davidarchuleta

Reports are now circulating that Jeff Archuleta, father of American Idol favorite David, has been banned from any rooms where his son is learning or rehearsing his songs. Nobody official is talking about it yet, but the anonymous sources have tales to tell. TMZ's source tells them that Jeff has caused problems with producers, the band, vocal coaches, and other contestants.

The tipping point seems to have been David's version of "Stand By Me." It's said that Jeff insisted on inserting a verse from Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" and the unauthorized change cost the show money. Now, I balk at anyone from Idol worrying over money, considering how much the show makes, and how little they pay the contestants, but I can see how a meddling stage parent could be a headache. And it does seem like a reasonable offense to help justify the bringing of the banhammer. Jeff will still be allowed to watch the live show from the audience, but will no longer be involved in any of the backstage preparations. The more interesting question is whether or not all of the bad press will have an effect on voting.

[Thanks Johari]

At this point an argument can be made for any of the Top 3 to win the whole thing. In fact, that's just what we're going to do. Now that we've said goodbye to so many other hopefuls we're down to a Final Three every bit as strong as Season Two's Kimberly Locke, Clay Aiken and Ruben Studdard, though drastically different. All three have proven that they have great voices. All three have proven that they have tremendous fan support. And all three seem to tap into a very different fan-base.

But who's the most deserving of the win? David Archuleta has wowed the judges and audience week after week with his polished vocals, but lacks a commanding stage presence. Syesha Mercado has played the role of the underdog throughout this competition, but has been coming on strong these past few weeks with passion and conviction. David Cook quickly emerged as a front-runner with his powerful rock vocals and innovative arrangements, but is he too limited to be the next Idol?

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, which turns out to be not very much except in a few select cases anymore. Well, Syesha managed to take all those last place poll positions right into the Top 3 while Jason's miscues and forgotten lyrics made his fans forget to call in for him. It's been building toward a David-David finale, but if we believe that Jason has never placed number one in the votes, then that means Syesha has proven herself capable of beating the Davids head-to-head. Will the inevitable play out or will a David go home? We'll see next week.

(S07E38) Tonight, Maroon 5 joins in the fun as we narrow down the remaining finalists to the Top 3. Where did Brooke's voting constituents go? If they went to Jason Castro then maybe he can pull of a huge upset and supplant a David or Syesha. If they went Syesha's way, it may be the end of the road for Jason Castro. If they all swung my way, who knows what will happen because Ryan forgot to give out my numbers ... again! Chime in through the show and critique the amazing Ford commercials, sound off on the amazing live viewer call-in feature (*cough*crap*cough*) and let us know who you think is going home.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

(S07E37) Finally, the plethora of mentors is gone and we have a potentially more expansive theme with "The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." I'm not sure what it means exactly but if it means music by artists in the Hall that's a lot of good songs to select from, and artists that better suit the individual contestants than some of the mentors. I like the idea of mentors, I just don't think it should be limited to their specific body of work on those weeks. What do you think? Chime in about that, the performances tonight or whatever's on your mind in the live chat tonight.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, which turns out to be not very much except in a few select cases. After a fairly lackluster night in which he deserved at least a Bottom Two slot, Jason skated into the Top 4. The question now is can the comeback queen break into the axis of testosterone and keep her hopes alive. Syesha has been at the bottom of these polls for over two months now and despite occasionally Bottom Three/Two finishes she's still alive and in the Final Four. Has her time finally run out? She's the last woman standing; does that stand for anything? We'll see next week.

(S07E36) What an underwhelming evening for the most part. In fact, I'd like to scrub that first round of songs from my memory banks completely. The contestants should be ashamed that they took a good catalog of songs (Neil Diamond's catalog) and made it so interminably boring. As Simon said, luckily they had second songs to redeem themselves, and a few of them even managed to do so. Only Syesha had two strong performances with true heart and emotion, so we'll see how that plays out. Is it the end of the road for Jason? Brooke? Neil Diamond and Natasha Bedingfield are performing. Won't you join our live chat and let us know what you think, starting just before 9:00 PM ET? There's virtual cookies and milk.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

(S07E35) Hey look, another mentor that's a solid hundred years older than every single contestant. But Neil Diamond's still a cool cat so I forgive him. Oh and what do you know? Neil has an album, Home Before Dark, coming out next week. I'm sure that's just a coincidence. He really did the show because he enjoys it and truly wants to help the contestants. Not to promote an album. That Neil he's a swell guy. Why don't you drop by tonight and chat us up about it in our live chat?

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Tired of your fingers bleeding and still only getting 219 calls in for your favorite contestant each Tuesday night? Do you go to bed with hand spasms, because let's face it your fingers aren't as young as they used to be? Well, now you can still vote for your favorites like a teenager with more free time than you have left in the rest of your life without all the hassle and stress (do I sound like an infomercial yet?).

Gizmo5 is a software package that can be installed on your computer (XP, Vista and Mac!) as well as your mobile phone. A new contact is created named "Idol Voting." Simply select this contact and select 1 to cast 25 consecutive votes for your favorite Idol contestant automagically (I know what I said; it's magical to me!). I know it works because I tested it last week voting for Brooke and Jason and ... oh! ... um ... sorry about that, Carly fans. Well, you can still save your favorites this week. And your fingers, too.

PS: If someone at Gizmo5 is reading this, Carly was cut last week so you can remove her from your site. Cool?

The fine folks over at AOL Television put together their "11 Biggest American Idol Cliches," but as the self-proclaimed guru of all things Idol, I figured my legions of fan (yes it's singular on purpose) are clamoring for my take. You have to figure that after nearly eight years on the air any show is going to rack up it's long, long list of annoying things.

And yet, I don't get nearly as annoyed when Jeff Probst yells "Come on in guys. [Team A] getting their first look at the new [Team B]. [Contestant Name] voted out at the last tribal council," even though he does it every single week. "[Team members], you're the last team to arrive. I'm sorry to tell you that you've both been eliminated from The Amazing Race." No big deal. So why do Ryan, Simon and the gang at American Idol drive us so crazy week after week?

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, which turns out to be not very much except in a few select cases. The contestants certainly had an incredible challenge this week with the works of Andrew Lloyd Webber, but while some really rose to the challenge, it didn't seem to matter one bit when it came down to the final voting. Does this mean that the public has already decided who they like? It doesn't matter how well or horribly they do from here on out because voters have already decided who they like? Or was it just a fluke week where people assumed their favorites safer than they were?

(S07E34) That was a bit of a departure from typical American Idol fare wasn't it? There were a couple of really great performances and a couple of really not-so-great performances on Andrew Lloyd Webber. And if the comments to that post tell us anything it's that you guys are passionate about who you like and who you don't like. That's what makes shows like this fun, and chatting about them online live as they happen even more fun. So feel free to stop in tonight to the hottest live chat on the 'net, starting just before 9:00pm ET. And let's try and be nice to one another.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

(S07E33) It's really coming down to it now. There's only six contestants left and we get back-to-back mentors. Following on the heels of Mariah Carey is Andrew Lloyd Webber. Don't know the name? He's the mastermind behind such Broadway classics as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. So now Simon has an excuse to say everyone sounds like they're in some Broadway musical production rather than a pop-star. We're going to keep liveblogging these bad boys, tonight's starting just before 8:00pm ET.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

Is Jeff Archuleta, father to American Idol wunderkind David, a supporting father figure or the "stage dad" from hell. There have been quite a few reports simmering all season that he's been very heavy-handed in steering his son's fate on the show, from dictating song choices to bringing the young crooner to tears backstage. Reports are that Jeff was banned from the backstage area during David's Star Search tenure for attempting to "psych out" the other contestants.

Now, former Star Seach judge Naomi Judd is coming out backing up the claims that at least on that show, Jeff Archuleta was a horrible "stage dad," who at one point had to be put in the security guard's box to stop him. The last report to come out about Papa Archuleta's antics came during a recording session of "We Can Work It Out," the Beatles song that David infamously flubbed the lyrics to during the live performance. Supposedly, Jeff wasn't pleased with David's performance and brought him to tears with his criticisms. Maybe that means the Idol staffers have managed to shush him.

Welcome back to our weekly American Idol polls round-up. Each week we look at various online polls that were conducted from the end of last week's results up to the performance show Tuesday. And then a few that were conducted after the performance show, but before the results were revealed.

This way we can analyze how the week's performances affected a contestant's overall popularity, which turns out to be not very much except in a few select cases. This week during the performance show, Simon indicated that the guys had won the night, and based on these polls it looks like American (at least the online portion of us) agrees with him. Is it really over for the girls? Can they see the writing on the walls? Will Brooke talk about it constantly droning on and on and on?