Posted May 8th 2008 5:22PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Predictions and Trends
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?
Continue reading Who should win American Idol?
Posted May 8th 2008 2:02PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip
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.
Continue reading Idol Polls: The Top 4
Posted May 7th 2008 9:27PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free
All I can say after word came out today that they
AMC renewed Breaking Bad is FINALLY! What the hell took so long? Every bit as critically acclaimed and amazing as the already renewed
Mad Men, this meth and cancer dramedy defies description and blows away expectations. After the strike-shortened seven episode first season, AMC has committed to a full thirteen-episode run for its sophomore effort; no word yet on when the new season will film or air.
Bryan Cranston is a veritable tour de force in the role of Walter White, the high school chemistry teacher who begins producing meth to procure the funds necessary for his family to get by after he dies. Aaron Paul is equally strong as his half-witted cohort in crime, and the two of them are the grimmest comedy duo since ... well, maybe ever. Each week the series surpassed expectations by getting better and better, and that was only seven weeks. I can't imagine nearly twice that!
[via
Ain't It Cool News]
Posted May 7th 2008 8:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Episode Reviews
(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.Continue reading American Idol: Top 3 revealed
Posted May 6th 2008 7:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, Episode Reviews
(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.Continue reading American Idol: Top 4 perform
Posted May 6th 2008 11:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, News and Gossip
Welcome back to
"AI Aftermath," where we explore
Idol's past. Each week, as one more
American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of
Brooke White's elimination last week we'll be looking at other fifth place finishers.
This week: 5th place finishers, featuring featuring RJ Helton (Season 1), Trenyce (Season 2), George Huff (Season 3), Scott Savol (Season 4), Paris Bennett (Season 5) and Chris Richardson (Season 6).
Continue reading AI Aftermath: 5th place finishers - VIDEOS
Posted May 2nd 2008 7:25PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, Performances
When the end finally came for Brooke White, none of us were too surprised, and her least of all. "I've been packed for two weeks," she said in the
Brooke White exit interview. But while she may have expected to go, she had mixed feelings about it. "Part of me wanted to keep going," she indicated. "Song selection and the pressure has really increased with two songs and preparing for the finale. So in that sense, it does feel kind of good to be done with that, but I was welcoming the challenge as well."
There were times throughout her run where Brooke was clearly in over her head, but that was generally more due to the restricted theme week being so far out of the zone of what she does. As she herself said, she really connects with "the singer/songwriters of the '70s." Thus, while a pop career would seem very much not in Brooke's future, if she can find a place in the modern music scene for a modern singer/songwriter, like a Tori Amos, then she should do just fine.
Continue reading AI OD: A farewell to Brooke White - VIDEOS
Posted May 1st 2008 11:07PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Video, The Office, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S04E12) Jay Black couldn't be with us today because he was called away suddenly. Something about not leaving the table until he'd finished all his vegetables but he didn't like asparagus and yet that didn't matter he can sit there all night if he has to or until the asparagus evolves arms and legs and jumps off his plate and leaves on its own. So he figured since my name is the closest to his, maybe we could get away with this last minute pinch hit.
I got an episode that won't necessarily go down in the annals of time as an
Office classic, but does bring us back to the core of the show: the office. The episode takes place entirely in one day, entirely in the office, and virtually every cast member gets pulled into one storyline or the other. For me, this is when
The Office is at its best, when its presenting us barely controlled chaos. Offices are constantly bustling with activity productive or otherwise. Tonight's episode captured just that, and very well.
Continue reading The Office: Did I Stutter? - VIDEO
Posted May 1st 2008 12:41PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, Predictions and Trends
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.
Continue reading Idol Polls: The Top 5
Posted Apr 30th 2008 8:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary, Episode Reviews
(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.Continue reading American Idol: Top 4 Revealed
Posted Apr 30th 2008 3:41PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, News and Gossip
Note I said faltering and not failing.
American Idol is still far and away the number one show on television. But ratings are down for the second season in a row, so those in charge would be fools to simply ignore this. And since you are the ones tuning the show out more than you used to, they've reached out to the viewing public to see what they feel is and isn't working.
That's right,
American Idol conducted a market research survey to find out what we really think about the current season and the show in general. Basically they asked if we like the Top 12, why we watch the show and how we watch the show (DVR, live, etc.). Do we visit the web site, blah, blah, blah. Interestingly, there are several questions specifically eliciting feedback on each of the four main components of the
Idol machine. It seems they're feeling out the public on how important Ryan, Paula, Randy and Simon are to the show.
Continue reading FOX courting fans to tweak faltering American Idol formula
Posted Apr 29th 2008 7:45PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances, Celebrity Commentary
(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.Continue reading American Idol: Top 5 perform
Posted Apr 29th 2008 4:41PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, News and Gossip, Software
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?
Posted Apr 29th 2008 1:20PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Predictions and Trends, TV Squad Lists
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?
Continue reading Five annoying American Idol cliches
Posted Apr 29th 2008 12:03PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, News and Gossip
Welcome back to
"AI Aftermath," where we explore
Idol's past. Each week, as one more
American Idol hopeful is eliminated from the competition, we take a look back at contestants past who were eliminated in the same week. We'll examine how they did on the show and what they've been up to since their eliminations. In honor of Carly Smithson's elimination last week we'll be looking at other sixth place finishers.
This week: 6th place finishers, featuring featuring Christina Christian (Season One), Carmen Rasmussen (Season Two), John Stevens (Season Three), Constantine Maroulis (Season Four), Kellie Pickler (Season Five) and Phil Stacey (Season Six).
Continue reading AI Aftermath: 6th place finishers
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Contest reminder: So You Think You Can Dance trip giveaway
It's finale time again! No, really.
