ai-related stories
Posted Jul 20th 2009 9:07AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Casting
Conspiracy theorists get ready to start spinning your tales. "
American Idol only hired Kara DioGuardi last year so they could be sure she would be ready to replace Paula Abdul this year." "
American Idol had no intention of renewing Paula Abdul's contract."
Nothing is official as of yet, but
Paula's manager is saying that it doesn't appear she'll be back on the juggernaut show this January. A contract needs to be signed right away, considering that she'll be needed for audition rounds pretty soon. Even worse, it looks like
FOX hasn't even approached Abdul with a new contract proposal. Maybe they ran out of money after shelling
$45 mil to Ryan Seacrest.
This could all be a negotiating tactic by Abdul's new agent; he's only been on the job a few weeks. Leak this kind of story to the press and see what kind of public outcry this is. Of course, in order for it to work, there needs to be an outcry of support for Abdul; so block parties celebrating her dismissal won't exactly help. What do you think of an Abdul-less
American Idol?
Posted Jul 13th 2009 1:01PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Industry, American Idol, Pickups and Renewals, Host, News and Gossip
Oh Seacrest, how your star has grown. At least now we won't have to worry about you being out of a job; well, one of your jobs.
As if he didn't make a lot of people sick already,
Ryan Seacrest's three year $45 million dollar American Idol contract may just do it. That sets him up to be the highest-paid reality show host and leaves the producers ready to try and wrangle the judges back. Personally, I think he's worth it (at least in the sense that anyone in Hollywood is worth the millions they make; it's all relative).
Continue reading Ryan Seacrest In ... the money; signs big multiyear contract
Posted Jun 3rd 2009 1:27PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
Get on your craziest costume and ask your mom again if you really, really can sing because it's time to start the process of making an ass of yourself on national television all over again. Only this time, the crazies who go to the first round of auditions won't get the chance to sing in front of the judges until a callback sometime later this summer. That's because while they want to get the audition process under way,
American Idol doesn't know if they're bringing back Paula Abdul or Kara DioGuardi.
I wonder if this move will keep some of the crazies away. Now you're looking at two entirely separate trips just to look stupid on television. Will it still be worth it? Sure, the local crazies will still come out, but what about the travelers? It is interesting to note that
Idol is changing the process up this much due to contract questions. That must mean that they're really not sure about one or both of the women's return to the show. DioGuardi was on a one-year deal, while Abdul's multi-year contract ended this season.
Continue reading American Idol to hold auditions sans judges while mulling fates of Abdul, DioGuardi
Posted May 27th 2009 4:32PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Dancing With The Stars, Contestants, Alumni, News and Gossip
What's great about this is that it's an actual news story all by itself, and I'm not helping matters any by writing about it. The AP has published a story stating that
Danny Gokey says he would like to try Dancing With the Stars. That's it. Of course, Paula Abdul has been saying that for years and she had to settle for dancing on
Idol. But now that a rejected
Bachelor finalist was a worthy competitor, why not a rejected
American Idol finalist? Of course, Danny's main focus is his music and a new foundation he's set up in his late wife's name.
But he'd do it if it meant exposure for the foundation, which it would. And more exposure for him and any forthcoming projects he might have coming up as well. I see a real good trend here with reality castoffs sashaying across the dance floor. Who wouldn't want to watch
Survivor's Coach doing a fox trot. Or Ron from
The Biggest Loser. Of course, he'd want to give the title to his son.
Posted May 27th 2009 12:33PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, TV Squad Polls, Contestants, News and Gossip
So
Kris Allen beat Adam Lambert by a ton of votes last week. You knew there would be a controversy, right? This one is based around AT&T. Seems they might have pushed the results toward Allen by having their reps at parties organized by fans of Allen and teaching them how to "power text," which apparently means sending 10 or more text messages at once.
The New York Times has all the details.
Posted May 22nd 2009 12:27PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Contestants, Alumni
I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess the
American Idol runner-up isn't a fan of another runner-up, Adam Lambert.
I couldn't be happier with the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season and only to see what the set looks like. This year, I happened to turn it on during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing "Ring of Fire," and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him.
Gawker has more.
Idol fans, discuss.
Posted May 20th 2009 6:15PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Contestants
When Adam was singing "No Boundaries," the new song written for the
American Idol winner, I couldn't help but think that things were stacked a bit in his favor. I also was
agreeing with Kona that it was a terrible song. But the fact remains that Kara DioGuardi should have done a better job of writing a song for all of the potential finalists. I'm not sure when she wrote this song, but why did it have to have such a huge range and be so high? Was it so Adam would win?
The last impression is very important, and writing a song that not everyone can sing isn't fair to do to the contestants. Especially if "the show," or at least a representative of the show, is involved in the writing. Should Kris be punished for being a different kind of singer than Adam, or for not having his upper register? Hell, even Kara said that she hoped Kris wouldn't be judged based on that song, so she knew it wasn't a good song for him. And yet it was her job to write a song that all the finalists should be able to sing well. Shame on you, Kara!
Posted May 6th 2009 6:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
What Simon Cowell says goes ... I think. With former executive producer Nigel Lythgoe having jumped ship from
American Idol to focus more on his summer baby
So You Think You Can Dance, Cowell is one of the "big dogs" at the show. So if
Cowell says that the entire judging panel will be back next season on Idol, we can probably believe it. This is possibly in response to
TV Guide's recent issue declaring that Cowell was just about done with the show himself and that he wasn't sure about Kara on the show. Now apparently he thinks "she's cute."
Continue reading Cowell says all four judges will return next season on Idol
Posted May 2nd 2009 2:01PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Contestants, News and Gossip
I don't know why today it's the big story, but suddenly everywhere I look there's
another story about
Adam Lambert being
gay. Or maybe gay. He's never officially come out one way or the other. And it's mostly the same story being recycled on every website or news portal imaginable, but while it's asking the question "Could Adam Lambert become the first gay
American Idol?" I'm asking if all these news stories could hurt his chances.
It would be foolish to say that we're a nation that's completely beyond caring about sexual orientation, just look at legislation across the country. And while former contestants have come out and admitted they were gay, most notably Season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken, nobody has admitted it while competing on
Idol. And yet, Lambert has been the most ambiguous about it, which is a step in the right direction. Most people are just kind of assuming he is, I guess. But there is probably just as large a group out there that has no idea. And a lot of them may see these articles.
Continue reading Is the media ruining Adam Lambert's chances of winning American Idol?
Posted Apr 27th 2009 4:27PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Contestants, Predictions and Trends
You can say Adam Lambert is the breakout star of
American Idol this season, and you'd almost be right. But he's not. He's too over-the-top most of the time (keep your tongue in your mouth!) and though he's come closest, he still hasn't had that "moment" Simon is waiting for. In fact, none of them have. This is about as bland a "Final Five" as we've ever seen.
After all these weeks, there should have been a performance from almost everyone that forced me to back up the DVR and experience it at least once more. It hasn't happened.
Continue reading Where's the breakout star on American Idol?
Posted Mar 19th 2009 11:25AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, Contestants, Alumni, Host, News and Gossip
"I'll trade you my extra Brian Dunkelman cards for your EJay Day. I'm so close to completing my Season One run and I've got like a hundred of these damned Dunkelmans." -- me, April 22, 2009
The
American Idol empire hasn't quite expanded its reach enough so it's going to go into the once vast but now slightly less impressive trading card market. That's right,
American Idol trading cards are coming your way starting April 21, 2009. The set promises "chase cards" like autographed cards by past Idols as well as face time for rejected favorites like William Hung and even this season's Nick (Norman Gentle) Mitchell.
In the show's eight seasons, we've had six Top 12s, one Top 10 and this year's Top 13, meaning it'll take 95 cards just to spotlight each finalist at least once. Give one to each of the four judges and Ryan and you're down to 38 cards up for grabs in the 138-card set. I wonder if we'll get any of the quirky side shows like Crying-Girl, Super-Clay-Aiken-Fan or David-Hasselhof-Fanatic? Maybe a bonus set of Simon's weird faces and inadvertently rude gestures.
Posted Mar 13th 2009 2:00PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Watercooler Talk, Judges, News and Gossip
I know they're not calling it the "Daughtry Rule" but come on! Who are we kidding here? If every you needed proof that the votes on
American Idol aren't fixed, just look at how they've responded to Season 5. Almost every effort has been made to minimize winner Taylor Hicks' involvement with the show, other than begrudgingly admitting he won the title. And as for Chris Daughtry, they've practically given him the honorary title of "your Fifth American Idol!" They sure would like to take all the credit for his album and success since the show.
It took them a few years to figure out how to make sure this never happens again, and the new rule is it. One time in a season the judges can save an eliminated contestant from America's vote. Instead no one goes home, and two go the next week. I think the idea is solid, but the execution creates more emotional chaos with each eliminated contestant. Now you can get your heart broken by Ryan, raise your hopes again with your performance and then get dashed again by the judges. Two, count them, two shattered dreams in each show!
Continue reading My thoughts on the "Daughtry Rule" on American Idol
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 4:02AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Reviewcaps, Contestants, Performances
American Idol went to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, to find the best of the best in The Bluegrass State. Let's see if I've got the pronunciation correct: Loo-a-vulle. Is that it? You Southerners chime in here.
Let's see who stood in front of the judges tonight:
Tiffany Shedd, 18. This girl strolls in with all the confidence in the world, which is a dead tip-off that she's going to suck. And she doesn't disappoint. She sucks bad. And with her platinum blonde hair and weird powder-blue eyeshadow, she looks like a tranny. I'm still wondering, actually. Anyway, she tries singing Mariah Carey's "Hero," and Simon says she's like a donkey in a crowd of 22 horses. Needless to say, she doesn't get a golden ticket. She leaves, muttering, "They're not looking for talent. They're looking for nerds and freaks."
Joanna Pacitti, 23. Kara recognizes Joanna, because she had a record deal with A&M Records. But it didn't work out for whatever reason. A little bit country, a little bit rock-and-roll, Joanna sings Pat Benatar's "We Belong." Paula immediately proclaims her "worthy." Joanna bursts into tears as she grabs that golden ticket to Hollywood.
Continue reading American Idol: Louisville auditions
Posted Nov 14th 2008 2:19PM by Debra McDuffee
Filed under: American Idol, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip
I must confess, I really, really enjoy
American Idol. Sure, I could do without the mean-spirited auditions and the tacky group numbers reminiscent of
Up With People, but for the most part, it's a satisfying guilty pleasure.
It's not just the talented contestants that keep me watching, though. I like the judges and the way they interact with each other. I had really mixed feelings when I heard the news that
American Idol would be bringing on another judge: curious to see how she'd fit in with the others and what her style would be like, but nervous that she'd change the dynamic between the original three too much for my liking.
So imagine how I must be feeling now that this news has broken --
Paula Abdul is looking to leave American Idol to pursue other projects.
Continue reading Will Paula Abdul leave American Idol?
Posted Aug 25th 2008 4:43PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip, Casting
Even though she just got the call about the gig a few days ago,
new American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi took some time this afternoon to sit down and chat with the media via a massive conference call. As we were going along, I found myself listening as much to how she carried herself conversationally as I was to what she had to say. After all, this is going to be one of the four most listened to voices in America come January when
American Idol's eighth season kicks off.
She came across as smart, knowledgeable, a bit funny and clearly overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation into which she's been thrust. She spoke about how for most of her career she's been being the scenes, as a songwriter and producer. I would say that you may have seen her on ABC's
The One: Making a Music Star, but then nobody saw that. But it means she's been called to judge a singing competition before, and even saw last season's Syesha Mercado there. Hell, she's practicaly a veteran at this now.
Continue reading American Idol's new voice speaks out
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