "I Try to Think About Elvis." Just so you all know, I got the title of this song from the Idol website...I would have never known that on my own. I don't know what this song was...or what it was about. She has no star appeal for me whatsoever.

Jessica Sierra stepped up to the mike and belted out "A Broken Wing." Still another song that I have never heard of. Paula decided to tell her that she chose a familiar song and made it her own...but I have never heard this song before (and I've never heard of it either). She sang it a little country...and it fit her voice much better than last week. She had something about her last week that wasn't right, but I knew that she had some talent...and I think she proved it with that song. The ending was a little rough...but a good job overall.

Mikalah Gordon attempted to sing "God Bless the Child." I'm not sure who told her that this was a good choice...but they were wrong. It was so irritating...so off pitch...and so wretched all around. I thought that she had completely ruined her chances of making it to another week. Then the judges just praised her for it. WHAT? I'm starting to think that I might be deaf. There was nothing enjoyable about this performance...except for the fact that she didn't try to be all chatty with the judges (I hate that about her).

Celena Rae picked "When the Lights Go Down" this week. She shouted a lot of the song...and it was a weird song to chose. Once again, it was a song that I have never heard of. But she was loud.

Nadia Turner changed up her game again with "My Love." I thought she sounded fine...but the judges didn't. I think that she's just going to be a nice surprise every week because you will never what she's going to sing. It's a refreshing treat. The only thing that they judges like about her (according to what they said last night) was that she's a risk-taker. Maybe the judges don't like her...but the camera sure does.

Amanda Avila spiced things up with "Turn the Beat Around." Such a dance-tastic song for her to take one. And it was a complete mess...in my opinion. Diana DeGarmo sang it last year for Gloria Estefan week...and as much as I hate to say it, Diana did it so much better than this chick. She was a disaster. I think she'll be back doing her pole dances in Vagas soon. But the judges liked it...go figure.

Janay Castine decide to just be herself tonight. She chose "Hit 'Em Up Style" to show off her own personality. It was yet again a song that was much too old for this 17 year old to sing. It was so unnatural. I said it last week and I'll say it again, she is just not ready for this competition. She was horrendous.

Carrie Underwood chose to sing "Piece of My Heart." Not your typical country tune. But she tried it anyway. It wasn't great...but nowhere near as bad as the judges proclaimed it to be. She has nothing to worry about...she's not going anywhere.

Vonzell Solomon came out with "If I Ain't Got You." I think this is another Alica Keys' song...but I'm not competely sure about that. It seemed like a big old mess...kind of crazy and all over the place. And she lost her fun quality from last week...sad to say. I still like her name though.

The judges were extremely harsh on the good singers...and really lax on the bad ones. It's a travesty. I'm crediting this to their attempt to brainwash the American cattle (I mean public) to voting a boy to be the winner. They know that they don't have anyone that is truly strong in the boys...so they are going to force it to happen for one of the mediocre ones. It's sad...and makes me angry.

But who will go home from the ladies' group. I have to go with Janay Castine (who should have gone home last week) and Mikalah Gordon (who I just really want to go away). The are the 2 youngest contestants...I just want them and their parents to go home.

My other options for those who might be packing their bags are Lindsey Cardinale, Celena Rae and Amanda Avila. I realize that's five of the ten that I have picked...but they really don't belong there either. Of course...I have chosen half of the ladies, so at least one of them is going to make into the top 12 this year. UGH!!! And I really can't make a choice of who I would want to hear sing more.

Tune in tonight to see if I'm right in my predictions...or if you're right.

Bonus Idol Flashback!!!

2005-03-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

Let's go back in time 3 years ago. Idol, Year One. Little Nikki McKibbin stuns the world by knocking off seven of the othre contestants...including favorite, Tamyra Gray. But where is she now? On a different network, being a part of Reality Show Fear Factor. That's right the 3rd place, former stripper is back on televison...and she wants some quick cash.

She still has the pink hair...but it's black underneath instead of bleach blond. And she's still dressing like a rocker. WOO HOO!!! Her first shirt says "My Reality Check Bounced." Her second shirt proclaimed, "All My Black Shirts Were Dirty." Then she came out in a tube top with a leather jacket over it. So classy is she. She is so HOT!!!

She tells the world that she's broke...and has a six year old at home. She's back at home in Texas working her karaoke company...where she hosts parties.

The first task was to cross this rope that is hagning from 2 helicopters and tear off as many flags as possible. She was the last girl up...and she kicked ass. She got seven of them. And for doing this, she won a $20,000 credit card from Capital One. So at least she won't go home empty-handed. Good for her. And the host joked that Clay Aiken would never have been able to do that.

The second task was a whole bunch of mess...and the boy and girl with the slowest time will be eliminated. The boys went first...and Reichen from Amazing Race is the first one gone. Then Nikki is the first girl. They had to get a key out of a tank of snakes...and the snakes just kept biting her and she just kept screaming. Then she had to use the key to open a tank of worms and transport them into a container using only her face. Easy enough. Then she had to take the worms out of the container and put them in a blender using only her mouth. Once the blender was full and blended, she had to suck out the worm guts with a straw and spit them into another container in order to retrieve another key that will free her from the handcuffs that she's wearing. Once free, she had to jump into a dumpster full of some kind of crap and find a container of worm guts, empty the container into a glass and drink it all. She did it all...and the set the time to beat. The next girl finished in a longer time...so Nikki is safe for this round automatically. And Omarosa is up next. She beat Nikki's time...and pissed her off.

The next day, Omarosa made Nikki cry...and Nikki threatened to punch her in the face. And she would have except that she would get kicked off the show...and she just wants the money. Then next task is not an elimination round. They are put in a cage in a tank of water and they have to unlock 4 locks while this cage is rotated in and out of the water. Omarosa chose to not do the task because she can't swim. But it's not an elimination, so it doesn't matter. She just won't be eligible to win the prize....a trip to the Dominican Republic. Nikki gave up mid-task...but so did everyone else. So no one wins the trip.

The last task is driving a car at high speeds up and down a ramp that's attached to another car going at high speeds as well. The person who makes the most passes over the car/ramp in the shortest amount of time will win $50,000 ( not much of a prize). Omarosa is first and she got four. One of the boys was next...and he got four as well, but in less time. So Omarosa is gone...and all the contestants (and the host) are happy. Nikki is up next and was kicking some ass. But on her four time over, one of the back wheels went off the ramp and she got stuck on top of it. So her fourth time over didn't count...so she is out too. Oh well...she didn't win again. The poor thing. But she did get to keep the $20,000 credit card...so it wasn't a total loss for her. Then last guy was up...and he ended up winning.

Hope you enjoyed this little Idol extra!!!

Boys On The Side

2005-02-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

Ryan chose to go ultra casual tonight...wearing some funky pinstriped pants and a spunky tee shirt that made no sense. He proclaimed it "Guys Night" and flexed his manly biceps...HEE HEE!!! Then proceeded to tell us that he weights a mere 142 pounds.

Randy wants the boys to bring it tonight. Paula is looking for some showmanship and unique personalities. And Simon already knows who's going to win. Ryan goaded Simon a little about camera-time. And it made Simon laugh. The Ryan started laughing. And they both just kept giggling like a couple of girls. This will continue throughout the evening with them trying to make each other laugh...isn't love grand? Ryan lost the teleprompter at one point and couldn't say anything without the little words moving across the screen...oh, he's so pretty. Paula has some enormous earrings...and lost the highlights in her hair. The highlights landed in Ryan's hair this week. Randy is wearing an enormous watch on one wrist...and a glittery bracelet on the other. And the judges were kind of easy on the boys tonight...they didn't really say anything negative at all. It was rather disappointing because I did not enjoy all of them. And the audience stood up for every performance...that is just a little too fake for anyone to believe.

Mario Vazques starts us off tonight singing some song that I will call "I Love Music." I didn't know this song. But I like this kid. He's got a great sound to his voice. And he gives another enjoyable performance. He was a little more contained this week...and it worked for him (he got a little wild on the stage last week). He'll be around for some time. I no longer think of him as a favorite, but he'll definitely be in the top 12 when we get there.

Anwar Robinson was also a favorite of mine. I'm not so sure he's going to make it too far anymore. While his rendition of "What's Goin' On" was quite good, he's just doesn't fit that American Idol mold. His dance moves were a little awkward...but his singing is just so natural. He had a few too many "YEAH's" thrown in for no apparent reason. But overall, he's got a lot of good things about him.

Joseph Murena chose "Let's Stay Together" tonight. He started off by trying to find his cameraman. He wasn't in the shot...so he moved right into it. Our dear friend, "Boobs," enjoyed the song though. He was really stiff on stage. He sound ok, but merely average and nothing special. He said "COME ON" to the audience about 100 times throughout his 2 minutes...so that was a bit excessive and unnecessary.

David Brown sang another song that I didn't know, but I like to call, "All Is Fair in Love." All I can say is UGH...it's another ballad from the boy who can't really sing. He sounded so awful on this song. There is nothing redeeming about this kid. Please make him stop singing. I would rather listen to "Boobs" shriek about how she's missing her prom for hours rather than listen to him sing anymore. He was my choice to get the boot last week...but America kept him around for some reason. I hope they have finally decided that he gets no more chances. And he had an enormous watch as well...he and Randy got together to plan that I think (or maybe it's a brutha thang).

Constantine Maroulis came out rocking to a song that we all know, but I don't know the title of...so let's call it "Hard to Handle." All kinds of screeching and screaming in this song. It's no wonder he doesn't have that strong of a voice tonally. But he's so entertaining that you just want him to do well. He's a complete rocker...and he's not going to change (no matter how much we all want him to get this year's make-over into the next pop star). And he is either a giant...or Rayn is a midget. It was like Ryan was standing in a hole.

Scott Savol tried to sing some Luther (I think) with "Oh My Love." I didn't know the song...but I think that's what Randy said. He had some really bad falsetto notes...everytime he sang falsetto. I still don't like him. And I think that he has lost his edge from the earlier rounds. I picked him last week as well...but America let him sing once more. I'm not sure he's going to make it another week.

Travis Tucker stepped it up this week with some funky dance moves. He sang some Stevie for us last week...and this week, we get Lionel Ritchie. So he got down with "All Night Long." He sounded really weak. But he got some back-up from the ethnic Idol ladies during the African chanting. I guess he stepped up the dance moves to make up for the fact that he can't really sing. But the ladies in America will love him because he's attractive.

Nikko Smith attrempted "Let's Get It On." It wasn't a good song for him to sing...it was just a big old mess. And he may be the first black man who can't dance. He looked so strange when he tried to move around the stage...it was not good. But the judges loved it...I did not.

Anthony Federov chose a power ballad this week...as opposed to his true ballad last week. So we get to listen to "I Wanna Know What Love Is." He started out dreadfully...it was just all kinds of bad. But he pulled it together for the big finish. Those jeans were hideous though...there was no helping that.

Bo Bice gets to sing last. And he's singing yet another song that I don't know...so I'm calling it "Tied Down to the Whipping Post." It sounds kind of naughty...but really isn't. It's more about abuse rather than sex. But it was a bluesy, rockabilly number that totally fit his style. He took the judges advice last week and stepped up the performance end of his game. And it completely worked for me. I enjoyed him last week...but he had something special about him this week.

Who's going home? I don't know. I' going with my same picks from last week. David Brown and Scott Savol. I figure if I keep guessing them...at some point I'll be correct.

Four Down...19 More To Go

2005-02-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

How do you fill a full hour on a show that could take 15 minutes? Drag it out as much as possible. And what better way to start it off by recapping the entire show...every step of the way. The go to the judges (they need to earn their paychecks after all). Randy thought most of the contestants were way too safe. Paula rambled on about picking the right song...and proved that she has no idea what she's talking about. And Simon admitted that the boys really aren't as good as the girls...but who didn't know that?

The girl with the lowest amount of votes is up first. And the winner (or loser) is Melinda Lira. Last night, Randy called her the next Kelly Clarkson...OOPS!!! I guess Kelly should have gotten the boot first...I KNEW IT ALL ALONG. I will give Kelly the props on her new single, "Since You Been Gone." I truly love that song...it's way too catchy. But back to Melinda. She's gone. Who cares? We all knew she wasn't going to win. Melinda blamed it on her low exposure from the beginning...she just wasn't highlighted enough. So let's see what the judges think. Randy told her that it just wasn't her best performance and you don't get 2nd chances (tell that to Janay). Paula told her that she had some bad pitch problems. And Simon just told her that she wasn't good enough (that's more to the point). I blame Celine Dion...as always.

The boy with the lowest number of votes is Jared Yates. You might be saying, WHO? And you would be right. He was forgettable...it's true. Randy told him that he didn't show his stuff (which could be considered naughty). Paula told him to just sing like she knows he can. And Simon had nothing to say. So he sings his song again...and I'm not sure it was the same song that he sang on Monday (see how forgettable he was). I guess that it was since all the other losers sang their songs from this week.

The girl with the 2nd lowest number of votes is Sarah Mather. Randy said it wasn't her best performance and there are no 2nd chances. Does that sound familiar? I think he said it before. Apparently Ryan remembered it too because he just cut him off mid-sentence. Paula told her that she's beautiful (always a bad compliment when that's the only thing they can come up with) and that she chose a wrong song for a solo performance. And Simon told her that she would have done better in a different year. She sang her song (her group member song that she chose to sing as a solo artist). But she was so done with the show. I thought she was just going to wander off the stage during the song...she was in some kind of trance.

The boy with the 2nd lowest number of votes is Judd Harris. I was a little surprised by this...although everyone knew he wasn't going to win. I thought he would be around for personality sake for a couple weeks...but his songs are always so strange. Enough about my opinions, let's go back to the judges. Randy just explained that it's a tough competition and he wasn't good enough for it. Paula said that the guys this year are just too strong. And Simon told him that he chose the wrong song and represented himself poorly. So that's it.

As you may have realized...I got them all wrong. It's true. Everyone that I picked to get the boot is still around. Oh well. American and I never agree...so that's the way it shall remain. To remind you, here were my choices. Janay Castine and Celena Rae...Scott Savol and David Brown. All are still in it...and I'm sorry to say that we have to hear them again next week.

A couple of footnotes...

Poor Janay is going to have a nervous breakdown if they don't kick her out soon. She was just too emotional. I've said it before...she's not ready for this!!!

William Hung has a commercial now. We all love the little retard...so it's good to see that he's still hanging in there. And there was mention of a new cd in the commercial...can this be true?

Poor Ryan had some mike problems during the 2nd half of the show...at least on out television. I'm hoping it's not just us since we just bought a new television 2 weeks ago.

Next week is more of the same. Monday = boys...Tuesday - girls...Wednesday = more dreams shattered (and re-enactments of the songs that got them kicked out).

It's Ladie's Night

2005-02-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

First off, I wanted to say that Ryan looked good tonight. The black jacket with the black tee was a good look for him. The boys are in the audience like the girls were last night...and Randy keeps calling them the "dog pound." I'm sure we have weeks of this to look forward to. I have to say that I truly am one of the judges...they keep saying all the stuff that I write down. If it were just Simon and I...we would weed out so many more people. But four people will be going home on Wednesday...it's the biggest drop in Idol history at this level...WOO HOO!!!

Starting things off is Vonzell Solomon singing "Heatwave." I have to say that going into this round I liked her only for her name. She chose an upbeat song...and she had fun with it. She certainly was better than Kimberly Locke when she tried to sing this song. But it wasn't anything great...and the arrangement was just a big old mess. I think she'll stick around, but she's got to do a little more.

Amanda Avila sang "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You." This song may have sounded familiar because one of the guys sang it the night before. She did sing it better than he did, but there were some really bad notes in it. I think she has something going for her though. Plus, Simon is in lust with her...he's naughty.

Janay Castine is a 17 year old and she chose to sing "I'm Gonna Love You Forever." She was so nervous and shaky...it was hard to watch her. This song was way too old for her to sing. And the performance just came off terrible.

Carrie Underwood chose to sing a Tiffany song...and this alone makes her a winner. She sang "Could've Been"...and she sang the crap out of it. She was brilliant...what a great job...and what a natural singer. And it was the perfect song for her to sing. I loved that she's the country gal...but she pulled off this not-so country song amazingly. I actually picked her to be the winner of the competition before this show aired...and she's on her way.

Sarah Mather picked "Get Ready" as her first song. She has a little bit of a country twang to her. Her energy in the performance was good...her energy in singing was not. But she had fun. She has a weird sound and an oddly weak voice. I'm not sure about her.

Melinda Lira came out singing "I'm Your Lady." As soon as she started, I realized that I forgot to mention Celine in the group of people that contestants aren't supposed to sing. With that said, I didn't hate her. She had her big arm upsweep going...and then she added a squat-thrust. It was amusing. The performace was pretty much unenjoyable...mainly because I hate Celine and most of her music. I will say that she is a solid girl...she has a strange body shape...not a fattie, but stocky and built.

Nadia Turner took to the mike singing a song that I don't know but I will call it "Power of Love (the non-Celine version)." She morphed into a rocker chick...and I loved it!!! I'm not sure where it came from, but it worked for her. Randy said that he was glad that she kept true to herself...but she has never shown that this is her type of music...I have only heard her sing soulful music. So this was a nice surprise for me...I'm always for the rocker. She's phenominal...and a true star in this competition.

Celena Rae picked "I Will Love Again." This is a dance song that she slowed way too. A little too much because it was really dragging...and that made it really boring. I didn't enjoy it at all. I don't even remember what she sounded like because the song was so distracting in it's form.

Mikalah Gordon took to the stage singing "Young Hearts Run Free." I hate this girl's voice. It's so fake sounding to me. And she annoys the crap out of me. I might like her a little more if her voice weren't as annoying as her personality. She tried to dance in the middle of the song...and she was completely uncomfortable and awkward. I irritates me that she's the youngest contestant this year...but she looks like a 40 year old woman. Please send her home!!!

Lindsey Cardinale sang "Standing Right Next To Me." During the second line, she cupped her breast. I'm not sure why...but she took hold of it for about three seconds. No apparent reason, just wanted to touch it I guess. This was one dull song. And she was pitchy throughout the whole song.

Jessice Sierra chose to sing "Take A Look At Me Now," the love theme from Against All Odds. She some really big arm gestures...for extra dramatic effect. She has something in her...we just didn't get to really see it. I think that she'll be around...and I'm hopeful that she'll wow me more next time.

Aloha Mischeaux has a great name. She picked a Beyonce song to start things off. "Work It Out" is one naughty song...and she focused on the naughtiness of it. Basically, she's a dirty ho...and she can stay around for that reason alone. She has a decent voice...and definitely took control of the stage. But that song was a huge mess to sing.

Who will go home? I can pick two...but would like to pick more. I would love to pick Mikalah Gordon (since I am the president of the I HATE MIKALAH fan club), but there were too many others that were worse than her. I have to pick the young and nervous Janay Castine. I think she's not ready for this yet...and she's going to have a breakdown soon if she stays around. My other choice would beCelene Rae, simply because I can't remember her voice at all. I know that her song was awful in every sense...but I can't remember if she can really sing. And you have to be memorable. I take notes during the show...and I still don't know if she can sing or not. MY alternate for the night would be Lindsey Cardinale...who was just so dull and unexciting.

At the end of the show, Ryan asked the ladies for a group hug. Did he want to be the main ingredient in a Ryan sandwich...or did he just want to be one of the girls? I think he calls it himself...Ryan Out!!!

Boys Are Boring

2005-02-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

The top twelve boys get to sing for us...and the girls get to watch from the audience. We'll be voting to keep our favorites in once again...that still hasn't changed. However, they will be dumping two boys and two girls each week...so that will speed things up a bit. That's right, we should only have three weeks of the three-night Idol shows. I was sad to hear that the Wednesday show (the elimation day) will be a full hour.

The judges were excited because this is the best group of guys ever for Idol. That doesn't say much about them...but we shall see what we get. Paula decided to wear some really weird-looking cape. And the back-up singers sucked...they should all be fired.

Up first is Nikko Smith singing "Part Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder. Nikko has a decent look about him. The hat worked well with the glasses, tie, untucked shirt and jeans...very stylish. He has a decent voice...but he was doing some Stevie impersonating mostly. And then he finished the song with the big Broadway finish. Overall...unimpressive.

Scott Savol stepped up singing "You Are My Lady." His voice is nice but he was off pitch a lot. His song and personality are really dull tonight. He toned down his insanity...and now he's bland. He wants to be a little ghetto...and it just doesn't work for him. The good news...Paula doesn't care that he had pitch problems...that's not important (because she can't sing either).

Anthony Federov chose a ballad...big surprise. So we get Richard Marks' "Hold Onto The Night." This was his most boring performance as well. He hasn't had much personality in the other times that we've seen him, but his voice ususally carried him on. His song wasn't great...and it was a weird arrangement. His worst performance yet.

Bo Bice sang a song that I'm going to title "Drift Away" (because I don't really know the name of it). He's our first rocker of the night. And he was great. The worst thing about his performance was his stupid smile throughout the song. But he got the audience clapping along with him...too bad there weren't any lighters in the crowd (that would have been a nice touch).

Travis Tucker sang Stevie # 2 for the night with "My Cherie Amor." He's a good-looknig guy...but must not know it. His outfit was so boring. He should be dressing a little more sexy. His "la la la's" were all kinds of off-key...but Paula and Randy didn't notice it (I guess they can't hear). What a bland performance in every way.

Constantine Maroulis is singing "Kiss From A Rose" for us. Rocker #2 chose an odd song...but it didn't come out bad. He truly is a star. He's so entertaining on stage...and so adorable. He took a risk with the song...and everyone loves that about him.

David Brown attempted to sing "Never Can Say Goodbye." I say attempted because he did not succeed. It was just awful...bad arrangement, bad sound, bad energy. I'm not sure he even knows this song. And I'm not sure how many keys he sang it in. It started wrong...didn't improve in the middle...and got worse for the ending.

Jared Yates sang another song that I don't know the name of so I titled it "How Could I Say Goodbye," which is almost the same title as the song that David Brown sang. He has that pop, boy-band sound...just not very good at it. He was very unimpressive. And did anyone out there know this song?

Anwar Robinsons chose "Moonriver" as his first song. What a strange choice? But it was a funky version of it...and completely original (compared to all the others...at least it wasn't another Stevie song). But what was that jacket that he was wearing...it looked like he just pieced it together in the green room. But a great voice...and enjoyable performance.

Judd Harris sang a song another song that I have to make up a title for...so I'll call it "Playin' In A Travelin' Band." At least it was upbeat...and he had some energy and fun to him. Too bad I hate his voice. And he ran out of breath towards the end of the song. But where did he come up with this song?

Joseph Murena sang yet another song that I don't know and don't know the title of...so here's my title, "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You." He went to the school of "if you can't sing well, then sing loud." He started off well...singing nice and soft with a lovely pure, clean sound. Then he got really loud and extremely off pitch. He went the opposite way of most for the ending...no big flashly, loud finish for him. He took it down...and it was nice (just like the way he started).

Mario Vazquez is up last (I always like to say that they save the best for last). But we're getting our 3rd Stevie song of the night with "Do I Do." However he was the best Stevie of the night. He was energetic, fun and had a good sound. I like him a lot. He has stat quality. Lots of good stuff to come from this guy.

So out of this group, how do you pick a bottom two? I'm not sure. I could probably pick a bottom six a lot easier. There are so many choices of people to get rid of. But I'm going with David Brown (because he was the worst in my opinion)...and with Scott Savol (because he's so odd-looking and I don't think the public cares that his voice is decent...just not tonight). My other choices would have been Stevie #1 and #2...but they each have something else going for them...Stevie #1 had god fashion sense and Stevie #2 is very attractive. But with only that going for them...they won't be around too much longer.

After the first competition of this year, I'm adding another singer to my list of artists that the contestants are no longer allowed to sing...and that would be Stevie Wonder. It only comes off as impersonations of him. So no Whitney...no Mariah...and no more Stevie.

The ladies are up tonight...and I'm ready for them. I know that the Idol people are probably going to force a boy to win...but the ladies are so much more talented. So I'm hopeful for good things to come. Barry (and Ryan) out!!!

The Big Pay Off

2005-02-17T08:04:00.000-08:00

It's the last day of "auditions." There really weren't any auditions this time around...just the judges watching some video footage while the kids got to go home for a week. The contestants will meet the judges one by one. OOH...feel the drama.

That's right, all the kids are corralled into a holding room. They'll have a 30 second elevator ride up...a 60 second walk across the floor to the firing squad (aka the judges)...get their news...another 30 second ride down in the elevator...and back to face their dear freinds (who really don't want them to get through and take their spot).

Matthew Kester faces them first. I think he had a great look. But the judges said no to him. He's going home. Could it be that he looked a little too homo for the show. We've had the mo's on the show before...remember Jim Verraros (the little deaf boy from season one) and RJ, EJ and AJ (all from season one as well) and who could forget Clay Aiken, the true winner of season two (no one really thinks he's straight...if you do, please let me know) or Kimberly Locke (who keeps perfroming at all the gay and lesbian functions across the country). I can't think of any one from last season...so please chime in if you can think of anyone can come up with one. Anyway...he's gone.

Six random kids go home without any mention...and I didn't recognize them either.

David Brown made it.
Tammy Wynette Nash did not make it. This was the first major mistake of the night. She sounded great...the one time they showed her singing. But with those high-tech effects, she just disappeared off her chair.
Jessica Sierra made it...but wasn't very good. She was a country gal too...just not as good as the other one.
Nikko Smith made it. But I'm not sure we've ever seen him before.
Aloha ischeaux is in. She's another that they've been hiding from the cameras...I would have remembered that name.
Mikalah "Boobs" Gordon made it of course. There always has to be one that I truly hate. And then she just got more annoying once they told her.
Anthony Federov will be back, rightfully so.
Nadia Turner will be back as well (my favorite girl).
Vonzell Solomon made it too. But she wasn't sure she heard them right. She couldn't believe that she got through...good for her. I think it was her cool name.
Carrie Underwood gets to go on. She's the country girl that I do like.
Judd Harris was given another chance...too bad I don't like him. Another mistake.
Erin Furey didn't make it...but who cares, we've never seen her before.
Ivan Ganchev is going home too...yet again, we never got see him.
Yolanda McIntosh goes home.
Faith Gatewood can't believe that she's going home. But she was GHETTO (at least in the clip that they showed of her). Then she broke down into a tirade about having nothing in life. Ryan went after to her to save the day...what a guy.
Sarah Mather is moving on.
Celena (I missed her last name) gets to go on as well. Maybe I'll pick up her last name next time.

More random people are dismissed...and we don't get to know who they are either.

Janay Castine made it.
Joseph Moreno made it.
Anwar Robinson made it...as he should have. He's just a great guy with a great voice.
Jamar Jefferson (our last remaining twin) did not make it. At last, there is justice.
John Zisa is going home.
JP Koehler is on his way home too. He was stunned. He couldn't speak...or move.
Lindsey Cardinale is staying.
Melinda Lira is staying too.
Mario Vazquez stays...and is still a star (he's my favorite guy). And I think he could be our winner...which will be a boy this year. I think he'll do well because we haven't had an overly ethnic winner...and it's time.
Kim Holloway is going home.
Bo Bice is staying. One rocker through. Will our favorite rocker, Constantine, make it as well? He better!!! He was unanimously put through though...Simon doesn't like him.
Jared Yates is through.
Constantine Maroulis is through as well...and should be. He's going to do well. I did want Simon to say that it was a unanimous decision...but he didn't.
Amanda Avila is through as well.
Jaclyn Crum is not...HALLELUJAH!!!
Scott Savol made it. He's just too creepy. So I guess I hate two people this year (maybe that's because they have twice as many this year).
Warren Nolan is going home.
Travis Tucker is staying.

There you have it. There are 24 people remaining. On Monday, the boys will sing...on Tuesday, the girls will sing. And we get to get rid of one of each.

I'm officially starting my campaign of hatred for Mikalah Gordon (the Fran Drescher wannabe) and Scott Savol (the freaky psycho). My campaign against Leah worked last year...so let's make it happen again this year. I want them gone the first week. If the world were a perfect place, we would get to vote for the person that we want gone...but that probably won't happen. SO DON'T VOTE FOR THEM!!!

Barry OUT (I can't resist stealing Ryan's catch-phrase).

Almost There

2005-02-16T08:44:00.000-08:00

Only 75 contestants remain at the beginning of the show. Will we make it down to 60 tonight? I sure hope so. We are told it's their last chance to sing...it's their final day.

8:30 a.m. on Day 4...and the Idolettes are tired and emotional. Now they get to sing a song of their choice. But all we really get to hear is talk about it. I'm not sure we will actually get to hear anyone sing tonight at all. Just a lot of talking. And apparently the singing is all over...and the judges get to deliberate.

The contestants are divided up into their four rooms...still no actual singing being viewed by the American public. And Simon isn't around to tell groups whether they get to stay or go...some personal reason.

GROUP 1...I was mixed on this group based on the people that flashed by. Maybe we can hear them sing a little before we get any decisions.
Sharon Galvez sang Whitney...and it wasn't horrendous, but it was Whitney (which is a no no). And Paula had this glazed look...she's definitely on something.
Shunta Warthen sang Whitney too...we had to hear two Whitney songs in a row. And I think that she could be a drag queen. You may remember her as the girl who got on the wrong bus the first day of auditions and she was all painted up. She just has the presence of a guy dressed as a woman to me.
Angel Higgs is the music teacher who went to the auditions with her student...she made it, he didn't it. She was not enjoyable.
Rashida Johnson sang OVERJOYED by Stevie (we get a lot of Stevie in this competition). She was decent...but what was going on with those riffs? It was a bit of a mess. She was one of my favorites until tonight.
Sean McNeill is the youth pastor that we saw way back at the beginning. Religion may be in right now, but poor Sam shouldn't be part of the big fad.

On a side note, Marty and I saw ALTER BOYZ last night. It is a wonderfully fantastic show. You should all go see it (it's in NYC, so you would have to be here to see it). But it throws 2 great fads together...religion (Catholicism to be specific and boy bands). It's brilliant. It's only about 95 minutes with no intermission...and done in the style of a concert. Lots of singing and dancing...and phenominal lyrics to the songs. GO SEE THIS SHOW!!!

OK, back to ROOM 1. I was conflicted with the people in this group...at first. Once I saw the highlighted people, I think they are going home. And of course, they are. WOO HOO!!! They judges agreed with me (not that it was that much of a choice).

Onto to ROOM 2...and based on the flashes of people, I would say yes to them immediately. It has a good number of my favorites...so they have to go on.
Jamar Jefferson is not one of my favorites. He's the only twin remaining. He sang an original song, so he does get a little extra credit. But I'm still not a fan of his.
Mario Vazquez sang Bohemian Rhapsody (someone sings this every year). But this was the best that I've heard. He was great...just a little over the top towards the end of the song. He is definitely one to watch...and a favorite of mine.
Matthew Kester sang Unchained Meloday (Simon's favorite song). He chose the song to be memorable to the judges...and he was. I don't know where he came from...but I liked him. He's got a great look and he can sing. They were hiding this one from the cameras.
Carrie Underwood is a star. I like her even though she sings country music...so she's got something to her. A big favorite of mine.
Constantine (Greek Boy) is in the group. But we don't get to hear him sing. But he's also one of my favorites.
Judd Harris sang Mustang Sally. It was a weird choice. I didn't know what to think of his voice, because I really couldn't get a grasp of the sound. But he's in a good group.
Vonzell Solomon sang some Aretha...and sang it pretty well. I have to admit that I liked her mainly based on her name (it's so unusual and funky). But I think she's got the talent too. Another favorite of mine.
Anwar (from Newark, NJ) is in this group too. We don't hear him sing tonight, but he has been one of my favorites from the beginning.

The judges agree with me on this one...and ROOM 2 is still in it. WOO HOO...I'm 2 for 2 tonight.

ROOM 3 has only one girl that I really liked in it as they flash around the room...all the others are dreadful choices.
Dezmond Meeks, who I have hated from the beginning is in the room. He sang I Heard It Through The Grapevine...badly. Paula loves him because he's a dancer...but that does not make him a singer. He sucks.
Jennifer Todd, the big girl who is a stay at home mom is in the group too. She's the only one that I really liked in the room. But she chose a bad song to sing (I'm So Excited). She didn't sing it horribly...it was just a wrong choice.
Aa'shia (pronounce Aisa) Jackson is the midget boy/girl that sings like the chipmunks. I'm not sure how she has gotten so far in this competition. She was awful...it was just comical to hear her. I guess her originality is what did it for her...but that must have worn off by now.
Larry Ellis sang like crap!!!
Ross Williams is the crooner with the bad hat. He's still bad too. I' m not sure why the judges don't listen to me. I know what America likes...and he is not it.

ROOM 4 has some good people in it too...so I have to initially give them a big fat yes.
Anthony Federov is a star. You may know him as "trach-boy." But I like to call him Aaron Carter with talent. He's great...and a definite favorite of mine.
Jaclyn Crum is not a favorite of mine...and she sang a Kelly Clarkson song. What's up with that?
Tammy Nash (and her middle name is Wynette...that made me laugh...Tammy Wynette Nash). If you don't know who Tammy Wynette is...look her up. But she was really good. I don't really remember her from any other auditions...but she sang her heart out...then broke down crying. She is now a favorite of mine.
Scott Savol is insane. The sad thing is that he can sing...but he scares me. There's a serial killer lurking behind his eyes.
Mikalah Gordon who I affectionately refer to as Fran "Boobs" Drescher. And I hate her. I don't like her look, her sound or her personality. PLEASE GET RID OF HER!!!
Lindsey Cardinal wasn't bad. She could be a man as well...or a white Toni Braxton.
Jessica Sierra sang The Boys Are Back In Town...and not so well. She was wearing an ugly hat and a sparkly trench coat. It was a bad look. She was slow and boring.
Nadia the big-haired girl that I love is in this group too...but we don't get to hear her sing tonight. She is definitely a favorite of mine...probably THE favorit of mine.

Who will go home? OOH...feel the drama. But ROOM 4 stays...ROOM 3 goes home. Paula tried to make herself cry when telling them...and it was pathetic. Larry Ellis (ROOM 3) couldn't believe it...he knows that he is a star (although his song was dreadful). He just ranted and ranted and ranted...and the cameras just kept listening.

So we are now down to 44 finalists. The judges are going to watch the tapes to cut it down to the final 24 (12 boys/12 girls). And we get to find out tonight. WOO HOO!!! That means the real competition will begin next week...starting out the first of six 3-shows-a-week weeks. In the previews it showed the judges in a panel with one chair...so I'm hoping that we get to see all of them face off with the judges...that's good television (and they do have to fill a full hour of this crap).

Ryan ended the show with his trademark farewell...but he almost got cut off. He has to rush through it because of time. It amused me.

The Long, Slow Process Looms On

2005-02-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

It's round 2 of the Hollywood auditions. They are divided up into weird groups ot 3 and get to chose between 5 songs. Then the groups draw numbers to see who goes first.

Amidst all the excitement, Jaclyn Crum's mother passes out or stops breathing or something. We learn that she has MS. I don't understand why her mother is with her when she has known medical problems. It turns out that it wasn't the MS, but merely food poisoning. So Jaclyn joins her group back at the hotel. But it was too late to rehearse...so they will just have to wait until the morning to get together.

While the others practice the night away...tensions flare up among group members. One guy jsut disappears from his group, then shows up late in the night to rehearse. One group of girls is fighting over choreography. Parents are trying to take over rehearsals. And one poor girl can't get the lyrics down...and the group revolts.

Good morning...it's time to sing.

It'll be the same format as yesterday's post. I'll give my opinion about who should stay and go and then the judges (we disagreed a lot tonight). And of course, there will be a few comments thrown in for your enjoyment.

NAME ME JUDGES
Constantine (Greek rocker) YES YES
Dezmond Meeks NO YES
William Blake NO NO
Dezmond was a disaster. He's the one who shouldn't be there to begin with. Paula threw a tantrum at his first audition and Randy let him through. He still sucks...but they keep passing him through. I don't get it. William actually sounded better than Dezmond (but I wouldn't have let either of them through).

Rachel (missed her last name) NO NO
Elizabeth Pha NO NO
Carrie Zaruba NO NO
Elizabeth was dreadful...and she still couldn't remember the lyrics (hence the tension with the group last night). You may remember her as the little whore in the fishnet dress. She wasn't good at the initial audition...and she didn't get any better. But she had a good excuse...she didn't get much sleep. Carrie was the real bitch of the group...so I liked her a little more for that. But I didn't like her voice. Of the 3, Rachel was the best...but I wouldn't have let any of them through.

Mario Vasquez YES YES
Jamar Jefferson (twin) NO YES
Anwar Robinson YES YES
The twin boy was a mess in my opinion. But they were the strongest group to sing so far. So I understand that they all go through. Mario and Anwar have what it takes to move on far in this competition. I think Jamar will be going home soon...or maybe I'm just hoping he does.

Natalie Weiss NO NO
Janay Castine YES YES
Gina McFadden NO YES
I would only let Janay through. They were all kind of boring...but she sang the best of them. And Gina is just weird looking.

Matthew Meyers NO NO
Danny Steward NO YES
Scott Savol YES YES
This was an odd group to put together. Matthew had the teddy bear...and didn't do so well. Danny was ok, but nothing special. Scott has a great voice...but he's so strange that he scares me (and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not).

Timothy Saver NO YES
Aaron Kelly NO NO
Lamar Jefferson (twin) NO NO
These 3 guys made complete asses of themselves. But Paula had a breakdown and had to bring the executive producer in to settle things. He didn't side with Paula...so there was a little bit of ego shattering for her. OOPS!!! But none of them should have gone through...they chose the boy who fit the cookie-cutter mold though. So which one of the other boys do you think they were fighting over...they both sucked. Well, all 3 sucked...but Timothy had already made it through.

Jaclyn Crum NO YES
Rashida Johnson NO YES
Faith Gatewood NO YES
I wouldn't have let any of them through. But they did have a set-back with Jaclyn's mother. But was it real? Or just a ploy to get her daughter through? We'll never know the truth. But it worked...they get another chance. I wouldn't have given it to them. Especially because Faith had to make the point known to the judges. I would have dumped her immediately at that point. Then maybe I would have let the others stick around. I don't like people making excuses.

John Zisa NO YES
JP Koehler NO YES
Kurtis Parks NO YES
They were all given another chance. And one can only speculate that it was because they chose a song that no one else did...so it was considered a risk. And that really is what Simon (and maybe the other judges) were looking for. I think my favorite moment was when they just started saying random words...one at a time, from a different person. It was perfectly amusing to me. But we'll get to see them all again.

72 people made it through (maybe 75). We didn't get to see some of our favorites...Nadia and the big girl...but I'm assuming they both made it through. We didn't see "Boobs" either...and I'm not sad about that. But she probably got through as well. They didn't get rid of too many tonight after all. So we'll move onto another week of it...and hope that we get to the final 24 next week.

The catch-phrase is back too!!! It's the first time that I've noticed it this season. But Ryan is once again proclaiming his homosexuality with SEACREST OUT!!! And I am too.

Welcome to Hollywood

2005-02-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

They traveled 10,000 miles...went to 7 cities...auditioned 100,000 wannabes...and narrowed it down to the "best" 193. At the end of Idol Boot Camp, there will be 12 boys and 12 girls who will vie for the coveted title of American Idol #4. Are you getting excited yet?

If you actually watched the show, you're probably not. It's taking too long to get to the good stuff. The auditions are so boring...and the cutting back it kind of pointless to air. But here we go.

It's 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning...day one of trek to Idol-hood. One group gets to audition and the other gets to go sight-seeing. They were all given a list of 12 songs one week prior to their arrival to chose from. So let's bring on the talent.

Because there isn't a lot to say about the 2 seconds that we got to see with these kids, I'll be taking on a different format this week. I will put the person's name and whether I thought they should move on and what the judges thought...of course some of them will get extra comments. The progression of people last night just went by too quickly for me to get something on everyone of them.

Name ME JUDGES
Carrie Underwood, the farm girl. YES YES
Jaclyn Crum NO YES
Sarah Mather YES YES
she had bad breath support, but at least she could sing
Tamesha Foote NO NO
she didn't want to disappoint her baby twins at home, but she sang anyway...and it was bad
Anthony Federov YES YES
he's everything they want...young, cute, and he can sing
Michael Liuzza NO NO
he still isn't good...but they gave him a shot

Poor Shunta Warthen is lost. She got on the wrong bus. And she's all painted up like a whore (not that that has anything to do with being on the wrong bus). But now she has to get back to the theater. DUMB-ASS!!!

Rashida Johnson YES YES
she was our first "sick" contestant...so they lowered the key for her and she sounded great
Amanda Avila YES YES
Travis Tucker YES YES
Lindsey Cardinale YES YES

Why do you want to be the next American Idol? Apparently they thought this was the Miss America pageant because most of them wanted to be an inpiration or role model for the younger generation. Get off the stage...LOSERS!!!

Richard Molfetta NO NO
he sounded horrible...for the first time in my opinion...but Simon got his way at last
Ross Williams NO YES
I still don't like this kid...he's way too arrogant for me (even without his stupid hat)
Bald Guy/Youth Pastor YES YES
I didn't catch his name...but I liked him
Nadia Turner YES YES
I think she's my favorite...she's got the big hair
David Brown YES YES
Scott Savol YES YES
Anwar Robinson YES YES
He's good...and I have to root for the local boy from Newark
Jeffrey Johnson NO NO
He was bad...but I could tell that Simon liked him...and it was mentioned that he was a
unanimous no from the judges...Simon was sad to tell him no....HMMMM
Shunta Warthen NO NO
being a stupid whore made me think less of her...she was fine, but nothing special
Melissa Figuero NO YES
Vonzell Solomon YES YES
she's good...and she has a funky name
Regina Brooks NO NO
good thing she kept the karaoke machine...she'll need it at home

After day one, 4 people went home...as opposed to the 48 who get to stay. It's nice to see that over half of them didn't get another day in Hollywood. So we're going to swap places on the next day...but only those who made get to go sight-seeing from the first group. The poor losers, they don't get anything.

Patrick Norman NO NO
the farm boy was so boring and out of tune this time
Nario Vazquez YES YES
he sounded great
Jose Franscisco Torres NO NO
he brought a towel out with him, but never used it...he sounded ok, but made too many
faces and was moving around too much and mugging the camera
Marlea Stroman NO YES
she was bland and dull and loud

Back to the tour. They are visiting the sound stage of THE OC. Poor Jaclyn Crum (16) broke down weeping because she was so excited...I knew there was a reason I didn't like her to being with. Then her mother started to rant about it...and she broke down weeping too. UGH...get rid of them both. It shows why 16 year olds should not be allowed into this competition.

Aaron Kelly YES YES
Bo Rice YES YES
Constating (greek boy) YES YES
all the rockers were decent...and I didn't write Constantine's last name down quick enough
Briana Davis NO NO
the opera singer did not cut it with the rock song..oh well
Mikalah Gordon NO YES
this is the girl I called "Boobs" in an earlier post...and apparently now she's Fran
Drescher...sadly I like Fran more than I like this girl...she has a bad sound and she's
annoying...oh, and did I mention that she's 16 as well?
Janay Castine NO YES

The big girl that we all loved in Vegas made it through...but we didn't get to hear her sing this time. She hasn't had her make-ove yet...and that scares me a little. And 48 others did as well from this group. That brings our total to 97...so I think that we're half-way there. Is it possible that we will get down to the 12 boys and 12 girls with this week's Wednesday episode? One can only hope. It's the night of group singing...and it is always dreadful...so get ready for it.

Last Stop

2005-02-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

Welcome to San Francisco...and lots of shots of Ryan in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. It also has Brandi and lots of wannabes.

Albert Minero was up first for the American public. He called himself a quadruple threat...he can sing, act, dance and he has personality. I want to know where Ryan was to correct him. Everyone knows that modeling is at least one of those threats....well, according to Ryan. He was really bad...but really fun. But his personality wasn't good enough to move him on to Hollywood.

Matthew Miller came in singing a tribute to Kelly Clarkson. BIG MISTAKE!!! He was so awful. And everone called hima woman. The poor thing. He left the room and wept.

A couple of crooners were up next...Jamie Koehler and Ross Williams. Both could sing. I personally preferred Jamie. He was genuine and honest. And he makes it through. Ross Williams has a really great sound...and he didn't miss a note. But there's something about him that turns we way off. He was much too showy...and a little too cocky. Simon agreed with me. But all the others loved him..so he's off to Hollywood. I didn't like his hat either...it didn't fit his head. Bad choice.

Elizabeth Pha, the whore of Babylon, was up next. She came strutting in wearing a fishnet dress cover over a tube top and mini skirt. What was she thinking? But she certainly got everyone's attention. And then she decides to sing Whitney. She actually has a decent voice...but that was not the song for (but as I may have mentioned, no one should sing Whitney on the Idol). There was a bit of confusion on my part because 2 judges said no and two said yes. On every other show, this would mean that the person doesn't get to go through. But because one of the yeses was Simon, she gets to go. WHAT? Does his vote count for more? I realize he's the only real judge up on that panel...but let's be fair about it.

Justin Clark, a 17 year old from Atlanta, singing Stevie. And he sang it really well. And his momma listened through the door the whole time. So he gets through...and mom goes insane. To the point where she falls down because she can't breathe. Yet no one offers her help. They just keep dragging her off.

Michael Garcia came back from 2 seasons ago. He gave himself a make-over...a new mohawk and a some funky clothes. Sadly he forgot to take the voice lessons. He was still a dreadful singer. At least he thinks that he's "hip and in."

Christopher Noll, the hip-hop nanny, came in and a did a little on the spot rap about the four judges. He loked awfully familiar to Marty and myself. And some of you may recall that he's an actor (formerly of NYC)...who goes by the name Chris Wylde. He has appeared in a couple big things. But I remember him most from being on Trading Spaces...yes, he was one of the contestants. And he should have made it to Hollywood. He was original and fun and could have made the competition so interesting. I'm sure he was there to get some extra exposure, but it would have been great for him to move on.

Nadia Turner was up next. And she has great hair. But that's not all...she can actually sing too. It's a miracle. She's got the look, the voice, the personality...she's the Idol package. I think we may be looking at this year's winner. Unless the show really is fixed...and in that case a white boy is going to win this year. But she'll be around for a long time...so get used to her (it shouldn't be too hard because she's got the talent).

Victor Mercado is back again from last season...sporting some new shades. He still can't sing either. Oh well. But he knows that he's got the stuff. So Simon offered him a little bet. If he has a #1 record in six month, Simon will personallly give him $50,000...then Randy offered $100,000. This kid thinks he can do it...but he misunderstood the whole bet. He thinks that he only needs to get a recording contract. OOPS!!! Then he went on to disparage Reuben's heft and protest that he's much better looking than Clay. It always helps to tear the other contestants down...after you've auditioned.

Jessica Murphy is 16...and she thinks that she can sing Whitney too. She didn't sing it well, of course. But the judges saw something in her. And they offered her the advice of getting some training and come back next year. However, that's not what she heard. She heard them say that she's the most talented person they have seen. And when Simon told her that she wasn't ready for this competiont...she took that as being too talented to compete. I think that the voices in Mary Roach's head starting talking to poor Jessica...I think those voices are just that powerful.

Chris Ciompi studied opera...then worked on a cruise ship. That should have been his first warning sign, but he showed up anyway. He had a crazy voice...and not in a good way. He didn't make it.

Ivan Ganchev came in and sang some Queen...loudly. But it was a really good impersonation of Freddy Mercury...and I LOVED IT!!! Three of the judges did too...jsut not Simon. But that's not enough to keep him out of Hollywood.

The bad parade came in...lots and lots of them.

J. P. Molfetta...the 2nd Molfetta brother to audition twice. He wsa the lesser of the two in my opinion. But he's back. He sang again...and I still didn't enjoy it. He was really pitchy...but still not as good as his brother. OOPS!!! But 2 of the judges said he could go...and two said he couldn't. Another tie. Does this mean that he gets to move on (since the whore did with only two votes)? Nope...he doesn't get to. And why? The only reason I can see if because it was Simon who said no (and he said yes to the whore, as you might have remembered). Too bad. Not that I really care, because I agree with Simon on this one. And we really only need one Molfetta brother....and they got the good one.

32 lucky individuals made it to Hollywood from Frisco.

Nect up...Idol Boot Camp. 193 people will be there (I think that's less than last year). I can only assume that the drama is about to ensue....

A Tale of Two Cities

2005-02-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

That's right, you get 2 cities for the price of one...and in only one hour too. What a nice treat. We'll be visiting Cleveland and Orlando this week. First up, the city where rock 'n roll was born...Cleveland, OH.

15,000 kids showed up for the auditions...and so did the rain. LL Cool J (the hip-hop legend) was around too.

Jaclyn Crum was the first one we got to see. She had a strange sound. But she was young and pretty...so of course they let her go to Hollywood.

Sarah Sue Kelly was not young or pretty. She is one of the oddest looking people I have ever seen. But she had a decent voice. Simon was honest with her by telling her that she could sing, but that her image would never let her be an American Idol. She understood and had such a good attitude about it...I wanted her to make it. I wish that the other judges would have let her through jsut because Simon said that she could never make it. Just give her a chance to prove herself. Oh well...they have their make-over story from last week already. But she did get a hug from LL.

Now is the time in our show where there fly through bad audition after bad audition. I've started blocking them out because they are pointless.

Scott Savol was another odd looking character. His dad doesn't believe he'll ever amount to anything. But the boy can sing. It was the first one this season that was so surprising to hear the voice come out of his body...it was so bizarre. But he gets through...and proves daddy wrong.

Jennifer Page, the beloved mime, came in next. She mimed an Aerosmith song. Simone loved it because he didn't have to hear a bad audition. The mime fainted and wanted LL to give her some naughty mouth to mouth. Sadly, they wouldn't let a non-vocal contestant make it to Hollywood.

Patrick Norman came directly from the farm in his overalls. I wasn't thrilled. He had a weird vibrato...and too much of it. But they judges let him through anyway.

The Jackson sisters are up next...but they don't have to sing together. Lashunda (21) is up first. She was another one with a strange sound...it was just kind of fake to me. And she didn't make it. Her sister, Leandra (20) was crying on the way in because her sister didn't make it. I think it may have been because she knew that her sister was a better singer than she was...and since Lashuna didn't make it, there is no way that she'll get through. And she was right. She was so bad. But they all gave her a big hug at the end...and told her to come back next year. WHAT?

Briana David came in all her glory. Blue/black hair...wild clothes...and what a song. She sang "Phantom of the Opera." And what a voice she had..hitting all those high notes. And the thing is only 18....and only started taking voice lessons a year ago. So she's a raw, natural talent. Of course they have to let her through...she is the most original that they have ever seen who can actually sing. I'm rooting for her...I like the unusual ones (as most of you know)...and colored hair always gets my vote.

Anatoly "Anthony" Federov is a sweet, little boy. He resembles Aaron Carter a little too much. He also had that "human interest" story where he was told that he would never talk again...and now he's singing on American Idol. He has a lovely voice...and again, a voice that you would not expect to come out of his frail, little body. His performance was a little too dramatic...so if he tones that down, he'll do well. They are already likening him to Clay Aiken...so he's guaranteed to go far.

31 others made it from Cleveland...yet, they showed no rock stars. Too bad...I enjoy them.

Suny Orlando is the next stop in our whirl-wind hour tour...and we get right into the action.

Starting with Marissa Cruz. SHe went to the school of "if you can't sing well, then sing loud." Our judges usually like this quality...but not this time. She was a complete mess. All Paula could do was twitch her head in a negative fashion.

Eschine Ordell dcided to sing Whitney. Why? I'll never understand it. Apparently she didn't get the list of female powerhouses that should never be dung on Idol. Oh well. She claimed that even she doesn't know where her voice comes from...when she sings, she's just amazed at the sound that comes out of her. I was amazed too. She was horrendous...and of course, she did not make it.

Ryan Miller is our nightly rock star....finally. It was entertaining for me...but not in a good way.

Vonzell Solomon came in wearing 2 different shoes...but they both matched her tops. So al is good. She sang well enough. Her personality is her strong point. So that sold me. If she can control her voice a little, she'll move on nicely through the competition. So we have our first Hollywood contestant from Orlando.

Lots of fakers came out of the audition room...pretending to not be going to Hollywood, then flashing their golden ticket of admission (just like in Willy Wonka).

Dezmond Meeks was a dancing fool. He was bad. It was just a bunch of crap. He didn't really sing...he just shouted syllables. Randy and Paul said no...but Paula threatened to quit the show. She is sure this guy has the stuff. Simon told her to convince Paula...and he decided to let Paula win. If this boy were smart, he would just drop out because he didn't really make it...and he sucked.

A whopping 15 people made it from Orlando (no wonder they had to combine it with another city...there weren't enough people to make it a whole hour of it's own). They must have shown everyone that got through with all the people who were faking it when they came out of the room.

San Francisco is up next...with guest judge, Moesha (I mean, Brandi). And guess who made it to San Fran...the second Molfetta brother. Will he make it through on his own like his brother? We shall see. He's the one that Paula thought should go through...but I liked the other brother (and he made it the second time around). OOH...the drama.

VEGAS BABY!!!

2005-01-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Sin City. It appears that everyone showed up for the auditions...or they tracked all these local "celebrities" down just to get them on film. There were Elvis'...there were female impersonators...and there were Blue Men. Along with 9,000 real auditioners as well...and Kenny Loggins. Who knew that this washed-up songster has 26 Gold and Platinum albums. I certainly didn't. So of course they are going to show somoene singing that 80's anthem, "Footloose." And that lucky individual was Trevor Hansen. But that's all you'll ever see of him.

Our first real look at someone is Mikalah Gordon...or who I like to call "BOOBS." She's a 16 year local of Vegas. She could be a man...I'm not quite sure. She has some manly features (except for the boobs) and she has a deep voice too. And her lips were overly botoxed...or maybe she sucks on watermelons all day. And her sound was kind of fake to me. But the judges enjoyed the show. So we will see her again in Hollywood.

Jeffery "JC" Gray is 24 and was deaf as a child. The first sound her ever heard was Neil Diamond singing "America." So of course, Neil is his idol...and he's going to sing that first thing he ever heard. Simon didn't like him stabbing the air...but his marching bothered me more. Although his singing was probably the hardest part to take. Sorry JC...you don't get the free trip to Hollywood.

Lots of bad auditions follow...and too many to name individually.

Amanda Avila is a 23 year old show girl (and a pirate in her show). Being a pirate should be enough to get her to Hollywood in my mind. But guess what? She can sing too. WOW...a singing pirate!!! She has a great pop singer voice...not the greatest singer, but it's what most of America wants. And she's beautiful too. I think that she could be the first Latina to make it far in this competition. And she had a great shirt...anything that has a great big ME on their body is a real winner to me. I like this girl.

Christopher Tamura is 25 and is going to offer the "real" Vegas experience...which means that he's singing Elvis. And he's doing it poorly. But Paula did a little Elvis shimmy while he was singing. She's so wacky.

Richard Molfetta is back. He was the twin from the New Orleans audition that didn't make it. And I'd like to point out that he was the one that Paula didn't want to put through on his own (but the on that I thought had the talent). And he was really good...again. This time he gets to go on...because it was Kenny Loggins and not Gene Simmons. Maybe his brother will show up at one of the other auditions and make it as well (although I don't think he's as good as Richard). We can only wait and see.

Emily Neves has some spunk. And I love the spunky girls. She started out singing Cyndi Lauper becuase Kenny said that who she reminded him of...which she took as a huge complement (and really, who wouldn't take that as a compliment?). It wasn't great..but it wasn't horrible...just a bad song for her to sing, a little screechy. Then she sang something else at Paula's request. And she wowed them all. She showed great personality...and that goes a long way for me. I think she may be my favorite so far. Not the greatest singer...but she has so much more to offer than anyone else we have seen (thus far).

Joseph Land who claimed to be 28 was pancaking his face out in the hallway before his audition. All the judges called him on his age...but he wouldn't relent. So they let him sing anyway. Too bad he sucked. It would have been more fun for him to be really good and for them to be conflicted about thinking her "looked" too old. But he finally admitted that he is 44 after they wouldn't send him to Hollywood.

Desi Yazzi is a 27 year old Native American. He sang Whitney...which by now, should say it all. He was dreadful, of course. But he did sound incredibly similar to his brother who auditioned in season two (with another Whitney song).

They took a little break. Simon kissed Paula again. Then Paula was fixing her hair with a little compact while the next contestant was introducing herself. Way to go Paula.

Sarah (who's name I didn't really catch) came in wearing sparkly pink pants and a big pink cowboy hat. She sang "Viva Las Vegas" badly. But at least she could admit that she only did it to get on television. Honesty counts a little. But not enough to get her to Hollywood.

Sharon Galvez (Latina #2) is a cocktail waitress in Vegas. And she had a child who looks to be about 6 or 7. She sang her song loudly...which I never really enjoy when you don't sing it well. However, she ended the song on a beautiful note. She also came in wearing some "f*ck-me" heels and worked the boys. They ate it up...and she made it through.

Matthew Falber sang a song from "The Lion King." Wrong choice for this show. But it did prove that he has potential in the musical theater arena. He's got a great all-American boy next-door look about him...and he sings well. I think we'll see him again...just not on this show.

Bobie May, a 22 year old psychic waddles on in wearing a lovely maroonish velvet ensemble. She predicted that she would be going to Hollywood. Then she sang...and every single note was off key. What can you say about that? Although her mother did point out that the psychics prediction for seeing the #10 did in fact come true because her seat number was 10...so there you have it.

Jennifer Toff is a 27 year old homemaker. She's been afraid to do much in public because of her image. But she made it to the auditions and sang her heart out. It started off kind of bad...but she really pulled it together. Give this girl a make-over and she'll be a star. Come on everyone...root for the big girl with the big voice...I love her!!! I can't wait to see her again in Hollywood...will it be another Clay Aiken transformation? OOH...the tension is too much for me.

Mario Vasquez was good. He's 27 and from NYC. He has a great voice...I would like to hear him without so much extra crap in his song. It just went everywhere...and that doesn't work for me. I want that nice, pure sound coming out of someone. But he made it...and Simon said that he was the best of the competition so far. Not bad for him.

23 people total made it from Vegas...not so bad. Next up...Cleveland. Why are we going to Cleveland? Because CLEVELAND ROCKS...of course. It's the home of rock 'n roll...so maybe we'll find some more rockers. LL Cool J will be there...I'm not sure how he fits into the whole rocker theme. But we'll just have to go with it and see.

Cajun Flavor Breeds Spicy Singers

2005-01-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

OK...maybe not. But welcome to New Orleans anyway. And a hearty welcome to Gene Simmons of KISS who is our special guest this week. 9,000 hopefuls showed up for the tryouts...and sad number compared to the last cities where over 20,000 made it. But maybe it'll be substance over quanity. Let's get to it and see.

We started out with David Brown, a local, who is 19. He sure does like to riff...and of course, that makes a great Idol. Usually the women do all the riffing, but that may change this year. I didn't like him, but I am still not a judge. I'll say one thing about him...he sings with a lot of power. He makes it.

Poor Bobby Barfoot. We were given the treat of some yodeling. I think he did it well. Simon wasn't convinced though. So he was send behind the curtain to sing something else. I think it was a Stevie Wonder song...and it proved that he yodels better than he sings. So the sad man/woman yodeling food doesn't get to go to Hollywood. So much for originality.

Ryan gives his signature to some little brat and the kid is unimpressed because he thought he was Clay Aiken. HA HA HA...that was a funny stunt. I hope they keep up the humor like that.

Daron Beck wants to change music in America...and what better place to do it. He was so strange...and yet so entertaining. He obviously wasn't meant for American Idol, but he could make a fortune playing little dives. His overly dramatic stylings were delicious. Too bad we won't see him again...until we all catch his cabaret. You know I'll be there.

Lindsey Cardinale sang. They judges loved her. I was less impressed. She looked the part...and she had a decent sound. But she was so dull. There was nothing appealing about her song. It was in key. And that was enough to get her to Hollywood. When they told her that she'd be going, she showed no emotion. Then she exploded with excitement outside the audition room.

Robert Solomon was the retard that got in. I've decided that they keep letting them audition for America in order to actually find the next William Hung so that they can sign them this year and pilfer as much money from the slow-witted. However, no one has William's charm yet.

Reggie Brown, Daniel Burham, Larend Garrrett and Algua Isaac were tonight's string of bad auditions. They all got one line on television though. Then they brought out Sundeep Achreja, the 12 foot accountant. And what's he singing? That's right, "The Eye of the Tiger." How can you go wrong with a song like that. And to add the affect, he did some boxing moves. And the crazy lady that he works with didn't know the difference between a punk and a pimp. Says a lot for the locals.

Next we get the family interest story of the night. His parents met at some bar singing and playing piano. They gave up their budding musical careers to start a family. And now the fruit of their loins is auditioning for American Idol. He was a weird jazz singer...weird as in he sounded like a woman. It was so strange. However, I was hoping he would make it through so that he could sing something else...and not mimic some dead woman from the 30's. And he makes it...I'm sure it was the human interest story and not based on his talent.

The Incomprehesibles were next. There were 3 of them...but we're only going to really highlight one. I think they chose the wrong one. I wanted to here the Asian girl sing the "National Anthem" some more. Those lyrics were brilliant...and she was reading them of a sheet of paper. It was priceless. But hey...can you did it?

Jeffrey Johson is next...another minister. He was pretty. He sounded like a member of a new genre...the country boy band. I didn't enjoy him much. But Simon thinks he's marketable.

I will now take a political break. I realize that the religious right has taken over America. But does it have to take over American Idol as well. What's up with all the preachers and ministers and people who have "found" Jesus. It's a new trend. Claim Jesus as your own...and you are in.

Two sets of twins are all that's left...Lamar & Jamar Jefferson and J.P. & Richard Molfetta. The Jefferson boys start it off. I thought they were a complete mess. I didn't like anything about either of them. But they both make it to Hollywood...and they judges were convinced they were the second coming (back to Jesus...did you catch that?). The Molfetta boys were up next to do their thing. And I liked them both. I thought that one was better than the other (and the opposite of what Paula thought)...but both of them had a good sound. They were both attractive. And I appreciated that they didn't dress alike and came as separate people. It's a shame they were made to sing together. But neither get to go to Hollywood. However...thanks to the sneak peak of future auditions, one of them shows up again.

Well, New Orleans turned out to be not so great on the talent. A mere 16 people got through to the next round...kind of pathetic. This town made the St. Louis auditions look good.

But we're moving onto Vegas...where there should be plenty of freaks coming out (starting with guest judge Kenny Loggins). But I guess he's got some free time since FOOTOOSE: THE MUSICAL isn't doing much business anymore.

Arches, Baseball and Idols

2005-01-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to St. Louis!!! I've been trying to figure out why they chose this city...and the audtions have still left me pondering. Could it be for the golden arches...OK, so it's silver and there's only one arch. But what is there really in St. Louis...a whole lot of nothing.

Ryan described to us what a triple threat is...ACTOR, DANCER, MODEL. Which we all know is not a real triple threat. But the boy is pretty...and only has a high school education, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I'll send him an e-mail later today that say what a triple threat really is. Although, you would think he would know with IDOL being a "SINGING" competition. Oh well...he's still pretty.

The triplets were up first. Those chubby blonds can sing really well together. Sadly, none of them get to go to Hollywood. They need to form a girl group and take the world by storm.

Katrina was next...and she's singing Whitney. I can't say it enough...NO WHITNEY!!! There are others as well that IDOL-wannabes should never sing, but I'm sure we'll get to them at some point in the competition. We also found out that she has tasted human flesh, she ahs a panic room in her house and she works at a call center and talks to mental patients all day long. Despite all these fascinating qualifications, she wasn't so great...and she doesn't get to go to Hollywood. Big surprise. But Simon made the oddest comment that she should meet the triplets. No one could figure out why. So he told them that she could eat them. WOW!!!

Ryan got a honor of throwing out a pitch at one of the St. Louis Cardinal games while they were in town. But what was he aiming for? I'm not even sure where the ball went. I think it's just one more point in the gay-factor...he throws like a girl (and not one of those softball-playing lesbians either).

Lots of bad auditions in this city. Will anyone get to go to Hollywood?

Osbourne Smith...some relative of the great Ozzie Smith of baseball fame. I think he is his son, but I'm 100% sure of that.

The student and teacher combo auditioned together...but separately. The teacher who is 24 rocked. She sounded really good. But she looked 42 rather than 24...so she's got some work to do. But she gets to go to Hollywood. The student does not because he was too "affected"...which I'm taking to mean showy. He really overdid it for the judges...and screwed up when asked to do something "less affected." Oh well...he doesn't get to go. So the teacher has a break-down for him.

The judges seem to be in rare form tonight. They just kept cutting up. Especially with the girl that Randy and Paula told to do voice-over work. Apparently it's not a good career to be the voice of a rat. Who knew?

The cruise ship singer, who actually trains cruise ship singers has some attitude. He graduated from the school of "if you can't sing well, sing loud." Usually the judges like these kinds of people (lest we forget our beloved Diana DeGarmo), but he pissed Simon off...so he doesn't get to go. And I just have state that I hate it when contestants talk back to the judges...there's no reason for it.

Aa'isha...the munchinlike chipmunk walked in flowing. Then she sang "I'll Be There"...with her little munchlink chipmunk voice. But hey, we love that, so she gets to go to Hollywood. Paula even wants her to be one of the top 12 women. But we all know that Paula really has no taste in anything.

Maurice...AKA Brian McNight made Paula's beverage shoot out of her nose. That alone should allow him a trip to Hollywood. Sadly, he sucked and they didn't let him through.

Carrie Underwood was the star of the night. She was beautiful in every way. She looked great...and she could sing. And I loved that she was completely simple and understated. She just sang because she loved to sing.

The geek squad arrived with Adam and Dirk. Dirk was the semi-retarded guy with the David Hasselhoff obsession...so I don't need to say anything more. Adam did and impersonation of Simon...then told Paula that her "Opposites Attract" video changed his life at age 6, but he couldn't remember what the other character in the video was (he thought it was a fox when it was a cat). So there are 2 strikes against him already. And top it all off...he can't sing. Oh well...I guess Clay is the only "real" geek who can make it.

In the end, 32 people made. It's hard to believe from the people that they chose to show the America. But maybe they are hiding the truly talented until later episodes...one can only hope. We'll be moving on to New Orleans (pronouced New Awlins) next week with guest judge Gene Simmons...so that should be real fun.

Voter Scandals & Idol...you figure it out

2005-01-19T10:16:00.000-08:00

Are you the next American Idol? Apparently everyone thinks they are. But until they make the age limit a bit higher, they won't find the true American Idol...and that would be me, of course. HEE HEE!!!

The age limit is increase to 28...so the competition will be much more mature this year (or so they say). There will also be guest judges...the first of which is uber-hottie, Mark McGrath. I don't mean to be cruse, but he can berate me anytime he wants.

Smal backflash to Diana and Fantasia...blah blah blah.

So we are in DC for th first auditions. I'm always curious to see how many people from each city actually show up in that city. From last night's auditions, I saw maybe 4 people from the DC area. All the others were from completely different parts of the country.

And to start things off, we didn't even see someone from the DC auditions...it was Leanra Jackson from the Cleveland auditions. But what a way to start things off. She sand the National Anthem. And they let her sing the whole thing...only messing up the words once (bursting the air?). I give Leandra one thing, she has passion. So much passion that she was in horrible pain...or so it seemed.

Back the DC tryouts. First we see the Youth Pastor from Texas, Mark McNeil (27...that age bump really helped). He had a nice, boy band sound. Singing in church all those years must have helped. And he gets to Hollywood. Will the preacher boy fall to ills of Hollywood...we can only wait to see.

More bad people. Including Jessie Grazella singing some Josh Groban song. Sadly he couldn't remember the words past the title lyrics. So he gets some help from his peeps outside. If the boy were smart, he would have just left when he went to the get lyrics. But he came back and made a complete fool of himself...and then broke down before anyone could say anything as silence consumed the room. Oh well...he didn't make it.

Then we got Anwar Robertson, the music teacher from Newark (and also another old one on the Idol scale...28). He has a great look and a wonderful voice. He was in my top 3 for the night. Of course, that's not saying a whole lot.

Toni Braxton's cousin was something special. The only similarity between him and Toni was that they sang the same vocal part...they're both baritones. He even made Paula laugh a little, so you know it's not good.

The AMERICA montage was next. And the first girl was the Alicia Keyes wannabe...with the pink hat. She made it...and from the one line that we heard, she did sound good. But who was the rocker girl/boy thing singing with all his/her might?

Regina Brooks pawned her wedding rings (rather than her karaoke machine) to get to the DC auditions. And it paid off for her. She also made my top 3 of the night because she had a different sound. I feel bad that she's not going to win...or probably even make it to the top 12 girls...but I liked her. Hopefully her sob story will take her farther than I think...the Americans love that (remember the deaf boy from season 1).

Malrea Stroman and Sarah Mather were the 2 through...and they were both pretty (slutty that is). They could both sing the pop stuff...so of course they made it. I fear they will be around for a while.

Constantine Maroulis of NYC sang some Aerosmith. Not my thing, but Idol needs a rocker every season. I think that he's going to turn into some kind of pop singer...and that frightens (and excites) a little.

Travis Tucker broke it down on the floor...and then sang his heart out. He was really good. He rounds out my top 3 of the night. He young (at 20)...he's attractive...he's got personality...he's the Idol package from head to toe.

The biggest travesty of the night for me was when they didn't let Franchon Cruz (the 17 year old boxer) through to Hollywood. She better than most of the auditions and she was fun. I loved her...but they haven't made me a judge yet, so she went back to the boxing ring to kick some ass.

They truly saved the best for last. Mary Roach (who I'm sure is some relation to Sarah...HEE HEE). First of all, the girl walked in with a camel toe (those who don't know what that is can ask me later). She sang with all her might...dreadfully. But I was so amused. And according to her, she's an 8 (out of 10). The judges didn't agree...so she was going to have one of the other voices in head sing something else. Hmmm...not a good way to make an impression. I'm wondering if these voices in her head were the "friends" who convinced to audition because she had a good voice. But she said it best....WHATEVER. And then we got to hear one of those other voices...it wasn't much better than the first one that auditioned. Oh well...maybe next time.

42 lucky souls made it to Hollywood from our first audition city. Tonight...on to St. Louis (I'm not sure why they chose this city...have they been banned from all the other major cities in the country?).

Make comments...PLEASE!!!

Let the games begin...

2005-01-18T16:55:00.000-08:00

Idol is about to start. It's only 191 minutes away from it's triumphant 4th season return. Can you believe it? And the creators are shaking things up a bit this year. For those of you that don't know...it's going to be audition after audition after audition...as usual. Then they will break it down the best 100...or 250...or 500...or whatever random number they come up with this year. That number will be dropped down to the 12 "best" boys and the 12 "best" girls. Then to make things even more drawn out, there will be 3 nights of Idol each week. WOO HOO!!! The boys will sing on Monday, the girls will sing on Tuesday and the elimination of one of each sex will be on Wednesday (the nights that each gender sings may be wrong...but you get the idea). These are the live performances that I love...and they will be starting February 21st (doesn't that seem like a long way off). Once they have gotten rid of 6 of each sex (that would be six weeks later)...it will be gender mixing at it's best for the remainder of the show...that would be 11 more weeks for those counting. However, at this point, the show does go back to just Tuesdays and Wednesday (with occasional days thrown in for those "special" get to know you shows. This new format is to give the boys a better chance. As most of you know, the boys were somewhat lacking last year...so this will even it out and guarantee them an equal number for the tour (they are so clever over in the Idol camp). That's all for now. I'll be back with the usual "reviews" from the show. So welcome back...I'm looking forward to a great Idol year (hopefully the show won't last the whole year though).