Last night on Idol, the top 9 took on the songbooks of John Lennon and Paul McCartney — both complete minefields (though thankfully there were no cheeseball renditions of “Imagine”). As usual, it was a mixed bag. Some contestants — Casey James, Crystal Bowersox — rose to the occasion, putting their imprint these legendary songs and securing their status as frontrunners to win. But others struggled. And while there were no complete bombs, there were several performances that were — even worse — completely forgettable.
All in all, it was a tedious two hours. We suspect the show won’t really get good until it’s down to the top three. There are a handful of Idol hopefuls who are just plain boring, and once they’re inevitably eliminated, the show should get more interesting. Until then, read on for our complete top 9 power rankings.
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Usher tried, with varying degrees of success, to bring the soul to American Idol last night and some contestants rose to the occasion while others — many, past week’s favorites — fell flat. One of the best surprises was the return of Andrew Garcia. With an inspired acoustic take on Chris Brown’s “Forever,” Andrew managed to recapture the magic that made him shine during Hollywood Week.
Some of the other highlights were Lee Dewyze’s “Treat Her Like A Lady” and Crystal Bowersox’s “Midnight Train To Georgia.” All in all though, it was a pretty boring theme. Most of the contestants play up the soulfulness of their performances as it is already, so definitely winners and losers — read on to find out which contestants came out on top.
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It was a tough hour for the American Idol contestants last night as the top 11 warbled a selection of Billboard number one hits. Week after week, the judges have stressed the importance of being a current, relevant artist so you’d think the Idol wannabes would take the hint and choose songs that were hits within the last 20 years, at least. Not so much. And, needless to say, the judges were not kind. Thankfully, Miley Cyrus was on hand as a mentor — apparently to show the contestants how to completely suck it on stage (see: her live performance last season).
The one true bright spot was Crystal Bowersox, who was the only contestant who was able to score praise from the judges with an old-school song (she delivered an inspired rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Me And Bobby McGee”). Fingers crossed she wins this season — any other result would be a travesty. Read on, for our complete power rankings for the top 11 performers.
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We have to be honest here; our desks are still a little bit tear-stained over Lilly Scott’s surprising dismissal on last week’s American Idol results show. So it was with a heavy heart that we tuned into last night’s performances, where the contestants took on the songs of The Rolling Stones. Horrifying visions of Aaron Kelly or Katie Stevens singing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” haunted our thoughts, but there were surprisingly few missteps (even the aforementioned duo turned in solid performances).
We didn’t necessarily agree with everything the judges said (Crystal Bowersox OWNED the night), but, all in all, their comments were pretty much right on the mark. We’re not sure who’ll be heading home this week, but our money’s on Tim Urban or Lacey Brown. But, who knows. They’ve survived this long. Read on for the Top 12’s complete power rankings.
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Ke$ha aside, 2010 is shaping up to be a good year for women in music. Lilith Fair has returned, Hole is making a comeback, Gaga is queen of the world (or at the least the world of product placement), and there are a slew of female artists poised to make a breakthrough over the next nine months. From garage rockers to soulful singer-songwriters, we’ve found ten really great ones — destined to wind up on playlists everywhere.
To make it easier to identify the artists and bands that might fit in best with your taste, we offer you a humble guide to our picks, complete with comparisons to some ladies you may already love. Read on for our complete list — and a healthy dose of girl power.
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After totally missing the mark with our predictions on which girls would still be around (we were convinced that Lacey Brown and Katie Stevens would be dunzo), the ladies took the stage Tuesday night with a few of last week’s lemons making sweet lemonade. The contestants are now competing for a spot in the top 12, with the judges noting that this week’s performances are some of the most important of the season. That being said, many of the song choices were uninspired — especially for an evening that will prove to be pivotal for all of the contestants.
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It was ladies’ night yesterday evening on American Idol with the top 10 girls taking the stage to sing for their lives. The retro rockers walked away the real winners, proving that smart song choice, solid delivery, and self-awareness make all the difference to the judges. Speaking of the judges, they, once again, emphasized the importance of each contestant carving out their own niche in the competition and the girls who were able to do that fared the best.
Some of our early favorites took a huge nosedive (sniff, sniff, Haeley Vaughn, sniff sniff), but a few contestants that we’d written off as too gimmicky at first proved they’ve got some real singing chops. For the record, we’re hoping a lady walks away with the crown this year (it has been a guy for the past two seasons), and last night fortified our confidence that this could happen. Read on for our complete AI power list.
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Now in its third — yes, THIRD — month on TV, the ninth season of American Idol has finally cut the fat, whittling down the contestants to the top ten guys and the top ten gals. Unfortunately, the show taking place onstage every week has done little to live up to the considerable buzz created by the backstage drama this season (Simon’s leaving! Abdul flew the coop! Ellen signs on!). Yes, it’s still early in the competition, but, as of right now, there’s not a star in sight.
And so far, the judges have offered the contestants little help, spewing out schizophrenic criticisms (change up the arrangement; you changed up the arrangement too much) that have resulted in a bunch of confused — and terrified — wannabe Idols. Last night, the men took the stage, offering up their take on various “Billboard hits” — whatever that means. There were some definite improvements from last week and (inspired by this Ann Powers column) we’ve ranked each guy based on the risk he took with his performance and the response it got from the judges.
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If you think Godzilla is the scariest fire-breathing beast ever to invade New York, you clearly missed last night’s premiere of Kell On Earth on Bravo. The new reality series follows PR maven Kelly Cutrone as she and her much-maligned minions produce fashion shows, liaise with designers and editors, and generally inspire terror in the masses of wannabes clamoring to get standing room at the Sass & Bide show. If Kell seems familiar to you, it’s probably because you remember her swallowing and then regurgitating Whitney Port on MTV’s obnoxious Hills spin-off The City.
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The 52nd annual Grammy Awards came and went last night and, as usual, music’s “biggest night” was pretty tame. Unlike the MTV Video Music Awards, the Grammys are when we’re supposed to take music seriously. Madonna can’t kiss Britney on stage or writhe around seductively in a wedding dress. Diana Ross can’t grab ‘Lil Kim’s boob. Kanye West definitely can’t interrupt Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech.
So while the Grammys are sort of like the nerdy older sister of music awards shows, we did notice a theme running through many of the evening’s theatrical performances: Blame it on Glee if you want, but musicals are suddenly cool again — and it’s clear most of the artists who performed last night were inspired by some of the Great White Way’s best. Here, we list our fave five performances from the Grammys and the big, brash musical numbers that may have inspired them.
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