So last night on American Idol Allison Iraheta–the cherry-haired 17-year-old with the voice of a woman at least three times her age–was sent packing by the viewers, in what may be one of the season’s most facepalm-worthy moments. Allison, to be sure, was something of an underdog in the competition, taking the judges by surprise when she outlasted Alexis Grace and Lil Rounds to be the last woman standing; indeed, Simon Cowell seemed to be particularly peeved by her success, no doubt in part because her undeniable talent threw the Adam-Versus-Danny final storyline that had been set in stone at some point during the Hollywood Round into jeopardy. Even this week’s guest mentor thought that America got it wrong, although Simon is no doubt happy that his consistent underpraising of Allison’s undeniable talent and constant decisions to focus on things like her outfits and her “charisma” have finally paid off. More »
We’ll have a full recap of tonight’s results show shortly, but for now, I’d like to say goodbye to Allison Iraheta, whose preternaturally aged voice, exquisite phrasing, and actual ability to be subtle will be greatly missed–especially since it means that we have to listen to Danny Freaking Gokey yarl on for another week at least. More »
Will Allison Iraheta be torpedoed by a bunch of insane Mean Girl adolescents who are insane with jealousy over the idea that she’s a roadblock to their happiness with Kris Allen? The LA Times‘ Richard Rushfield is implying that signs point to yes: “Tonight, in the Idoldome, a 13-year-old girl looked me in the eye and admitted that her school friends will despise Allison for getting to live in a house with these guys. And what’s more she said, a hint of menace in her voice, they will punish her for it.” There is much, much more at the link, but what I want to know is: I can understand the cute-boy appeal of Kris and maybe Matt, and the Twilight-like vampiric charm of Adam, but is there really a critical mass of teenage girls who think Danny Gokey is “hot,” or is he being saved by the Soul Patrol demographic? [Idol Tracker via thisisareallybadidea] More »
You know who’s coming back to perform on tonight’s American Idol? Taylor Hicks, the season-five winner whose and angered Simon Cowell for his lack of “bona fide recording artist” credentials. But you know who one of Cowell’s top picks to go all the way is this year? Danny Gokey, whose overall stage presence keeps reminding me of Hicks–only Gokey has a little less polish, a lot more smugness, and a super-extensive eyewear collection. Last night’s parade of Rat Pack songs was no exception, yet Cowell seemed in the tank for Gokey anyway, continuing his press tour rantings about the Wisconsin worship leader’s singing ability even though there were at least three other singers who completely owned him on the Idol stage. More »
Slash let it slip on his Twitter that he’s been approached about serving as mentor for an upcoming episode of American Idol–it’ll be “Rock Week,” which means that the show may actually have the potential to feature songs that were first written during Allison Iraheta’s lifetime. (Maybe.) But the possibility of Slash helping out this year’s Idol contestants got me thinking: What if the person who performed best that evening was rewarded, as a bonus, with the lead singer slot in the top-hatted guitarist’s notoriously frontman-bereft outfit Velvet Revolver? After the jump, odds on which of Idol‘s remaining five contestants can best fill Weiland’s shoes. More »
Last night’s American Idol ran so far overtime, thanks to more silly playfighting between the judges during their critiques and the producers inexplicably deciding that the viewing public needed to see lots of video of Matt Giraud portraying an angel when he was a kid. So in honor of the judges’ inability to keep it short, I’m limiting my judgments of this week’s performances to eight words. The rundown after the jump!
