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'American Idol' - 'One of Six Eliminated' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-04-28T22:01:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

Here's my deal: We need to have a Crystal/Casey finale, and Siobhan needs to go tonight. While the judges loved her, my ears told me that she sounded like a cat being mauled to death last night. I honestly do not understand the praise that is being heaped upon her. I'd be just as happy if Aaron the wedding singer left, but even I can admit that he hasn't had a bad performance in several weeks.

But no matter who actually goes tonight, one thing's for certain: there's going to be about 50 minutes of filler leading up to it. Tonight, we get Rascal Flatts, Shakira, vampires, emo violinists, and a whole lot of other things that only the evil geniuses behind 'Idol' can dream up in an effort to stretch 5 minutes of show into an hour.

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'American Idol' - 'Idol Gives Back/1 of 7 Voted Off' Recap

Jane Boursaw — 2010-04-21T23:09:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Host, Celebrity Commentary, Features

It's "Inspiration Week" on 'American Idol,' which means the Idols sang inspirational songs on Tuesday, and 'Idol Gives Back' was on tap for tonight. It's truly amazing how much this charitable endeavor helps people around the globe. It's not easy to see all of the suffering going on in the world -- especially the children -- but it's really easy to pick up the phone and make a small donation that could save a kid's life.

Tonight, celebrities reported on the huge malaria problem in Africa; Save the Children; a food bank in Monrovia, Calif.; and global health, among others. At the end of the show, Simon Cowell reported that $15 million had been raised during the two hours the show aired. That's awesome. For more info and to learn how you can give, check out 'Idol Gives Back.'

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'American Idol' - 'Seven Finalists Compete' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-04-20T22:23:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Performances, Host, Features

This season has actually gone by pretty quickly for me. Top 7? That's completely nuts, yet here we are. Plus, we get a bitchin' mentor this week: Alicia Keys. The theme this week is the nebulous, "songs of inspiration," which could either be completely ridiculous or pretty cool.

Unfortunately, it's a little bit more of the former instead of the latter. I don't know what it is, but when left to basically their own devices, these guys aren't very good at picking songs. Just about everybody gave pretty much a "take it or leave it" performance. Of course, it wouldn't be 'Idol' if there wasn't a standout or two in the crowd.

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'American Idol' - 'Two of 9 Voted Off' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-04-14T23:22:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, Host, Features

After Big Mike's dramatic save last week, this show is being set up to be super-intense. Not only have the judges used their only save, but as the title indicates, two people are going home. But before that, we need a lot of filler. We have performances by Brooke White and Adam Lambert, which wow -- I enjoyed Brooke when she was on the show, but I can honestly say I haven't thought of her since.

We don't start off the show with any of this. Instead, we start off with the longest Elvis medley ever. It was so long, in fact, that I'm pretty sure they sang every single Elvis song ever written, four songs written by Elvis impersonators, and a verse from "Allison," just to round things out a little bit.

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'American Idol' - 'Top 9 Compete ... Again' Recap

Jane Boursaw — 2010-04-14T04:08:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, Host, Predictions and Trends, Features

"My tongue is not nearly as talented as yours." - Ryan Seacrest to Adam Lambert

It was an interesting night on 'American Idol,' as that statement suggests. Obviously, Ryan was talking about Adam's tongue action while singing, but when he said it, Adam's eyebrows went up. He and Ryan would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?

Anyway, Ryan's mom was in the audience, too, which made things even more interesting. That and the fact that after Big Mike's save last week -- which I'm thankful for -- the Idols are definitely feeling the pressure. Two -- count 'em, two -- people will be sent packing this week.

Based on the performances, I'm guessing they won't be the ones we predict. Meaning that Tim Urban and Andrew Garcia will still be here after tonight. Ok, maybe not Andrew.

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'American Idol' - 'Nine Finalists Compete' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-04-07T00:28:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

We're finally into the single digits tonight, but we're still going for two hours. It's Lennon/McCartney night, and Seacrest starts out by saying they have the most recognizable songs in the world. Would you agree with that? Do you think that they or Elvis were more popular worldwide? In any case, Paul McCartney gave his blessing to these contestants, so here's hoping they don't screw it up. Of course, just based on Siobhan's outfit alone, I'm a little nervous going into it.

Turns out, though, I have nothing to be nervous about. Overall, this is my favorite episode of 'Idol' so far this season. There were several performances that I enjoyed, and many that took me by surprise. Plus, 'Idol' instituted a new thing that I actually like: the interviews in which the contestants talk about each other. It was cool to hear how people are perceived in the house, but more than that, Crystal's comment about how she loves the fact that Andrew and Lee can get married and have lots of "little Danny Gokey babies" is still cracking me up.

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'American Idol' - '1 of 10 Voted Off' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-04-01T01:36:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Host, Features

My favorite part about the very beginning of an 'American Idol' results show is guessing who's going to go home. According to our poll from last night's episode, most of you think that it's Didi Benami's turn to leave the stage. While I can definitely understand that rationale -- she has been murdered by the judges for the past few weeks, after all -- I disagree. Even though he did a good job last night, I kind of feel that Lee DeWyze should go home, if for no other reason than the fact that I completely forget he's on the show every week.

Before we get to the actual results, though, there's a lot of other stuff that we have to get through: namely a rally weird 'Clash of the Titans' product placement that opens the show, as well as a performance from 'Idol's' forgotten winner, Ruben Studdard. We learn a few interesting things during this performance: Ruben has lost a pretty substantial amount of weight, and he's going on tour this summer with his 'Idol' runner-up, Clay Aiken. So what do you guys think? Is this tour going to be a fun show, or just two guys trying to recapture the limelight?

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'American Idol' - '11 Finalists Perform' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-03-24T01:20:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

Thank God 'American Idol' is still two hours long. If it weren't, we would have had to cut down the horrendously awkward intro in which Ryan chats with all of the judges. Between Ryan commenting on Simon's v-neck shirt, and his kissing Ellen, I half expect them to just go ahead and get naked. Luckily, they managed to control themselves, and we were actually able to see some performances.

The mentoring thing is always a little weird on this show, but Miley Cyrus? That's certainly an interesting choice. I understand that she's highly successful and good at what she does, but how much guidance can she really give to these contestants? I have a feeling that a lot of their mentoring sessions consisted of them nodding politely at her and then doing whatever they were going to do in the first place. Fortunately, even though she's the mentor, it's not Miley Cyrus night. Instead, the contestants just have to pick a song that was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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'American Idol' - 'One of 12 Voted Off' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-03-17T23:52:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Host, Features

I don't know why, but I was thinking up until this show started that we were still losing one guy and one girl; but the days of the competition being split evenly are over. We're only losing one tonight, so one of the genders is going to be completely safe. It's hard for me to guess who's going home, though, as last night's episode was one of those nights in which I questioned what show I was watching as compared to the judges.

They, apparently, were watching some sort of star-studded tribute to The Rolling Stones, while I was watching a hot mess. The contestants seemed way over-praised, in general, while the one who wouldn't have made Mick Jagger question all of his career choices, Crystal Bowersox, was unduly criticized. It was crazy-town last night, so I'm really interested to see who America ultimately thinks should go.

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Paula Abdul in Talks With ABC for 'Star Search'

Allison Waldman — 2010-03-16T10:16:00+00:00

Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Judges, Host, Reality-Free, Features, TV News

Hmm ... this is an interesting development. For weeks, it seemed that Simon Cowell was all set to snag his old 'American Idol' foil, Paula Abdul, for 'The X Factor.' That's the new talent competition show Simon is launching on Fox in 2011. Reportedly, Simon wanted Paula as an 'X Factor' judge.

Simon now has competition for Paula. ABC has offered Paula Abdul a spot on 'Star Search.' According to the Hollywood Reporter, following another report in Entertainment Weekly, the latest incarnation of 'Star Search' will be a singing competition and Paula could be a host and a judge. That's twice as much as she did on 'American Idol.'

More importantly, it's on ABC.

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'American Idol' - 'Top 8 Boys Compete' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-03-10T23:23:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Reality-Free, Features

Quick! Someone explain to Simon what a "binky" is. After a weird show opening on Tuesday involving Ellen sitting on his lap, Ryan starts the show on Wednesday asking why Kara and Simon are sitting so close together this season. He then calls Kara Simon's "binky," which confuses Simon greatly. All in all, the lady judges cannot get enough of Mr. Cowell this week.

Tonight's episode is really exciting, because for the first time so far, it's going to be kind of difficult to find two contestants to eliminate. Overall it's a strong night of performances, with a couple of pleasant surprises. I definitely have my favorite, how about you?

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'American Idol' - 'Four Finalists Eliminated' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-03-05T00:38:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Host, Features

We're getting rid of another four people this week, getting us ever closer to a Top 12. Are we going to lose who you think we are, or is Vote for the Worst going to come in again and skew the results? These are the questions we have to answer. Well, they're some of the questions we have to answer. We also need to find out if Danny Gokey still has a career, and if we can have more than 70% of the contestants not look completely dead inside during the group sing.

We're going to look at the poll results from the last two episodes and see if who you guys think are going home are actually the ones to leave, or if we're going to get some curveballs thrown at us. Personally, I have faith in your ability to predict the future, so let's see how you do!

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'American Idol' - 'Top 10 Girls Perform' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-03-04T00:36:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

We start the show off with an update on Crystal Bowersox: still no word on what landed her in the hospital yesterday, but she's back and ready to sing. We then transition into an awkward joke from Ellen about her dead grandmother, and even more awkward pseudo-flirting between Kara and Simon. It's gonna be that kind of night, I guess.

In general, the girls show a marked improvement from last week, and there are really very few horrific performances, so that's definitely a step up. I was getting a little worried about this competition, but after tonight, I feel a lot better about the whole thing.

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'American Idol' - 'Top 10 Guys Perform' Recap

Jane Boursaw — 2010-03-02T23:36:00+00:00

Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Music and Variety, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Episode Reviews, Features, Recaps

Ok, a little change-up to start the show off. The ladies were scheduled to perform tonight, but Crystal Bowersox was taken to the hospital this morning (no word on what the deal is), so the top ten guys will be performing. I hope Crystal's doing alright, and that she'll be back on track to sing tomorrow night.

This spurs Ellen DeGeneres to reminisce about the time her back went out and she did her show from a bed. Ryan Seacrest remembers that, and says he actually was in the bed with her at one point. That's just interesting all the way around.

So far, both the guys and girls have been lackluster in my book, but Simon Cowell thinks the girls have the edge. Either way, the two guys and two girls with the lowest number of votes will be out on Thursday night. So vote for your favorites! Let's move on and see if the guys kick it up a notch tonight. Let's hope so.

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'American Idol' - '4 Finalists Eliminated' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-02-26T00:05:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, Host, Features

It's the first elimination show of the year! Generally, it feels like a huge loss when four contestants are eliminated all at once, but based on the lackluster performances by both the girls and the guys, I have a feeling that unless there's some huge shakeup, few tears will be shed.

But before we get to all that, we have a (lip-synced?) Top 24 performance, and 'Idol' winner Kris Allen makes an appearance, along with runner-up Allison Iraheta. We also get to see Kara's husband and one of the contestants in a bathrobe, so let's get started!

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'American Idol' - 'Top 12 Boys Compete' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-02-24T23:25:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

I don't know about you all, but I was severely underwhelmed by the girls' first performance, so my main hope going into the Top 12 guys' performance is that it won't bore me to death. I also hope that I can get back in sync with the judges a little more tonight, because my opinions differed wildly from theirs.

Two hours later, one of these things happened. While the guys had more high points than the girls, they were generally underwhelming. However, the night was not without its funny moments and mini-heartbreaks, and at the end of it, Kara DioGuardi realized she needed to hire a lawyer.

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'American Idol' - 'Top 12 Girls Compete' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-02-24T00:13:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

Finally! We get the live show and our first chance to vote. How has everyone changed since Hollywood week? Are they already jaded Hollywood types? Can they sing in front of a television audience of nearly 30 million people? These are all things we'll find out tonight during the real beginning of 'American Idol.'

Other things we find out? This season's contestants really like The Beatles, and I may or may not be completely drunk right now, as my critiques match up with the judges way less than they usually do. So let's continue to see who your opinions match up with!

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'American Idol' - 'Hollywood Round #4' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-02-18T00:45:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

Last night, we had roughly 30 minutes of content spread out over two hours, so for this hour-long episode of 'American Idol,' 15 minutes of actual stuff sounds about right. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the pace with which we sped through the remaining contestants. There wasn't a lot of hullabaloo, just people sitting in chairs and discovering their fates.

There were a few surprises, but for the most part, the people you thought were going to make it did. What really worked for me in this episode is that the focus was on the people who got in, with a relatively short amount of time devoted to watching the rejected contestants cry. 'Idol' has a tendency to linger on peoples' pain a little bit too much, so it was nice to see that they refrained here, for the most part.

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'American Idol' - 'Hollywood Round #3' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-02-17T00:25:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

Alright guys, it's a big night tonight. It's the beginning of the end of Hollywood Week, and we're actually learning who some of the Top 24 are, instead of finding out who made it tomorrow. At the end of the two hours we found out the fates of some of the contestants, and have 7 of the Top 24.

There were some major surprises on both sides. I was definitely wrong a few times when it came to who was going home and who was staying. Like any year, some of the choices are no-brainers, while others make you scratch your head. But it wouldn't be 'Idol' if it was any other way.

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'American Idol' - 'Hollywood Round 2' Recap

Kona Gallagher — 2010-02-11T01:18:00+00:00

Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Host, Features

It's the end of Hollywood week, which means group performances! This is always a crazy point in the season, because it seems more like the Wild West than any other point of the show. People are singing songs they barely know, rehearsing until 4 in the morning, choreographing dance moves -- it's like 'Fame' the movie in miniature and on repeat. It's always interesting to see who cracks and who makes it through.

We start out with a mess of people finding groups and choosing songs. Is this how it always is? I seem to remember people being assigned groups, but maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about. During rehearsals, there seems to be a lot of Lady Gaga, which automatically makes this a lot more interesting than years past. However, while this group day may be more interesting, it is not necessarily better, as poor song choices and nerves end up taking a lot of people down.

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