Click here for my latest article. The theme of tonight's show was "Songs from the year 2000 on."  I wasn't really optimistic about the entertainment value of tonight's show, considering that I wouldn't be familiar with many of the songs.  Sure enough, I only recognized Constantine's and Vonzell's songs. The Performances: 1) Carrie Underwood sang Lord knows what.  Sometimes I wonder what happens during the sound check at rehearsals.  The music was so loud that C...

Click here for my latest article It is nice as the competition winds down, because I have fewer contestants to write about.  Having fewer contestants also means better performances, as the figurative fat has been trimmed from the competition. Tonight's show, featuring 1970s dance music turned out really nicely.  The contestants as a group performed as well as I have seen them since the first "big stage" show. The Contestants: 1)  Constantine Maroulis sang "Nights...

Click here for my latest article. Tonight's Idol results' show was a one-hour affair.  The first half hour was just filler that allowed me to: wash the dishes, clean the bathtub, and then fold some laundry.  In the second half hour, we learned that the bottom three finalists were: Nadia Turner, Bo Bice, and Scott Savol . I wasn't surprised that Scott and Nadia were in the bottom three.  I was mildly surprised that Bo was in there, even though last night's song wasn't ...

Click here for my latest article. Tonight's American Idol theme was an interesting one. The songs tonight were supposed to be from the contestants' birth-year. I looked into the songs of my own birth-year, and I decided which songs I would have attempted if I were an Idol contestant. My criteria were simple: I have to like the song, and I have to know all the words for the song. (And it would have to be relatively easy to sing, knowing my voice limitations.) My two possible choices...

Click here for my latest article. The other day my wife and I were at Wal-Mart.  We were in the record section, and we listened to the samples from Kelly Clarkson's and Fantasia's new albums.  I liked Kelly's album a lot better.  I can see how she won the first Idol. Fantasia was the special guest on tonight's show.  Fantasia looked a bit worn-out compared to the last time we've seen her.  Let's hope that her apparent weariness is the result of a massive publicit...

Click here for my latest article. Tonight's theme was "Showtunes."  I am sure that this announcement sent groans throughout the livingrooms of America, but it turned out to be a reasonably fun challenge to see the remaining nine contestants push themselves a bit in a genre that would destine many of them for failure. Possibly the question on everyone's mind as the singing was about to start: Would Bo Bice sing "Tomorrow"? Once in awhile Simon and Ryan take digs at each other, mai...

I write weekly articles discussing the American Idol TV series.  Yesterday when I was thinking about my weblog, I had a thought: Which already famous performers (present or past) would have made good Idol contestants? Let me set out a few criteria: The artist should be American (sorry Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Robert Plant, Seal, and Geddy Lee.) The artist should have a melodic (or at least nice-sounding) voice with the ability to sing various genres of popular music. Go...

Click here for my latest article The fallout from the 1990s night is over.  Anwar, Jessica , and Nadia found themselves in the bottom-three.  In the end, Jessica was eliminated.  That's sad, as she had been one of my favorite performers.  (I think that either Scott or Anwar deserved to be eliminated this week on the strength of last night's performance.) Nadia found herself in the bottom three for two weeks in a row.  Even though the was the first one back...

Click here for my latest article Tonight's 1990s-themed show surprised me.  Usually when I watch American Idol, I am very familiar with most of the songs that the contestants sing.  On tonight's show, I was only familiar with Bo Bice's song.  I suppose that popular music loses its appeal once the audience graduates from high school.  (I graduated in 1990.) The Performances: (Tonight I wasn't able to identify all the songs.  Sorry...) 1) Bo Bice sang a song...

Entertainment Weekly magazine recently compiled a list of the top-20 funniest Monty Python sketches.  You can read the article by clicking this link.   As usual, there are certain items included in any "top x" list that can be the source of argument, but in general I found this top twenty list to be pretty fair. Here are the sketches that Entertainment Weekly chose as the top ten: 1. The Spanish Inquisition (Good choice for number one!) 2. Ministry of Silly Walks (The one tha...

Click here for my latest article. Tonight's results' show was one of the rare occasions where "they got it exactly right."  The performers who had the weakest performances on Monday: Anthony Federov, Mikalah Gordon, and Nadia Turner, found themselves in the bottom three.  In the end, Mikalah was eliminated.  That's probably good for her and the competition, as she wasn't able to keep up with her competitors. What happens from now will be very interesting.  It ...

(Added March 23rd.) I just heard that because of an error in numbering the contestants after the show, the voting will be re-done after tonight's recap show.  Maybe they'll show some recaps, and then viewers will be allowed to vote after the show.  We'll see what happens. Click here for my latest article. Tonight's theme was "Number One Songs from the Billboard Magazine Chart."  As a group, the contestants performed their songs really well.  I really enjoyed tonig...

Click here for my latest article. The first thing that struck me about tonight's show was "Hey!  Bo found some conditioner." But seriously... Tonight's show saw the elimination of the first of the final twelve.  Not surprisingly, the bottom three contestants were all women.  (As a group, the women are a lot weaker than the men this time out.) Lindsey Cardinale was eventually eliminated, but the bottom three finishers were as such: 3) Jessica Sierra:   The first...

Click here for my latest article. I had this article half-written, then my clipboard tipped over and landed on my keyboard.  Somehow my article was erased.  This represents my "second go."  Let's hope that it doesn't happen again. 1960s Night has come and gone, and the field of twelve finalists is looking like a two-horse race.  The real interesting competition will be for third place.  I wonder which contestant will wind up in that position. On tonight's sh...

My wife and I just finished watching a tape of last night's episode of Hey! Spring of Trivia .  Hey is a Japanese variety show where short documentaries are shown about various items of trivia (as sent in by viewers).  Following each mini-documentary, a celebrity panel evaluates each bit of trivia by pressing a button that says "hey" (in English it would mean, "really?" or "wow.")  The item of trivia that scores the most "Hey"s is the daily winner. During the final segm...