I Love This Cheesy Show
The TEENS have their say! And anyone who was born after 1961. I checked! Not that I was planning to vote, or anything. No, seriously, I wasn’t!
The Teen Choice Awards will air on FOX, August 4, 8 pm. The show, hosted by teen fav Miley Cyrus, has announced the nominees. See which Idols are nominated for what, After the JUMP…
… pssst, David Cook, Jordin Sparks and Carrie Underwood all made the list…
Continue reading ‘American Idol, Idols nominated for FOX Teen Choice Awards’
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We dodged a bullet! In a conference call with the press on Wednesday afternoon, Nigel Lythgoe said that the planned duet between Mariah Carey and the extremely dead Marvin Gaye is off:
In a Wednesday conference call with reporters, American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe offered updates on this year’s “Idol Gives Back” fundraising effort, to air Wednesday, April 9. For starters, Lythgoe cleared the air on talk that Mariah Carey would perform a duet with the late Marvin Gaye, a la Celine Dion and Elvis Presley a year ago. “Unfortunately, it’s not [happening],” he shared. “We couldn’t get the rights to music with Marvin, so we had to cancel it.” (Chalk up one unsettling/eerie bullet dodged.)
Marvin’s heirs undoubtedly said: No. No. No…
Ellen DeGeneres won’t be hosting Idol Gives Back from the Kodak theater after all. That part of the special will tape on Sunday to a paying crowed and will now by hosted by… Ryan Seacrest!
Lythgoe also addressed the breaking news that Ellen DeGeneres would not be able to shoulder half of the hosting duties for the evening. “Ellen, we were told, couldn’t do it due to a personal production pressure,” he said. Filling her shoes/sneakers will be… Ryan Seacrest! Will the seemingly busiest man in show business be worked even harder? Lythgoe shrugged off the notion. “We’ve got a lot of co-hosts, so it isn’t like last year,” he explained. “There are a lot of really good people coming on that stage to introduce people.”
And, that IGB twist I posted an item about earlier? I have a feeling that ain’t happening:
As previously announced, no one will get voted off the show during Idol Gives Back. The American Idol results show will air on the following night after Idol Gives Back. When asked if he considered creating some other type of carrot to get viewers to tune in, Lythgoe responded, “Yeah of course we did. For my money, this isn’t about a carrot. I don’t want to cheat the audience here. This is about a wonderful show with incredible talent involved with it, asking you to do something about what’s going on in the world, end of story. After that, carrots are just misleading the audience and stink.
Sources: TV Guide, Reality TV Magazine
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In this New York Post article, American Idol producer, Nigel Lythgoe, discusses possible changes for the next season of AI. Quotes from Nigel:
“We’re bringing about 160 people back to Hollywood at the end of this month,” says “Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe.
There are rumors that the Hollywood Round will start Thansgiving weekend–the 24th, but those dates have not been confirmed.
Contestants will be allowed to play instruments, at least during the Hollywood Rounds:
Continue reading ‘Nigel Lythgoe Talks Change on American Idol Season 7′
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The Idol producers did a press conference yesterday for journalists to talk about “The Next Great American Band.” I’m on the lookout for transcripts! Anyway, Rodney Ho of AGC.com, asked a few questions about the Atlanta auditions. He posted a few interesting tidbits on his American Idol blog.
Five years ago, 46 people from the Atlanta “American Idol” auditions made it to Hollywood. Last week, only 49 people were even trotted before Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. (We don’t know how many made it to the next round.)
Lythgoe said that this isn’t necessarily a reflection of less talent emanating from the auditions. “We’ve been very very picky this year. We’ve just cut out a lot of crazies. The truth is once we have them on tape, we can use them in montages. It seems silly to waste the time of the real judges.”
Of the seven audition cities this year, he said San Diego was the strongest while Dallas was the weakest. “With Kelly Clarkson the only big star out of Texas, it’s truly the Lone Star state,” he joked.
And this:
He also repeated an earlier comment that “Idol” next year will focus more on personalities, less on guest stars and “Idol Gives Back” and Sanjaya’s hair and such.
Less crazies? More Talent? Featuring the contestants instead of guest stars pimping their latest whatever? Giving up on Emmy bait cause they probably will never win one anyway? It all sounds too good to be true. Really, it does.
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ETA: American Idol auditions have finished in Philadelphia, San Diego (the judges admited to liking a couple of singers there!), Charleston, Dallas, Miami and Omaha. Last to go: The judges round in Atlanta.
Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and Simon Cowell auditioned hopefuls yesterday and today, including 23 year old Ross Koley, who of course, isn’t spilling the beans. Ross says, “If you watch the show in January, you’ll get to see everything that happens.
Uhhm. Or not, Ross. Many filmed auditions in front of the the judges wind up on the cutting room floor, or cut in a way that you won’t even recognize.
However, Idol producers did take time to film Ross singing in a local bar where he works as a waiter.
Camera crews also hit the streets on Thursday to record the contestants in their “natural habitat” as it were. I wonder how Idol producers plan to spin the city of Omaha? Considering their track record, I cringe at the thought…
Continue reading ‘Season 7 Audition Update - Omaha, Nebraska.’
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A couple of recent Items from the Hollywood Reporter
I think the headline of this article is a little misleading…
Fox’s ‘Idol’-ized Emmycast demo-lished
I mean, it’s not like Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick produced as they originally planned (they eventually bowed out, claiming they had too much work on their plates). And, host Ryan Seacrest barely took the stage during the entire telecast. Nevertheless, This year’s Emmy telecast was one of the lowest rated evah: Continue reading ‘Idol Bits and Pieces’
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Oh well, at least Nigel didn’t deflect blame and succumb to making the Reaganesque “mistakes were made” excuse, although that would have made for some pretty awesome snark material. TPTB appear to be taking at least some responsibility for the latest less than buzz-worthy season. (Though, I still maintain there is a boatload of talent present in the S6 bunch…)
Nigel Lythgoe, the executive producer of both shows who also serves as a sharp-tongued judge on Dance, said there’s plenty — and that we should all expect some changes on Idol next season. ”We realized we made mistakes on Idol last season,” he said. ”We were so engrossed with the mentors and didn’t really focus on the Melinda Doolittles of the show. We didn’t know them as much as the Kellie Picklers of last season.”
Continue reading ‘We Made Mistakes, Says Nigel Lythgoe’
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Jordin Sparks looked exactly as I pictured her in the moment of her Idol victory. Her win was certainly no surprise after Tuesday’s show, where Blake proved to be no match for Jordin’s prowess for power-emoting treacly lyrics. Personally? I think it’s as it should be. Jordin is the perfect winner. Too bad the show ran so long we could not get some extended moments of Jordin revelling in her triumph with her fellow Idols. The confetti machine appeared to be on the fritz, too. Damn.
Biggest complaint about last night’s mostly entertaining finale? More Idols, please. Really, did we need to hear Gwen Stefani pimp lip sync sing her new single from an undisclosed location? I would have rather had another medley from the kids. Last year’s finale was so good, because it was filled with appearances from the performers who make Idol what it is–the KIDS. In fact, Prince was the only guest last year to appear WITHOUT also performing with the Top 12. This year, there were five solo performances from guest stars.
Having said that, I enjoyed performances from Tony Bennett and Green Day anyway. The aforementioned Gwen, and Bette Midler–not so much. Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Joe Perry of Aerosmith were not only entertaining, but they all played nicely with the kids.
“It’s the night we’ve all been waiting for. Who will take the title? The beatboxer from Seattle, or the sweetheart from Arizona. The world is watching…This is American Idol! For the last time this year…sniff. Continue reading ‘Finale Recap’
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This week’s TV Week interview with Nigel Lythgoe. Download here.
Read a transcript of the interview after the jump. Continue reading ‘TV Week Interview with Nigel Lythgoe: He thinks Jordin Sparks should be the next American Idol’
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Check out Team Plaid for last night’s video of the Final 3–Blake Lewis, Jordin Sparks and Melinda Doolittle–on last night’s Tonight Show With Jay Leno. After Jay interviewed the kids Taylor Hicks performed what will probably be his next single, “Heaven Knows.”
The online bookmakers are predicting that Melinda Doolittle will be eliminated this week, with Jordin Sparks eventually taking it all. Blake Lewis, though, will get a little help from the folks at Vote For The Worst. He’s been chosen as their candidate after Lakisha Jones (who only lasted a week as their pick) was voted off last week.
The latest bit of PR around Jordin Sparks, Season 6 heir apparent, is that she initially auditioned in LA, but did not get past the 1st round. She went back home and auditioned successfully for Arizona Idol and a chance to audition in Seattle, where she was advanced to Hollywood by the judges. She has also auditioned for American Juniors (AJ was a 19E production–it’s possible she came to the attention of Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick back then) and Star Search. She auditioned for America’s Most Talented Kids twice–winning the first time.
More homecoming news. Chris Richardson’s hometown, Chesapeake, VA threw him a party at his old high school last night and Phil Stacey went home to Jacksonville, FL where he’s making the media rounds and greeting fans.
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Ken and Nigel pull out of Emmy Telecast
Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe will not be producing this year’s Emmy telecast as previously announced.
Here’s the official statement, “After we wrapped the enormous effort of ‘Idol Gives Back,’ we looked at our upcoming slate of projects, including the ‘American Idol’ finale and the additional shows we will be involved in this summer, and realized that we could not devote the creative energy and time necessary to make the Emmys outstanding for the academy and Fox,”
Ken Ehrlich, who produced the Emmy’s last year is returning to produce his 4th Emmy telecast. Says the Academy of Television Arts and Science’s CEO Dick Askin, “He [Ehrlich] did a terrific job with the Emmys last year, and we are glad to have him back.”
Diana DeGarmo’s Stalker Sentenced
An Australian woman who hacked into Diana DeGarmo’s My Space and sent her threatening emails and phone calls has been sentenced.
Tanya Maree Quattrocchi, 21, of Oak Park, was released on a community-based order and ordered to serve 150 hours of community service after she was convicted of stalking and blackmail. The court heard the defendant had a limited intellectual ability and had scored an ENTER score of just 16 when she graduated from Ave Maria College in Aberfeldie.
She’s in college, and she’s hacking into MySpace accounts, but she has “limited intellectual ability?” What? If this had been tried in the States, I think the courts would have been a lot tougher.
Constantine Maroulis and Tamyra Gray Begin New Acting Roles
Constantine’s run on the CBS soap “The Bold and The Beautiful” begins on Tuesday May 15 and will run for several months. He’ll play music producer, Constantine Parros, who becomes involved in the life and career of heiress Phoebe Forrester. OMG, this should be hilarious. I’m DVRing the first few episodes. If I find anything snarkworthy, I’ll post it. Heh.
Tamyra Gray begins a stint with the Broadway musical “Rent.” She’ll play the role of Mimi Marquez through November 25.
New Dates for the American Idols Live Tour
The American Idols Live Tour starts in Sunrise FL on July 6th. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be at the Tampa FL show on the 7th. YAY. Check out the dates. If your city wasn’t on the list, it may be now. New dates are being added as we speak.
Simon Fuller discusses Idol Songwriter Contest
In a recent interview American Idol producer, Simon Fuller, talks about the American Idol Songwriter contest. Fuller screened the entries and says the entries include, “a handful of world-class songs.” That remains to be seen. I plan to check out the songs soon. Really, I do.
About this season, Fuller comments, “This has been an intriguing year. It’s been a slow burn in terms of getting to know the talent … It’s more of a journey than ever this year.” Fuller thinks that two or three ”terrific” contestants have emerged out of the contest. He would not say who.
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Chuck Ross, editorial director at TV Week interviews producer Nigel Lythgoe.
Nigel is predicting….that tonight’s double boot will not be a shocker. He says, “I’m not that shocked tonight, and I don’t think our viewers will be shocked tonight.”
Chuck congratulates Nigel for raising Nearly 70 million dollars through Idol Gives Back.
Nigel claims that the vote totals this week were very close to the vote totals last week. He believes that holding the phone lines open for 4 hours helped, and that “people have now decided who…their favorites are.”
Nigel says the IGB videos are #1, 2, 3 and 4 on the iTunes video downloads chart. The money generated from the iTunes’ downloads have not been added to the total yet.
Nigel mentions that Robin Thicke will be performing tonight (he doesn’t mention it, but this performance is pre-recorded). Read Nigel’s comments on the contestants performances after the jump. Continue reading ‘TV Week Interview with Nigel Lythgoe - Tonight, not a shocker, says Nigel’
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Chuck Ross of TV Week interviews producer Nigel Lythgoe about this week’s Top 7 performance show.
Nigel explains tonight’s results show gimmick, “I’m going to split the group into the highest voting group and the lowest voting group, and then I’m going to take one of them and say, ‘congratulations, you’re safe, go and join the group that is safe’ and have them make the decision.” (me: they’ve done a variation of this every year since Season 3 during Top 7 week)
When Chuck asked if there was a surprise tonight, Nigel said, “I don’t deal in surprises Chuck, I deal in reality.”
Nigel Lythgoe attempts to clear up the controversy that’s been brewing all day around Simon Cowell’s ”eye roll” after Chris Richardson’s post-performance condolences (not until after he had some words with Simon) to his fellow Virginians regarding the VA Tech tragedy. Nigel becomes pretty angry, to the point where he begins to ramble midway through. Here is his entire screed verbatim: Continue reading ‘TV Week Interview: The Top 7′
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According to an article in USA Today, Iain Pirie, head of US operations for 19 Entertainment says that, “it’s 95% certain there won’t be a Idol TV special, at least for this year, because effort is being concentrated on the charity special, Idol Gives Back.”
However, the Idol songwriting contest is moving ahead. Here are the details:
American Idol producer, Ken Warwick, held a conference call with reporters on Tuesday afternoon. Here are some highlights: Continue reading ‘More American Idol News’
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This week’s TV Week backlot talk interview with American Idol producers. This morning, Chuck Ross spoke with Nigel Lythgoe.
The interviewer, Chuck Ross, says that although Taylor Hicks was VFTW’s candidate last year, he was a very deserving winner. He goes on to say that he would be very surprised if Sanjaya wins. Nigel says “It would be a shock.”
Then, Nigel elaborates on the concept of winning, “What do you mean by winning? Taylor won the competition, but the one selling the albums at the moment is Daughtry. So what is the “win” at the end of the day? I think Sanjaya is going to win in this, in the sense that he is gonna have a very interesting career.” Nigel adds, “Chris was my favorite last year…I was surprised [that he didn’t win] at the same time I was also delighted that Katharine and Taylor were in the finale.”
And then the mp3 cuts off. Fire the intern! Hopefully, they find the mistake and upload a new podcast…
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This week’s Idol Coach is the legendary singer, Tony Bennett. He’ll be mentoring the kids as they take on the standards.
Bennett, a fan of American Idol, says the contestants can learn a lot from working in front of a live audience, “You learn things like knowing not to stay on the stage too long so you are always welcomed back…I’ve learned everything from my audiences; they have become my best teachers.”
I’m still on vacation, and still playing catch-up. I won’t be watching the show live tonight–I’ll be at the Avalon in Boston watching Taylor Hicks do his thang…
I’ll be recaping the Chicago and Boston shows soon. In the meantime, some items that I missed this week. Continue reading ‘Bits and Pieces’
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