Ryan walked past the Idols and asked the magic question, “Who will be going home tonight?” He gave a very long look to Sanjaya, knowing full well the king of hula was not going anywhere. (I thought the real question was, “How many white strips do those kids put in their mouths each night?” Because the whole lot of them have the whitest teeth I have ever seen.)Next we had the money shots, Eva Longoria and Sharon Osbourne, our resident audience stars of the evening. Ryan introduced the judges, which wasn’t really interesting except that when he introduced Simon, Simon winked at Paula. It was frankly a bit creepy. Let me take a moment here to say, “Poor Randy.” Simon and Paula get all of the attention and Randy just sits there. What exactly is his function? Aside from the various glasses he shows off each night, the vibrant shirts and the “Dawg, you blasted it out da house tonight,” I’m not sure I know what he’s doing there. Well y...
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Welcome to the dull week. We knew it had to happen somewhere in 22 weeks. There was nary a performance worth writing home about and the good ones were slim to middling. I don’t know what that means, but I know had I fallen asleep in the beginning of the show, I would not have missed much. Evidently, the entirety of Latin music consists only of Miami Sound Machine, Santana with a little Marc Anthony, (or is it Antony? “Oh, Cleo, drop that asp.”) How about a little Gipsy Kings? Have you ever heard of Ricky Martin? Shakira? When will the producers let us, the public, select the songs for the contestants? How about a week with Rufus Wainwright mentoring and the kids can all sing songs from his Judy Garland concert at Carnegie Hall? Just an idea. It can’t be any worse than some of these current theme weeks. J.Lo recently released her first Spanish-language album, Como Ama Una Mujer. According to Babelfish that means “As It Loves a Woman.” I don’t speak ...
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Call 'em the Great Eight. As Blake, Chris R., Haley, Jordin, LaKisha, Melinda, Phil and Sanjaya move a big step closer to the finish line, TVGuide.com has questions. Like, did rocker gal Gina Glocksen get punk'd? Is Phil perhaps better than we think? Can Haley's pins earn her another free pass? W
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If I wasn't blogging AI for TV Guide, I would stop watching this show right now. Before I even get to a brief blow-by-blow, I have to step out of my usual banter and say something about the state of this competition. I understand "drama" makes for good television. I understand that the producers can’t be happy with everything going along as it should. “Life isn’t fair,” I can hear them shout. But that any lackluster singer can remain safe while perfectly great singers get sent home is just a travesty to the competition and to singing in general. I realize that since pop music often consists of “artists” who have no voice to speak of and are merely offering manipulated tracks under heavy musical artillery (Paris Hilton, Ashlee Simpson, you get the point), it makes complete sense that AI voters are engaged in keeping Sanjaya, Phil and Haley around. Unfortunately, I am really discouraged by the outcome of this week’s show, (though losing AJ, Sabrina a...
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Did one of this season's American Idol wannabes almost call it quits? Are those seeking to rock the vote succeeding? And is Sanjaya's "success" a liability for the popular singing competition? Idol executive producer Ken Warwick addressed those topics and more in a Tuesday conference call with reporters.
Late last week, upon Chris Sligh's ouster, the big story was that the big guy had allegedly inquired into dropping out of the competition a few weeks prior. TVGuide.com asked Warwick if he was in the loop on that possible departure — and his answer might surprise you. "Um, Chris Sligh sometimes talks out of turn, to be absolutely honest," Warwick told us. "I was neve
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