American Idol

How a Hit Almost Failed its Own Audition

Here is a long, interesting, New York Times article excerpted from NYT’s media writer, Bill Carter’s new book, “Desperate Networks.”  The article describes how American Idol was turned down by everybody until Fox broadcasting picked it up.  And even then, it was only picked up because Rupert Murdoch’s daughter was a big fan of Idol’s British predecessor, Pop Idol.

Randy, Paula and Simon met each other for the first time on the set.  On the first day, Paula was horrified by Simon’s withering put-downs of the auditioners.  Apparently, there was real tension between them from the start.  Simon also had no intention of starring in the state-side version of the show, but Fox executives insisted. 

And, the show initially had two hosts, because Murdoch insisted that the show be executed exactly like the British version, Pop Idol.  Fox Executives felt the show would work better with a single host.  And, after Season 1, the show has continued successfully with only one host.

The article is a very good read.

Vote for the Worst?  Really?

Vote for the Worst.com has either tickled or infuriated viewers since Dave Della Terza started the site back in 2004.  Check out the recent interview with Dave from from Gray Charles.com.

From VFTW.com:

“Votefortheworst.com was started in 2004 to support voting for the entertainingly bad contestants on American Idol. Why do we do it? During the initial auditions, the producers of Idol only let certain people through. Many good people are turned away and many bad singers are kept around to see Simon, Paula, and Randy so that America will be entertained.

Why do the producers do this? It’s simple: American Idol is not about singing at all, it’s about making good reality TV and enjoying the cheesy, guilty pleasure of watching bad singing. We agree that the bad singers are entertaining, and we want to acknowledge this fact by encouraging people to make an even funnier show by helping the amusing antagonists stick around.

The show starts out every year encouraging us to point and laugh at all of the bad singers who audition. We want this hilariously bad entertainment to continue into the finals, so we choose the contestant that we feel provides the most entertaining train wreck performances and we start voting for them.”

Dave makes a really good point.  While the person who finally wins the competition is a talented, marketable singer, the show is ultimately a reality melodrama.  So, along with the talented singers, there are contestants who are advanced based on their ability to play a character and/or advance a story arc.  Singing ability for these contestants is often secondary.  The producers use the “characters” to hook us into the Soap Opera, but expect us to ultimately vote through who they deem to be the marketable one-i.e. the “chosen” one.  VFTW attempts to throw a monkey wrench into the proceedings.  And I find that rather amusing.  So, you can count me in as a fan. 

In the past, picks like Season 3’s John Stevens (talented, but way too young) and Season 4’s Scott Savol (his homely looks actually helped him advance–a definite “character”) were clearly contestants the producers didn’t care to have stick around.  This year, however, after VFTW’s first Top 12 pick, Kevin Covais (advanced as spoiler/comic relief) was sent home, they made a rather controversial pick in Kellie Pickler.  Kellie was clearly a singer of average gifts advanced as a “character”.  But, unlike previous picks, she was clearly somebody The Powers That Be wanted to stick around.  But, they didn’t really want her to win.

VFTW’s latest candidate may be their most controversial yet.  This time, the pick appears not to be popular with TPTB.  However, the new candidate has proven to be more than a character–he has proven his vocal chops on the Idol stage.  Actually, the dilemma VFTW faced for this latest pick, was a Top 5 completely free of dead weight, perhaps for the first time ever.  Who to pick from a field of 5 very talented singers?

From the VFTW site:

“And we have selected our new VFTW candidate: Taylor Hicks! We even did our banner in grayscale as a tribute to our new pick!Why have we picked Taylor? Well, this show is not made for Taylor Hicks. He shouldn’t be singing songs from the 21st century or be limited to Idol’s cheesy song catalog. That’s not his style, and I’m sure he joined the competition to try to bring something different. The producers don’t want something different though, and it’s obvious that they’re breaking his spirit, even going as far as to make him change his song at this last minute last week because they didn’t see “Try a Little Tenderness” as a love song. What? That doesn’t even make sense. Tay-Tay is also incredibly VFTW because he either goes all out and acts crazy to entertain us (remember him missing the mic stand during “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” anyone?) or he phones in his performances while looking bored (”Just Once”, “Country Roads Take Me Home”). Simon Cowell also hates Taylor, as is evidenced by his reaction at his audition and his reaction each and every week. Simon wants Taylor out now, because he can’t stand to promote someone so unmarketable. So what do we say? Stick it to the show and vote for Taylor! He has the Soul Patrol, and now he has us, the Asshole Patrol! Hopefully we can work together to help Taylor win this thing!”

Judging from comments at Gray Charles, The Soul Patrol, while hesitant at first, are coming around to the idea of Taylor as VFTW.  Speaking as a Taylor fan, I think it’s awesome.  Frankly, if I were a contestant, and I was chosen as a VFTW candidate, I’d thank them for the votes.  A vote is a vote, no matter where it originates.  

RealityTVMagazine just did a little story on the fan reaction to the producer’s decision to pull Taylor’s song choice last week:

“A Reality TV Magazine reader named JJ wrote in to tell us ‘Maybe AI doesn’t want Taylor to win??  I don’t know, but what happened to Taylor Hicks this week is disheartening.  I’m surprised he hasn’t walked off that show yet.  He deserved an apology from the judges.’  Another Reality TV Magazine reader named Christine wrote us with the following comments, ‘I’ve been trying to start a letter writing campaign to Ryan and American Idol, asking them to address the fairness issues.  I think most of the contestants are not treated fairly and it’s not just because of handpicking the most marketable individuals.  It’s also about drama and ratings.  It’s very disturbing to think about what these performers have to endure each week and I’m sure it’s worse than what we’ve been seeing (including especially, last minute song-changes that lead to less preparation time).’”

The belief held by some Idol fans–that the producers help favored contestants advance while hindering others who appear to be a threat to the favored ones–has been a source of controversy since Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken Season 2.  As we know, AI thrives on controversy.  This stuff just gets people talking.  I suspect the producers love it.

One Big Happy Family!

 I’m sure by now you all have heard about Paula and Ryan’s  “feud”.  Paula swears it ain’t so.  The trouble supposedly started when Ryan made some snarky remarks about Paula’s singing on the Tonight show.  In her own appearance a few weeks later, Paula joked about Ryan’s “relationship” with Teri Hatcher.  Whatever.  The “feud”  sounds like it was cooked up by AI’s public relations people in conjunction with the show’s script-writers. 

This year, the judges and Ryan are constantly “fighting” and trading barbs with each other on-air.  The word I keep hearing is “dysfunctional”.  “Like one dysfunctional family,” Ryan described the group on Wednesday.  I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Nigel or Ken use the word in one interview or another as well.  My cynical self says the “fighting” is just one more scripted story arc and another way to cook up controversy.   Let’s say it together, kids–AI thrives on controversy.

This LA Times blogger thinks Paula is ruining Idol. 

“I’m willing to believe that Paula Abdul is just another whacked-out celebrity with no self-control, shame or sense of proportion. Is there possibly a pharmacological explanation too? Oh, perhaps. But whatever the source, her behavior on Fox’s “American Idol” is moving beyond soap opera and into the realm of Verdi opera. She slurs her speech on-air, she spars non-stop with Simon Cowell, she reportedly isn’t speaking to Ryan Seacrest. On Tuesday’s show, she wept — yes, wept! — after Elliott Yamin crooned Donny Hathaway’s “A Song for Paula.” Well, not really — the title is “A Song for You,” but the lachrymose judge behaved as if young Elliott had just serenaded her from piazza balcony near the Spanish Steps. Yes, Paula … it really is all about you. Her antics have become such a distraction on “Idol” this season it’s astonishing the producers recently agreed to re-up her for three more years. There must be a fascinating back story behind that renewal, or else the Powers That Be were simply too frightened to risk disturbing the “Idol” cash train. ”

I beg to differ.  Pauler is money baby!  Even if every contestant blows giant chunks, Paula can always be counted on to entertain with her endearing non-sequiturs and loopy antics.  I make many Pauler-is-stoned jokes, but I really have no idea if Paula is a loose cannon or a fantastic actress putting on a hellava show.  But, I’m convinced that if Idol lost her, the ratings would suffer.  And I’m betting the producers love her just as she is.  See: Controversy, AI thrives on.  Are you kids enjoying tonight’s theme?

Post Ace

And speaking of contestants the producers like to poop on– here’s an interview Ace Young did with Mix 94.1, out of Henersonville, NV.

Ace felt closest to Chris Daughtry and Paris Bennett.  But, he stressed, that what the entire cast went through has made them family.  About Kelly Pickler, he said, “If she took an IQ test, I think she’d rate really high.  She’s really smart.”

Ace’s version of the Queen Incident:  Ace said, “…it edited everything backwards.  When I first met Queen, I didn’t know I was going to meet them, so I did my own rendition of a classic song, so Randy and them wouldn’t be, ‘Yo dog, it sounds good but it sounds like…karaoke…’  When I met Queen I walked up on stage, I looked at Brian and said, ‘first off, you guys are amazing, and if we just do a jam session and just sing Happy Birthday, I’m going to be the happiest kid in the world.’” 

May answered, “Good, cause what I heard on that CD, I’m not going to do that on my song.”  After that, Brian asked Ace what he wanted to do with the song.  Ace made some suggestions that would alter the song somewhat, and Brian said, “Fine”.  After they worked out the arrangement, Ace said, “That sounded like a Queen record with my voice on it.”  Then, Brian said, “Screw that, it sounded like a new record.”  Apparently, everybody left happy.

On the show, Ace saw the edited tape for the first time.  It looked like he and Brian didn’t get along at all, which according to Ace (and Brian’s comments on his website) was the exact opposite.  Ace adds, that in the run-through he had a light show.  But, during the live performance, all the house lights were on.  Said Ace, “All I felt once I started singing, was that I wanted to say goodbye…negative vibes through the whole thing.”  During the critique, Ace felt he had no choice but to take it, because it wasn’t the time or place to say anything.

Ratings News

American Idol’s Tuesday edition had 28.7 million viewers and a 11.5/30 share in the key demo.   Wednesday’s Results show scored 27.4 million viewers and an 11.2 rating/27 share in that key demo–adults 18-49.  The gap between the Performance and Results shows has narrowed in the last two weeks.  But the ratings overall are remain steady. 

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Early Song Spoiler

Via Gray Charles and emily (here in the comments section).  The spoiler came via a Detroit radio station. 96.3 FM in Detroit.

Taylor Hicks Top 10 Billboard song selection will be:  Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home”

Of course, it’s only Friday.  And we’ve learned by now that these song selections are always subject to sabatoge change.  Heh.

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Kellie’s Korner

Interview with Kellie Pickler from MTV.com:

• About “butchering” her last two performances, “I mean, 30 or 40 million people are watching each week and they see your performance and they see you’ve messed up. The judges know that. I knew that I did. So what are you going to do? Lie and say I didn’t mess up and blame it on something else? I think when you’re honest about it, it’s better. I messed up the words in some songs, I’ve been off-key and pitchy, and you know, you just admit it and work on your problems next week. If this is as bad as I got it, I got it good.”
• Did she expect to be eliminated? “Honestly, I thought I was going home last week. I deserved to get the boot this week, because I had two bad performances back to back, and there’s no excuse. I’m happy I made it this far.
• Did she regret any of her song choices? “I wouldn’t necessarily say I regret any of the song choices. I regret some of the performances…I try not to have any regrets…I hope that stays in the past and people give me a chance.”
• Was her “schtick” a calculated act? “People are going to believe what they want to believe, but I started out from the beginning being who I am. I’ve been real honest with my life and who I am. I don’t have anything to hide, I don’t have anything to lie about. It is hurtful to hear those things and to read about that stuff in the magazines…I’ve been real from the start. It’s no act.”
• Would she consider acting? “It’s always been something I’m interested in. Of course I always want to pursue music, but I would love to do TV or film. I’m excited about the different opportunities I may have. I did theater in high school. I’m a little drama queen.
• About her backstory, “Going into this competition, I was never really completely open about the different life I’ve had to overcome, because I was so embarrassed. I got a lot of criticism for crying about my dad and my mom and family in the beginning, but it was really hard for me. It’s not like I was used to getting on national television and talking about my life. It was embarrassing and I didn’t want to hurt my dad, but I knew if I didn’t come out in the beginning … that people would find out about it anyway. The most important thing you can do is be honest. And I’m not ashamed about my life anymore. For so long, I felt like I was looked down upon, and I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m proud to say I’m Kellie Pickler. And I may not have had the best upbringing, but it could have been a lot worse. And “American Idol” taught me to hold my head up high.”
• About her Mom, “It’s kinda weird to think that maybe my mom’s out there watching the show. I’m curious about what she thinks, her feelings towards me. For so long, I resented her and had so many hard feelings towards her. I think at the point I’m at now, one thing that is important in life is to forgive others. Who am I not to forgive someone? Am I so holy? I have forgiven her and I know that I haven’t spoken to her in years or seen her, and I probably wouldn’t know her if I saw her, but she’s my mother and she’s a person, and God tells us to love everyone.”
• About her Dad, “My grandpa is leaving for Florida tomorrow…hopefully my dad’s going to be getting out in the next few weeks. It’ll be my first time seeing him in over three and a half years. I’m really excited, I haven’t even spoken to him on the phone. In spite of everything we’ve been through, I love him. He’s my dad. I’ve always been a daddy’s girl. He’s made a lot of mistakes in life, but who hasn’t? I think he’s learned from them, and we’re going to leave the past in the past and look to the future.

Kellie is self-aware enough to know that as a singer, she was out of her league in the competition– especially as the contestants’ numbers dwindled.  But she’s disingenuous to insist that she was always honest and genuine on the show.  We know now that the backstory presented by the producers was tweaked for maximum impact.  And Kellie’s schtick seemed phony, because she played it as caricature while insisting it was real.  If she’d played it with a sense of irony and self awareness, folks might have bought the act.  But, maybe that kind of layered presentation is beyond her modest talents.

And Kellie’s EW.com interview:

• About Simon apologizing to Kat, “I told her after her performance, ‘You were absolutely stunning. You did great and you’re not going home.’ She’s great, as well as the other contestants. But she had nothing to worry about. She deserved the apology.”
• What Kellie thinks went wrong, “I don’t think I’m the best at delivering ballads. It was two weeks of slow, ballad love songs, and I love the fast up-tempo ones ’cause I can swing my hair around and everyone can tap their feet.”
• About “Bohemian Rhapsody”,  “Oh, I absolutely love Queen. They were like the highlight of the whole journey. I knew it was a hard, hard song to do. I knew I would be stepping out of my element. I felt like I was getting so much criticism though. I felt like I didn’t get a lot of credit for things I’d done, so I thought maybe if I take a risk and pull it off, people will say something nice.”
• About Simon’s comment that he liked her more than Carrie Underwood, “I was completely shocked when he said that. It’s a compliment, but I met Carrie and she is one of the sweetest people I ever met and I would never compare myself to her vocally. She is phenomenal. I thought it would really hurt me because it would make a lot of Carrie fans upset…At the same time, I know she knew it’s just a TV show and it’s about ratings.”
• Kellie on “I’m Sawry”, “I felt like in the beginning of the show they get us through the first few rounds and they saw the potential in me. They see more potential than you do. It’s hard to see it when you’re on the inside looking out. I felt like I let them down.”
• Was she ever angry? “It’s really hard to get on that stage in front of millions of people and have the judges pick you apart. But at the same time, this is what we signed up for. In this business, if you can’t take constructive criticism, then get out and run fast. That’s what it’s about right now, though, taking constructive criticism. That’s what they’re there for. I would rather them say, ”Kelly, you need to work on this” than tell me what I want to hear.”
• Parting words from the judges, “All three said, ‘You’re great. You’re gonna go places.’ Of course, why did they have to save that for the end? No, they were very complimentary. At the end of the day, they do what they have to do. When the cameras are rolling, they aren’t there to be our friends or be nice to us. But when the cameras go off they’re the sweetest, nicest people you could ever meet. I hope in the future I’m able to still have friendships with all three of them.”
• What she was planning to sing next week, “I was going to sing ”You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi, from my birth year of 1986. I had not decided yet on the second one, but it was definitely going to be something country.
• About her dad’s prison release, “I’m looking forward to seeing him. He’ll be there for the show’s finale.”
• Will she move to LA or NYC to pursue a career? “I’m ready for whatever curveball I’m thrown. I’m ready to get on the ball with my career while I’m young, not married, don’t have kids, no boyfriend. I don’t have anything to lose. I’m ready to relocate wherever. Beggars can’t be choosers. Albemarle [N.C.] is where the heart is, but if I pursue anything in music, it would probably be Nashville I’d relocate to. Acting, probably Los Angeles would be the best place.”

The Kellie that emerged in the last few minutes of Wednesday’s show not only seemed relieved, but real and down-to-earth.  I’ll be taping her appearances next week.  I’m very curious to see who Kellie is away from the competition.

Kellie says her dad “will be there for the finale.”  I hope she means, “back home in NC with her grandpa for the finale.”  The parole board has a duty here folks, to step in and just say NO.

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So sawry if I ruined the surprise for anyone on the West coast by posting the name of the eliminated contestant right after the East coast Results show.  I post spoilers here.  And posting the name of the eliminated contestant is a spoiler.

Here is a rule of thumb:  If you don’t want the Results show spoiled, stop checking the blog after the Results show ends on the East coast.

Top 6 Results show Recap

Hey hey now, can you fake it? Can you make it look like we want? Hey hey now, can you take it? And we cry when they all die blond?

Bye Bye Kellie Pickler!

Wow.  We got the Shocking! Shocking! elimination tonight, but not quite what we expected eh?

Ryan mentions that there were 47 and a half million votes cast last night.  According to Nigel, this was the third highest vote total–behind the Season 3 and Season 4 finales, respectively.  And the highest non-finale total since Idol began.

Backpedal, backpedal

First order of business tonight?  Simon apologizes to Katharine McPhee!  During Nigel’s TVWeek.com interview, he was very concerned that the judges were much too harsh on Katharine’s performance last night.  Tonight, Simon says, “I think I was unfair to one person last night and I want to apologize, because I don’t think this person got the right appraisal.  And that person is Katharine.”  The crowd cheers, Kat looks delighted, and now we know she’s certainly NOT on the chopping block tonight. “It sounds different when you watch it back,” says Simon.  Randy throws in a, “it was a little harsh, a little harsh” for good measure.

Simon asks Ryan if he’s speaking to Paula.  “Yes” he says, not altogether too convincingly.  “One dysfunctional family” says Ryan.  Kudos to the script-writer who came up with that moniker.

Car-mercial

Another good Ford commercial.  I like the photography here–all cool blues and grays.  Cute doggies too!

American Idols Live!

Ryan announces the summer tour.  It looks like I’ll be attending the opening show kids!  Me and my camera will hopefully be seated right up front to catch all the fun and excitement.  Whee!  And no doubt I’ll attend at least one or two more shows during the tour.  I’ll be sure to post full reports, with pictures! and maybe some video…mwahahah.

Andrea Bocelli and David Foster

I watched this in real time, so there was no fast-forwarding.  What can I say, peeps.  I’m really not digging the Opera Voice all cheesed up like this.  Sample lyric, “Like stars across the sky…we were born to shine”.  Ugh. Trite. Dreck. Andrea sings beautifully, but as Simon would say, “Not for me.”

Three Groups of Two

Check it out. Lisa Tucker in the audience, pimping her appearance on this week’s The OC.  It can’t be fun for her to sit through a results episode, can it?  Unless she’s experiencing a tiny thrill watching folks who outlasted her get the boot.

In this week’s TVWeek.com interview, Nigel promised that the Top 2 would be revealed to the audience for the First! Time! Evah!  Oh boy.  Ryan calls out each contestant: Katharine McPhee heads far stage right. Elliott Yamin (he looks nervous) heads to the middle.  Kellie Pickler heads far stage left.  Paris Bennett joins Kellie.  Taylor Hicks joins Elliott.  Chris Daughtry joins Katharine.

Ryan immediately declares Elliott and Taylor safe.  Time for a break.  Which group is in danger?  Paris and Kellie or Chris and Katharine?  Ooooh.  The suspense is killing me!  Actually, I’m kidding.  When Kellie and Paris are grouped together, I instantly think: “Bottom 2″.  Figuring out the Top 2 is a little trickier.  Elliott and Taylor are sent quickly back to the couch.  Does this mean they are Top 2?  Taylor has been polling high for weeks.  Elliott gave his best performance yet with much pimping and love from the judges.  They could easily be Top 2, right?

Not so fast.

After the break, with 5 minutes left, we quickly find out that Chris and Katharine are the Top 2.  Ohhhh.  It all becomes clear now.  The scrambling, the backpedalling, the apologizing to Kat–the People overwhelmingly disagreed with the judges critiques last night by voting her into the Top 2.  Take that.  In order not to look completely toolish and foolish, Simon, Nigel and Co. had no choice but to flip-flop and apologize.  This is a complete about-face from what happened during the Top 10 Results show, when Katharine wound up in the Bottom 3 despite being pimped and overpraised by Simon.  Speaking to her on the seal, Simon said that he watched her performance back, and it was nowhere near as good as he previously thought.  She was so pissed that night.  She must feel so vindicated right about now.

After Katharine and Chris are sent back to the couches, Ryan turns to Paris and Kellie.  Oh, this is a no brainer right?  Kellie’s just too dang popular to be sent home now right?  Paris just doesn’t have the fan base to keep her going.  Yes?  Paris, when asked how many trips she’s made (several) to the Bottom 3 says, ”This is my first trip to the Bottom 2.”  Ha, ha.  Way to go Paris!  I’m really going to miss you!

But…

Kellie says, “After watching my performance last night, I feel like I deserve to be here.”  Then, very quickly because there are only a few minutes left, Ryan says, “Kellie, tonight is the end for you.”  Holy Freaking Cow!  Paris hugs Kellie (she’s learning, good girl) and goes back to the couch.

Kellie doesn’t cry or carry on.  No dramatics here.  She doesn’t seem surprised.  After her “Bad Day” video, she gets a few scant seconds to say goodbye, and she’s cut off mid-sentence.  No singout, but that’s probably a good thing.

Kellie Pickler

Tonight’s show was a surprise.  I did not expect Kellie to leave.  And neither did anybody else, really.  Neither DialIdol, other vote trenders like Aunt Edna, or the Gambling sites predicted a Kellie boot.  The AI pundits–well, except for this guy from People–mostly thought Kat or Paris was a goner.  What happened?  Maybe two really bad performances in a row, coupled with the judges suddenly dropping the pimpage, did Kellie in.

Kellie could have a successful career.  She’s not a great singer, but there are many successful pop performers out there who aren’t great vocalists.  Heh. Just ask Paula Abdul about that. Kellie could be packaged as a Country Pop Tart, and with the right songs, she could do very well.  I could see her starring in her own reality show.  Really if Paris Hilton can have a hit show, why not Kellie?  She may seriously have a future in television.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox put her to work right away.

At any rate, I’m not going to celebrate too much.  I’m sure this is a sad day for Kellie and her fans.  But, it was time folks, way passed time for Kellie to leave.  And really, she probably did not want to know the world of hurt in store for her if she had knocked off any of the 5 remaining contestants–all of whom were completely out of her league vocally.  So it’s win-win for everybody.

And thankfully, there will be no tearful reunion with Daddy during the finale. 

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Nigel Lythgoe’s Weekly Interview with TVWeek.com.

• The interviewer said it was a “tough show last night” and that “the singers sort of struggled.  Nigel shot right back, “I totally disagree with you…I think it was one of those shows…had the judges have said, ‘Well Katharine you were stunning’, the whole spirit of the show would have lifted up. They didn’t, they went in a different direction.”
• Katharine - Nigel totally disagrees with Randy and Randy’s point of view regarding Katharine’s performance.  Nigel said, “Was she as good as Whitney Houston? No, but we’re not there to judge Whitney Houston, we’re there to judge Katharine McPhee, a waitress from the Valley, and not a superstar. So of course she’s not going to sing it as well as Whitney Houston.  But that isn’t the point of the show.  The show is, ‘Did Katharine McPhee sing it well for Katharine McPhee last night.’”  Nigel did not think her song was “too big” for her.  He said Katharine was a class above most singers who have been on American Idol. 
• Elliott - Nigel was a little miffed that Randy would compare Whitney Houston to Katharine, but not compare Donny Hathaway to Elliott. But, Nigel thought Elliott did a brilliant job.  He doesn’t believe that songs are “off limits”. He said, “I don’t think you can compare a group of contestants on American Idol with any superstar at this moment in time in their careers.
• Kellie - Nigel thought her performance was boring and plodding.
• Paris - Paris reminded Nigel more of Gladys Knight last night (who covered “The Way We Were”) than Barbra Streisand. He thought Paris did a good job, but that she’s got to be careful, “she gets into the song, she gives it her all 25% through the song and then stays like that for 75% of the song.  There isn’t enough color for me in her vocal range.”
• Taylor - Nigel didn’t think Taylor was at his best last night. He felt Taylor appeared very nervous, “There was one line where he just could not get the intonation over in the rehearsals and I think that was really bugging him. I think those nerves came across last night.”  Also, Nigel mentioned that Taylor had to change his song at the beginning of the week, because they felt his original song did not fit the “genre”.  The baseline question was “Could we see Andrea Bocelli singing these songs?”  Taylor’s original song was “Try a Little Tenderness”. Nigel then said, “That would be ok if were were doing a Blues Brothers week, but this is Andrea Bocelli week. Then he [Taylor] just shrugged his shoulders and said ‘lets get on with it.’” Nigel finally said, “In his defense, he had to change his song, and credit to him.”
• Chris - Nigel said, “We were picked up last week on what I said…about I didn’t like him singing that classic song because he’s got a very fast vibrato I don’t think suits those melodies.  Well, I can say this week I think Chris is my favorite of the night.  It’s the first time for me that Chris has found a song that I particularly enjoy and I thought he sang it brilliantly.  There were a couple of bad notes where he lost it–he pushed it a bit too hard but in general during rehearsals and throughout the week he has been superb with that song.”  Nigel was not surprised that Chris was in the Bottom 3 last week.  He said, “I didn’t think that genre of music suited his voice.”  Nigel feels America votes for the people who they feel are good on the night they perform.  He added, “Generally, America gets it right by the end of the whole shebang.”
• Nigel will be splitting the groups into the Top 2 vote getters, the Middle 2 vote getters and the Bottom 2 vote getters.  Said Nigel, “For the first time, you’ll see who the Top 2 are.”  Nigel mentions that this week, they had their 3rd highest vote of all time.  There were about 47.6 million votes this week. The highest number of votes they’ve ever had was for the Fantasia/Diana finale, Season 3. The second highest was the Carrie/Bo finale.
• Next week the Top 5 will perform 2 songs. One song will be from the year they were born, and the other will be songs that are in the Billboard charts this week.  There will be no guest appearances.  The interviewer made a joke about his agent not getting through to Nigel about a guest appearance, and Nigel said, “Were you going to come on the show to help us? Maybe Randy could have attacked your arrangements.”
• Nigel felt four of the Top 6 were brilliant last night.  I’m assuming he meant: Katharine, Elliott, Paris and Chris.

Whoa, Nigel engaged in some major back-pedalling there where Katharine was concerned!  He must be aware that many feel she was judged unfairly. ETA: So many disagreed, that they voted her into the Top 2, no wonder everyone concerned backpedalled…)

He didn’t have much to say about Elliott this week, but he seemed to like his performance.

So Taylor was supposed to sing “Try a Little Tenderness” but they felt that it didn’t fit the “genre”?  The Blues Brothers comparison was a little silly.  But, I have to agree that I can’t see Andrea Bocelli singing that song.  But then, I can’t exactly imagine Bocelli singing Bryan Adams either…  And that’s the first I heard of limitations on what kind of “Classic Love Song” they could choose.   Finally, I think Nigel speaking for Taylor (re: what was bugging him) seemed out of line.  Let Taylor speak for himself, mmkay?

Also, Nigel engaged in some backpedalling regarding Chris and his performance last week.  But he and the other producers are pimping Chris hard right now, so I’m not surprised.

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Thank Yewww!

Thanks to everybody who helped out with the spoilers and rumors these past couple of days.  Ya all Rawk Hard.  No Lie.  I couldn’t do it without yinz.  Anticipating the show is almost as fun as the show itself.  This week though–I think the anticipation was better.  Besides a few bright spots, tonight’s show was just a’ight. 

Top 6 Performance - Classic Love Songs  -  Recap with Vidcaps!

Ok, I joke around a lot about Paula Abdul being wasted.  But tonight?  I swear, she really was wasted.  Really.

There were two phone numbers for each Idol tonight.  But only six songs.  And the show still nearly ran over…

Hey look!  Stevie Scott in the House!

Ha ha ha.  I had no idea Andrea Bocelli was blind.  I’m not kidding.  Bocelli has released a new CD, produced by David Foster, who also appeared tonight.  Foster produces records for artists like Celine Dion.  He’s won many Grammys.  But I don’t care, because I don’t listen to the homogenized pop music that he produces.  I certainly don’t listen to Bocelli’s brand of classical lite.  I said something similar last week about standards:  I’m a rock chick.  But, if I were interested in classical music, I’d go for the real thing–not the pasteurized processed stylings of someone like Bocelli.

I’ll probably fast-forward through his performance tomorrow.

On with the show.  Sigh.

Katharine McPhee - “I Have Nothing” - Whitney Houston (written by David Foster) The Fox press release mentioned that a contestant would be singing a David Foster song.  And this was it.  Choosing to sing a Whitney song is always a tricky proposition.  The judges are always harsh–even unfairly harsh–unless the contestant totally hits it out of the ballpark.  Foster seemed to love Katharine, but the judges didn’t.  And honestly, this was a good performance!  She didn’t glory note or trill her way through the song.  But I thought that was a good thing–because Kat has a tendency to go strident on her top notes and miss notes when she attempts the fancy melisma.  Here, she sang powerfully and with emotion, hitting nearly every note.  Maybe the judges just didn’t have the imagination to put Whitney’s version out of their minds.  Or that was some pretty heavy-duty de-pimping coming from the judges.  It was so heavy handed and unfair–I think she’ll get support from casual voters.  Simon finally called Katharine cabaret tonight.  But he meant it in a negative way.  And the dress was beautiful, but that panty-line was not.

Elliott Yamin - “A Song For You” - Donny Hathaway (written by Leon Russell) - I gotta say up front, that Elliott is looking mighty fine these days.  Between the longer, nicely-cut hair (I doff my cap to thee, Dean) and the great styling–throw in the fact that Elliott now carries himself with more confidence–and I dare say the ugly duckling has turned into a swan.  During Elliott’s little pre-performance chat with Ryan, the Yaminions got a little shout out! YAY.  And then he gave a rather long-winded, nervous shout out to Donny Hathaway–whose daughter happened to be a background singer tonight.  Happily, when Elliott started to sing, the nerves disappeared.  This was another confident performance.  He obviously took all of the good advice Foster gave him and put it to use.  Here’s a guy who is half-deaf, has no vocal training and little performing experience.  Yet, he’s an incredibly gifted technical singer–always in tune and able to navigate tricky rhythms and changes.  But he’s also been gifted with a warm, melodious voice that can infuse a song with soul and passion.  Incredible.  The judges.  Holy cow.  Is there something about week six that causes Pauler to meltdown?  Yes, Elliott was good, but the crying during her critique was ridiculous.  Entertaining–particularly Simon laughing as Paula carried on–but ridiculous.  Randy said, “I love you, you are dope, that was the bomb.” Simon said, “..in parts, that was like a vocal masterclass–that was superb.”  Not that he doesn’t deserve it…but…Elliott got pimped!

Kellie Pickler - “Unchained Melody” -  Righteous Brothers, LeAnn Rimes -  Kellie attempts another big song.  And again, she fails miserably. This performance was interminable.  And I swear, when David Foster egged on Kellie to go for that big note?  He was setting her up for a fall.  Because that note?  Was not good.  Kellie was out of tune throughout the song, her phrasing and stage presence amateur.  The performance just plodded along–she had no emotion or connection to the lyrics.  And Foster was right, without the emotion, this song is hella boring. Here she is, Top 6.  And at this point, Kellie is so far out of her league talent-wise compared to the other singers, it’s ridiculous.  How did she get there?  The producers pushed her through on personality and “charm”.  They gave her tons of screen time, the best scripted lines, and softball judges comments when she deserved to be ripped.  Hers was easily the worst performance tonight (it was the worst last week and the week before as well).  And once again, based on vocal performance, Kellie should be eliminated tomorrow.  Finally, there were harsh words from Simon: “I thought it was like the never ending song…it was so monotonous and so bland there was no heart, no warmth, from your vocal at all.  In fact, you were like a robot during that performance…”  Simon had more, but the music cut him off.  I guess having his favorite song butchered was the last straw.  Seriously though, I’m thinking the girls were de-pimped this week to make way for an all boy final three.  Just like “Aunt Edna” said.  Though I don’t believe the cut phone lines crap.

Paris Bennett - “The Way We Were” - Barbra Streisand - Young Paris is blessed with an enormous amount of natural talent.  And when she’s on she’s unbeatable.  Tonight, she was a little wobbly on some of her big notes, and the arrangement here was a little dull.  Between the frumpy 70’s hair and the mature lyrics, it all seemed too old for Paris.  This was just a so-so performance at a time when she could least afford it.  Her performances have been inconsistent throughout the competition.  Out of all the contestants left, I think Paris has the weakest fan base.  She’s made several trips to the Bottom 3 already, and I’m afraid that she’s in big danger this week.  The judges, while not critiquing harshly, gave her hurried, lukewarm remarks.  Simon said, “Very good vocal, a bit old-fashioned for my tastes, and it sounded a bit like you were trying to imitate an older artist. Now I’ve finished, off you go…”  Yikes.  That sounded like a premonition, if you ask me.

Taylor Hicks - “Just Once” - James Ingram - Out of all the love songs Taylor could have chosen, I’m puzzled why he chose this one.  Despite Bocelli’s opinion that this was a good song for him, I’m not convinced.  This performance was rough in spots, especially at the beginning when the lower notes seemed a little out of his range.  And he seemed disconnected through the middle of the song.  He was even flat in spots–which is unusual for Taylor.  Toward the end of the tune–particularly when he hit the high notes on the chorus–Taylor was brilliant.  But that brilliance only came in flashes here.  This was not a great vocal for Taylor.  At this point–with some incredible performances under his belt–he’s set the bar high for himself.  I expect a lot, and he usually delivers.  But not this time.  No worries, though.  I have no doubt the Soul Patrol will pull Taylor through this rough patch.  The judges called his performance karaoke.  I tend to agree.  Sigh. Even the jacket was just so-so.  Velvet’s been done better on Idol.

Sidenote:  Did you see the look on Simon’s face when Paula stood up and interrupted him during Taylor’s critique?  He looked pissed.  Man, what was Paula on tonight?

Chris Daughtry - “Have You Really Ever Loved a Woman” - Bryan Adams - The first order of business was to get passed the hate-on I have for the musical stylings of Bryan Adams, and judge the song on Chris’s performance. Once I did that, I was fine.  Foster gave Chris some really good practical advice about his singing (aren’t the Idol vocal coaches giving him this basic advice?)  I think the exercise where Chris sang while on the floor actually helped his vocals.  And he delivered a very very good performance.  He commanded the stage, connected to the song and hit all the right emotional notes.  Chris was on his game.  With the show running long, the judges only had time for very hurried kudos (and again, what the hell is wrong with Paula?  She was definitely high tonight).  Chris’s fine performance coupled with the pimp spot will keep him safely out of the Bottom 3 this week.

I think we might have an all female Bottom 3 tomorrow, with Paris Bennett going home.  That’s my prediction. 

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Regarding Kellie Pickler:  I’m hearing that she’ll be singing Leann Rimes version of “Unchained Melody”.

A Real Update

Ok.  I’m posting an actual hint given to me from a good source, for Elliott Yamin’s song tonight:

This is a song that Elliott is very familiar performing and loves a lot. He’s also sung it many times before for her [girlfriend] and others and I’m sure that you will love it too.

There’s also a rumor that Kellie Pickler will be singing a Leann Rimes song tonight. 

Katharine McPhee will be wearing a beautiful vintage dress tonight, according to a message to her fans at katharinefans.com.

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Update

I have no update.  Lot’s of Spoiler rumors flying around, but I think I’m going to hold off on posting any of them right now, ’cause what I’m seeing so far doesn’t seem solid.  But anybody who is interested in checking out the assorted rumors, should take a peek at the comments section of my last couple of posts. Thanks to everyone who is keeping me on top of the rumor mill, I appreciate your efforts.

By the way.  There are tons of soul patrollers who hang out here, and I dig you all.  One enthusiastic soul patroller mentioned in a comment that my blog was “Taylor Made”  I loves me some Taylor, but this isn’t a Taylor fan blog.  If yer looking for one, I’d suggest the highly readable Gray Charles.com.

Just one more note for now:  Tara mentioned in a comment that Constantine Maroulis was shockingly! voted off a year ago this week.  Sniff.  Constantine was my favorite contestant last year.  A little moment of silence for Constantine…

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Interview with Idol Producer Ken Warwick

Thanks to mila who posted this article in the comment section.  It’s from Rodney Ho’s AI blog in accessatlanta.com.

Ken Warwick did a big phone press conference today, and here are a few notable comments:

• An Elvis Presley theme is forthcoming in a couple of weeks.
• Ken said, It “breaks his heart” that he can’t get the Beatles catalogue cleared.  And he can’t convince the Eagles to do a theme week.
• Each of the 6 contestants will have two phone lines this week.
• According to Ken, they never spoke directly with Prince reps about Prince doing the show.  It never got very far. But Nigel said they “almost had Prince?” Which is true?
• Ken said he will reject any big star who won’t work with the contestants.
• Ken said the performance order is decided on a number of factors. He prefers “upbeat” songs to open or close the show.
• Also, according to Ken, contestants will not open or close the show two weeks in a row.
• Ken said it’s unlikely Idol would film a Kellie/Dad reunion as Dad is released from prison, because it would be unfair to the other contestants. How about that it would be completely and utterly tasteless?  But he would consider it for the finale (if Kellie is still around) after the votes are in and if Kellie is game. Ugh. NO.
• Greensboro was his favorite audition city. That fact will influence which cities are chosen for future auditions. Expect even more Southerners.
• Ken claims that Dialidol doesn’t bother him because only he, Nigel Lythgoe and Fox Standards and Practices know who are in the Bottom 3.
• Ken noted that the finalists get paid a standard AFSTRA weekly fee.
• Ken also noted that finalists cannot release a CD until 3 months after the winner’s CD is released.  Other things are allowed, but need to be approved by the producers.

Other media outlets were present at the conference.  I’ll post those articles as they come along.

There’s gonna be an Elvis theme in a few weeks?  Oh yeah, it’s the year of the Boy alright.  Heh.

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Interview with Dean Banoweitz, Idol Hairstylist

Dean was interviewed by Kiss 95.9.  Check out both interviews posted on the site.  He had some interesting things to say about the Top 7 and 8.

• According to Dean, during the Top 8 Results show, Elliott was “horrified”.  Apparently, he knew he would have to sing that night.  However, the contestants had no idea they’d be seeing film clips of their loved ones that night.  When Ryan asked each of the Bottom 3 to sing, the reaction was, “Are you kidding me? I have to sing now?”
• Who Dean loves more after seeing their family video packages:  Katharine and Elliott.
• Who Dean loves on the show:  Elliott, Katharine and Taylor
• Dean on Taylor: “He’s hysterical to work on…like if I put his bangs down, he puts them back up. He does the exact opposite of what I do.”
• Dean thinks if Chris got booted tomorrow, he’d still have a successful career.  He thinks he’s a pretty nice guy, but obviously doesn’t spend much time with him.
• Dean’s nightmare final two: Ace and Kellie.  Said Dean, ”Go ahead and shoot us now”.
• Dean on Ace: “He’s just weird”  He agreed with the DJ that Ace was “creepy”  That ”Constantine didn’t take himself seriously, this one does.” And that Ace is “contrived.”  Dean had no kind words for Ace.
• Dean on Kellie: He thinks she really is stupid.  “She does so many ridiculous things, you can’t even imagine.”
• Ford sends a stylist over to do the contestant’s hair for the car commercials.  They cut Taylor’s hair, much to Dean’s annoyance.
• Dean on Paris: She likes to try something new every week. 
• Dean on Bucky:  He liked when he wore a hat.  He really hated that Bucky shaved his hair underneath.  The DJ called the hairdo “trailer trash.”
• Dean on the competition, “It’s a big ole’ popularity contest.”
• Dean swears the Bottom 3 is strictly calculated on votes. “It’s all for real”.
• Dean liked Ryan’s beard.  The one on his face, that is.

thanks chuck

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