Ryan Seacrest’s Historic Paycheck
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, News,
American Idol isn’t letting it’s sandy-haired host go anywhere…not for the next 3 years, at least. Ryan Seacrest has finished his contract negotiations and is now the highest-paid host in the history of all reality TV.
Not bad for someone who’s very best catchphrase is “Seacrest out.” Ryan went up from $5 million a season to a staggering $45 million, signing onto the reality powerhouse until 2012. As an added perk, Seacrest’s production company (imaginatively named Ryan Seacrest Productions) will claim more power in the 19 Entertainment family. Seacrest will be working more with Idol creator Simon Fuller as a result.
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American Idol 8: Finale!
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
Weeks of auditions, eliminations and memorable performances would finally culminate in a single evening of music and melodrama. Yes, it’s the finale of American Idol 8.
Various celebrities sat in the crowd as Ryan Seacrest warmed up the episode. Almost 100 million votes were logged after Tuesday’s performance round.
A montage of Randy Jackson clips served as the dog’s intro, he who, for reasons quite beyond me, wore a bow tie for the evening. Kara DioGuardi moments followed, and I never realized she had such a tendency to use the word “sweetie.” She looked great for the evening, at least. The same can’t be said for Paula Abdul, who wore a hideous ensemble. Her clip showed her saying a lot of words, the meanings of which she likely doesn’t understand. Simon Cowell’s video tribute was, of course, the most entertaining of all.
The host then introduced the two stars of the evening: Kris Allen and Adam Lambert. The judges stood up for the men as they took the stage. Each wore white; both looked very different. The sound equipment was hardly functioning when the two touched based with Seacrest.
A gaggle of girls stood in Conway, Arkansas (Kris Allen country) to hear the results. Carly Smithson reported from Symphony Hall (what a sad gig), where Lambert fans gathered to await the final vote count. But each camp would sit through many more video clips, performances, and general hoohah before they would find out what they most wanted to know: who won?
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American Idol 8: Top 2 Perform
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip,
American Idol 8 is in its final week, and that means the show is more exciting than ever. A new Idol is about to be crowned, and on Tuesday the two contenders had to square off vocally. Every thing they did will affect the results they’ll receive on Wednesday. This performance night could, in fact, be the most important of their entire lives.
After all, it might just mark the difference between winning…and losing.
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American Idol 8: Top 3 Results
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip,
Ben Stiller, of all people, opened the Top 3 results show of American Idol 8. This odd skit was a tribute to the judges’ table and featured some pretty good comedy from Stiller, SNL regular Will Forte and Simpsons cast member Hank Azaria. Jonah Hill, looking rather dapper with a short haircut, also had a few lines.
All of this, of course, was one long and boring promotion for Stiller’s new movie. Guess which movie company is behind that flick? …
Anyway, there would be many more promotions before the episode was over. Soon enough, Ryan Seacrest was standing on stage touting the fact that the Idol desk is going into the Smithsonian. Don’t get excited. This is just another cross-promotion. The name of the Stiller movie contains the word “Smithsonian,” and Freemantle is figuring they can use reality success to translate into more movie tickets for a sequel that probably won’t break box office records.
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American Idol 8: Top 3 Perform
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
“They have become heroes in their hometowns,” Ryan Seacrest announced at the top of the American Idol hour. The Top 3 contestants stood on stage behind him; only one of them will be left standing at the end of next week’s finale. Everyone’s all but given the competition to Adam Lambert, but this round of singing yet remains. Can Danny Gokey or Kris Allen manage to outshine the front runner yet?
Only this performance night would yield the answer.
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American Idol 8: Top 4 Results
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
They sang their hearts out during the performance round. Now, the Top 4 contenders on American Idol would find out which of them was to be sent home. Sixty-four million votes, the highest non-finale tally in Idol history, were cast to bring us the results of the evening.
The Ford video featured 2D cinematography, the song “Move Along” and extremely bad action sequences where Idols ran toward a red car. The group number, “School’s Out,” gave us Slash on the guitar and four very helter skelter Idols who gyrated around the stage. Allison and Adam managed to steal the show again during this group run, though Slash did a fair bit of scene-stealing of his own thanks to a particularly riveting guitar solo.
During the pre-results chat, Danny Gokey called Wednesdays the “most tiring” days of the week. Kris Allen is surprised he’s made it this far in the contest. “We don’t want humble anymore,” Simon Cowell told him dryly. Gokey said his last scream from the night before must be his “funniest moment on Idol,” and was so charming and good-natured about the whole thing I’m suddenly back on him again.
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American Idol 8: Top 4 Perform
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
The opening for the Top 4 performance episode of American Idol 8 opened very dramatically, and justifiably so. This crop of Top 4 is one of the most promising - and vocally talented - in the show’s history. Any of them would make great Idols…and that makes for great reality TV.
Ryan Seacrest talked about an “accident” which occurred earlier on the Idol stage - one of the towers started to fall. Because of the ensuing melee, the contestants didn’t get an opportunity to do a proper run-through of the evening’s positioning.
According to later reports on the incidents, stage manager Debbie Williams fell from a set of stairs. She injured her leg and possibly one of her hands, though reports say she has broken no bones. In a statement, FOX had this to say: “During rehearsal today a crew member had a mishap on the set and was immediately taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.”
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American Idol 8: Top 5 Results
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip,
The eighth season of American Idol is winding down, which means the competition is heating up. “I have your results!” Ryan Seacrest promised at the top of the hour, touting 47 million votes and an evening filled with drama.
“Everybody was good,” Simon Cowell said of the preceding performance round, which occurred the night before the results show.
The same could not be said of the terrible Ford music video, which was again marked by bad choreography and poor cinematography. The Top 5 then performed a medley of “I Don’t Mean a Thing” and “I Got Rhythm.” I still didn’t get to hear “Swingin’ on a Star.” The Top 5 group performance was, in a word, awful. It was boring, the song choices were bad and the choreography was decidedly lackluster after last week’s highly entertaining performance.
The Idol contestant clip of the week showed the Top 5 in the kitchen, who attempted to make birthday cakes for celebrants Allison Iraheta and Danny Gokey. A horrendous mess ensued. Ryan Seacrest then gave Gokey a gift - a bill from Best Bets Maid Service, LLC. They charged $6,000 for the disaster in the kitchen. “You mean American Idol doesn’t take care of that?” Danny quipped.
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American Idol 8: Top 5 Perform
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip,
The Top 5 performance night of American Idol 8 was all about the Rat Pack - that collection of music from five friends which will live on in the memories of all those who enjoyed Big Band classics. Naturally, I expected this round to be very, very boring indeed.
The Idols certainly looked the part when they stepped out onstage, the men wearing suits and Allison Iraheta in a very age-appropriate dress. The “mystery” mentor for this week was Oscar winner and successful recording artist Jamie Foxx. His clip showed him to be incredibly charming during his first meeting with the contestants.
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American Idol 8: Top 7 Results, the Sequel
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
For the second Top 7 results night of American Idol, there was a grim feeling in the air. Two, rather than the usual one, would sing their final Idol note at the end of the evening. But which of them would it be?
It is not the first double elimination Idol has ever done; nor is it the first late-season double elimination to occur. The show pulled a similar stunt for the first year of Idol Gives Back.
The first clip of the night featured the Top 7 with Paula Abdul, who taught them the choreography for their group number this week. They all wore sunglasses and weird fashions, but this was actually one of the better group numbers I’ve seen. The choreography was quite good - and never has it been said that I’m a fan of Paula Abdul. We have to give the devil her due on this one - Abdul did a better job than all the others who have choreographed the group numbers this season. “I’m so proud of you guys!” She smiled when it was all said and done.
The Ford video featured different occupations - pastry chef, construction worker, dog groomer - and was as poor as I’ve come to expect.
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