Oh man, that variety show format worked so well for Nick & Jessica! Remember what a smash sensation the Osbournes variety show was? Boy, Rosie O'Donnell sure rewrote the book on how to do a great variety special! The networks remember how great these attempts to revive the long dead TV format went, because they're at it again.
If the networks really do believe they can revive the variety format, this is a good way to do it. The holiday season seems to be the best time to lure American audiences into one-off specials and different kinds of programming. If the special does well, they can look for another one next year maybe. Or perhaps they'll have found something to do with all those former Idol contestants.
To be fair to the other judges on the show, Bice does say that if they got rid of either Randy or Simon it would be equally devastating. I don't quite think this is true of Jackson, Paula and Simon really are the heart of the show (along with Ryan Seacrest).
American Idol fans might remember Alexis Cohen, who auditioned for the show twice. She was hit and killed by a car a few days ago and the police have arrested the driver for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. Here's video of one of her auditions and her blow up after being rejected by Simon, Paula, and Randy. I thought she had a pretty good voice. Maybe not for Idol but for a rock band.
(S05E12) We're welcomed to the show by Cat Deeley lamenting Thursdays. I'm often confused by Cat mentioning the dancers dancing their "own style." It must have been a Donyelle rule. I guess we'll never see Karla channel her inner Boogie Bot.
The sound quality was off tonight, proving that part of the show was live; when they transitioned from live to the clips, you could hear the echoes. The biggest culprit was the transition to Kelly Clarkson; the audience applause didn't sound the same at all.
A mysterious source close to the production of I'm a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here! reports that Janice Dickinson tapped out of the show after being rushed to a Costa Rican hospital this weekend.
There's some debate on whether severe dehydration is more dangerous than actually being in a Costa Rican hospital, but she's said to be nowhere near the reality show's set.
It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Kris Allen was crowned the new American Idol champion (it was), but auditions for the next season have already begun! As this photo from The Boston Herald shows, contestants had to stand out in the rain at Gillette Stadium (home of the New England Patriots). This is the first of seven cities where auditions will be held. (There's also video at the link above, where you can see one or two singers that might have their dreams crushed.)
1. He's gay. 2. He's "glamboyant." (To quote Liz Lemon, that's a thing now?) 3. He doesn't tuck. 4. He had a crush on Kris Allen. 5. He has only dressed in drag three or four times. 6. He's not a civil rights leader. 7. He had a "psychedelic experience" at Burning Man 8. Seriously, he's gay.
It's also interesting that Idol rules state that power texting, the kind of texting that AT&T reps showed Kris Allen fans how to do, is against the rules. Isn't there some sort of built-in safety net for the voting? How can one fan vote over 10,000 times for one person? Shouldn't it be one person, one vote? Or one household, one vote? Or maybe one phone number, one vote? I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the results. I have no idea. But it does seem that a better system could be in place.
What's great about this is that it's an actual news story all by itself, and I'm not helping matters any by writing about it. The AP has published a story stating that Danny Gokey says he would like to try Dancing With the Stars. That's it. Of course, Paula Abdul has been saying that for years and she had to settle for dancing on Idol. But now that a rejected Bachelor finalist was a worthy competitor, why not a rejected American Idol finalist? Of course, Danny's main focus is his music and a new foundation he's set up in his late wife's name.
But he'd do it if it meant exposure for the foundation, which it would. And more exposure for him and any forthcoming projects he might have coming up as well. I see a real good trend here with reality castoffs sashaying across the dance floor. Who wouldn't want to watch Survivor's Coach doing a fox trot. Or Ron from The Biggest Loser. Of course, he'd want to give the title to his son.
So Kris Allen beat Adam Lambert by a ton of votes last week. You knew there would be a controversy, right? This one is based around AT&T. Seems they might have pushed the results toward Allen by having their reps at parties organized by fans of Allen and teaching them how to "power text," which apparently means sending 10 or more text messages at once. The New York Times has all the details.
I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess theAmerican Idolrunner-up isn't a fan of another runner-up, Adam Lambert.
I couldn't be happier with the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season and only to see what the set looks like. This year, I happened to turn it on during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing "Ring of Fire," and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him.
At long last, the season 8 finale of American Idol has arrived! It's been fun watching all of the Idols grow in their musical prowess (that's a Paula word), especially Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, the final two performers who couldn't be more different, but are both awesome in their own way.
Ryan started things off by introducing the judges, along with a funny video clip for each of them -- Randy Jackson saying "For Me" throughout the season; Kara DioGuardi saying "sweetie" and "honey" to people who didn't make it past the audition process; Paula's round-up of colorful adjectives (vocal prowess, masterful and effortless, palette, etc.); and Simon's issues with hearing what people say (as in, he could probably use a hearing aid!).
When Adam was singing "No Boundaries," the new song written for the American Idol winner, I couldn't help but think that things were stacked a bit in his favor. I also was agreeing with Kona that it was a terrible song. But the fact remains that Kara DioGuardi should have done a better job of writing a song for all of the potential finalists. I'm not sure when she wrote this song, but why did it have to have such a huge range and be so high? Was it so Adam would win?
The last impression is very important, and writing a song that not everyone can sing isn't fair to do to the contestants. Especially if "the show," or at least a representative of the show, is involved in the writing. Should Kris be punished for being a different kind of singer than Adam, or for not having his upper register? Hell, even Kara said that she hoped Kris wouldn't be judged based on that song, so she knew it wasn't a good song for him. And yet it was her job to write a song that all the finalists should be able to sing well. Shame on you, Kara!
"Two are left standing, but only one can take it all." Seacrest breaks it down for us this evening, just in case there was anyone who didn't know what was going on. Each contestant is performing three songs tonight: a song that they've already performed on the show, one chosen by Idol producer Simon Fuller, and the winner's single, co-written by judge Kara DioGuardi.
And what a winner's single it is. Hoo boy. I had no idea a song could be that awful. It truly plumbs the depths and nearly ruins the entire night. Luckily, the guys have two previous performances that hopefully people will remember instead of the final one. Because, wow. Just, wow.
I have no stake in the "who's cuter and more talented, Adam or Kris?" debate, but this attack ad from Jimmy Kimmel Live clearly shows that young girls are on Kris' side. We're waiting for a response from Adam's fans.
Oh man, that variety show format worked so well for Nick & Jessica! Remember what a smash sensation the Osbournes variety show was? Boy, Rosie O'Donnell sure rewrote the book on how to do a great variety special! The networks remember how great these attempts to revive the long dead TV format went, because they're at it again.
Bo Bice, who was the runner-up on 
A mysterious source close to the production of I'm a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here! reports that Janice Dickinson tapped out of the show after being rushed to a Costa Rican hospital this weekend.
It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that Kris Allen was crowned the new American Idol champion (it was), but 
American Idol runner-up 
If the reports coming from the 
What's great about this is that it's an actual news story all by itself, and I'm not helping matters any by writing about it. The AP has published a story stating that 
I am not going to pay $29.95 a year to read the blog entries of Clay Aiken. So I'm glad that someone else does and can post the following quote from Aiken. Guess the 
When Adam was singing "No Boundaries," the new song written for the 
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