‘American Idol’: Burning Questions Answered!
How big is the list of songs the contestants get to choose from?
BYRD: Well, it depends on the genre. It narrows down when there’s a theme. I’ve never counted, but, for instance, [with this week’s] songs, [from the Lennon-McCartney songbook], there’s only 25 to choose from.
How is Lennon/McCartney week shaking out for the contestants?
BYRD: It’s quite interesting for them, because a lot of them don’t know those songs. It’s hard for a contestant when they know four Beatles songs and all four are taken. I’ve had that happen. It becomes extra work.
Let’s hear it for the boys in this year’s ‘Idol’ competition
David Archuleta, 17, the youngest of American Idol’s top 12 singers, is the early favorite of online betting sites and Idol watchers, leading a strong male contingent many say is capable of reversing last year’s dominance by women.
The Season 7 field, which kicks off the finals round tonight (Fox, 8 ET/PT) with the John Lennon-Paul McCartney songbook, is considered better than its predecessor, with more than a half-dozen singers being mentioned as possible successors to Jordin Sparks, who was 17 when she became the youngest Idol last year.
“This is not a one-horse race,” says executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, who calls this the best top 12 ever. “When Yoko Ono calls up and says things like, ‘Please tell David Archuleta I loved him singing Imagine,’ and Lionel Richie (said he) loved David Cook doing Hello, you know you’ve got a good bunch.”
Critics don’t go as far as Lythgoe, but they praise the field’s depth, which could lead to the kind of strong competition necessary to hold onto viewers.
More Idol Headlines After the Jump…
‘American Idol’ Judges Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson Say David Archuleta Doesn’t Have Contest Wrapped Up Yet
That much was obvious when we caught up with the dynamic duo backstage at “TRL,” because they immediately took issue with something we wrote about “Idol” late last month — namely that baby-face crooner David Archuleta had all but wrapped the competition up, based on the strength of his cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” (Check out MTV News’ trip to Archuleta’s hometown.)
Not so fast, they cautioned. Things aren’t over yet — not by a long shot (which was a bummer to hear, because we totally had Archuleta in our newsroom “Idol” pool). And if you think you had the competition figured out by now, well, you haven’t seen anything yet.
“He’s in the leader’s role right now, for sure, but also there are some other talented boys too. Jason Castro did [Leonard Cohen’s] ‘Hallelujah,’ last week. There’s David Cook too,” Jackson said. “And on the girls’ side, there’s Carly [Smithson], there’s Brooke [White]. They’re coming on. It’s too early to tell. You got to keep an open mind, America.”
Formula for ‘Idol’: Popular yet Predictable
“American Idol†is down to 12 finalists, and among them are all the archetypes of seasons past. There is the perky blond cowgirl, her hair now straightened and her outfits looking to be straight from the mall; the soulful crooner who channels Luther Vandross supremely; the rocker gal who has to fight against lapsing into a Janis Joplin imitation; and the budding teenybopper now stylized to attract an older audience.
In this, the seventh season of the biggest show on television, it says a lot that one of the most intriguing mysteries this year revolves around what the look will be for the show’s new stage set, to be unveiled Tuesday night on Fox.
NY Times
‘Idol’ Power: The Top 12
Jason Castro and Brooke White are going strong on Michael Slezak’s weekly ranking, while Kristy Lee Cook struggles — see where the others fit in, and then vote for your favorite.
Weighing the notes on ‘Idol’s’ final 12
“American Idol” has its 12 finalists, and each has a theoretical chance of winning. In practice, however, there’s a clear division between the contestants who have a chance of winning and those who are mostly around because FOX and the “Idol” advertisers want the show to end in May instead of April, meaning the producers need more people to be voted off in the meantime.
Here’s a look at where each of the finalists stands.
American Idol Power Rankings: The Top 12
Now it’s getting a bit more interesting, and a lot more serious — American Idol’s final 12. As the party got started Thursday night, TVGuide.com began polling you on your current pick to win this whole enchilada. Here’s how it netted out:
American Idol contestant Michael Johns dreamed of fame
As Johns prepares to perform to US Idol’s audience of millions tomorrow, Marina Del Basso of local production company Vogue Entertainment remembers his first audition as a Perth teenager.
“When he came to that very first audition he told me he would be famous,†she said.
“I actually said to him ‘you could be with (your) talent’.â€
Now aged 29, Johns was one of thirty hopefuls accepted by American Idol judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson from a crowd of 12,000 in San Diego.
He is one of 12 remaining contestants.
Randy Jackson goes all Quincy Jones on his debut release
Randy Jackson, the “American Idol” judge and music industry veteran, goes all Quincy Jones on his debut release for his new label imprint, bringing together an impressive array of talents from different genres for a pop throwdown. Guests include Mariah Carey, Richie Sambora, Travis Tritt, and Keb’ Mo’. The breakout track is Paula Abdul’s limp return into the spotlight, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” It’s a throwback, breathy dance-pop tune that evaporates upon listening.
Now Simon Cowell shows off in his $1million Bugatti Veyron sports car
X Factor boss Simon Cowell is certainly not shy about splashing the cash, as the music mogul was seen zipping around Los Angeles in a $1million (£600,000) runaround.
Simon was seen tooling around town in his Bugatti Veyron, the world’s most expensive and fastest street-legal car.
‘American Idol’ Alum Sanjaya Malakar Reaches Out To Stevie Wonder, Calls Danny Noriega ‘Unique’
It’s been nearly a year since Sanjaya Malakar was given the boot by the “American Idol” voting faithful, but that hasn’t dissuaded last season’s hirsute underdog — who managed to stay in the competition for nine startling weeks, a run helped along by the likes of shock jock Howard Stern — from following his dreams.
Malakar told MTV News over the weekend that he’s been keeping busy since the cut writing music with his sister, Shyamali, and meeting with producers to discuss the album he’d like to record in the very near future. And if he had his way, he’d pull in at least one big name for an epic R&B collaboration.
Sierra headed back to rehab
Jessica Sierra returned to a Hillsborough County courtroom Monday to resolve a problem with her probation transfer to California, where she is receiving drug treatment at a rehab facility.
California probation officials say Florida violated an interstate compact by allowing Sierra, 22, to go to California without prior approval from probation officials there.
The one-time American Idol finalist flew back to Florida so she can process the paperwork from here before returning.
John Fitzgibbons, Sierra’s attorney, told Hillsborough Circuit Judge Daniel Perry that a compromise between California and Florida officials had been reached.
Diana DeGarmo Encourages Youth Volunteers
Diana DeGarmo will be the honorary spokesperson for Global Youth Service Day, the largest volunteering event in the world. The three-day event, held April 25-27, is co-sponsored by CMT One Country and Youth Service America. DeGarmo is a former American Idol runner-up who starred in the CMT series, Gone Country.
Rock Reality Show Gone Country Season Finale Shocker
The Honky-Tonkin’ Highlights: Diana DeGarmo, who was criticized by Rich last episode for being “too Aguilera,†belts out a countrified version of her song, turning her into the favorite to win this thing. “That was frighteningly good,†Rich says. But DeGarmo has one more hill to climb: Mt. Bobby Brown. Despite a pre-performance diet of Grey Goose-on-the-rocks, Brown brings the house down with his rousing performance, reminding the viewers at home that before he became a walking punch line, he was once a talented performer.
John Rich wrangles everybody back at his mansion to go over his grading criteria and ultimately pick the winner. And the winner of Gone Country, who will be given the opportunity to record a song with John Rich, is… Julio! What an upset! The man who got the least camera time, the least back story, slept through all the competitions and who admitted he had the worst shot of winning ends up winning, as Rich decides he wants to mine the lucrative “Latinos who buy country music†market.
Air Canada Centre, Toronto - March 10, 2008
The big-voiced, bald-headed and side-burned American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry, a fourth-place runner-up on Season Five, opened the evening up with a nine-song, 45-minute-set with his four-piece band Daughtry.
And while the appeal of his middle-of-the-road rock music is lost on my ears he’s obviously doing something right given he had the best-selling album of last year in the U.S. even if he hasn’t been nearly as successful in Canada.
Case in point: Just before Over You, Daughtry asked who knew it.
“I want to hear you sing!” he said. “You ever do that Toronto? Are you with us?”
Eventually, the crowd came around but it was the next song, Home, that drew the biggest response of the evening.
Jam.Canoe.Canada
American Idol’s Pickler and Covington at Country Radio Seminar
We spotted former “American Idol” contestant and country hunk Bucky Covington exchanging pleasantries with ’90s country star Doug Stone outside the Renaissance Hotel, which is connected to the Nashville Convention Center.
Country Music’s New Faces Win Over Radio Crowd
Spotlighting the already proven talents of Taylor Swift, Jake Owen, Luke Bryan, Jason Michael Carroll and Bucky Covington, the New Faces show Friday night (March 7) was a resounding demonstration that country music is still in good hands.
The event, which capped the 39th annual Country Radio Seminar, was held in a hangar-size banquet hall at the Nashville Convention Center before an audience of several hundred radio and music industry people. Some in the crowd slipped away soon after dinner, hoping to avoid an approaching snowstorm. But most stayed on through the last song.
Q&A: Tour with Urban suits Underwood quite well
The Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour coming to Sacramento on Wednesday will have a stage big enough for two, as in two headlining acts.
Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban are a potent country music mix, and they’ll share the spotlight at Arco Arena.
I recently caught up with Underwood, 24, as the tour, which started in mid-February, was wending its way back East.
We chatted about taking to the highway, her sort-of-new album, “Carnival Ride,” and, of course, all things “American Idol.” Got your tickets? Then here’s what to expect.
‘Idol’ hopefuls coming to region
Hundreds of young “American Idol” hopefuls will head to the hills beginning June 15 to train at Idol Camp at Pali Mountain Retreat and Conference Center.
“This association with `American Idol’ will benefit the Inland Empire. It will bring fame to the area and will raise awareness about our beautiful mountain community not only to the Inland Empire and Southern California but nationally and internationally,” Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce President Lewis Murray said at a town hall meeting Monday night at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa.
Monday’s meeting was held to raise community awareness and solicit support for the exclusive agreement between Pali Entertainment, `American Idol’ officials from FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment and the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce. The agreement will be signed later this week.
SIMON SAYS:
The latest: An American Idol show has been added for Peoria’s regular-season finale on April 12.
Justin Guarini, Kimberley Caldwell and Gina Glocksen will sign autographs from 6-8 p.m. during that game, then each will perform two songs in a post-game concert.
Ok, so in the Beatles thread I went on a small rant last night about the quote from Nigel in the EW article with the reasons for the themes in the top 24 and now my LOVELY interent at work (heh, they might want me to work?) won’t let me get to that thread! URGH! Anyway, I found the first article to be an interesting read. I am glad Byrd is saying how many songs they have to chose from. Makes the ’song choice’ thing just not a valid thing from the judges, but I am sure we’ll still hear it! And they have 10 years which gives them SO MANY SONGS……
With only 25 songs for them to choose from, I really don’t want to hear them going on about bad song choice because it’s very likely that the one they chose was the best of what was left.
I agree, don’t anyone complain about the song choice tonight. But you know Randy will say, at least once, “Dawg, that song, I don’t know if that song was the right one, for me, for you. It was just a’ight dawg.”
Phil discusses song selection a bit in his latest USA Today article:
Phil’s Pages: Chapter 7
Chris Sligh requested the song I’m Gonna Make You Love Me, but was denied because it wasn’t on the list, so he chose one of the only songs available that a guy sang on, Endless Love. Since Sligh had requested the song, Idol ran his first song pick for clearance without his knowledge, and it came back as cleared just hours before we met Ms. Ross. Sligh had already made an arrangement for Endless Love, so he suggested I take the one that had just cleared, I’m Gonna Make You Love Me. I figured it would be more comfortable for me to sing a song that Michael McDonald had recorded, rather than the one I had chosen, Someday, We’ll Be Together, so I chose to perform I’m Gonna Make You Love Me instead.
Idol Chatter
Idol Chatter also has their “coaches” comments up and those can often be quite interesting.
Sorry — That is pure crap!
I was so looking forward to Beatles night and they have only 25 songs to choose from??????? What could have been wonderful and diverse, will probably end up in a couple of contestants imploding on stage through no fault of their own.
Perhaps that’s what they want? I really can’t see them advertising this Beatles week they wanted for so long and having such extremely limited choices.
Blah on Idol!
Bummer, I would have loved to hear Phil sing, Someday We’ll Be Together. Crud — darn you Chris Sligh.
Thank you Boston Globe for picking Real Love as the stand out track on Randy’s album and saying that Elliott Yamin, “sounds as if he’s going to turn out to be an intuitive and convincing R&B presence.”
I’m looking forward to getting some spoilers on the Beatles songs they wll be singing tonight.
On the Beatles thread from yesterday, primeminister posted a spoiler that David A will be singing the Stevie Wonder arrangement of ‘We Can Work It Out’
You would think that an Australian newspaper would have spoilers for Michael, not David A.
25 songs on the list? Flip a coin or draw out of a hat? Yeah, that’ll happen. It will be interesting to speculate tonight which singers got their first choice and who was screwed over. My guess is Chikeze, David H, Ramielle, and Kristy Lee had to pick from an even shorter list. I am sure tonight will prove who has the “stuff” to make any song work to their advantage.
I think that we can begin that speculation this morning. I agree with you that David H got to pick from the the remaining 14 songs. For some bizzaro reason, the producers still seem to like Kristy (I thought she was the worst of the blonde clones, but with a couple of “She’s sick” assists from Ryan and some favorable words from the judges and she’s still here). So, I don’t think she had to pick last.
Picking order:
1. David A (TCO)
2. Carly (TCRU)
3. Michael (Heavily Pimped)
4. Brooke (one of the four mentioned by Randy/Paula yesterday)
5. Jason C (Nigel likes him)
6. Syesha (pimp spot last week, plus lots of pimping)
7. Kristy Lee (I don’t get it, but she seems to get a lot of assists from the producers, still coasting on her audition)
8. Ramiele (middle of the producer love pack)
9. Chikezie (they must like him a bit, they gave him the pimp spot last week when his song did not warrant it, lots of solos in the Top 20 group song)
10. David C. (I think he’s been picking from the bottom of the pile for a while…I’m sure he didn’t have to fight anybody for “Hello”…he just has the arranging chops to turn cheese into gold)
11. Amanda (somebody in production must have been responsible for that lion hairdo on Top 20…you don’t do that to constetants you like…plus producers don’t want the threat to Carly)
12. David H (crappy singing slots including ultimate death spot on Final 24, Simon ragging on him in the chairs…etc)
Hi MJ,
Just FYI: Here’s an AI article from today’s Newark Star Ledger -
David Archuleta: Inevitable Idol
Excerpt: …If you were to breed a potential “American Idol” winner in a lab, you could not do better than Archuleta, the 17-year-old kid from Utah who effectively ended the competition two weeks ago with his performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”…
Interesting list, Kirsten. Of your bottom feeders, I think the two Davids and Amanda would be the type to research arrangements before meeting with the coaches. I don’t think Ramiele would have a clue. Chikeze - who cares. (I’m tired of the ole R&B thingy on Idol)
I also wonder if it is a sprint to the producers to be first to request a particular song or if there is a pecking order. The optimist in me hopes it is the former.
According to Dlisted.com someone is shopping nude photos of Amanda to the National Inquirer. As if Idol needed another scandal!
First let me say this: I like Amanda and I hope she’s one of the top 3, because she’s different and has a lot of guts. But — my cousin is a nurse, and I’m not saying this about ALL nurses, but — cuz is a drunk and she had a wild “youth”. I don’t know maybe it has something to do with working around sick people or being in a profession you don’t want to be in….and I just hope Amanda is Straight-up from hereon out…because if she gets into show biz with her past, then she’s fodder for a very volatile life.
MN Sue this is what Blake said about song requests, from an interview he did with Yahoo music.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/28276/blake-lewis-the-reality-rocks-interview
If Kristy has been since for 3 weeks with the same condition while in living in the same city, sleeping in the same bed, with access to doctors, I can’t imagine how she is going to survive touring. She may make Kat’s time off tour seem like nothing.
Thanks for the link, Anne. But me thinks Blake would have gotten his first choice regardless. (Either through the producers will or the fact that no one wanted some of his choices)
I worked for 5 years in a major teaching hospital. I knew a lot of nurses. Most of them had families and were very hard working. What you are talking about was not my experience at all.
I’m foggy on when exactly but I remember one night early on when Simon called Blake the guy to beat and Paula said he would be in the finale. I thought then he was easily one of the more favored contestants and likely wasn’t screwed with choices regularly. I would imagine it won’t be nearly as easy this year where you can submit a bunch of songs early and get your first pick when the time comes.
I have lots of friends in the nursing profession. Not my experience either.
Blake also said in that article that Anne posted that the producers did not want him to do “Time of the Season” and he fought for it. They wanted him to do “Tobacco Road” (thank GOD Blake won that battle).
He also said in an interview at some point that the producers did not want him to do “This Is Where I Came In” on Bee Gee’s night, and he basically said “eff you, I’m doing it.” Barry Gibb backed him up on it because Barry was so excited that he wanted to do the song.
He also got “This Love” cleared himself by Maroon 5 when Nigel said he couldn’t get it cleared. Seeing what Jordin and Melinda got saddled with for their “producers’ choice” in the top 3, there’s no telling what they wanted him to sing instead.
So I don’t think song requesting was always easy for Blake, either, heavily favored or not.
I don’t remember seeing this posted -
Josiah is in LA right now, and he had his first post-Idol performance last Friday night. Here’s photos.
http://www.allaccessphotoagency.com/gallery.php?gallery_id=190&page=1
And, one of the worsters at VFTW wrote a review of the concert:
http://www.votefortheworst.com/forum/topic4071-2060.html
AND a bonus - more pics from the Horton premiere. Jason is delightful!
http://www.allaccessphotoagency.com/gallery.php?gallery_id=191
Video of Amanda smoking. (Waiting in line for Idol tryouts, she’s at the end of the vid)
Bleeped out language, may not be safe for work…
http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/contentDetail.do?id=D81F2344BF5AC7BB4E1877C5E677C16F9DE069E36AA9C10E
I bought Randy’s cd today and like it a lot. There are a couple of songs that are just ok and a couple that are boring, but all in all, it was fun listening to it on the way home. Love Elliott on “Real Love”, of course. anyway, I’m glad I bought it.
Hey all. You can hear the full version of Ace’s single, Addicted here:
http://ryan.kiisfm.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=152739&article=3390593
And Ace appearance news from mrsjonesonidol.com:
SATURDAY, APRIL 12TH, @ 2:00 pm
Borders Books & Music
1260 Old Country Road
Westbury, Long Island
Call for details: 516-683-8700
MARK THOSE CALENDARS BECAUSE EVERYBODY GETS A “BACKSTAGE PASS AT BORDERS!”
Get your copy of Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul signed by ACE!
I cant believe it about Sierra. Too bad. Instead of making headlines for singing - its drug rehab.