Click here for my latest article. Tonight's show was another of the always-anticipated elimination shows.  Three out of my four picks for elimination were sent home.  Last week I got half right, this week I did one better than half. Notable events from tonight's show: The group sang "Joy to the World".  They have to fill TV time somehow. . . Nick Pedro was eliminated.  Too bad.  He was one of my early picks.  I think that revealing that he was engage...

Click here for my latest article. Tonight was the girls’ turn to see whether they could follow a vastly-improved mens’ show with a repeat of last week’s home run performance.   Going in, we had a few questions:   Would they mention Antonella’s rough week on the internet?   Would it affect her performance? Would Lakisha, Melinda, Sabrina, or Stephanie deliver follow-ups to last week’s strong performances? Would Haley, Antonella, ...

Click here for my latest article After last week's mens' show -the longest two hours in American Idol history- this week we were treated to a much stronger effort by nearly all of the contestants.  At this point it still seems to like it's a woman's contest to lose, but it may eventually become conceivable that a man may challenge for the win. The biggest problem (for me) about tonight's show was the theme.  Each contestant was asked to dedicate a song to someone special. ...

Click here for my latest article. Some of the chatter on my favorite American Idol-related websites and blogs ( votefortheworst.com , realitytvworld , and idolingalong at Blogspot ) concerns recently surfaced photos of contestant Antonella Barba.  (You can read about it and see the pictures on any of the above three links.) The original set of photos are pretty tame, and it is a little hard to believe that anyone would be offended by them. A more recent set of photos is out whi...

Click here for my latest article After tonight's results' show, the enormous field of 24 has been pared down to a slightly more manageable 20.  Eliminated were two men and two women. Notable events from tonight's show SPOILERS BELOW : The whole crew sang Tears For Fears' "Sowing the seeds of love."  It must have been tough to choose a song for a group of 24.  It was among the top-half of Idol group performances (which isn't actually saying much.  They all usuall...

Click here for my latest article Tonight's show was really good.  After last night's sub-par episode, they might as well send all the men home.  There were a number of really good performances by the women's group.  At this (early) point, it would be hard to imagine that the winner won't eventually be one of tonight's better singers. The Performances 1. Stephanie Edwards- sang "___??___"  (There were a lot of songs on tonight's show with titles of which I am ...

Click here for my latest article After an unnecessarily short Hollywood round, the Idol season is now in full swing.  The first studio show featured the twelve male finalists. After this one show, I was pretty disappointed.  Most of the performers seemed to be battling nerves, the song choices were poor, and I was bored for most of the show.  Thank goodness for the ability to speed through the commercials at least! Looking back, I was similarily disappointed with prev...

Click here for my latest article. Before the most recent season of American began, there was an announcement of a "major twist" to be added midway through the sixth season.  (If it isn't a "twist" it will be a special event show, or something like that.)  Here is a typical article on the subject.  This one is from TV Guide. Today I read a denial that Michael Jackson is to be involved in the "twist".   That would have been a good one. . . I have heard word t...

Click here for my latest article This year, the people who bring us American Idol decided to give the "Hollywood Round" two hours over two nights, while increasing the number of two hour audition episodes.  Apparently the focus groups preferred an endless parade of poor singers to the first part of the legitimate competition.  Here's one of many bold predictions that I will make during this season of Idol:   They will spend more time on the Hollywood round for season seven. ...

Click here for my latest article From this point, American Idol begins to get increasingly interesting.  For some reason, it seems that the "Hollywood" round has been cut shorter than usual this year.  (Maybe it polled low or something.  Too bad, it is one of my favorite parts.)  If the number of nights that the Hollywood Round wasn't cut short, they must have decided to go with a one hour show.  Too bad, I'll take as much of Hollywood as I can get. So here's how...

Click here for my latest article Tonight's show featured the rest of the auditions that hadn't previously made it on to television.  Most of tonight's auditions were good, with a few poor ones thrown in. Those who made it : Tami Gosnell: pulls a cart for a living.  Has a unique, plain-Jane appeal.  Is an awfully good singer as well.  I think that this one may stick around for a while. Paul Kim: took William Hung as sort of an "inspiration" inasmuch as&...

Click here for my latest article Link Tonight's episode featured the final audition stop in San Antonio, Texas. After tomorrow's audition highlights show, the competition will finally move on to Hollywood, where the fun will begin. The Contestants: Haley Scarnato: Former wedding band singer. Nice look, and a reasonably good singer. I really liked her. The judges were a bit lukewarm on her. I have a feeling that she'll sneak into the next round (after Hollywood). Jasmine H...

Click here for my latest article After tonight there will be only one more audition show. Following that will be the Hollywood/ group round, and then (my favorite) the sound stage round. I enjoyed tonight's Los Angeles auditions. The judges seemed relaxed, the show was one hour long, and they only showed three contestants who made it to the next round. These kind of shows make it easy for me to relax while still taking notes. Tonight's notables: Alaina Alexander: a young lad...

Click here for my latest article So this morning (or last night) as I was logging in to MSN Messenger, I came across a "featured" video.  I saw a music video for the song "Fidelity" by a young lady named Regina Spektor. After watching the video, I thought to myself: "Meh.  This song is okaaay , but not great."  I did have the sneaking suspicion that it is the type of song that tends to grow on a person.  Sure enough, I caught myself humming the song earlier this even...

Click here for my latest article. In my 4th or 5th year of writing about Idol, (I didn't start writing about season two until really late,) the audition rounds are the hardest to write about. Lots of the contestants at this point are either very poor, or not taking things seriously.  I don't really want to write about the never-will-bes, so I've decided to skip all but the most noticeable this year. Out of the contestants that we saw on tonight's show, I was impres...