American IdolThe leadoff performers, Ace and Kellie, bolstered my belief that American Idol should stay away from Stevie Wonder songs. Thankfully Ace didn't attempt to sing unnecessary falsetto notes, but I had to agree with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell: It just wasn't the best vocal performance. Naturally Paula Abdul dissented. Eyeing Ace like he was the last chocolate chip in the Keebler tree house, she thought he "entertained everyone." Kellie professed little prior knowledge of Stevie, and then talked about her false eyelashes looking like tarantulas, something clearly less scary than calamari.
Honestly, I was expecting better from both Elliott and Mandisa. I actu
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And then there were 12. As reiterated by the nifty little "countdown" scorecard that Fox sent out to reporters this week, Season 5 of American Idol now is down to its dynamic dozen (my term — use it if you like!) finalists. Joining Kinnik Sky and Will Makar in the quartet cut last Thursday were a pair of 17-year-olds: high-school hoops star Ayla Brown and he of the megawatt smile, Gedeon McKinney, both of whom spoke with reporters the day after their dismissal.
AYLA BROWN ON...
... whether greater Idol success would have sunk her Boston College basketball scholarship:"[The BC representative's] response to my father was, 'We are so incredibly proud of Ayla a
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This week, two of my favorite reality shows signed off with satisfying (if, in one case, anticlimactic) season finales. On Bravo's thoroughly addictive Project Runway, Chloe Dao won on the strength of her glamorous, vivid collection, which to my eyes did outshine both Daniel Vosovic's and Santino Rice's. But in the bigger picture, I still feel Daniel won the season, so I was a bit deflated when it was all over.
Daniel dominated many of the challenges, and even his relatively tame collection was lovely to behold. And unlike businesslike Chloe, Daniel's passion for his craft was evident throughout the season. (The less said the better about Santino, who did manage to create a couple of stunners in his collection. But he's had his time hogging the spotlight, and I'm more than happy to move on.)
And then there's WB's adorable
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American IdolBo Bice sounded a bit hoarse on his single "The Real Thing," probably from new-daddy lack of sleep. I do miss Bo, but he's lucky Simon Cowell wasn't judging that one. It's not surprising that Kinnik and Will had the lowest number of votes — neither one had a good night this week. And they haven't exactly gotten much love from the judges. While America has heard every detail of Kellie Pickler's lunch orders and knows everything about Taylor but his ring size, Kinnik and Will were the very last of the top 24 picked and we've barely heard a word about them since. Both were total class acts in their farewell speeches, and they finally got to hear the words "I like you" from Simon. Kellie, Kathar
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American IdolKatharine McPhee was rumored to be this year's Mario Vasquez, the dropout from last season who went on to superstardom. Or, rather, Starbucks. Well, Katharine said she'll be in it for the long haul, although I might have to quit Idol if Ryan Seacrest insists on saying things like "do you have the McPheever?" No, but cheese-ball lines like that do make me ill. Katharine did an okay Aretha Franklin — not quite up to Kelly Clarkson standard, but the judges loved her. They weren't quite as sold on Paris Bennett's "Conga," but she had fun anyway.
I was very impressed with Lisa, but she once again was scolded for singing an "old" song.
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