Dear America: Please do not elect someone who can barely get through the first half-verse to “Billie Jean” while in concert as your Idol. Please. Please? (Although the people at 19 Entertainment should really talk to his backup singer about appearing next year. Think of the backstory amazingness!) [YouTube via ONTD] More »
Today, the three American Idol finalists are making their hometown visits, and along with those visits come the announcement of the judge-selected songs each contestant will sing on Tuesday night. The heroic Idol blogger known as MJ has the scoop on the first pick, and oh boy is it a doozy: Paula Abdul, in a move that either proves she is a shrewd detector of oversized egos or completely whacked out, selected Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Dance Little Sister” for Danny Gokey. I mean… it’s just… oh, the dancing that will ensue. (And come to think of it, I suspect that “Sign Your Name” would have been kind of a great pick for Kris Allen. Oh well.) [Dailymotion; HT MJ] 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 »
This Thursday, the Gospel Music Channel will air a documentary on American Idol‘s effect on the Christian music world, one of those unspoken synergies that’s always manifested itself in semi-uncomfortable ways for those of us not in the evangelical fold. Among the interviewees: Melinda Doolittle, Phil Stacey, and the sister of current Idol annoyance Danny Gokey, who I hope will discuss just how her family’s church claims to raise people from the dead. [AP / Pic via Top Idol] 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!
Last night American Idol dispensed with the save immediately after news broke that Megan Joy was the country’s least favorite hopeful, with Simon saying that the judges had decided to not use their power of reversal even before the tattooed font designer gave her final performance. I guess it’s the judges’ prerogative, but the pre-emptive veto had to be kind of surprising to the viewers at home, even though Ryan mentioned at one point during the show that “someone might have to sing for their life.”
