American IdolGeorge Huff was in the house, but these off-key performances probably removed the smile from his face for the first time ever. I did actually enjoy Taylor and was freaked out to be in agreement with Paula Abdul — Taylor is really great when he just stands there and sings. Mandisa wasn't at her best, but vocally she was still miles above the others. Yes, Simon Cowell, we know the "song isn't for you." If it were, it would be called "Damn You," not "Praise You." Paris definitely had the "attitude" part of "Work It Out" down, and she managed a decent vocal while doing the patented Beyoncé booty dance. Bucky was OK — though the band drowned him out a bit, he picked a good song
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American IdolFifties night was far kinder to the wannabes than Stevie Wonder night was last week. And the evening clearly belonged to Mandisa. Wow... just wow. A note to Paula Abdul: No woman wants to be compared to a horse. Paris thrived vocally on "Fever," but she's so young that the "vamp" thing didn't work so well for her. To quote the cinema classic and '50s-themed flick Grease, "she's too pure to be pink."
For a minute I was so excited to see Live on stage doing "I Alone." But then I realized it was Chris, stopping once again in the '90s for inspiration instead of heading to the '50s like everyone else. He's always great, but I'm waiting for Simon to coax Chris out
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Despite seeing presidential hopeful John Kerry (and thus his portrayal) get snubbed in 2004, Seth Meyers has never stopped being a major part of the mix at NBC's Saturday Night Live (Saturdays, duh, at 11:30 pm/ET). As he prepped for this weekend's show, Meyers — now best known for his bits as haranguing hubby Dan Needler and the Appalachian Emergency Room receptionist, as well as for his impressions of Hugh Grant, Sean Penn and Anderson Cooper — found a few minutes to talk to TVGuide.com about SNL's plans for guest host Matt Dillon, the "real" Natalie Portman and the crazy-delicious digital-shorts
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