American Idol S10: The Finals

Haley :-(

Now, I know my prediction last week was off. I know I changed my initial prediction of a Lauren/Scotty finale to a Haley/Lauren finale.... but I'm still going to pat myself on the back. I never wrote about it (yeah, yeah, what of it?), but I read a spoiler late last year that someone named Scotty McCreery made the top 40, and that he was a country hearthrob. I watched a couple YouTube videos and agreed - this kid had to be a frontrunner. I've documented my choice of Lauren - from the moment she started singing with Steven Tyler in her audition, I figured she could be in this spot (and given how she was hailed as the second coming of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, I knew it would be). 

I also know that this isn't exactly a popular finale. Are Scotty and Lauren the two most talented artists on Idol this year? Hard to determine, really, but I'll say no. Are they the best contestants on the show? Nope, not at all. How are they here? Probably more luck than anything else, with other perceived favorites falling on their faces more often. Whatever the case, this is one of the very few finales where both finalists have a legit chance of being successful in mainstream music (yes, haters, country is a mainstream genre of music). 

Without further introduction.... the finale.

American Idol S10: Top 3

re: last week.... BRAVO, AMERICA! The right person went home last week, if you ask me, regardless of what the judges were trying to force. 

If you told me back when I started my weekly recapping of Idol that Haley would be top 3 at worst, I would have laughed at you. The girl has turned it on over the course of the competition, choosing great songs, ripping into them like nobody's business. These last two weeks are typically very tough, since the judges give absolutely no help (less so than usual!).

These weekly Idol promo shots are humorous. Could they be wearing any more makeup? Or is it airbrushing? Either way... too much.

Anyhoo, onto the top 3!

American Idol S10: Top 4, Songs that Inspire and the Songs of Leiber & Stoller

 

I don't have anything to say about last week's results show other than, simply... perfect final four.

Also, I don't know why I never put a picture on my Idol posts. #timmfail, I guess. Perhaps I'll go back and add them, to pretty up my blog. Perhaps.

Tonight... more tired Idol themes! Seriously, is it so difficult to find new themes? While they've only done one specific "Leiber and Stoller" week (season 4), their songs are absolute staples of Motown Weeks and 60s week and 50s week and Elvis week and others. Been there, done that. And inspirational songs? Done 3 times. Where is One Hit Wonder week? Songs by the Opposite Gender? Songs from James Bond movies? Songs Never Before Done on American Idol? 

Ah well.... you know the drill, after the jump. 

 

American Idol S10: Top 5, Songs from Now and Then

Casey finally got the boot last week. What was a surprise was the "bottom three"... that wasn't really a bottom three. Seacrest never said that the three remaining were the lowest vote getters, which reeks of producer manipulation. I'd be willing to bet that Scotty's vote totals weren't as high as the producers liked, so by having him appear to be in trouble, they can encourage voting. They do this pretty much every year... it must work, or else they wouldn't do it.

Anyhoo, this week... now and then. Everybody gets two solo songs, one contemporary, one from the 60s... though looking at some of the song choices, apparently "1960s" was just a guideline. Either way, should be interesting... I'm watching via rickey.org, so I don't have the judges comments... though I did get running commentary from Rachael during the show (thanks!) and was following along on Twitter, so I got the gist of everything. My thoughts, after the jump!

American Idol S10: Top 6, The Songs of Carole King

Last week on American Idol.... my weeks-old prediction finally came true with Stefano going home. His elimination shows that it's down to crunch time for American Idol 10, as it was probably his strongest performance in weeks. All things considered, this top 6 is probably pretty close to what I would have figured the top 6 would be, had I made a list at the beginning of the competition (though I probably would have swapped Jacob and Pia).

This week, the Idols tackle the songs of Carole King. I LOVE Carole King, so this could be a real interesting week for me. Hopefully it's along the lines of the Elton John week, another of my favorites, where everyone came out pretty strong. I didn't watch the live show, instead am watching via the magic of Youtube. Without further adieu...

American Idol S10: Top 7, Songs from the 21st Century

So, I was incorrect with my Stefano pick for the second straight week. I had 2/3 of the bottom three right, though! I wasn't surprised at all by Paul going home. He was bad more often than he was brilliant, so, there you go. 

"Songs from the 21st Century." That sounds so.... futuristic. I mean, sure, it actually means songs from the last 10 years or so, so technically the past, but still. Futuristic. Anyhoo, whatev. My thoughts after the jump.

 

American Idol S10: Top 8, Songs from the Movies Week

Tonight, American Idol reaches another hand in the "cliche theme week" bag, coming out with Songs from the Movies. Tonight's was a show where 7/8 of the contestants were showered with praise like never before, because when the judges say it's the best year ever, it so is.

 

American Idol S10: Top 9, Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame Week

Tonight, the top 9 tackle songs from artists in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. When I first learned the theme, I bemoaned the seemingly narrow theme, something Nigel Lythgoe promised would not be the case. I knew the inductees are a varied bunch, but it didn’t register in my head just how varied. So, without further adieu….

American Idol S10: Top 11 (Part Deux), Elton John Week

So the judges saved Casey last week. Ho hum…. just kidding. That was big. That kind of situation is EXACTLY what the save should be used for. I’ve made it no secret that I’m no Casey fan, but there is absolutely no reason he should finish 11th in this year’s competition. None whatsoever. I’ll chalk his “elimination” up to lackadaisical voting by America (along the lines of Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry). Great use of the save by the judges, and great job getting the silly “sing for your life!” gimmick out of the way early on.

Tonight the Top 11 tackled the iconic songs of Elton John, one of the most done artists in Idol history. Makes sense. Let’s get right to it, shall we? Tweet form again!

American Idol S10: Top 11... Motown Week

Marissa, James and I saw HAIR tonight, so I’m forced to watch Idol via various Youtube videos, courtesy of rickey.org. I’m watching them in reverse order (as they are posted on the site). I’m going to keep it brief tonight. So without further adieu…

American Idol S10: Top 12

I’m starting to get a bit worried about this season. The semi-finals seemed to set up a season 8-like scenario, where any given week, you could envision 3/4 of the contestants actually winning. Two weeks later, and it appears like it could be one of three or four people. It’s still early, so I’m not giving up hope of a free-for-all just yet… but this week was more of the same from last week - some hits, some epic misses… but mostly meh.

American Idol S10: Top 13

Last week, I was SO encouraged by this season. TONS of talent, SO much potential, the hopes that this season will recapture the magic of American Idol….. then this week happened.

Ok, that’s a bit rough. The contestants are all still super talented, and everyone still has the potential they had last week…. but this week was certainly disappointing for me.

The speculation was that Idol peeps brought in Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine to help guide the contestants, who were falling into a pattern of choosing TERRIBLE songs for themselves in recent years. So far, it appears Iovine is failing. Tonight’s song choices were all over the place, ranging from boringly safe to horribly outlandish and everything in between.

American Idol S10: Semi-Finals Round

I said after the first audition night that I wanted to review Idol this year, so I’m going to do just that. I can’t guarantee I’ll do this same thing each week, but as I sit here right this moment, that’s my plan. After the jump, you’ll find my contestant-by-contestant mini-review for the show’s Top 24. Spoiler: it’s a girl’s year.

American Idol S10: What's with the ju-ju-bees on your oo-oo-bees?

So, the 10th season American Idol premiered last night. I LOVE this show. I was at first skeptical of all the changes they made so quickly to the show, but as the hype continued to build, I began getting more and more excited. I figured that Steven Tyler was going to be a hot mess, and I was dying to see it.

The audition episodes are not my favorite in the least. To me, it’s more or less 3-4 weeks of noise, with a few standout auditions (for all the WRONG reasons). Sure, they show some really talented people, and quite likely the person that will be crowned the winner in May… but given all the crap auditions, I’m not likely to remember them when they get to the Hollywood round, let alone the actual performance shows. Because of this, I usually watch a couple shows when I can, but I don’t make them appointment TV.

This year, however? That may change. Why? Steven Tyler.