American Idol: The Lee Dewyze And Crystal Bowersox Show

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American Idol: The Lee Dewyze And Crystal Bowersox Show

Listen To Christina Aguilera Snippet

Christina Aguilera's latest album, Bionic will be out on June 8, and take a listen to a snippet from the first single, "Not Myself Tonight."

New Glee Promo!

I am beyond excited for Glee to return in couple weeks and so is FOX, who has been busy releasing new promos this week!

Check out the latest promo!



I cannot wait to say hello to Finn and Puck!

Ha ha!

Glee returns April 13 on FOX.

American Idol Results Deliver a Not-So-Shocking Elimination

It should not have been a shock to anyone who saw Tuesday night's show that Paige Miles was eliminated this week on American Idol. What may have been shocking was that for her swan song, she chose to reprise "All Right Now" and hit every note.

I feel like Paige put too much pressure on herself when performing live. Because as soon as the pressure was off, she sang fantastically. Plus, I think she should have stuck to more upbeat songs. Those are the kind of songs that really made her talent shine.

This week was a big week for the contestants, it decided who was going to get the opportunity to go on tour this summer. And honestly, if Idol wants anyone to buy tickets to what has got to be the weakest crop of Idol contestants to go on tour ever, those ticket prices are going to need to drop. Just putting that thought out into the universe. I don't see anyone, including myself, ready to pay $70 to see this season's Idols.

This week, the Idol results show was just ridiculous. The show kicks off with the 11 contestants lip syncing to Wham's "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." Really? Everything about that performance was face-palm inducing.

Ryan then started the process of finding the bottom three. The first two into the group were Paige and Tim Urban.

Then we were treated to the vocal talent of one Miley Cyrus. I don't understand how she managed to give the Idols decent singing advice and then sounds the way she does when she sings live. Her performance just made me cringe.

Ryan then added Katie Stevens to the bottom three, then immediately let her know that she was safe. A little messed up if you ask me, and she's definitely not one of the contestants I pictured this week in the bottom.

The gifts from Disney kept on coming in the form of Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. I'm pretty sure that's the first time that I have ever heard the two of them sing and I'm hoping that will be the last. Based off of Joe's singing, I guess his band is popular cause he's cute? It can't be because of his singing. I pretty much refuse to believe that.

Based on the performances by the guest artists, I think it's time for Idol to cut down the results show from an hour to 30 minutes. I would rather have a cheesy group song, a cheesy Ford music video, a Kris Allen Ford commercial and the results. No need for guest artists, unless they're former Idol contestants. Just a thought, but I'll step off my soapbox for now.

Cut to the results, Tim is safe, he's in the Top 10 and he's going on tour this summer. Color me thrilled!

Next week is "R & B Week" and mentoring the Idol contestants is Grammy Award winning singer, Usher.

This feels like a step in the right direction for Idol. A theme that has never been done in previous seasons and a mentor with actual singing talent. I am not going to get my hopes up too high, but I am excited for the performances next week.

Do you think America got it right with Paige's elimination? What songs should the contestants sing next week? And are you planning to see the Idols on tour this summer?

American Idol: The Top 11 Fail To Impress

I have been anticipating the week where I am able to praise every American Idol contestant's performance. This would not be one of those weeks.

The theme this week changed from "Teen Idols" to "Billboard's No.1 Songs." It might as well have been called "Songs That Have Been Previously Performed On Earlier Seasons."

Alongside this lame theme was this week's mentor, Disney star Miley Cyrus. I already gave her a ton of grief in an article earlier this week, so I won't rehash my disdain about the decision to have her on Idol as a mentor.

However, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by some of the advice that she gave the Idols, and thought that she wasn't bad as I thought she was going to be. She still would not be my first pick as an Idol mentor.

Lee Dewyze kicked off the show singing "The Letter." As much as I like Lee, I don't know if this was the right song for his voice. I have been considering him this season's "rocker guy," but "The Letter" really is not a rocker kind of song.

I did very much like that Lee performed sans guitar. It shows that he is not a one-trick pony, but he also needs to work on his stage movement. The way he was moving seemed awkward and uncomfortable. Plus, he needs to get his nerves under control already. I would take a wild guess that he's moving on to the Top 10, which means he would go on the tour this summer. I don't want to see him on stage looking like a deer in the headlights.

Lee really needs to take what the judges said to him this week about believing in himself and take it to heart. Also, Simon was right about Lee needing to make a moment for himself on the show. This song was not the song for him to carve a moment out of — especially when season seven contestants Carly Smithson and Michael Johns already made a moment with their duet of the song.

Up next was Paige Miles, who sang "Against All Odds." Out of all of the songs, Paige chose to sing the one that has tripped up various Idol contestants before her. Contestants should not even be allowed to sing that song on the show anymore.

Before her performance, Paige told host Ryan Seacrest that her big concern during her performance was not falling in her heels. I would think her big concern would be to sing and not be pitchy, but hey, that's just me.

From the first note, Paige was mumbling the words like a student giving her first public speech in front of the class. It was awful. And the judges were brutal.

Judge Randy Jackson said that the performance was terrible. Judge Ellen DeGeneres completely copped out of giving Paige a proper critique and instead pulled a Paula Abdul, where she complimented Paige on her outfit. If Ellen is going to be a judge on this show she needs to suck it up and give proper critique. Idol is not all unicorns and magic rainbows; sometimes hurricanes blow on through. I was very disappointed that Ellen decided to back down from giving a proper critique of Paige's performance. Judge Simon Cowell really let Paige have it by telling her that it seemed like she had stopped competing and that she was probably going to be in a lot of trouble on results night.

Tim Urban was next performing Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." His performance wasn't actually as bad as I hoped it would be. I kind of felt like he was doing his best impression of season three Idol contestant Jon Peter Lewis, where the vocals were not particularly strong, but moving around stage made the performance a little bearable.

The judges compared Tim's performance to something out of High School Musical. Simon told Tim that his performance this week and the week prior were "silly song choices" and that he should get some voice lessons if he wants to improve in the competition.

Up next was 16-year-old Aaron Kelly, who was battling tonsillitis and laryngitis during his performance of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." Yes, the song has been done repeatedly since season two, most notably by David Cook during season seven, but Aaron sounded fantastic. It did sound like he was straining his voice to hit some of the larger notes, however I was just happy to hear a performance that didn't make me want to throw things.

The judges noted that it was a great song choice for Aaron. They praised him for pulling out a solid performance.

Crystal Bowersox was next performing Janis Joplin's "Me And Bobby McGee." It was nothing short of fantastic. She looked like she was having fun during her performance, and not so serious as she has looked in past weeks. She added a little ambiance by performing on a carpet that she had rolled out on stage.

Ellen and Kara mentioned to Crystal during her critique about performing without her guitar. I wonder about this, as well. I think Crystal is fantastic, but the time has come for her to lose the guitar and rock out on stage. It is time for Crystal to show America her showmanship. Randy and Simon disagreed with the female judges and thought that Crystal shouldn't change a thing about her performance style. Crystal mentioned that if she was there next week that she has something big planned.

Next up was Michael "Big Mike" Lynche who performed "When A Man Loves A Woman." It was an alright performance. Big Mike can definitely sing, but all the cheesy gestures he makes during his performances need to stop. The judges told him that he came off sounding like a lounge act, and I would definitely agree. He needs to practice performing in front of a mirror so he can work on downplaying his corny gestures.

Andrew Garcia performed Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." I think that Andrew is one Rascal Flatts song away from being the next Danny Gokey. His singing is starting to sound rabid, like Danny's voice did at times last season and it's really not enjoyable.

I agreed with Kara last night (GASP!) about Andrew being lost in the competition. I really think that he's trying to find a way to hold on as long as he can. I think Simon was also right in thinking that maybe Andrew's Hollywood Week performance of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" was an "overrated moment." I think all the praise from that performance is really taking a toll on Andrew as he tries to top it. I don't think he's going to be able to.

Next up was Katie Stevens singing Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry." This was a good night for Katie. She sounded pretty good, she was dressed like someone her age, and for once she showed some personality. The judges praised her, although Kara did say, "You still have mad pitch issues!"

Casey James performed next with Huey Lewis and The News' "The Power of Love." I could not believe my ears when Ryan said that a Huey Lewis song was being performed on Idol. I have been waiting for seasons for an Idol contestant to crack open their songbook and have at it. So, for the first time ever, I was excited about a Casey James performance. I really didn't want him to ruin a song by one of my very favorite bands.

My excitement for Casey's performance went downhill very quickly. He started the performance jamming out on his guitar, then went into the first verse, where I soon realized that Casey had decided to be an absolute sound-alike. But, that wasn't the only thing that bothered me about this performance. Casey has this classic rock and roll song and is just standing there playing guitar. If he had put the guitar down and rocked out to the song, it would have made for a much better performance.

The judges told Casey that it was the wrong song choice for him and he was trying to do a sound-alike performance. Simon told him that the song was very old fashioned, which I don't agree with, but I'm a huge Huey Lewis fan. I think that if Casey had attempted to make the song more contemporary, then Simon may not have had an issue with it as a song choice.

Up next was Didi Benami performing Linda Ronstadt's "You're No Good." The judges didn't seem to like her performance, but I hope they went back and watched the show on TV, because I think they would realize that Didi actually did very well. I think she interpreted the song well and she sounded great.

The one thing that Didi did do that had me yelling at through my TV was talk back to the judges during their critiques. I will say this again, the contestants need to not talk back to the judges. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Closing out the night in the "pimp spot" was Siobhan Magnus singing Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." Her performance was alright, until that screech. Her screech is beyond unnecessary now. I miss the Siobhan that was a little more unpredictable. Putting the screech in every performance is getting really obnoxious. I really hope she bounces back next week.

Who goes home this week? I really think that we will be saying goodbye to Paige Miles, but I wouldn't be upset if Tim Urban got the boot either.

So, what did you think of this week's performances? Who are you hoping makes the Top 10 and goes on tour this summer? And how did you think Miley Cyrus did as a mentor?

Follow me on Twitter: @WaitWhatBlog

American Idol: The Top 12 Results Are In

Season nine Idol contestant Lacey Brown got the boot this week, but all that aside, season seven American Idol winner, David Cook was back on the show to perform!

I just love it when my favorite Idol contestants return to perform, and last night's performance from David Cook was nothing short of spectacular. He sang The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and managed to have the best performance of season nine so far. David's stage presence was just uncanny. He really worked the crowd, and from what I could tell through my television set, it looked like everyone in the audience was having a great time. I really hope this year's crop of Idol contestants were taking notes. Because, that my friends, was a great example of how performances should be done on Idol.

Former Michael Jackson guitar player, Orianthi performed her single, "According To You". It was the first time I had ever heard of her or her song. Not gonna lie, I bought the song off of iTunes after the show. It's a pretty catchy tune.


Lady Gaga wannabe, Ke$ha also performed her latest single, "Blah, Blah, Blah" last night. It was lip sync-tastic.

Onto last night's eliminations, was anyone truly surprised with the results? The bottom three was made up of Lacey, Tim Urban and Paige Miles. I pretty much figured when Ryan sent Tim back to safety that Lacey was a goner. I thought that Paige probably had the sympathy votes in her favor, since she performed this week with laryngitis.

Lacey lasted a week longer than she probably should have in the competition. From last week to this week, there really wasn't any major improvements in her performance. Idol really isn't a competition you can just coast through. She didn't look entirely comfortable onstage, which she definitely wasn't the only one, but out of everyone in the bottom three this week, I would say she had the weakest performance.

What I could not stand about last night was the announcement that the "Judges' Save" would be in use again this season. That means from now up through the Top 5, the judges can basically veto America's vote and save the contestant from elimination.

I didn't really like this idea last year, and I felt like the judges were kind of ridiculous about using it. When they did use it on Matt Giraud, it came off as they used it, just to use it. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Matt, and I was thrilled the night they used it on him, but I was hoping that he would be the sole recipient of the "Judges' Save", due to the kind of further humiliation it puts on the eliminated contestant.

Luckily for Lacey Brown last night, she was not forced to sing "Ruby Tuesday" again, but instead was allowed to reprise her performance from Top 16 week, Brandi Carlile's "The Story". What comes off to me as humiliating the contestant, is having the judges "deliberate" for a minute and a half, while not paying attention to the contestant singing for their Idol livelihood. I think it's ridiculous. Of course they were not going to save Lacey, I would guess that the "Judges' Save" this season is being put aside for Crystal Bowersox , Siobhan Magnus or Lee Dewyze.

I guess American got it right this week, my preference would have been for Tim to leave, but who knows, he could just be the next American Idol.

FOX announced last night that the theme for next week is "Teen Idols." What "Teen Idol" songs are you hoping the contestants sing? New Kids On The Block, anyone?

David Cook Performs "Jumpin' Jack Flash" on American Idol Results Show

Seriously, just watch. And if you are a current season nine contestant, take notes.




AND THAT IS HOW IT'S DONE!

David Cook To Perform A Rolling Stones Classic On Idol

Just a quick FYI from your friendly blogger here!

Season seven Idol winner, David Cook will be performing The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" during tonight's broadcast of the American Idol results show.

Some might say that this is me right now:



I can't wait for David to show the season 9 contestants how it's done!

American Idol's Top 12 Take On The Music Of The Rolling Stones

I had zero expectations for last night's episode of American Idol, due to feeling underwhelmed during the semi-finals over the course of the last three weeks. Honestly, I thought that giving this crop of contestants the music of The Rolling Stones was going to just be a hot mess all around. Surprisingly, that wasn't entirely the case.

Michael "Big Mike" Lynche opened the show with "Miss You." Mike was on key for the most part and he was utilizing the stage. The downside of his performance was that it came off as totally cheesy. Judge, Kara DioGuardi compared his stage presence to that of Mick Jagger's. Think again, Kara. Mick Jagger is a legendary front man of one of the most popular bands in the world. Big Mike's performance didn't come close to an actual Rolling Stones performance.

Didi Benami was up next, and even though she's not my favorite singer in the competition, I totally feel compelled to root for her. It could be because of an anecdote that Idol season eight winner, Kris Allen shared last week at a radio event I attended. Kris said that while he was on Idol, he had gone to a restaurant in LA and Didi was his waitress. She told him that she was planning on trying out for Idol the following year. He met her again a few weeks ago, when he sang during the Top 24 results show. Didi went up and reminded him that she had waited on him the year before when he was in the competition. Kris said his first reaction was, "Whoa, that's so cool!" When I hear something like that, it just automatically makes me want her to do well.

Last night, Didi sang "Play With Fire." She reminds me of season seven contestant, Brooke White with a little bit of swagger. Didi had a really good vocal, up until one of her very last notes unfortunately fell flat. On the bright side, Didi was able to work the stage a bit. I liked that she was not playing guitar this week. If she stays in the competition, I would really like to see her not perform a ballad. She needs to show another side of herself, musically speaking.

Casey James followed singing, "It's All Over Now." Before I say anything else, I really liked Casey's pre-performance video clip with his mom. She seems like such a doll, I kind of wanted to give her a hug after the clip was over. I wish Casey made me feel the same, however his performance last night continued to make me feel like I was watching a guitar player trying to be a singer. He plays guitar very well, but his singing is just not up to par. I think he needs to realize that he's Richie Sambora and not Jon Bon Jovi. Fortunately for Casey, he had one of the better performances of the night, so I think he will be safe this week.

Lacey Brown sang "Ruby Tuesday." I think the song fit her unique voice. It is still very obvious that she is trying to shake her nerves, which showed in the beginning of her performance. Overall, she had a very nice vocal. Lacey also received some solid feedback from judge, Simon Cowell, who suggested that she needs to stop over-thinking her performances. And some solid advice from me, sometimes it's okay to tell the stylist "no", when they try to put you in some crazy outfit, that not even a runway model could pull off without looking ridiculous. Just say no.

Following Lacey, was Andrew Garcia singing "Gimme Shelter." I appreciated that his performance was upbeat and that there was not an acoustic guitar in sight. I think that Andrew's performance this week was a step in the right direction. He has needed to change it up, since his acoustic shtick was becoming boring fast. His singing wasn't perfect this week, there was a note towards the end of the song that made me absolutely cringe. I have to agree with judge, Ellen DeGeneres that outside of his Hollywood Week performance, that this was Andrew's best performance to date. I wouldn't mind him getting another shot next week, but I do think there's a possible spot in the bottom three this week with his name on it.

Up next was Katie Stevens. I still don't think that she deserved a spot in the Top 12, and I think she knows that a good portion of the Idol viewing audience feels the same way. This is probably why Katie played it very safe last night singing, "Wild Horses." I could tell that her arrangement of the song was very much inspired by Alicia Keys' and Maroon 5 front man, Adam Levine's unplugged version of the song, which tells me that Katie was looking to sound current. Her performance was the best she has sounded since the Top 24. Will she be in the bottom three? I can see it, but I don't think she will be going home this week.

Next up was the contestant that definitely has no place in the Top 12, Tim Urban. I found his reggae take on "Under My Thumb" to be ridiculous. He came off as a pretentious Jason Mraz wannabe. Unfortunately, he is being backed strongly by the website, Vote For The Worst.

Other than awful singing, I cannot stand it when the contestants speak while the judges are giving them feedback. Last season, the back talk from the contestants was just out of control. I'm all for standing up for yourself, but the judges are there to let you know what you need to work on. Granted, Tim didn't talk back to the judges, but he started yammering on about what he was trying to do with the song and honestly, I didn't care. I just wanted to yell, "Shut up and listen to the judges!" All he needed to do while the judges were speaking was pay attention. The time for the contestants to speak is when Ryan Seacrest asks them a question while he's giving out their numbers for people to call and vote.

Some advice for the contestants; don't let Ryan bait you into talking back to the judges. He will do this and if you take the bait, you will end up looking like an idiot. (Lil Rounds, I'm looking at you.) All you have to do is give a PC answer, smile and hold up your fingers with whatever your last two voting digits are. It's that simple.

I think Tim will definitely wind up in the bottom three. He's my personal pick to go home this week. Will it happen? I guess we'll have to watch to find out.

What I love about Siobhan Magnus is that she's not afraid to take a risk and do something unexpected. Her take on "Paint It Black" was amazing. She sang in her lower register, which she hasn't done much of this season and sounded fantastic. The arrangement had somewhat of a My Chemical Romance flair to it, that really added some drama to the overall sound. What I didn't deem so awesome was her Adam Lambert-esque shriek towards the end of the song. It sounded really sharp and I thought could have just ruined her performance. I hate to even say it, but it really reminded me of the scream Danny Gokey did at the end of his performance of Aerosmith's "Dream On" last season during Rock Week. It was bad. Siobhan seems to be a fan favorite and all the judges were thrilled with her performance, so as long as fans weren't complacent when it came to voting, we should see her around another week.

Lee Dewyze was the next to take the stage singing "Beast of Burden." Someone did his homework, because for the most part he had his pitch problems under control. I felt like he definitely took the judges' advice and really worked with the Idol vocal coaches to work out his pitch problems. His nerves seemed to be under control, although in the beginning of the song, it sounded like he was somewhat mumbling, but pulled it together quickly for the rest of the performance. Again, Simon had the best advice for him, which was to stop thinking that the other contestants are better than him and to believe in himself. Simon felt that he played it safe with the song choice, and suggested to Lee that next week he needs to carve out his moment on the show. Simon also seems to have quite the man-crush on Lee, and to that I say, get in line.

Next up was Paige Mills, who sang "Honky Tonk Women." For having laryngitis, Paige sounded fantastic. She hit some huge notes during her performance. I really hope Paige does not get voted out this week, for the first time I think we all got to see what her signing voice is made of. She also showed fantastic stage presence through out her performance. The judges all thought she did a great job, even though she was feeling under the weather. Paige told Ryan after the performance that that was her first complete run through of the song, due to her voice not holding up during dress rehearsal. I really hope that people voted for her, because I would like to see her get the chance to really shine on the stage.

Aaron Kelly followed with "Angie." I thought it was pretty boring. It was on pitch for the most part, Ellen said it was his best performance of the competition. I feel like Aaron is backing himself into a corner with all the ballads. I don't think I have heard him sing a single upbeat song all competition. If he makes it through to next week, it is time to mix it up.

And last, but certainly not least was Crystal Bowersox, who sang one of my all-time favorites from The Rolling Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." I really loved her pre-performance clip, where her dad talked about her doing shows back home, getting her stage set for her, and then watching her perform. It was just extremely touching.

Crystal's performance this week was nothing short of amazing. She put this gospel/soul spin on the song, which went apparently unnoticed by the judges, who said nothing about her arrangement. They did say that she seemed more playful with this performance, where in the past it felt like she was over-thinking her performances too much while on stage. Simon told her that Siobhan had out-sang her this week and, that it sometimes comes across like she thinks she has the competition in her pocket.

"I haven't thought that I've got the competition at all," Crystal said after Simon had finished his critique. "But, thank you for saying that."

There you have it, the Top 12 has performed, last night the viewers voted and now we get to find out who is the first to leave tonight.

Which performance did you like the best? Who did you vote for? And who, other than myself, cannot wait to see season seven Idol winner (and my personal favorite) David Cook perform on the results show?

Oh America, What Have You Done?

Early favorites Alex Lambert and Lilly Scott were eliminated from American Idol this past week.

I had to find out about the Idol eliminations via Twitter last night, and theresults made me face-palm.

Oh, America.

I still have not fully come to terms with the fact that more people voted for Tim Urban than Alex Lambert. Sure, Alex's hair is pretty distracting, but he was the best male vocalist this season. I think there was some complacency on the fan's part, where they thought Alex would be safe, because the judges like him and he sang well this week.

It's too early to be complacent. If you want the talented people to stay in the competition, that means you have to vote for them. Being complacent is what in the past sent Chris Daughtry, Michael Johns and Carly Smithson home before their time.

And you know an elimination like this must be bad, if Simon had his head in his hands not wanting to deal with the inevitable conclusion for a contestant he has seemingly been rooting on through his weekly critiques.

So, since Alex did not get the votes he needed, we have Aaron Kelly, whom fans are referring to "Countryleta" (country David Archuleta). Yeah, as if. And we have the luckiest guy on the planet, Tim Urban. What really gets me about Tim being in the Top 12, is that he wasn't even supposed to be in the Top 24, but he got lucky when Idol decided to disqualify Chris Golighty.

I am not too upset about Lilly Scott's elimination. Lilly has a very interesting voice, much like season eight contestant, Megan Joy. Megan didn't fair well in the Top 12, because she couldn't find songs within the themes that fit her voice. I think Lilly would have had that same problem and would have led to her being eliminated early on. So, I am not really heartbroken over her elimination.

I am shocked that after her horrifying performance of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" that Paige Miles was voted into the Top 12 over Katelyn Epperly. Katelyn was one of my picks to possibly leave this week, but I truly thought she was going to make it. But, good for Paige, I hope she gets her act together and shows us why Simon called her the best female vocalist in the competition during Top 24 week.

Todrick Hall was the other eliminated contestant this week, and I had a feeling that his time was running out. That elimination wasn't exactly heartbreaking.

There was a burst of sunlight that broke through the apparent dark cloud hovering over Idol last night, being the return of season eight contestants Matt Giraud and Scott MacIntyre. The former contestants performed their dueling piano duet, Billy Joel's "Tell Her About It." The song was originally meant to be performed at last season's Idol finale, but was cut for time.

I enjoy Idol bringing back former contestants from last season. It's a good reminder to the current contestants at what level they should be performing at. And that it is possible to sing an entire song without major pitch problems.

We now have our Top 12 for season nine. Next week they will be performing the music of The Rolling Stones.

So, how do you feel about this week's results? Who are you going to root on in the Top 12? What do you think the contestants should sing?

American Idol's Top Eight Guys Sing For Their Top 12 Survival

I have never wanted in the past eight seasons of American Idol wanted to fast forward to the final two finale more than I want to right now. After tonight's performances from the guys, I am pretty sure that I don't want a guy in the finale. In fact, in my own Idol dream world, I think Crystal Bowersox and Siobhan Magnus should be in the final two and then just call it a tie. In other words, last night's show was not entirely enjoyable.

Lee Dewyze opened up the show with Owl City's "Fireflies". I am not a huge fan of this song, but I will hand it to Lee for performing a contemporary song. I would usually advise against singing something from this era, but Lee seems set on taking risks during his turn on Idol. Having said that, if he is going to survive the Top 12, he has to sing better.

Since the Top 24 kicked off, Lee has struggled with pitch problems with each of his performances. I was very happy when judge, Ellen DeGeneres called him out last night about his actual singing, because eventually the audience isn't going to care that he pulled a David Cook and made the song his own. The audience is going to start expecting competent performances that are sang on key without all the pitch problems. I believe Lee is going to be in the Top 12, I just hope he starts focusing on his singing more so than the arrangement.

Call me shallow, but it gets harder and harder to focus on Alex Lambert's singing, due to his mullet. I don't think he's going to have any trouble cracking the Top 12, but when he gets their, I hope the stylists strap him down and cut his hair. It's time to leave the 1980's and join the rest of us in 2010.

Now that I got that off my chest, Alex sang Ray LaMontagne's "Trouble". It was another solid performance for him. However, Alex is still struggling looking like a deer in the headlights on stage, which was addressed by judges, Kara DioGuardi and Simon Cowell. Both judges advised him that he does need to loosen up during his performances, because he is coming across too stiff during his performances. Simon advised him to not focus on his performance so much as he's performing and to distract himself by picturing judge, Randy Jackson in his underpants. Joking, of course, but I agree Alex has to shake his nerves in order to survive Top 12.

This season's token pretty boy, Tim Urban was up next singing the Jeff Buckley version of "Hallelujah". I feel that there are songs that have been performed on Idol by past contestants that were so good, that the song shouldn't be touched ever again on Idol. For me, this list includes Heart's "Alone", anything performed by David Cook during season seven and "Hallelujah".

During season seven's Top 16 week, contestant Jason Castro sang "Hallelujah". It was subtle, perfectly phrased and was his ticket into that season's Top 12. I completely scoffed at Tim Urban last night for thinking there was any way he could top that performance. He won praise from the judges, because it was his best performance of the season. Ellen even ran on stage and gave him a hug, which I thought was a wee bit overboard, but to each their own. I would like to see Tim go home tonight, not because of his song choice, but because he has consistently made my ears hurt since the Hollywood rounds of the competition.

Former front runner, Andrew Garcia performed Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle". When host, Ryan Seacrest mentioned that Andrew was performing a Christina Aguilera song, I immediately thought he was going to perform "Beautiful". Which now, thinking back on it, would not be a good choice for him to sing either.

I think Andrew is backing himself into a corner. He peaked way too soon in the competition during the Hollywood round singing an acoustic version of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up", and now nothing he has performed since has come close in being as good. In example, (and as another chance to reference my favorite American Idol winner) David Cook did not pull out "Hello" until Top 16 week during season seven. And that is when David needed to have a moment, because up until that point he was just performing middle of the road, good performances. He needed a memorable moment and he created one. It got me to pick up the phone and vote that night.

Another issue with Andrew, other botching a couple of the words in the beginning of his performance last night, is that he's become predictable and boring with his style. All he has done all season is perform acoustic arrangements of various pop songs. In the Top 12, he's going to need to part with the acoustic guitar and learn how to work the stage and engage the audience, because I can't be the only one that thinks he's just boring now.

Next up was Casey James, who sang Keith Urban's "You'll Think of Me". For the most part it was a competent performance. He's going to be in the Top 12. I don't entirely understand his appeal, to me he comes off as a guitar player wanting to be a lead singer.

Following Casey was 16-year-old Aaron Kelly performing Lonestar's "I'm Already There". I definitely disagreed with Kara last night when she said it was the wrong song choice for him, because he is only 16 and doesn't have the life experience to understand what he's singing. And major props to Aaron for telling Kara that when he's singing, he's the storyteller. Because, he's right. I was so happy when Simon said that he disagreed with Kara, because Aaron's singing genre is going to be country and he picked a good song and sang it well.

My only note on Aaron's performance last night was that he has to shake his nerves. He sounded like he was mumbling at first, and then as the song progressed, he looked more confident. He needs to have that confidence from start to finish, and he could have a decent run in the Top 12.

Up next was Todrick Hall who sang Queen's "Somebody To Love". As soon as he sang the first note of the song last night, I thought that the performance sounded like something from Glee. And Todrick is no Rachel Berry.

To my surprise, the judges, give or take Simon loved it. Their praise of what I deemed to be a ghastly performance only leads me to believe that they want Todrick in the Top 12. I am hoping that the rest of America heard what I heard last night and didn't pick up the phone to vote for him.

Mike Lynche or as he is known to the audience, Big Mike was in the elusive "pimp spot" last night singing Maxwell's "This Woman's Work". I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. The performance was smooth and showed a different side to Big Mike that the audience hadn't seen. It also moved Kara to tears. It was good, but I don't think it was that good. I don't think he is going to have any problem cracking the Top 12 tonight.

Overall, last night's Idol was painful to watch and listen to. This season so far has been quite the hot mess, and the guys last night for the most part were no exception. I really don't think the talent level is up to par this season, but I look forward to hearing improvement from those contestants who make it to the Top 12.

Last night for me was really interesting listening to the judges critiques, especially while listening to Kara. While last season on Idol, she proved herself to be pretty much useless, last night she really stepped up to the plate. She was clear and concise about what worked and what didn't in the performances. She broke everything down to Andrew Garcia about why his performance last night didn't work and why. Could it be that Idol is setting up the audience for Kara to become the new Simon next season? Or could it be that someone just gave her some tips on public speaking and how to sound coherent? I'll leave that up for you to decide.

Watch American Idol tonight on FOX to find out which six girls and which six guys will make up this season's Top 12.

American Idol's Top Eight Girls Give It Their All

The countdown is on for the final 16 contestants on this season of American Idol. The top eight girls took the stage last night, for two of them for the very last time.

I have to hand it to the ladies this season. They are by miles, so much better than the top eight guys and a couple ladies truly stepped up this week to hopefully make their way into the Top 12.

Lets break it down!

Katie Stevens kicked off the show with Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". I seriously take issue with the contestants continuing to sing former Idol's hit songs on the show. I think if they are going to chance it and sing one of their songs, they better be better than the original. Katie was not the exception.

The performance was mildly pitchy and completely uninspiring. I feel like her back story (her grandmother has Alzheimer's) may have ran it's course. Now that the Idol viewers know that her voice isn't living up to the hype, Katie's livelihood on the show may be just about over as well.

Next up was Siobhan Magnus, who in the past judge, Simon Cowell has referred to as "strange" with her performance of "House of the Rising Sun". In an unexpected move, Siobhan opened the song completely acapella.

After the performance, the only judge that seemed to be impressed with Siobhan was Ellen Degeneres. Simon lamented that she didn't produce a moment like she had the week prior with her big glory note during her performance of Aretha Franklin's "Think". Perhaps Simon wasn't paying attention to the beginning of Siobhan's performance, because it was pretty breathtaking.

Lacey Brown was up next singing "The Story" by Brandi Carlile. It was the right song choice for her and she sang it really well. I was thrilled with her performance last night, and she could possibly pull off quite the upset come Thursday night. However, I also worry that it may be too little too late for Lacey, due to struggling in the earlier rounds. I hope to see her in the Top 12.

Up next was Katelyn Epperly who sort of bounced through her rendition of Carole King's "I Feel The Earth Move". katelyn was placed in the middle of the stage on her keyboard, and for me it looked and felt awkward. With songs like that, I feel that she should have maybe thought about not playing an instrument. I think her performance would have been better if she had sang the song and just worked the stage and engaged the audience more. It's a possibility that her performance last night could have hurt her chances to move on in the competition.

Didi Benami sang "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac, which turned out to be her best performance since the Hollywood Week rounds. It was great to see her bounce back this week after a couple train wreck performances in the past couple of weeks. I am not really sure how the odds will play in her favor for Top 12, but if Didi winds up leaving this week, she gets to leave on high note.

I was so disappointed with Paige Miles' performance of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile". From the first note, Paige looked nervous and very emotional. One would think that if you're going to sing a song about smiling, that maybe the performer should throw a smile on their own face. Just a thought there. After her performance last week, I had very high hopes of Paige cracking the Top 12, but last night I felt like she hand delivered her spot to Katie Stevens.

Up next, Crystal Bowersox singing Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason". Yes, the song has been done a couple times during past seasons, notably by season six winner, Jordin Sparks. Crystal made the song her own, while riffing away on the electric guitar. The audience and the judges just ate it up. There's no doubt in my mind that Crystal will be making the Top 12 Thursday night and I can't wait to see what she brings into the Top 12.

Last, but not least was Lilly Scott singing "I Fall To Pieces" by Patsy Cline. They way Lilly incorporated her jazzy flair was really interesting, and I have to agree with Kara (it doesn't happen often) that she really did make Patsy Cline sound current. And that is going to be key for Lilly if she makes it into the Top 12, because her voice is very original sounding, which may trip her up during the various theme nights.

Overall, this was the best night for the ladies so far this season. I cannot wait for the results on Thursday. But first, the top eight guys perform tonight, so don't forget to tune in tonight to American Idol on FOX.

Four More Idol Contestants Eliminated

Last night on American Idol, the Top 20 contestants were narrowed down to the Top 16. Before Ryan could read the results, the Top 20 lip synced to the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling".

For once, I don't blame Idol for having the group lip sync. I can only imagine what they sound like as a whole while singing live. It probably isn't pretty.

I'm not even going to bother to post the performance, because it causes me too much secondhand embarrassment.

The contestants eliminated tonight did not come as a shock to me or anyone really.

Last night John Park, Jermaine Sellers, Michelle Delamor (girl, why would you sing Creed on Idol?) and Haeley Vaughn were eliminated from the competition. I am pretty happy with the results. I got a lot of points in the Idol pool I am participating in this season. Haha!

Even though I am happy that Haeley will not be moving on to the Top 16, her performance after her elimination of "The Climb" was beyond painful. Poor girl was barely keeping it together while singing. Maybe she'll be signed by Disney or Teen Nickelodeon or something. Don't let me catch her with an album out before Matt Giraud. (#SignMattGiraud)

Top 16 perform next week! Can't wait!

I shall leave y'all with MTV's Idol in 60 Seconds with Jim Cantiello!

MTV Shows

Idol's Top 10 Girls Step Up Their Performances

Ladies and gentlemen, aka whoever actually reads this blog, allow me to introduce you to your next American Idol.



Honestly, I feel like it's game over for the rest of the contestants, Crystal Bowersox was beyond fantastic last night. Her gospel take on Creedance Clearwater Revival's "Long As I Can See The Light" leads me to believe that there is confetti shower in her future.

The thought of Crystal being possibly disqualified due to possibly not being able to perform last night was just disastrous. So many Idol fans are tuning in just to see her. It would have been the end of season 9.

Other highlights from last night's Top 10 girls included Siobhan Magnus, who sang Aretha Franklin's "Think". She hit this crazy glory note towards the end of the song, it was totally unexpected and totally amazing.

I remember in season 3, Diana DeGarmo sang the hell out of this song, but Siobhan just took it to another level towards the end of her performance. And I loved that she keeps the audience guessing with her song choices. Simon said it best last night, "You're such a strange person."

Paige Miles performed the Kelly Clarkson/Kara DioGuardi penned "Walk Away". The arrangement for me was kind of weird, but she sang the song really well. I do like her voice a lot, but I think because she's not a huge favorite in the competition, that she could be in some trouble this week.

However, if Paige does make it through to next week, she needs to read the lyrics of the song she's saying, so she can express the proper feelings while she's singing. "Walk Away" needed to be performed last night with more attitude. It felt sort of happy-go-lucky.

Lily Scott had a good night with "A Change Is Gonna Come". I don't really understand why anyone would attempt that song after Adam Lambert's amazing finale performance from last season, but hey, more power to her.

I am still not sure if I like Lily's voice. It's really different, so her song choices really have to be up to par. I thought her song choice this week was okay and she sounded okay. She was definitely in the better half of the performances from last night.

I still cannot stress this enough, I wish contestants would stop singing songs that former Idols have already left their mark on. Just sayin'.

I could be alone here, but I liked Lacey Brown's performance of "Kiss Me" last night. I think it was a great song choice for her, but her nerves are out of control. Someone needs to give the poor girl a Xanax before she performs.

Her voice was shaky, not as bad as last week, but still not up to par with the previous mentioned contestants. I have a feeling that she may go home this week, but I hope the fans pull it out for her and allow her one more week in the Top 16 to pull it together and show America what she's made of.

Katelyn Epperly sang Coldpay's "The Scientist". If you know me, you know that Coldplay is one of my least favorite bands ever. Which means, no matter how well Katelyn sang that song, I hated the performance by default. Sorry.

The only Idol contestant that has ever made me get into a Coldplay song was Brooke White, who sang "Yellow" during the season 7 tour. Season 7>>>>all other seasons.

And Ellen was right, the song was a boring song choice. I completely zoned out during the performance, myself.

Didi Benami chose to sing "Lean On Me". I am still not quite sure why. Not a great song choice, not a great vocal, but we will probably see her around next week.

Michelle Delamor sang "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed.

Moving on...

The producer's darling, Katie Stevens sang Corrine Bailey Rae's "Put Your Records On". It was okay. It was pretty uninspired. I feel like this girl can sing whatever she wants and the judges can say whatever, and the producers will still push her through to the next round.

I would in fact love to see Katie eliminated next week in the Top 16. And I want to see her face when Paige Miles gets her place.

Lastly, we have to talk about the hot mess that was Haeley Vaughn's performance of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb". It was so bad that Miley Cyrus was probably sitting at home writing apology letters to anyone that had ever heard her sing the song.

Haeley's performance was just painful to get through. And what had to make it worse was that the judges told her that she probably needed another year of practice before being on the show.

Well judges, I have a question for you. Why did you put her through in the first place? There were far better singers, like Angela Martin, who was in her last year of eligibility to even compete on the show who would have done so much better, but no, you chose some little girl who can't sing on key to save her life.

Why Idol?

Overall, the girls this week pretty much wiped the floor with the guys. I am anticipating the results tonight.

Also, some dude named Danny Gokey is performing. I still can't believe he released a country album, but that's a whole other rant.

The American Idol results are in at 8 p.m. tonight on FOX!

Adam Lambert Performs "Sleepwalker" Live

Last night, Adam Lambert appeared on a late night talk show Tuesday night, performing what may or may not be his latest single, "Sleepwalker".

Check it out!



Personally, I am all in favor for "Sleepwalker" being Adam's next single. Ryan Tedder did a great job writing the song. However, there's much speculation about his third single actually being the very upbeat, "If I Had You".

The issue with "If I Had You", is that it seems in past live performances, Adam struggles vocally. This could be just me that thinks this. Here is Adam performing "If I Had You" from this past weekend.



I love "If I Had You", I don't think it's the right song for his third single. I am with the majority of his fans, and I would love to see the Lady GaGa penned "Fever" as Adam's next single.



I am definitely on #TeamFever! But, "Sleepwalker" would probably be the best bet as far as radio play.

I'm looking forward to whatever song is chosen!

Top 10 Guys Continue To Struggle On Idol

Something that can definitely be said about last night's performances on Idol is that they were not entirely as horrifying as they were the week prior.

In an unprecedented switch, the Top 10 guys performed last night, due to contestant, Crystal Bowersox being too sick to perform. The guys found out at 10 a.m. yesterday about the "last minute" change up.

The guy's performances last night for the most part fall into the following categories: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Lets begin, shall we?

The Good

Alex Lambert is probably the most likable contestant since David Archuleta. I loved his brief sit down with Ryan about his tendency to throw up before performing, it reminds me of one of the main characters from the movie, The Cutting Edge, who shared Alex's little pre-show ritual.

The kid has talent. I enjoyed his take on John Legend's "Everybody Knows". I also liked seeing him play guitar. It definitely seemed to help with his confidence having somewhat of a security blanket to hold onto while on stage. And if that is what it takes to make him seem not so much like a deer in the headlights, then I am all for it!

His nerves still showed some, but not as bad as the week before. He got the best piece of advice from Simon, who basically told him to own this moment. He wants to be in the Top 12, so he needs to have that confidence and just go for it.

I hope once he does get to the Top 12, which I am sure he will, I hope someone takes some clippers to that mullet!

Lee Dewyze sang Hinder's "Lips Of An Angel", not my favorite song in the world, but he was definitely better than most of his competition last night. Lee should do himself a favor and take some notes from David Cook's performances where he had a mic stand to work with, so he doesn't move around somewhat awkwardly when he is not performing with his guitar.

Throughout Lee's performance, I felt like he was pushing notes again that made it sound like he was yelling. Also, he had this slight Scott Stapp sound going on, which I hope backs away from, because it made him kind of like a sound-a-like just a bit in the beginning of the song.

The judges like him, because he sounds current and will do well with radio hits. To an extent, I agree with this as well. I definitely think Lee needs to work on his vocals, cause if he can stop shouting parts of his songs, he's going to be a powerhouse in the Top 12.

Last week, I was pretty horrified at Michael Lynche for choosing to sing Maroon 5's "This Love". This week he sang James Brown's "It's A Man's World". Not too bad of a song choice, however I was thinking throughout his entire performance about how Christina Aguilera sang the song a couple years ago at The Grammy Awards. And sang it much better. Just sayin'.

I appreciated seeing Michael without a guitar. I hope he continues to perform sans guitar, cause lets be honest, he barely strumming along last week. That being said, he needs to loosen up on stage and not just stand there. Especially, when in the pre-performance package, he talked about being into musical theater and how much he loves performing. Didn't really see that last night.

For the most part, Michael was on pitch, did I think he deserved a standing ovation from Randy? Uh, no. I thought it was unnecessary and probably led Michael on to think he sang better than he actually did.

I wish last night that Aaron Kelly had chosen anything other than "My Girl" to sing. Not that it was horrible by any means, but it's been so done. They should just take that song and file it under "Songs that have hit quota on Idol" folder.

Aaron did however, show a lot more confidence than the week before. I loved in his pre-performance clip where they showed Simon walking by him after the show last week telling him to "Believe in yourself".

He really needs a moment to catapult him into the Top 12. I hope he has the chance in the Top 16 to create that moment.

The Bad

What I am about to write is probably an unpopular opinion, however, Andrew Garcia was so boring last night, I could have fallen asleep. His stripped down take of James Morrison's "You Give Me Something" was unfortunately pretty off pitch for the majority of the performance.

I was happy to see him without the guitar for once, but Andrew needs to work on his stage presence. Sitting on a stool did nothing for him. And from what I have seen so far, I don't know if he has what it takes to command the stage.

I think Andrew's issue is that he peaked too soon in the competition. His stripped down take of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" was fantastic, but everything since that performance has been pretty mediocre.

Personally, I think he needs to mix it up, he can still play his guitar, without rearranging the songs every single performance. If he's going to last in the competition, he's going to need another moment, because I think his Idol star is already starting to fade.

I think one of my friends said it best last night about Casey James' performance on Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be" over Twitter, "Hey Casey, a goat called. He wants his voice back."

I love that Gavin song, and it would have been a great fit for Casey, especially if he would have kicked his nerves or whatever was making him sound like a goat. And this is another song on Idol that has been performed and performed much better. (Holla Elliot Yamin, Bo Bice, Chris Rich & Michael Sarver!)

Casey came off last night as a guitar player attempting to be a singer. His guitar skills are wonderful, however this is a singing competition. I don't care how pretty your hair is, I just want you to sing and sing well.

Did anyone else pick up in his pre-performance package about if he makes the Top 10, he would disclose what his pre-show ritual is? Most contestants would be happy to make it to the Top 12. I think it's pretty lofty of him to be thinking about the tour and being apart of Top 10.

I'm not gonna front, I kind of, sort of liked Todrick Hall's performance of the Tina Turner song, "What's Love Got To Do With It". I do agree with the judges about just leaving the song arrangements alone. Obviously when put into his hands, the arrangements are just all bad.

I definitely see Todrick as a contender for being eliminated this week. And I wouldn't mind it.

I know the contestants aren't allowed to have anyone from Idol help them choose their song, but someone seriously needs to help Tim Urban.

This week Tim sang Matt Nathanson's "Come On Get Higher", which had me cringing the entire time. I agree with what Ellen said last night, Tim is not a singer. Why the producers chose him to return to the show over Luke Shaffer continues to boggle my mind.

I think he's another contestant that hopefully will be up for elimination this week, although, I think because the little girls think he's dreamy, his Bop pin-up looks may unfortunately carry him into the Top 16 next week.

The Ugly

I just don't get John Park. Last week he was getting his church on, this week he decided to take on John Mayer's "Gravity". It was a pitchy mess.

He's another contestant with somewhat of a fan base, which maybe they'll be able to give him another week to vie for a spot in the final Top 12, but after two unbelievably pitchy performances, I don't understand why people would continue to vote for him.

And finally, the worst performance, in my opinion, last night came from Jermaine "I rocks my onesie" Sellers. He sang Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", which was performed the year before by season eight winner, Kris Allen.

Quick PSA moment: Attention Idol contestants! Please, please, please stop performing songs sung by Kris Allen, David Cook, or any Idol in the past that has put their stamp on a certain song like Heart's "Alone". Just leave well enough alone.

Back to Jermaine, I would vote this dude off based on his obnoxious personality. I remember loving his audition, but I cannot see how he can last any longer on this show. I will be shocked if he makes it any further in this competition.

It really bothered me that he brought religion into the mix. I honestly think he did it only to round up some votes from certain communities that may vote for a contestant based on religion. I know a lot of "God fearing people" as Jermaine put it last night, and they are no where near as obnoxious as him.

I like what Simon said after that about not even bothering to put the numbers up for, so people could vote for Jermaine, since he was so sure it would work out for him during the results later this week.

Tonight, it's the girl's turn to perform. I am hoping they also improve on their performances from last week. I guess we'll have to tune in to tell.

American Idol airs at 8 p.m. tonight on FOX.

New Music From David Cook!

David Cook played his first show in two months over the weekend, and debuted a brand new song he's recorded for his upcoming sophomore record called, "You And I".

Take a listen!



David also performed a new song he started playing towards the end of his last tour, "Make Believe".



I am loving the new music!

I cannot wait until we get a new single from David and the guys!

Idol, Idol, Idol!

In case you missed it, last week Joe Munoz, Tyler Grady, Janell Wheeler and Ashley Rodriguez had the least amount of votes and were eliminated from Idol. Most likely your response to this news was "Who?"

My thoughts exactly.

I thought Tyler Grady might have an actualfax chance to be in the Top 12, since for some reason he had a small following already, even though Idol hadn't given him a ton of airtime.

Moving on...

There was a brief, yet shining moment on Idol last week, being the return of season 8 winner, Kris Allen, singing "Let It Be", as the kick off to Idol Gives Back.



You can buy "Let It Be", by clicking on the following link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/let-it-be-live-single/id358781951

Season 8 contestant, Allison Iraheta was also on the results show performing her latest single, "Scars".



And lastly, it was just reported that the top 10 guys will perform tonight, instead of Wednesday, due to contestant, Crystal Bowersox being too sick to perform. This switch will only be for this week.

Tune into American Idol on FOX at 8 p.m. tonight!

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