American Idol 9: Hollywood Solo Performances
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
Hollywood’s final solo performances are the last chance for the remaining American Idol 9 contestants, a huge field which was narrowed down to the seventy-one at the start of Tuesday’s episode. The show began with the final deliberations, beginning near the end of the process which will give us 24 Top singers who will compete to be our Idol.
Per formula, the contestants were put into three different rooms. Angela Martin was in Room 3 with Hollywood standout Jessica Furney. Martin’s entertaining performance was only passable vocally, though Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson both seemed to enjoy it.
Casey James was in Room 1, while his Hollywood Group member Jermaine Purifoy waited in Room 2. Both their solo performances were incredibly enjoyable and vocally strong, though extremely different from each other.
Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens and Jermaine Sellers also waited in Room 1. Earlier in the day, Sellers made the bold choice to sing “Man in the Mirror,” and some of the notes seemed to escape him. His rather rigid performance might not have won over the judges, but Sellers definitely has a great voice.
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American Idol 9: Group Night
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Features, Video,
It’s group night in Hollywood, which is always a drama-filled festival filled with massive amounts of tears, screaming…and some singing, too. It’s likely the best episode of American Idol 9 , and what a pity it comes so early in the season.
Group night is about performance and showmanship, and some singers are more apt to bring that than others. The most talented performers often find each other, as was once the case with Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh, Rudy Cárdenas and Tom Low in Season 6. It’s the task of every group to choose a number, assign parts and work out some choreography. Naturally, some are more successful than others, but those with real chops usually manage to come out of group night unscathed.
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American Idol 9: Hollywood Week Begins
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Video,
We’ve sat through seven audition cities and eight weeks of watching singers vie for their chance to compete on American Idol 9 . On Tuesday, this patience was finally rewarded with the beginning of Hollywood Week. This grueling round of auditions is always filled with drama, despair and dashed dreams. In other words, it’s tons of fun.
Tuesday’s opening Hollywood Week episode was the first to feature now-permanent panelist Ellen DeGeneres , who was called to serve on Idol when Fremantle and Paula Abdul could not come to terms on Abdul’s contract. The Idol wannabes gathered at the Kodak Theater, as per show tradition. One hundred and eighty-one contenders arrived from all over America and all walks of life to sing, cry and perhaps watch their dearest dreams come true. But the road to fame is not easy. As one contestant observed, “there’s hundreds of people here, and I have to stand out.”
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Howard Stern Addresses American Idol Rumors
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Rumors, Video,
The media’s been going crazy since recent rumors of staffing changes at American Idol surfaced. Simon Cowell revealed weeks ago that he’ll be jumping the sinking FOX flagship, and rumor has it that he’ll reunited with Paula Abdul on his Stateside version of X-Factor. Meanwhile, the folks behind Idol are reportedly looking for his replacement - and the rumors suggest that replacement might be radio shock jock Howard Stern.
On his Sirius radio program, Stern alluded to the rumors and added (in his usual ribald way) “there’s not a better job on the planet than judging that [expletive deleted] karaoke contest.” He then went on to say that he would do the show - if they offer $100 million. I don’t think that’s going to happen, so we can all take a big, deep breath of relief now.
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Is Howard Stern the New Simon Cowell?
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip,
Sources say that FOX is already shopping around for a new American Idol panelist, someone to replace Simon Cowell when he jumps ship next year to work on his new X-Factor gig. Who could possibly offer enough smooth wit, harsh criticism and a charming smile to fill Cowell’s shoes on the show?
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American Idol 9: Road to Hollywood
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
American Idol 9 viewers got a little gypped on Wednesday night. Instead of featuring a single audition city, we were given a random montage of singers from across the nation - and a few highlights of those we’ll be seeing in next week’s Hollywood round.
Larry Platt’s “Pants on the Ground,” was featured first, of course. The catchy little ditty has truly swept the nation, springing up all over YouTube in the weeks since it was first introduced. The funny clips of this number led into a not-so-subtle segue about song selection…and then, our hour-long montage episode was truly underway.
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American Idol 9: Denver Auditions
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
Tuesday’s audition city, Denver, is where American Idol first found Chris Daughtry, who was surprisingly eliminated in Season 4 of the popular reality series. Guest judge Victoria Beckham again joined the regular panel to fill Paula Abdul’s vacant seat.
Auditions began with Mark Labriola, who thinks he looks quite a bit like Jack Black. He was very energized for his audition and truly interesting. His surprising voice was absolutely beautiful, forcing the panel to raise their eyebrows as they listened. The unique sound could certainly stand out in Hollywood Week. Victoria Beckham called the audition “a really nice surprise.” The judges unanimously voted to send Labriola to Hollywood, though not before Simon Cowell questioned him further about his unusual past.
Mario Galvan laughs when he’s nervous and arrived to his audition in a beat-up trench coat. He growled out an Elvis tune with tons of volume, but no display of vocal command whatsoever. “No,” Simon Cowell was brusque, and Mario went quietly away.
They can’t all get golden tickets. Even more will be rejected during Hollywood Week, some only one step away from reaching the big stage.
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American Idol 9: Dallas Auditions
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Video,
American Idol 9 visited frequent host city Dallas, Texas in Wednesday’s installment. Soaring skyscrapers, wide-open skies and southern charm were offered aplenty. The show’s steadies - Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson - attempted to guess who the day’s guest judge would be.
Neil Patrick Harris, best known for his role on How I Met Your Mother, answered the question. His goal was to make “two, three dozen people cry.” I’m on board with that. Original American Idol champ Kelly Clarkson came from the show’s first Dallas auditions. Also present at this first year was Julie Kevelighan, who returned in Season 9 for a little redemption.
Clad in an ill-fitting sparkly blue dress, Julie launched into a warbly rendition of “Black Velvet” to further prove that she’s just no Idol. Neil Patrick Harris critiqued Julie’s sign before telling her he didn’t really care for the singing. “Everything was wrong,” Simon Cowell summed it up. Julie kept right on singing as the panel groaned. Security eventually swept her right on out the door. “That’s just annoying,” the guest judge remarked.
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American Idol 9: Los Angeles Auditions
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Video,
The Rose Bowl saw ten thousand would-be American Idols on Tuesday’s audition installment of Season 9. The goal of this audition round is to get to Hollywood, but these LA auditions were held right in the shadow of the famed sign. Their journey would be shorter in travel-time, but the competitors would still have to get past the judges to get their shot at fame. Avril Lavigne was the guest judge on Day 1, one of the few guest panelists in Idol history who is still young enough to compete on the show (if she wasn’t already, of course, a huge pop superstar in her own right).
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American Idol 9: Orlando Auditions
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip, Video,
Orlando was the host city, so American Idol 9 started Wednesday’s audition episode with footage of an actual rocket launch. How many careers will the show launch - or even end - this year? That knowledge is many months away, so for now let’s just focus on a bunch of bad singers…and, a few great ones.
Ten thousand turned up to sing for the judges in Florida, but the men of Idol (Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson) were more than two hundred miles away in Miami. Meanwhile, Kara DioGuardi and guest judge Kristen Chenoweth arrived in the sunny audition city.
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