Chris Sligh courtesy Fox
This Wednesday's American Idol is a "Best of the Rest" recap of the Season 7 auditions we didn't see throughout each city. That got us thinking about some of the best auditions we've seen, regardless of whether the candidate went on to Idol greatness. Instead of a top-10 list, we thought we'd have a battle of the sexes: the best women's auditions versus the best from the men. — Erin FoxTop Five Women's Auditions5) Frenchie Davis, "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" | Watch on YouTubeHoly crap, we think our ear drums just burst listening to her amazing vocal power. Randy and Paula gave her a standing ovation (Simon, of course, stayed seated but clapped as enthusiastically as he could), and if she hadn't been kicked off the show for those naughty pictures, there's no telling how far Frenchie could have gone. 4) Carrie Underwood, "I Can't Make You Love Me" | Watch on YouTubeWho knew this farm girl who sported the '80s wardrobe and glamour-shots makeup at her audition would become ...
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Nigel Lythgoe answers questions at 2007 Fox Summer TCA courtesy Fox
What was wrong with American Idol last season? Nigel Lythgoe, president of Idol's production company 19 Television, thinks it was too much Peter Noone and not enough Melinda Doolittle. In other words, "We didn't really show the personalities of the people," he told reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour on Sunday. "We were so engrossed with the mentors who were particularly good last season, and not really on the Melindas. And we didn't know them as much as we knew the Kellie Picklers from the season before." What happened on Idol led Lythgoe to make adjustments to this summer's So You Think You Can Dance. "We've really gone out of our way to focus on the competitors' thoughts, their feelings, their emotions," he said, "so that we're all attached to them a little more than if they were just dance competitors." —Reporting by Stephen Battaglio
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Melinda Doolittle
They're visiting 42 cities in just 68 days. But touring as a performer with American Idols Live isn't all work and no play. Speaking with TV Guide during her Nashville, Tennessee, homecoming, Melinda Doolittle spoke of massages on demand, an abundance of toaster pastries and her hankering for some 24.
TV Guide: How's the tour going?Melinda Doolittle: It is so much fun! We're having a blast.
TV Guide: Is it everything you hoped it would be?Melinda: It is, and a lot more. I thought that maybe I knew what to expect because I had toured before, but it's like night and day for me. They pay such attention to detail.
TV Guide: What kind of details do they pay attention to?Melinda: They take good care of us. They make sure that we're taken care of as far as food goes, of cours
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Jordin Sparks
Thirty-one million viewers watched live as she became the reigning American Idol. But, despite the Nielsen ratings, Jordin Sparks still insists her face isn't nearly as recognizable as her name. Hours before she took the stage in Sunrise, Florida, with the American Idols Live tour, the Season 6 winner spoke with TV Guide.
TV Guide: When did you get to Florida?Jordin Sparks: We got to Florida on the 1st, so we've been here for a week, you know, tanning and soaking up the sun and rehearsing....
TV Guide: Have you done any sightseeing yet?Jordin: We had a day off where I rode the WaveRunners and we all just kind of chilled. It was really fun.
TV Guide: Was that your first time on a WaveRunner?Jordin: It's like a Jet Ski, which I
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Melinda Doolittle courtesy Fox
American Idol may be over but Idol Gives Back is still going strong. In an exclusive interview with TV Guide, Melinda Doolittle revealed she’s traveling to Africa this week with First Lady Laura Bush. The top 10 finalist will represent the reality show in an awareness campaign to help curtail the spread of malaria. “We’re giving out half a million bed nets,” says the former backup singer, who will spend a week on the trip. “Mosquitoes normally bite between 10 pm and 4 am. So the best-case scenario is to have this net, which is interwoven with insecticides. Not only do they land on it, but they die, so they don’t spread it to other people.”Doolittle will also perform “Amazing Grace” with a children’s choir, which she calls “a lifelong dream.” “We think it is terrific that Melinda Doolittle is joining Mrs. Bush in Zambia," says Sally McDonough, Mrs. Bush's spokesperson. "Viewers of one of America's favorite television pr...
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A trio of American Idol finalists — runner-ups Melinda Doolittle and Blake Lewis, and winner Jordin Sparks — will celebrate our nation's birthday in song on NBC's Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular. Just two days later, they will join their fellow finalists to launch the Idols Live tour in Sunrise, Florida.
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Kimberly Caldwell and Rosanna Tavarez take on American Idol.
What is running through the respective minds of Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis, as American Idol's big finale looms? Might Blake pull an upset and win this thing? And how does this Idol showdown compare to years past? We asked Rosanna Tavarez, who with Kimberly Caldwell cohosts TV Guide Channel's Idol Chat, Idol Tonight and Reality Chat, for her ta
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Simon Cowell by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com
Jordin's got pipes that cannot be beat. Blake rocks a contemporary beat. For that reason alone, Simon Cowell has no prediction to make about the forthcoming American Idol finale. "I can't call it, because I think they’ve both got different strengths," he told TVGuide.com during a conference call to tout the new (and totally improved) season of that other AI, ABC's American Inventor (premiering June 6). "One is a better entertainer, and one is a better singer. It will come down to what they do on [Tuesday]."Later in the call, Cowell dissed the dismissal of critical darling Melinda Doolittle, but stopped short of saying it cripples Idol's credibility. "I didn’t agree with the vote, but more people should have dialed for Melinda," he said plainly. "When you allow the public to choose, you’ve got to live and die by the vote. It's as simple as that."Reflecting on Idol's season gone by — one marked by a famously coiffed crooner — Simon confessed, "I like crazy. Th...
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Melinda Doolittle by Frank Micelotta/Fox
"Absurd." "Wrong, wrong, wrong." "A total fiasco." Those are some of the words TVGuide.com readers are using to describe the dismissal of Melinda Doolittle on Wednesday's American Idol. Presented with that reaction — as well as the fact that some 70 percent of you are "very shocked" to see her go — Melinda shared with TVGuide.com her own theory on why, despite being so consistent and a favorite of the judges, the votes just weren't there. "First of all, I was up against two amazing contestants — I love Jordin and Blake, and they did a fabulous job on Tuesday night," she starts. "But also, I know that I was probably getting a little bit of the older vote, which is great — I had a lot of people come up to me saying, "I voted for you five times last night!" — [but those same fans] may not spend a full two hours voting or anything like that, and that's OK. I really feel like I've won, as far as where I ended up in the competition."As for what style of album we c...
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Melinda Doolittle by Michael Becker/Fox
Can I just say how relieved I was that despite all the foreshadowing, and that heartbreaking list of "the five best moments in my sorry excuse for a life," Lost spared Charlie's life, at least for now, in Wednesday's episode. I'm not sure I could have taken yet another loss this week — not after the jarring (though symbolically necessary) death of Christopher on The Sopranos on Sunday, and possibly more shocking, the ouster of Melinda Doolittle on American Idol minutes before Lost started.I’d long been looking forward to a generational final showdown between 29-year-old Melinda, who often projects an even older image, and 17-year-old Jordin Sparks, a belter whose coming-of-age story is classic Idol material. The spoiler: beat-boxing Blake, all fresh attitude and funky musicality.That Melinda was the best and certainly the most consistent singer is something that Simon Cowell and no doubt millions of others can agree on. But American Idol isn’t merely about singing abi...
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