Move over Nicki and Mariah, a new feud is brewing on the set of Fox's American Idol. Thursday night's results show, which saw the departure of Paul Jolley, featured harsh words from Interscope Records chairman and mentor Jimmy Iovine, who called out the judges for being too complimentary and confusing in their critiques. Those words did not sit well with the judges, who challenged Iovine directly when TV Guide Magazine caught up with them backstage just moments after the show wrapped.
read more
The field of finalists was narrowed to eight on American Idol Thursday, but before any of the results were read, mentor Jimmy Iovine had some feedback of his own for the judges, whom he essentially said were being way too soft on the contestants at this stage in the competition.
read more
Anyone who tunes into American Idol regularly knows that this season sometimes feels like The Nicki Minaj Show. Among the new blood that's been injected into the judges panel this season, Minaj is hands down the most polarizing. Keith Urban is the surprisingly astute critic, Mariah Carey is the softie who finds something positive to say about even the most dismal performances, and Nicki is ... well, Nicki. She's unprofessional (showing up late to a job that requires about five hours of her time every week), overdramatic (threatening to walk off the show after Curtis Finch, Jr. was eliminated last week), and often inappropriate in her comments to the singers (too many examples to pick just one).
She also may be the best thing that's happened to the contestants in years.
read more
The first elimination of American Idol's Season 12 happened Thursday night, after much fluff and fanfare wrangled into order by host Ryan Seacrest. Who was sent home? Keep reading to find out.
read more
The countdown begins! The Top 10 American Idol hopefuls performed Wednesday night in the first live show of Season 12. The evening opened with host Ryan Seacrest introducing the four judges — nope, make that three, as Nicki Minaj was "about seven minutes out" due to traffic. (Really?!?!)
The theme of the night was to pay tribute to the show's "legacy," in the words of Seacrest, with each contestant tackling a song that had been covered on the show by a former winner. (Interestingly, out of the previous 11 seasons, only six winners' songs were chosen.) Here's a breakdown of each performance:
read more