AMERICAN IDOL - Season ELEVEN

[Miguel]

I think they were all going easy on everyone since it was the 1st live show.

They gave some harsh criticism on the 1st live show last year.

Randy told Haley,

That song didn’t do anything for you. It was almost karaoke.”

Haley then did the mock retching, which in retrospect was incredibly bold given the timing.

Randy told Rachel Zevita, "It wasn’t great. It wasn’t good." Ouch.

http://www.examiner.com/tv-in-national/t...z1nqqwHKiW

[buzzenator]

EW.com article:

'Idol': Nigel Lythgoe strikes back at News Corp's ratings diss on Twitter

Is there a feud brewing between American Idol executive producer Nigel Lythgoe and Fox parent company, News Corp?

One day after News Corp COO Chase Carey spoke to investors about Idol, calling its ratings “disappointing” (“The ratings aren’t what we hoped they would be,” he continued) and insisting that the show “can and should provide fresh energy” following the appearance of new competitors The X Factor and The Voice, Lythgoe took to his Twitter to respond.

Never one to keep his opinions to himself, the executive producer posted: “Maybe if the COO bothers to watch #IDOL tonight he may give us a little more support in the future. Certainly more than he gave us today!!!”

If you were wondering what the folks at News Corp thought of Lythgoe’s Twitter smackdown, you’ll have to use your imagination. When contacted, News Corp representatives had no comment regarding the executive producer’s candid comment. But would Carey change his mind after seeing Tuesday’s show? Perhaps — after all, last night’s top 12 (er, 13) men episode gave the network the highest-rated Tuesday of any network this season. But perhaps not — it still attracted fewer viewers than NCIS.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/02/29/idol-n...l-lythgoe/

Nigel hasn't lost his snarky comebacks...much like his tweets last year concerning the shows lack of Haley love

[John Brown]

I know I already said it somewhere in this thread but it's worth saying again. There is Jessica Sanchez and then there is everybody else.

[Miguel]

Idol apparently realized they were a reality television show that didn't deal with reality.

Enter Jimmy "The Truth Teller" Iovine.

He didn’t mince words. He said Chase Likens, a 20-year-old country singer from West Virginia, “is a good looking guy” but needed to “be fresh” to win. Of Heejun Han, the 22-year-old crooner from Queens beloved among fans for his odd-ball sense of humor, Mr. Iovine said he was confused by his popularity. “This isn’t American comedian,” he said. “This is American Idol.” (Mr. Likens did not make it, but Mr. Han did.)

Mr. Iovine cut other contestants down to size. Of Chelsea Sorrell’s mediocre performance of “Cowboy Casanova,” he said: “Carrie Underwood karaoke is not going to fly.’ He panned Reed Grimm’s strange rendition of “Moves Like Jagger,” calling it “Way too kitschy for me, too cabaret.”

He said Creighton Fraker from New York had an “interesting voice” but “the top end is screechy and annoys me.” None of those contestants survived the elimination on Thursday.

Mr. Iovine pointed out what none of the three judges were willing to say directly about Haley Johnsen’s dismal performance of a Eurythmics song on Wednesday: “She sang out of tune the entire song,” he said. He even cut down Aaron Marcellus, the Teaneck, N.J., voice teacher who has an impressive gospel style, saying he was “too Don Cheadle, a little cheesy for me.” The voters at home agreed, and Ms. Johnsen and Mr. Marcellus went home.

But the record producer, who had a hand in the careers of stars like Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Eminem, was quick and forthright in his praise of some of the better talents in this year’s crop. He said Jessica Sanchez, the 16-year-old singing prodigy from San Diego, “has talent from A to Z” and called her “the one to beat.” He said Phillip Phillips, 21, a pawnshop employee from Leesburg, Ga., was a true original. “We desperately need originality on this show,” he said. “I would sign this guy on the spot.” He also said Joshua Ledet, the 19-year-old gospel singer from Lousiana, was “the real deal.

Mr. Iovine’s comments were a breath of fresh air on a show where the current three judges – Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson — bend over backward to be encouraging and often go easy on contestants even when their performances are embarrassing. This week, Mr. Tyler and Ms. Lopez resorted more than once to euphemisms like “that wasn’t the best choice of a song for you” or “it was a little pitchy” when singers were clearly out of tune.

That gentle approach makes for boring television. For a while during Thursday’s show, Twitter was flooded with people praising Mr. Iovine and openly calling for him to become a judge. “Jimmy Iovine’s evaluations on American Idol should be subtitled: What the judges would say if they weren’t afraid of looking like jerks,” tweeted Eric Deggans, a media critic for the Tampa Bay Times.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0...my-iovine/

[buzzenator]

Quincy Herald-Whig 3/1

The next Haley Reinhart? by seighinger



"– I will admit that after replaying Elise’s “One And Only” by Adele it did not creep me out the way it originally did, but I’m sorry, I still don’t feel she deserved to be in the finals. I’m keeping an open mind with her. Maybe she will be this year’s Haley Reinhart, who I detested at first in 2011 but grew to love. That’s why veteran blog reader Kelly Wilson refers to me as a renaissance man."

http://addins.whig.com/blogs/idol/2012/0...y-reinhart

[John Brown]

Quincy Herald-Whig 3/1

The next Haley Reinhart? by seighinger



"– I will admit that after replaying Elise’s “One And Only” by Adele it did not creep me out the way it originally did, but I’m sorry, I still don’t feel she deserved to be in the finals. I’m keeping an open mind with her. Maybe she will be this year’s Haley Reinhart, who I detested at first in 2011 but grew to love. That’s why veteran blog reader Kelly Wilson refers to me as a renaissance man."

http://addins.whig.com/blogs/idol/2012/0...y-reinhart

Actually Elise Testone's performance of Adele's “One and Only” was my second favorite performance of the top 24. I loved her on the piano and I loved her when she got up and performed. I love the way she emotes and also the way she feels the music when she sings. She also has a very unique tone and very bluesy voice. In fact, like Jessica Sanchez, she also punctuates the music with her body moves and I love that. Compared to Jen Hirsh's ultra bland performance of the same exact song, Elise's performance was light years more entertaining. It wasn't even close. Hell, watch Steven Tyler react during her performance, he was feeling it as well. She absolutely killed it.

As a matter of act, my initial impression of Elise Testone after watching her audition in Savannah was that she looked like she was rode hard and put up wet, but she cleaned up pretty nicely for the show.

In my opinion the third best performance of the top 24 was Joshua Ledet, as the guy has chops and can really sing.

Indeed, unless another sleeper contestant can come alive and let it all hang out, the way I see it playing out is Jessica Sanchez will run away with it and the battle for second and third place will be close between Elise Testone and Joshua Ledet. Hollie Cavanaugh can really sing too, thus she may come alive and challenge the top three if she can conquer her fear.

A lot of people are saying that Phillip Phillips is really unique and original, but he reminds me a lot of Paul McDonald from last year, as he has a really strange voice and very quirky style of singing.

[john]

I don't why her performance would creep him out. But she has a rich, soulful voice and a ton of potential. Apparently her nerves were getting to her during her on AI this week but her YT catalog shows that she has spent a lot of time on stage. I think she will adjust quickly to performing on AI, and could blossom into something special. Although she doesn't have the voice of HER.

[Miguel]

[John Brown]

Okay....which one do you like best:

[John Brown]

Got this from Mjsbigblog:

Inside Idol sources are calling Jermaine Jones a liar. Really? Via TMZ

Jermaine Jones — the 6’8″ gentle giant on “American Idol” — has big problems with the truth, because he fabricated a sob story to “A.I.” producers to win the hearts and minds of the American people.

“A.I.” sources told TMZ … last week, after appearing on the show … Jermaine came to them and said his dad called him from out of the blue, claiming pops abandoned him and his mom 10 years ago. Jermaine told producers he was extremely upset that his dad suddenly reappeared in his life now that he was famous and potentially rich. Jermaine said his dad was “a lousy father” and wanted nothing to do with him.

Well TMZ spoke with Jermaine’s dad, Kevin Jones, who says the sob story is absurd — that he has had an ongoing relationship with the young man through the years and even had dinner with him on both Wednesday and Thursday night of last week.

Kevin also says his son was not telling the truth about getting a phone call from out of the blue — Kevin says he was actually in the audience last week supporting his child.

We spoke with production people on “Idol” who tell us they are “shocked” Jermaine concocted the story and it seems like it was all a ploy to get some traction on the show.

We could not reach Jermaine for comment.

That’s pretty wack if it’s true. Jermaine has responded to the allegations via twitter: “This story on tmz. I did not lie to anyone I also did not tlk to or ask anyone to tlk to tmz on my behalf in the first place.”

Link