Posted May 9th 2008 3:23PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Contestants, News and Gossip
Just when some people are saying that American Idol should shake things up a bit comes this bit of news from one of the judges: they might lower the age for contestants.
Right now the youngest a performer can be on the show is 16 (fan favorite David Archuleta is 17) and the highest limit is 30, which is really old in pop music terms I guess. But judge Simon Cowell tells Extra that the FOX show might drop the lowest age from 16 to 14. Then, if that works out well, the plan is to eventually have contestants audition directly from their mother's womb. That would be fantastic television, having fetuses go up against 25 year-olds.
Cowell also suggests that potential contestants, especially the girls, cry a lot more to get sympathy and get more votes from viewers. FOX should get ready for some phone calls from the L.A. chapter of NOW.
[via TV Tattle]
Posted May 9th 2008 2:41PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, News and Gossip
Despite a few amazing performances through his run on
American Idol, Jason Castro seemed to be really running out of fuel by the end here. On the show he even said that he felt his inexperience was really starting to hurt him. He could barely handle trying to prepare two songs each week, along with the required group number choreography and those awesome Ford commercial shoots and flying to Vegas to help promote Cirque du Soleil, and was really sweating having to try and handle three more for next week.
It's easy to forget that Jason's only been singing a year or so, so unlike most of these other contestants who've been doing this for years in one capacity or another, he's not only new to singing competitions and performing, but new to the discipline of singing altogether. In
Jason Castro's exit interview, he said he came into the competition just to see where it would go and didn't even consider the possibility of him winning until more recently.
Continue reading AI OD: A farewell to Jason Castro - VIDEOS
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 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 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 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 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
Posted Apr 25th 2008 11:04AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, News and Gossip
Okay, well maybe. Certainly he talked Carly out of her original song choice of
The Phantom of the Opera's "All I Ask of You" and into the more controversial "Superstar," from
Jesus Christ Superstar.
The New York Times reports that
Carly Smithson's song choice may have spelled her doom from
American Idol this past week. Many fans were none too pleased with her performing that particular number, sounding off online against the singer.
Surely Webber recalls the furor the album and subsequent stage production of
Jesus Christ Superstar wrought from some religious groups when it first came out. While, as the Times piece indicates, the sensitivity over its controversial nature has waned in the passing decades, it has not died out. Just as many say Kristy Lee Cook's rendering of "God Bless the USA" rallied a certain sect of the population to vote for her and keep her around longer, it's certainly possible that Carly's "Jesus Christ Superstar" had the exact opposite effect.
Continue reading It's Andrew Lloyd Webber's fault Carly was cut
Posted Apr 24th 2008 3:21PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, 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. 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?
Continue reading Idol Polls: The Top 6
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 8:01AM by Jen Creer
Filed under: Industry, American Idol, Watercooler Talk, Ratings, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip
The
LA Times ran a piece yesterday stating that
American Idol's ratings are down for the first time in its seven-year run, with a 7% lag this season. Hmm, seven years and a 7% lag-- does that mean the show's viewers are showing signs of a seven-year itch?
The
Times story reported that shows typically show signs of a crack in the ratings veneer between seasons five and seven, which means that it is probably really smart for shows like
Lost and
Battlestar Galactica to determine their own ending dates, well before their ratings start to drop. Granted, a 7% decrease is not really anything to write home about. Simon, Paula, and Randy don't have to start paddling quite yet.
Continue reading Idol's ratings down; what does that mean for TV?
Posted Apr 22nd 2008 3:03PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Predictions and Trends, News and Gossip
Is there a real
disadvantage to going first on American Idol or is it just speculation? I first brought this up when we went from our Top 16 to our Top 12 as all four eliminated contestants were among the first three performers on their respective nights. On the girls side, Asia'h and Kady sang first and second and were eliminated as quickly. Also eliminated were Luke, who sang first, and Danny who sang third. But it took the elimination of Michael Johns, considered by some one of the strongest competitors, a couple of weeks ago after he'd sung first to get the attention of major media.
How could it be that someone who'd never spent a moment in the bottom three could suddenly find himself on the chopping block?
Continue reading The American Idol curse of the first
Posted Apr 22nd 2008 11:23AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, News and Gossip, Celebrity Commentary
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.
Continue reading Archuleta dad mired in accusations of being horrible stage parent
Posted Apr 21st 2008 7:03PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, 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 Kristy Lee Cook's elimination last week we'll be looking at other seventh place finishers.
This week: 7th place finishers, featuring featuring Ryan Starr (Season One), Kimberly Caldwell (Season Two), Jennifer Hudson (Season Three), Anwar Robinson (Season Four), Ace Young (Season Five) and Sanjaya Malakar (Season Six).
Continue reading AI Aftermath: 7th place finishers - VIDEOS
Posted Apr 18th 2008 3:37PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Contestants, Alumni, Performances, News and Gossip
It's with mixed feelings that I cover the elimination of my second favorite Cook in the Top 12. Sure, she should have gone home weeks ago, and probably should have been sent packing from the stage seconds after she butchered "8 Days a Week" (we didn't need a vote to know that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr dug graves, dropped caskets down and climbed into them so they could roll around with John and George over that one).
And yet, she was getting better, wasn't she? In fact, she's probably the only contestant to have shown marked improvement throughout the season. Sure she still didn't have a shot in hell of actually making the Finals or winning, but I still found myself impressed and proud of her. In
Kristy Lee Cook's exit interview, she said she was shocked to be sent packing, too. She thought she "at least had another week in" her.
Continue reading AI OD: A farewell to Kristy Lee Cook
Posted Apr 17th 2008 11:04AM 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. 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?
Continue reading Idol Polls: The Top 7
Next Page »
American Idol: My fantasy top ten
Why we need a Veronica Mars movie
Contest reminder: So You Think You Can Dance trip giveaway
