American Idol: Top 6 results

Quick spoilers for tonight's "American Idol" elimination show coming up after I laugh about how the show actually ran short tonight, forcing Seacrest to vamp...

So, bottom three of Big Mike, Siobhan and Casey. Big Mike sent to safety, commercial break, then Siobhan goes home.

Early in the finals, Siobhan was the only contestant I cared about other than Crystal. But as I said last night, I grew tired of Siobhan's one not-so-great trick, and also of her endless babbling whenever the judges criticized her (she was at least 40 percent responsible for a lot of the overruns). I'm more bored with Aaron, but she was one of two who most deserved to go home.

Question: when is the last time someone in the finals went home after getting the pimp spot? I know Melinda Doolittle did in season 6 (but in the Top 3 show, which doesn't quite count), and I know Lilly went home despite being pimped in the semis this year, but has it happened in the finals in recent years before this week? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Can't anyone here produce a TV show?

Okay, this is just getting stupid now. After everyone got so angry last week about "American Idol" running five minutes long (despite only having seven performances to stretch out over an hour) and cutting off people's DVR recordings of "Glee" (and after people were torqued that the "Idol" Gives Back results show ran 17 hours long and prevented part of America from enjoying Tim Urban's elimination), the show somehow ran long again last night. It was only by a minute or two, but once again people watching "Glee" on a DVR delay lost part of the final musical number.

After the jump, I look at who's potentially to blame, and what can be done to fix things...

Okay, so our candidates for blame, in no particular order:

Bruce Gowers: He's the director of the show (Emmy-winning director, no less, even though they can't bring it in on time and the cameras are never where they should be), so on one level the buck stops with him. By now, he should have realized they're having trouble with time and ordered some things cut, whether it's judge talk, or Ryan Seacrest chatting up Shania Twain to fill time that ultimately didn't need to be filled, or what have you. Keep the show lean and mean for the first 2/3rds, and if it looks like there will be time, you can do a little padding around the last few performances. In a live telecast, the director is calling the shots, and Gower has failed miserably in this area.

Ryan Seacrest: Keeping the trains running on time has always been one of Seacrest's specialties, but he's been flaky in a lot of ways this season, including this one. If Gowers isn't telling him to cut the judges off when they start to bicker, or to go straight to the phone numbers once Simon's done talking, then Seacrest needs to take that initiative on his own and get things moving. Again, save the contestant-judge dialogue for late in the show if it's abundantly clear you have time to spare.

Four judges: It still boggles my mind that it occurred to no one on the show last year that bringing in a fourth judge would consume air time, and that something else would have to give. What's given, for the most part, is the number of songs - we're only going to get 5 next week, when in the pre-Kara days, we would have gotten 10 (two from each contestant) - even though that's the whole point of the show. But even when stretching 12 songs over 2 hours, or 6 songs over 1, the judges still consume way too much air and airtime. And it isn't just that there's an extra judge, but that Kara and Ellen are both chattier than Paula was (Paula, for all her insanity, seemed aware that she should stop talking after a while). So by the time we get to Simon (the other major reason for watching), the other three have gone on so much that the show is running long, and Simon gets cut off abruptly more often than not. They all need to be given earpieces so that Gowers (or, hopefully, someone more competent) can tell them to wrap it up and hand things off to the next judge. That, or they need to be given shock collars that go off if they run over their allotted time.

The producers: Again, four judges is too many. They either needed to not replace Paula when she left (and I was saying that even before Ellen turned out to be a complete waste of time), or they needed to be willing to sacrifice some other part of the show. I don't care if that's the mentor clips, or the Seacresterviews (which, admittedly, Coke sponsors), the introduction, or what have you, but something had to give, and nothing has. And as the bosses of the judges, Seacrest and Gowers, they should have authority to speed things up. But they don't seem to care.

Fox: The sense I get from talking to people at Fox is that they're as annoyed by this as the rest of us - several "Fringe" episodes got messed up this way last spring, and now it's happening to "Glee," a much more important piece of the network's future - but they have no control over the "Idol" producers. When a show is as big a hit as "Idol" is - single-handedly carrying Fox to a first-place Nielsen finish season after season - the producers realize that the network needs them more than they need the network, and they can do what they want with impunity. What's Fox going to do? Cancel "Idol"? Cut off the telecasts at 9 no matter what? (That would anger even more people than are being irked about the "Glee" thing.)

Basically, until Ken Warwick and company decide they care about ending on time, we're stuck with this mess. So if you watch "Idol" and/or "Glee," make sure your recordings are padded by a minimum of five minutes every week. And even that wouldn't have helped you with last week's results show. Sigh... Click here to read the full post

American Idol, Top 6: Shania Twain Night

A review of tonight's "American Idol" performances coming up just as soon as I lament professional comedian Ellen DeGeneres' need to do two different "Shania Twain-as-train" jokes in one episode...

First of all, Shania Twain's Canadian-ness is one of those things I tend to forget (in spite of my own half-Canadian ancestry) for years at a time because I only hear her sing, and the accent only comes out in her speaking voice. Very unsettling to be reminded she could have played the love interest in a Bob & Doug McKenzie movie if the timing had been a bit different.

As to the show itself? Well, let's just say I find Shania's speaking voice more interest than a lot of what's in her songbook - and particularly the parts of her songbook that were performed this evening. (If only Big Mike or Aaron had come out and did "Man, I Feel Like a Woman"...)

Lee Dewyze, "You're Still the One": Every week, the judges completely ignore the number of outright horrible notes he lets into his performances. Until this week, those at least were the exception each week and not the rule, but tonight Lee sounded more off-key then on, while at the same time looking like he had just been up all night trying to recreate the "ADRIAN!!!!" scene from the end of the first "Rocky." I don't dislike Lee in general, but this was probably the worst he's been so far.

Michael Lynche, "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing": This is Big Mike doing his young Luther thing. Mostly sounded good - though the falsetto was oddly weak in spots - and passionate (the "wet" quality Simon was complaining about), but didn't do a lot for me.

Casey James, "Don't": Some other contestants this season have been ruined by inconsistent comments from the judges. Fortunately for Casey, the judges have all been telling him the same thing for weeks, and he finally listened. No pointless guitar mini-solos, no fixed half-smile; just his usual Bob Seger voice married to some genuine emotion. More vibrato than I would have liked, but overall his best since "Jealous Guy," and one of his strongest performances overall.

Crystal Bowersox, "No One Needs to Know": After last week's powerhouse, tear-inducing "People Get Ready," Crystal takes it down several notches with a quirky alt-country performance that sounded very much like the sort of thing she might play at a concert five years from now in between two of her better-known hits. I liked the vibe of it, and the way Crystal sounded a bit like Neko Case when she went into the falsetto. The judges were clearly irked (though only Simon came out and admitted it) she didn't swing for the fences again after last week, but I'm fine with a Mama Sox double now and then.

Aaron Kelly, "You Got a Way": Aaron's voice has been pretty brutal the last month or so, but on a country-themed night he finally managed to grab hold of the notes and not sound like he was straining to reach them. But if he sounded better technically, he still put me to sleep, though I believe I woke up just in time to hear Kara accuse him of being a virgin. Is that about right?

Siobhan Magnus, "Any Man of Mine": Okay, I think I'm done with her. All the usual Siobhan tics - dull, pitchy low notes at the beginning, building to a wail and an endless power note - and here we got the added bonus of her having major breath control issues as she tried to walk and sing at the same time, and then as she tried to deal with some particularly wordy verses. The judges were impressed by the big note at the end, but I've seen that trick too often to care when the rest of the song was so uninspired.

Best of the night: The Outlaw Casey James, followed a ways back by Crystal.

In danger: I'd be fine with either Siobhan or Aaron going, but he had the whole "I was singing it to my mom" moment, and she had the pimp spot, which is still mostly invulnerable, so... Lee, in spite of never being in the bottom 3 before? Big Mike, because his voters could get complacent twice? I'll be curious to see if Crystal goes bottom 3 after the judges finally criticized her, and also after a small-by-design performance, but I'd be stunned if she was in real danger.

Finally, as many of you know by now, I'll be blogging at HitFix starting next week, and in figuring out how the new job is going to work, I think "Idol" is one of the few shows I cover regularly now that won't get the weekly treatment in the new home.

Part of that is that it's been a real bear doing "Idol" and "Lost" live on the same night (which wasn't a problem this week), part is that I've been really uninspired by the cast this season, and part of it is that Fienberg has always been much, much better at writing about "Idol" (here's his review of tonight's show). When I was a solo act, it made sense for me to carve out time to do these weekly write-ups; when I'm at a place where another guy does it and does it better than me (and cares more than I do), it makes sense to focus time and energy elsewhere. I'm sure I'll weigh in from time to time, and maybe even do a weekly post where I link to Dan and invite you to comment, but at least until the finals, I'm out of the "Idol" reviewing game.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Idol Gives Back, the voters take dreams away

It's easy to mock or complain about a lot of things "American Idol" does, and even about the length and some of the creative choices of the "Idol" Gives Back show itself in years past, but I refuse to do anything but applaud the charitable approach itself, and I would encourage you to donate some money if you can.

As for the elimination part of the show, I have the results spoilers coming up after the jump...

Unlike season 6, when the show wimped out at the last minute from sending anyone home, or season 7, when they separated the results show from "Idol" Gives Back, here we actually got an elimination on the same night as the telethon, and it was the feel-good ending I was hoping for, with Tim Urban's dimples finally failing him.

What was vaguely interesting was that Casey James wound up in the bottom group with him, leaving Crystal, Lee and Siobhan as the only contestants to not yet wind up at risk on an elimination show. We've gone pretty deep into seasons with one contestant never being at risk (Taylor and Carrie both won their seasons that way, for instance), and I'm sure we've gone far with it never happening with two, but can any amateur "Idol"-ologist tell me what's the farthest we've gone with three never being at risk? Is this unusual, or am I just desperate to find something to pay attention to this season besides Crystal's super-competence?

What did everybody else think? Relieved TUrban went home, or annoyed you'll miss the spectacle of Simon trying to find nice things to say so as not to rile the kid's fanbase? And how did this year's telethon compare to the previous two? Click here to read the full post

American Idol, Top 7: Inspirational Songs Night

Pretty brutal "American Idol" tonight (as I always assume it will be with this theme and its inherent Mariah-ness), with one exception (hint: look up at the picture). If I hadn't skipped the last two weeks because of my time off, I'd be tempted to just do a "Crystal rules, others drool" post, but may as well review contestant by contestant, just as soon as I tell you that I like Spider-Man...

Casey James, "Don't Stop": This is Casey on auto-pilot, with the perma-smile, the mini guitar solos and the usual Bob Seger/Huey Lewis affectations. As usual, there's nothing bad about what he's doing, but there was also nothing all that memorable.

Lee Dewyze, "The Boxer": This Simon & Garfunkel classic re-arranges itself surprisingly well into a more overtly rock ballad, and Lee was definitely playing with more passion than Casey, or than that he'd shown before, but there was still the usual assortment of notes that made me wonder what target he was aiming at that was nowhere near what was on the music sheet.

Tim Urban, "Better Days": Again, he takes everything remotely challenging out of the arrangement to match his woefully limited skillset, yet this time can't even manage to stay in tune all the way through. Both bad (which can be helpful in motivating your fanbase) and boring (which has the opposite effect) at the same time. Might the collision of matter and anti-matter finally be enough to send him home?

Aaron Kelly, "I Believe I Can Fly": I can't remember anyone on the show ever doing this song well, though Fienberg reminded me that Ruben handled it just fine waaay back in season two. Still, this is one of those songs where anyone who's watched the show for even a short amount of time should know is a trap, and Aaron falls right into it. Cheesey and all over the place vocally, with a whole lot of notes that were just pure pain.

Siobhan Magnus, "When You Believe": God, I hate this song so, so, so much, and while Siobhan managed to sing the power notes well without shrieking, the whole performance was incredibly dull - and that's even with her wearing a collection of butterflies on her dress.

Michael Lynche, "Hero": Dozed off halfway through this bland performance and woke up to Simon explaining that songs from the "Spider-Man" soundtrack can't be inspirational. So Simon hates songs about birds, songs from comic book movies... what else?

Crystal Bowersox, "People Get Ready": Mama Sox has been terrific throughout the competition, but that consistency also has started to work against her a bit - if you start out so much better than everyone else, and are consistent in your performances, it starts to feel like you've plateaued. She'd been great, but without an "Idol" Moment. With her beautiful take on this '60s classic - sans guitar, starting off a cappella, and eventually working herself into tears - Crystal finally had her Moment, and hopefully one that will prevent any kind of bored "You're our resident professional" talk from the judges in the weeks to come.

Best of the night: Crystal. No one else in the running.

In danger: I'd like to think that "Idol" Gives Back will have a feel-good ending with Tim going home, but I suspect Aaron's in more danger, and Siobhan may be, too.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Top 10 results

Quick "American Idol" results spoilers coming up just as soon as I point out that, again, an overly-padded show wound up running past 10 o'clock, which means anyone who DVR'ed won't know if the judges bothered to use their stupid Save...

So, Katie Stevens, Tim Urban and Did Benami were the bottom three, Katie was sent to safety first, and the voters sent Didi home. She did a very strong reprise of her "Rhiannon" from the semi-finals, but the judges sure weren't going to use the Save on someone who's just been kind of hanging on since the semi-finals began.

I liked Didi a lot in Hollywood, and while she wasn't the best of this season's doll-voiced singers (that would be Lilly), she was still distinctive enough that I'd have liked to see her go longer - and certainly longer than the likes of Tim.

Meanwhile, for all of the talk that this would be a season for the ladies, we've had women eliminated every single week of the finals. We haven't had an all-female final 2 since Fantasia and Diana in season 3, and we haven't had a woman in the finale at all since Jordin Sparks won it three seasons ago. Is that just a fluke, or a sign that the "Idol" audience is trending towards people who will throw more support behind the guys, all things being equal? And if the latter, I'd say the odds of a Crystal/Siobhan finale (which weren't that great to begin with, given Siobhan's polarizing nature and recent struggles) just got lower.

What did everybody else think? And how was the results show (which I didn't put on for good until Diddy turned up) overall? Click here to read the full post

American Idol, Top 10: R&B/Soul Night

Due to the Passover holiday, as well as my own disenchantment with this season, I took the no-frills approach to watching "American Idol" this morning: just the 10 songs (plus the judges' comments on Andrew and Crystal, because I was busy doing something else for a moment during each). Quick thoughts on how things went just as soon as I point out that the bumblers producing and directing this show somehow ran a minute or two long even though they had 10 performances to sprinkle over two hours...

After mentioning in the column linked to above that Crystal and Siobhan were the only real reasons to watch, Siobhan turned in a complete stinker, while a couple of other contestants stepped up. Still not a great night overall, though.

Siobhan Magnus, "Through the Fire": Starts off bland, then turns disastrous quickly. If some of her previous performances were about showing off the power of her upper register, the message here was "with great power comes great responsibility to find the damn key and stay on it." Terrible.

Casey James, "Hold On (I'm Coming"): Once again, Casey James being Casey James (and sounding oddly more like Huey Lewis than on last week's "Power of Love"). He has his one thing, he does it pretty well, and he at least made an attempt to step away from the mic stand for a moment. Definitely his most energetic performance to date, but there's not a lot of variance to what he does.

Michael Lynche, "Ready for Love": The blinding white spotlights didn't really suit the vibe of this relaxed, intimate ballad, and the idea that he was performing behind the judges kept distracting me. (I know other performers have done parts of songs on that riser, but the whole thing?) Solid but unspectacular on a night you figured Big Mike would own.

Didi Benami, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted": I've got a high standard for blonde women singing this song, which is Joan Osborne's incredible cover of it from "Standing in the Shadows of Motown, and Didi doesn't have the range, power or confidence to do something like that. Instead, it was her usual sultry thing, a bit sleepier than usual, and her attempt at a big note just seemed goofy - like it was something she felt she should try, but not something she was comfortable doing.

Tim Urban, "Sweet Love": I will confess I started fast-forwarding about halfway through this one, in part because I was creeped out by the stalker eyes, in part because it's yet another Tim Urban arrangement that strips away anything remotely challenging about the song so he can be sure to hit the notes. Zzzz....

Andrew Garcia, "Forever": Much, much better. Like Casey, Andrew's only got the one trick, but he's very good at it (and for some reason has attracted the judges' ire for sticking to it, while Casey gets a pass). Not only was he much more comfortable with the acoustic guitar again, but his voice again sounded crisp and clear, where he's had a lot of pitch issues the last few weeks.

Katie Stevens, "Chain of Fools": Speaking of high bars, this is Fantasia's song as far as "Idol" is concerned. (I wonder if the show should start retiring certain songs if a contestant does a definitive rendition of it, the way sports teams retire uniform numbers.) Katie's vocals were okay (if froggy as usual), but couldn't quite overcome the inherent goofiness of her trying to sing this song.

Lee Dewyze, "Treat Her Like a Lady": Lee has always had a good voice, but he's hit a lot of bum notes in past performances, and he wasn't particularly confident on stage the last couple of weeks. Tonight, though, he was strong vocally throughout, very energetic, very committed, and his voice was a great match for this Cornelius Brothers oldie-but-goodie. When I handicapped the Top 12, I said Lee was one of the few with a chance to win. If he can deliver a streak of performances like this one, he's got a definite shot.

Crystal Bowersox, "Midnight Train to Georgia": I appreciate the effort to not do the same thing every week - piano instead of guitar, high heels instead of Birkenstocks - and I suppose that's necessary to keep (some of) the judges and/or the audience from getting tired of her, but I'm with Simon: Crystal knows who she is and should do just fine sticking to that. This was one of the best of the night, but also probably my least favorite performance of Crystal's so far. The phrasing was great as always, but you could tell she was distracted by the piano-playing and then the move to stand up, and the falsetto wasn't that strong. A necessary gambit, but one I hope she doesn't try to repeat later on.

Aaron Kelly, "Ain't No Sunshine": Another snoozer, with Aaron, as usual, sounding strained in spots, passable in others.

Best of the night: I'd probably give it to Lee, followed by Crystal and then Andrew.

In trouble: Andrew could still be at risk, because you'll often see a singer who's been struggling but skating by finally get some compliments from the judges and then go home, because the fanbase gets complacent. My hope is that it's Tim (Fienberg suggested that Simon performed the famed reverse juju on him that he's used to eliminate the likes of Kevin Covais in seasons past), but I fear we're stuck with him and his stalker eyes for another week or two.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Top 11 results

Been otherwise occupied tonight (and try to avoid watching the whole results show anyway), but I have "American Idol" results spoilers coming right up...

So, bottom three were Katie, Tim and Paige. Katie sent back to safety quickly, Paige and Tim bottom two, Paige eliminated.

The part I did see, which was interesting, is that Simon didn't even bother trying to maintain the farce that is the Judges Save. Instead, he told Paige flat out that they weren't going to use it on her before the "sing for your life" portion, and we therefore got her goodbye speech and death montage before she finally struggled her way through "All Right Now," her voice completely shot.

I know Paige's exit goes against my "better to be awful than mediocre" elimination theory, but there are exceptions, and completely losing the ability to sing was one of them. At this point, I suspect even the Paige die-hards knew they were just prolonging her misery by keeping her there.

So we're stuck with Tim at least another week (if not longer), but the clear worst person from last night went home, and that's acceptable.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol, Top 11: Billboard #1 Hits Night

A review of last night's "American Idol" performances coming up just as soon as my gimmick is a carpet...

At one point, this was supposed to be Teen Idol Night, and for whatever reason - maybe because mentor Miley Cyrus objected to the idea? - it changed to Billboard #1 Hits Night, which is one of those amorphous "choose your own theme" nights that lets each contestant stay in his or her comfort zone. And that in turn makes for a much less interesting show than ones with more specific themes; even if the theme has no application to pop music and doesn't fit most of the contestants, it can be entertaining to see how they each try to make it work. This, on the other hand, was dullsville - as Simon said, bluntly, "Tonight, for me, was not a good night overall." - where even the one truly strong performance (Crystal) was exactly what you might have expected that singer to do.

In order...

Lee Dewyze, "The Letter": This song would have technically qualified for a Teen Idol Night, as Alex Chilton was only 16 when The Box Tops recorded this one. I don't know if DeWyze knew about Chilton, and I'm sure Simon neither knows nor cares (Big Star is the kind of cult favorite he has no use for), but the song has had an "Idol" presence since at least season four, and this was an odd arrangement of it. I never would have pegged Lee as a guy to go all lounge act, but it was, between the suit, the horns and his stage presence sans guitar. Not that interesting, save for a couple of big notes in the middle, and he lost the thread near the end.

Paige Miles, "Against All Odds": Speaking of songs with an "Idol" history, this one has been repeatedly butchered (here's Corey Clark killing it in season two), and Paige once again inflicted maximum damage upon the works of Phil Collins. Strained, warbly, and lifeless all at the same time. Even grading on a curve for her cold (which actually kind of worked for her last week), that was awful.

Tim Urban, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love": A few years ago, when somebody (Taylor Hicks?) sang this, I noted that the degree of difficulty is so low that it's the song I would pick if I somehow wound up on that stage (and I can't sing at all). Lots of big stage moves to play to the auditorium, but he was barely even singing for most of it. The reggae "Under My Thumb" was horribly ill-conceived, but at least he was trying something there. This was just lazy.

Aaron Kelly, "Don't Want to Miss a Thing": I haven't been a fan of Aaron, and I cringe every year when this song (my least favorite Aerosmith hit) makes its annual "Idol" appearance, but this was surprisingly decent - particularly if you grade Aaron on a curve for his double case of -itis. He strained in spots, but not as much as he so often does in the weeks when he's been healthier. And he's a damn site better than Tim.

Crystal Bowersox, "Me and Bobby McGee": Of course Crystal would sing Janis if given the chance. Of course she would. But unlike some previous Joplin wannabes on "Idol," Crystal has the voice and musicianship and stagecraft to pull it off. She's just operating at a much higher level than anyone else so far this year (even Siobhan) that it almost doesn't seem fair to give her such a fat pitch down the center of the plate like this. Just a pleasure to watch and to listen to, and she finally started showing some personality in her interaction with the judges afterwards. At this point, my only fears are that she's not current enough to win, and that the judges will start getting bored with her and playing the "you're our resident professional" card around Top 6 or 5.

Michael Lynche, "When a Man Loves a Woman": Kind of the quintessential Michael Lynche performance: solid, entertaining, likable, competent, but not that spectacular. (And I'm surprised he didn't use his falsetto more, as it's probably the one part of his range that sounds like more than just really good karaoke.)

Andrew Garcia, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine": When Miley told Andrew to ditch his guitar, I thought, "Well, if he goes home tomorrow, it's her fault." But I doubt the guitar would have improved things. Sure, his stage moves are mostly clumsy - save for the moonwalk we failed to see because bumbling "Idol" director Bruce Gowers once again cut away from the one interesting thing to look at on stage - but even with the guitar as security blanket, this was still a lifeless arrangement, and one that challenged Andrew vocally only slightly more than Tim. At a certain point, we've got to let "Straight Up" go and just accept that this isn't a particularly good venue for the guy.

Katie Stevens, "Big Girls Don't Cry": God, I hate this song (Fergie's a pox on modern music). Katie was okay, though she started out too low and there were the usual pitch issues. But overall, another really bland performance on a bland night.

Casey James, "The Power of Love": This seems like kind of the quintessential Casey song, in that Huey Lewis and the News were essentially a kick-ass bar band that improbably hit it big for a while(*). Casey doesn't nearly have Huey's range, though (even if he'd had 30 more seconds to play with, I bet he would have skipped the "they say that all in love is fair" bridge to avoid the key change). Like so much on the night, Casey hit the marks and not much more.

(*) When the News were huge, Bobcat Goldthwait had this great bit in his act about how, if you saw Huey walking down the street, "You wouldn't go, 'Hey, isn't that America's #1 rock star?' You'd go, 'Isn't that a friend of my dad?'"

Didi Benami, "You're No Good": Last week, Didi managed to sell the emotions of her song without coming across like an actress. This week, she pushed it too far; it was like a slinkier version of those artificial pageant-y performances that Diana DeGarmo used to give every week. And the song wasn't a good match for her voice.

Siobhan Magnus, "Superstition": The faux-hawk and the outfit made for probably her best look to date, but this was paint-by-numbers Siobhan: start out low (a bit too low this time), move around, then scream. The build up to the scream didn't feel as natural as it did last week, and this time it actually sounded like shrieking, where in some previous performances it just sounded like she had a really powerful upper register.

Best of the night: Crystal. Nobody else close.

In danger: Paige will be in the bottom three again, but under my "it's better to be awful than mediocre" theory of "Idol" eliminations, I wouldn't be surprised to see somebody like Andrew, Tim or even Lee (who was unmemorable and had to go first in a very long show) go home ahead of her.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Top 12 results

Quick "American Idol" results - and other assorted developments from the first elimination show of the season - coming right up...

So, bottom three: Tim Urban, Paige Miles and Lacey Brown. Tim, unsurprisingly, sent back to safety first (we're stuck with his floppy hair for at least a month, I'm guessing), and then Lacey has the lowest vote...

... but first we have to sit through the farce that is the return of The Judges Save, one of the dumbest format changes the show has yet instituted, and one I had hoped we would never hear from again after it was such a bust last year.

Alas, we're stuck with it, until either one of the four favorites is a shocking boot at, like, Top 8, or until we get so deep into the season that the producers and judges feel they have to use on someone of Matt Giraud quality. And in the meantime, everyone has to pretend like they might use it this early, on somebody like Lacey.

One slight improvement to the Save: instead of having to sing the song that got them the least votes the night before, the contestants are apparently allowed to pick any song they've done so far this season (I'm sure they tell the band in advance which one they'll do if it's their turn). The whole thing's still totally bogus, but this at least makes the lie seem more plausible.

Lacey wasn't the worst last night, but she was unmemorable, and that's the worst thing that can happen to you on "Idol." Question is: does the elimination of Lilly and Lacey in back-to-back weeks mean Didi has smooth sailing for a while now that she's alone in her niche, or that the viewers are gunning for the women who sing this way, and she's next? Click here to read the full post

American Idol, Top 12: Rolling Stones Night

The "American Idol" finals began last night with the contestants singing Rolling Stones songs, and (like the comparable first Beatles Night a couple of seasons ago), the end result was surprisingly not terrible. I thought a lot of the contestants would struggle with the theme and/or be swallowed up by the big stage, but most were okay, and a few were much better than that. (Admittedly, it was the few you would expect to be better.) A review coming up just as soon as you tell a younger version of me to stay on pitch...

In order:

Michael Lynche, "Miss You": Lots of "Idol" men mistakenly believe they have a good falsetto, but Big Mike actually has one, which makes this disco-era Stones track a smart pick for him. He takes the song in a more R&B direction, works the stage as well as any contestant will on the night, and can both sing and understand his limitations. It's fun to watch him work up there, and he's easy enough to listen to.

Didi Benami, "Play with Fire": Every time I see Didi without her guitar, I get nervous for her (even if she gave Fienberg a good excuse for not bringing it out each time), but this was the first time she looked comfortable and confident on stage, and she connected with the emotions of her song better than most of the competition did. Like spiritual "Idol" ancestor Brooke White, her range isn't very big, but the tone of her voice is compelling so long as she stays inside that range, which she did tonight.

Casey James, "It's All Over Now": If I saw that performance at a bar, I'd be really happy with it. And that's not a bad thing; there's a kind of baseline competence to Casey that means I'm going to enjoy his presumed long run on the show, even if I don't think he should win. He seems a better TV performer than stage performer so far, in that he knows exactly how to play to the camera but not necessarily how to move around up there while doing that. The movie to a country rock sound is a smart one for him; like I said in my Top 12 preview, that style suits his voice better, and should also help keep him around, since country fans are a surprisingly underserved "Idol" demographic, even with the success not only of Carrie, but of lesser lights like Bucky Covington and Kellie Pickler.

Lacey Brown, "Ruby Tuesday": Lacey and Didi are aiming for the same niche, and have the same baby-doll quality in their voices, but I tend to like Lacey's performances much less both because there's a lot of vibrato in her voice, and because, as the judges noted, there's something really calculated about her performances. Didi, whether she's nervous or confident, seems authentic in how she's carrying herself; Lacey (like Katie, and like some other past contestants), seems like she planned this all out in exact detail: And now I will perch adorably on the edge of the stage! Now I shall smile adorably at the camera! (And, yes, everybody has to rehearse and choreograph their performances; some are just more natural about it than others.) A decent vocal, but nothing special.

Andrew Garcia, "Gimme Shelter": I had hoped Crystal would sing this, but Andrew instead took it, ditched his trusty guitar and tried to show he could bust out of the Girl Songs Sung Acoustically By a Dude niche. It wasn't entirely successful - as Kara noted(*), it wasn't nearly as passionate as this song demanded - but there was a nice gruff edge to Andrew's voice that we hadn't seen before, and he worked the stage well.

(*) She still comes across as abrasive and narcissistic and annoying, but I have to say that Kara has been giving by far the best critiques of the judges this season. And I can't decide if Simon's constant complaints about her taking songs literally is just another case of Simon being lowbrow and caring only about marketing and not (to use Kara's favorite word) artistry, or if, again, he's annoyed that the "Idol" judges are starting to act a bit more like "X Factor" judges - or at least not like complete idiots. It was a lot easier for Simon to seem smart, after all, when he was sharing the table with insane Pauler and incoherent Randy.

Katie Stevens, "Wild Horses": Katie was awful as the semis came to a close, but like a bunch of the others, the big stage (and/or access to one of the best back catalogs of all time) seems to have woken her up. She sounded very much like the singer with all the potential from Hollywood, even if I didn't love the arrangement, which halfway through turned into nothing but her repeating the chorus over and over at increasing volume.

Tim Urban, "Under My Thumb": My wife missed the show last night and asked me if Tim (whom she's understandably surprised is still hanging around) was any good. "He was good in that he hit most of the notes in the extremely limited range he set up with this arrangement, but the arrangement itself was godawful and wrong-headed and jaw-dropping." I loved how even the judges were left largely speechless by it, and I can only hope that their "well, good on your for trying" half-praise might have killed Tim with kindness the way they have with previous Tim types like Kevin Covais and Sanjaya.

Siobhan Magnus, "Paint It Black": Love her. She's like Adam Lambert in terms of the versatility and power and sense of theatricality to her performances, but unlike him in that she doesn't seem to enjoy wailing for the sake of it. This performance built in a way you don't usually see from 90-second "Idol" performances, and she was just as good in the quiet, dramatic low notes as she was when she stood up and started belting. She and Crystal are the clear front-runners at this point, but it'll be interesting to see what happens, given that I think both of them are going to be divisive in some way. Siobhan is awesome, but she's also really weird (see the prom dress + combat boots ensemble). Can they both make it to the final 2, or will someone with less talent but more across-the-board appeal bump one of them out before then?

Lee Dewyze, "Beast of Burden": Lee could certainly be that someone. He takes a kind of roots rock approach to the song, which stripped the song of some of its edge but still sounded very good. Like Big Mike or Casey (but better), not the most challenging or impressive vocal, but the type that should keep him in the race a long time.

Paige Miles, "Honky Tonk Woman": Graded on a curve due to her laryngitis, that was darned good. No curve, and it was froggy and sharp in spots, and I wish contestants could resist the urge to gender swap the lyrics of songs, but still it was a vast improvement on anything Paige did for the last three weeks.

Aaron Kelly, "Angie": As usual, there are parts that are really warbly and strained, and others where he sounds just fine, but incredibly bland. Tim needs to go before him, but there's nothing interesting about Aaron as either singer or stage performer.

Crystal Bowersox, "You Can't Always Get What You Want": I'd have put Siobhan in the pimp spot (though the producers have been making weird pimp spot choices this year, with several pimp-ees getting beaten up by the judges and ending the show on a down note), but if Crystal didn't blow the roof off the joint quite as hard as Siobhan did, she was still damn good. After giving Credence a gospel tinge in the semis, she took this very gosepl-y song and instead made it bluesier, changing the beat while keeping the melody. She's incredibly confident on stage, has total command of her instrument (and by that I mean her voice as much as her guitar, as she can kick out her vocals and then easily bring them back down and not seem showy doing it), and is a pleasure to both watch and listen to.

Best of the night: Siobhan, with Crystal a bit further back but still way ahead of anybody else.

In danger: I really want to say Tim, and if not him Aaron or Lacey, but I've got a bad feeling about Andrew. The judges beat him up when he does the thing he does best, and then that pushes him to do something outside his comfort zone (which they also complain about). Hopefully, the clip package with his dad (the sweetest ex-gangster you'll ever meet) will get him enough sympathy votes that he can outlast some of the more blatant cannon fodder, even though I doubt he's very long for this show.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Ranking the Top 12

Over at NJ.com, I ranked the top 12 "American Idol" contestants, while acknowledging the absolute folly of last year's rankings, and while appropriating the tiers concept that Adam Bonin again used today.

I'm not feeling very optimistic for tonight, as the combination of an underwhelming group of semi-finalists and the songs of The Rolling Stones seems a very poor fit. Click here to read the full post

American Idol: The wrong four out the door?

Well, "American Idol" eliminated four more singers to get down to the top 12 finalists. Spoilers, and my thoughts on whether America got it right (hint: no) coming up after the jump...

Where to start? Well, the good news: after two weeks of eliminations that were awkwardly dominated by minority contestants (albeit minority contestants who didn't really deserve to stay), Paige Miles survived on the female side, and Big Mike Lynche and Andrew Garcia advanced for the men. Todrick Hall was, however, eliminated, and he was easily the worst of the four singers sent home.

The bad news? The other three bootees were all significantly better than several of the people who stayed. The other guy sent home was Alex Lambert, who had all the stage presence of a turnip, but who if you closed your eyes had the best singing voice of any of the remaining men. He's someone who, if he got some confidence and good coaching (and cut off the stupid mullet), could have become a really interesting contestant, and certainly had a lot more potential than either Aaron Kelly or Tim Urban. (Tim survived because he's cute, and because he very wisely chose "Hallelujah," which is one of those songs voters will love you for so long as you manage to carry a tune during it, which he did.)

Of the eliminated women, Katelyn Epperlyn was pretty uninspired this week, but she gave one of last week's best performances with her piano performance of Coldplay, and she was better than either Paige or Katie Stevens every single week of the semis. And Lilly Scott had, until this week, been one of the more memorable contestants of either gender, with her spin on The Beatles' "Fixing a Hole" one of my favorite performances of the semis. (Though I'll confess that watching her do her usual baby doll-voice thing on Patsy Cline this week made all of her affectations much more obvious, and I suspect I would have tired of Lilly within a week or two of the finals.) I wondered why the producers were wasting the pimp spot on her this week when she seemed a sure thing to advance, and speculated that maybe they saw in the vote totals that she needed the help. Turns out they were right - and that the pimp spot isn't all-powerful.

So what did in Katelyn and Lilly? As I always say about "Idol," it's better to be bad than to be mediocre. Paige and Katie both got pounded by the judges this week, and rightfully so, and so whatever fans existed for each of them dialed like crazy to try to protect them. Katelyn wasn't great, but the judges' comments were more disappointed than angry, and Lilly got lukewarm praise, which is about the deadliest reaction you can get from the judges, because it inspires nothing but complacency from the voters.

This hasn't been a very impressive crop of contestants already, and with the eliminations of Alex, Lilly and Katelyn - and even of Todrick, who couldn't sing but at least had ambition and tried to do something other than cling to a guitar and sing ballads - the field of finalists looks even less impressive. Can Crystal and Siobhan alone keep things interesting for the next three months?

What did everybody else think? How wrong did America get it? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Big man's work

It was the guys' turn on the "American Idol" semis last night, and one man literally and figuratively towered over the rest. I'll have some thoughts on it coming up just as soon as I'm forced to imagine Randy in a bikini (thank you, Simon)...

Okay, as the intro and the picture suggest, last night there was Big Mike Lynche, and then there was everybody else. His "This Woman's Work" isn't the best version of the song I've ever heard, but it was technically very strong. More importantly, it was so confident, and delivered with more star power than any of the other guys could remotely muster. There were a number of performers last night who I thought were just fine vocally - Lee DeWyze, Alex Lambert, Andrew Garcia and, to a lesser extent, Casey James - but I fear that many of them (Alex in particular) will be swallowed up by the huge stage once they move on to the finals next week. Big Mike owned that tiny semi-finals stage, and if he can keep that level of confidence up, he's going to go much farther than the 9th or 10th place finish I pegged him for a few weeks ago when I assumed he'd make the finals largely on likability.

I disagreed strongly with the judges on a few performances. Aaron Kelly sounded awful, all warbly and strained, and I suspect if the judges refer tonight to having heard things differently when they watched the show at home, they'll be talking about him. Todrick Hall also doesn't have nearly enough voice for Freddie Mercury, though by that point you could tell the judges were just glad to not have another guy sitting on a stool and/or clutching his guitar like a wubby.

And I'm losing patience with the judges' loss of patience with Andrew. I get it: they've seen him do his one trick many more times than we have. But you know what? We haven't. And even if re-arranging female pop songs is the only club he has in his bag, I don't care, because his voice is so good, and because I'd rather hear him do his same thing over and over than hear a large number of the contestants of either gender try and fail to stretch themselves.

What was really interesting was how, for the second week in a row, Simon acknowledged that, "We're going to confuse these people so much" with their contradictory advice. Because Simon's leaving the show soon, and leaving it for another show that's largely distinguished from "Idol" by how the judges get to mentor contestants, Randy and Kara have been spurred to try much, much harder to give interesting critiques and advice. (And I've found myself shocked at how often I nod my head when Kara speaks now.) But because there are four judges, the advice is winding up all over the map, and you can tell some contestants (particularly the younger ones like Katie) are basically dooming themselves by trying to listen to all the conflicting suggestions. And I can't decide if Simon is now trying to put the brakes on the mentoring because he recognizes what they're doing to some of the kids, or because he's annoyed that "Idol" is trying to bogart one of the big gimmicks of "The X Factor."

As for who goes home tonight? I'm actually really worried about Andrew. I figure Big Mike, Lee and Casey are locks, and possibly Alex, too. Tim Urban made one of the canniest song choices on the show since Kristy Lee Cook sang "God Bless the USA." All he had to do was not fall completely on his face with "Hallelujah" (and he didn't, even if he wasn't especially good) to likely advance. So there may only be one spot left between Andrew (who's weirdly turned into the judges' punching bag) and Todrick and Aaron (who were both bad but got weirdly praised, owing partly to the horrid acoustics in the studio).

On yesterday's podcast, Fienberg and I talked about the awkward racial dynamics of the eliminations this season. So far, though, none of the eliminated minority contestants really deserved to stay. And if, say, Paige and Todrick are both eliminated tonight from the women and men's sides, those will be fair choices. But if it's Paige and Todrick and Andrew? i.e., not just the maximum number of minority contestants who could be eliminated this week, but including a guy who was easily the male frontrunner (if not the frontrunner of either gender) going into the semis? That's gonna be awkward.

My hope is that it's Aaron and Tim. Todrick hasn't been very good, but at least his performances are unpredictable, and a stylistic contrast to all the coffee-house types we have.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Give it a Wurlitzer

Okay, with "American Idol" airing its only hour-long Tuesday performance episode for a long stretch, I'm gonna offer up some quick thoughts on the top 8 women while "Lost" buffers in the DVR...

As Simon and Ryan said (and as Adam Bonin at Throwing Things likes to point out), this is one of the most dangerous weeks of the season, where each contestant has the worst odds for going home until Top 4 night of the finals. Of the 8 performances, there were two complete duds in Katie Stevens wavering, sharp, froggy "Breakaway" and Paige Miles' fumbling "Smile," but as we know, it's often better to be bad on "Idol" than to be mediocre, and if either of those two have any kind of fanbase, they'll be dialing like crazy.

Crystal Bowersox was once again clearly the best of the night, and talent-wise the class of the competition. She picked what could have been an incredibly predictable song for her in Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason," but she changed it up with the electric guitar and her phrasing and poise and, as the judges say, made it her own. I don't know that Simon's right that she's the one to beat, because I'm still not sure her style will have wide enough appeal, but she's in no danger of going home anytime soon.

Lilly Scott should also be safe, though I'm surprised they felt the need to give her the pimp spot tonight. Usually, that spot in week 3 of the semis goes to a singer the producers want to help make it to the finals - and who they feel needs that help - and I had assumed Lily was one of the female frontrunners. So either her vote totals aren't as impressive as I had thought, or the producers just want to goose her to give Crystal some obvious competition. I thought Lilly was very good, but she tends to come across to me as a bit more predictable and affected than Crystal does. Still, she's safe.

As for the rest? Didi Benami finally got her act together, picked up her guitar and did a lovely, sultry rendition of "Rhiannon." Hopefully it wasn't too little, too late for her. After being slightly overpraised by the judges last week on the basis of a single power note, Siobhan Magnus was actually much stronger technically this week on "House of the Rising Sun," I thought, but the judges were for some reason not that impressed, and I'm worried about the lukewarm praise. I'm also worried for Katelyn Epperly, who didn't get the praise she deserved last week and then was weirdly karaoke tonight. And Lacey Brown is still by far my least favorite of the baby doll-voiced trio of herself, Lilly and Didi.

Ideally, Lacey and one of Katie or Pagie would go home (one from the Mediocre and Forgettable column, one from the Bad and Deservingly ousted column), but the only two I feel completely confident in are Crystal (based on track record) and Lilly (based on the power of the pimp spot).

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Four more out the door

Over at NJ.com, I have an "American Idol" recap of who went home, as well as my speculation on who's safest going into the final semi-final week. Feel free to debate my assessment of the pecking order. Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Healing Crystal

A review of tonight's "American Idol" semi-finals episode with the Top 10 women coming up just as soon as I tune up my Moog...

I generally don't do song-by-song breakdowns in the semi-finals, and shows like tonight's are why. There's such a clear separation between Those Who Can Win and Those Who Cannot that I really don't want to bother explaining why Haeley was better last week as a hot mess than a screechy bore, or why Lacey's likely to go home tomorrow.

So instead let's focus on the four Who Can Win, while allowing that a couple of other people could work their way into the discussion if they either get their acts together (i.e., Didi needs to pick her guitar back up, like, yesterday) or keep improving (Katelyn made much more of an impression tonight, even if the song was really slow). So here are the four with a shot, in chronological order:

Crystal Bowersox, "Long as I Can See the Light": You hear the song title and you think it's going to be one of those inevitable, predictable performances (even with Crystal coming off of her health scare), but the gospel arrangement was one of those terrific ones that made the song sound fresh without ripping the heart out of it. Crystal's vocal was great, with or without the health issues factored in, and she's by far the most assured stage performer of either gender so far. I'm still not sure how America will take her long-term, but right now, she's my favorite, if not the favorite.

Katie Stevens, "Put Your Records On": It's not even that Katie was that great tonight. It's that she's a more human-seeming upgrade on Diana DeGarmo, and the DianaBot made it all the way to a close second place in season three. What Katie needs to do is find a way to translate her goofy, non-robotic persona from the interviews into her actual singing. I suspect both speech and song are equally-rehearsed, but she connects when she's talking in a way she doesn't quite yet when she's on stage, even though she has a very good instrument.

Lilly Scott, "A Change Is Gonna Come": I'm not sure this legendary civil rights anthem is the ideal song to get Lilly's indie-cabaret treatment, but she still sounds great and, like Crystal, knows what she's doing on stage, no matter what the judges say. (If anything, Crystal performs with her eyes closed more than anybody.)

Siobhan Magnus, "Think": Right now, Siobhan is all power and no control. (Fienberg compared her to a relief pitcher with a very powerful but straight fastball; if she were a relief pitcher, she'd be Kyle Farnsworth.) The verses were limp and unremarkable, but when she hit the choruses - and, especially, when she hit the big power note that dropped Randy and Kara's jaws - she sounded remarkable. There aren't a lot of classic "Idol" belters in this bunch - or at least, not a lot of good ones - and if Siobhan can figure out what she's doing, she could be this season's big underdog story.

Anybody else you feel belongs in the discussion? And do any guys other than Andrew Garcia and Casey James have a prayer of outlasting these women? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: She-woman man-haters club

A review of last night's "American Idol" coming up just as soon as I rocks the onesie...

So the men and women had to switch nights this week to accommodate for Crystal Bowersox's ailment, and while I like Crystal enough that I wouldn't want to lose her from the competition for a non-voting reason, I also do wonder if the show would have gone to this much trouble for someone who isn't an obvious frontrunner.

But while I worried that the last-minute switch would be one stumbling block too many for the uninspiring field of male contestants, the guys didn't seem too hurt by having to push up their performances a day. Most of them were significantly better than they were last week, especially Alex Lambert, who used his guitar as a kind of security blanket to get over the uncomfortable stage fright he had last week.

On the other hand, none of them was exactly looking like the next "American Idol," were they? I expect Casey James and Andrew Garcia to go far in the competition, but mostly the improvement between the weeks had the guys going from awful to competent but bland.

And the judges aren't invested in any of them, giving them conflicting advice from week-to-week. Tyler Grady was awful last week and deserved to go home, but he had a point that the judges attacked him for doing the exact same thing they claimed to love in Hollywood. And I'm baffled by what they're doing to Andrew, where they're holding his Hollywood success against him in a way I've never heard them treat another contestant. Last week, they complained that they were already tired of his acoustic rearrangements - even though many viewers had never heard them before (and certainly not as often or as at length as the judges had) - and then when he switched things up this week, they basically told him to go back to doing more things like "Straight Up."

On the plus side, Ellen was much livelier and more willing to criticize than she was last week. Putting her in between Randy and Kara helped, because she always seems more comfortable when she doesn't have to lead off the discussion, particularly if they're discussing someone who was bad.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Four out the door

Shoveling my way out of my house consumed a good chunk of my time and energy today (living in the mountains is awesome in spring, summer and fall, but it's awful in snowy winters), so I'll have a few belated thoughts on last night's "American Idol" results show coming up after the jump...

Over at NJ.com, the Ledger's Tanya Batallas has a full "Idol" results show recap, but the gist is that Janell Wheeler, Ashley Rodriguez, Joe Munoz and Tyler Grady got the boot.

None was very good on Tuesday or Wednesday, but also none of them were memorably bad enough for viewers (whether a fanbase that's already formed at this early stage, or just casual voters feeling sympathetic) to try to save them. Tim Urban, on the other hand, was not only awful, but then got savaged by the judges, so he's still around for at least another week. As always, my number one rule of "Idol" survival is that it's better to be horrendous (and/or ripped by the judges) than to be mediocre.

Janell sounded really good in the first Hollywood episode - singing, oddly enough, the same song that was used for this season's first "Idol" group sing - and is probably kicking herself for not using her guitar on Tuesday's show. (And using it would have forced her to pick a song better suited for her voice than Heart's "What About Love."

And speaking of both guitars and group sings, I'll concede that "Idol" result shows have gotten much better over the last year through cannier booking of musical guests, but it's still schadenfreude-tastic to watch contestants like Crystal Bowersox try to look comfortable with the Up With People arrangements and pointy dance moves. I'll give credit to Crystal for trying, at least, as a too-cool-for-school attitude would bring her "Idol" run to a much-too-premature end. Once you commit to doing "Idol," you have to commit to doing "Idol," you know.

All in all, the worst four people didn't go home, but the only bootee who at any point looked like they had a shot to go far into the finals was Ashley, and it's become clear that she's not what the show is looking for this year.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post

American Idol: Hello, Bizarro World! Hello!

Ugh... where to start with last night's "American Idol" semi-final episode with the Top 12 guys? With a series of vocals (Tim Urban) and song choices (John Park) so brutal that the upbeat semi-competence of Big Mike Lynche's "This Love" made him seem deserving of an instant pass to the finals? With the way the show seems to have learned not a darned thing from the Paula Abdul/Corey Clark mess in the way it's playing up Kara's attraction to Casey James? With Ellen still looking terrified every time she has to say anything vaguely negative? With Andrew Garcia already looking like a one-trick pony (albeit one with a pretty good trick)?

Or should we start with the judges doing a complete 180 from the night before? On Tuesday, they kept beating the women over the head with orders to not do soundalike covers, to instead ape Blake/Cook/Lambert/Kris and either rearrange songs or find someone else's obscure arrangement. Wednesday night, they kept complaining when the contestants did exactly that. I'm not saying the rearrangements were all good - Todrick Hall didn't have the vocal chops to back up his reconstruction of "Since U Been Gone," and Andrew's gimmick becomes less charming the more he keeps doing the exact same iteration of it - but what exactly happened between night one and night two? Did the producers give the judges a talking-to for some reason? Did the judges have nightmares about an entire season of Adam Lambert's "Ring of Fire"? Or is it as simple as Fienberg (whose own recap is here) half-jokingly suggested on Throwing Things: that it's the easiest way to sabotage the guys and ensure that the show gets the female winner everybody clearly wants this year.

Whatever the heck was going on, this was one of the worst "Idol" performance shows I've ever seen. Just brutal, brutal, brutal. Another week or two like this, and I may have to seriously consider just jumping ahead to halfway through the finals, when most of the really awful people are gone, and just skim YouTube for the performances I hear are good.

What did everybody else think? Click here to read the full post