Idols on 'Idol': Chikezie, Jackie, Rickey and the Top 11

IT'S EASY TO FORM opinions on "American Idol" by observing it from the safety of your couch, but what do the folks who lived the "Idol" life think about the contestants of season nine? For that, we turn to our brand new panel of judges: "Idol" alumni Chikezie and Jackie Tohn and Rickey Yaneza of preeminent "Idol" blog Rickey.org.

Chikezie you'll remember from season seven, when he finished number 10 in your standings, but number one in your hearts. My favorite performance of his came during that season's marathon take on the Lennon/McCartney songbook, when he did a bluegrassy version of "She's a Woman" (watch here). Catch up with his current doings on his MySpace page.

Jackie's combination of spunk and songcraft powered her to the semifinals last year (watch her audition here). Since then, she's graced an array of stages and even overcame a perilous injury (OK, a broken finger) to cover this year's breakout "Idol" hit, "Pants on the Ground." Check in with Jackie at her site.

If you've tapped "American Idol" into a search engine, you likely need no introduction to Rickey — his site is a must-read for its mix of commentary and tasty "Idol" tidbits. Go there now! Or after you read this post. But then come back here, please. I'll miss you if you leave.

They'll be offering their thoughts here and in Express' print edition during the remainder of the "Idol" season — and we're pleased as punch to have 'em.

So, on to the analysis!

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Brown Out: Lacey Sent Home on 'American Idol'

IT'S THE END OF A strange, but exciting week in Idolland. Not only have the remaining contestants graduated to the big set, but it seems like they each went on a kind of sonic steroids that boosted them to near the top of their musical abilities.

Some — Tim, Andrew, Aaron, Katie — are still floundering. And others — especially Lee and Casey — still have hidden talent yet to emerge. But judging by the kinds of performances churned out by Big Mike, Crystal and Siobhan over the past two weeks, the show has evolved from a parade of misfits into a true competition. It's just a little exciting.

But before anyone can compete again, we must endure a results show. Which is usually far less than thrilling.

We begin with a wacky, trippy intro that splices snippets from the top 12's past — auditions, Hollywood Week, Casey with his shirt off for Kara — into a goofy montage complete with dreamy background music and a, um, slight overuse of an aural antiquing effect that makes the soundtrack sound like it's almost ominously emanating from some creepy old guy's cobweb-covered Victrola. And a flashing of the contestants' names on the screen like they've suddenly become the X-Men.

Of course, the evening's live action must begin with Seacrest and Simon chewing over that bizarre moment on Tuesday night when, apparently fed up with Simon's special brand of rudeness, Seacrest became uncharacteristically aggressive.

I'd transcribe some of their conversation for you here, but it's just too pointless. Simon tells Seacrest not to invade his personal space again. Seacrest discordantly asserts both that it was all in good fun and that Simon deserved it. Simon asks Seacrest if he wants his judge's job. Seacrest says no. It's a minute and a half of dullsville.

What is interesting, however, is that they reveal that the judges' save is back — a once-a-season power the judges have to keep a contestant ousted by the voting audience from going home. If the judges use the save — and all four of them must decide unanimously to do so — then two contestants must be eliminated the following week. It makes things interesting.

But then just as suddenly as it began, their banter ends, and onstage pops season seven winner David Cook to sing the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Which is odd, since the guest singers tend to perform their own stuff, not cover tunes. Although it does serve as a nice ending to Rolling Stones week, I guess.

David sounds good, even though he looks a bit disheveled. And it does make me a bit sad that one of the kings of taking a song and making it his own does a kind of lazy straight-ahead copy-paste job. But at least it's a live appearance and not another one of those damned Kris Allen Ford commercials.

You love your stereo, Kris. I get it. Please stop talking about it now.

Continue Reading "Brown Out: Lacey Sent Home on 'American Idol'" »

Beggars Banquet: The Rolling Stones Sustain Siobhan Magnus, 'American Idol'

THE PAST FEW MONTHS were the windup, this is the pitch.

Now, we've got the big set, the big lights, the Bobby Bigvoice announcer bellowing the names of Randy, Ellen, Kara, Simon and Seacrest. And in the center of it all, the top 12.

And to go with it, a series of performances that just might indicate that the competition itself has turned an exciting corner. Let's get right to it.

The players: Casey James, Tim Urban, Mike Lynche, Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Lee Dewyze, Crystal Bowersox, Lacey Brown, Katie Stevens, Paige Miles, Didi Benami and Siobhan Magnus.

After a setup video puts an appropriate amount of pucker to the aging keisters of The Rolling Stones, whose songs the Idolites are singing, it's off to the races almost immediately.

Twelve contestants, two hours. Rock on.

MIKE LYNCHE
The intro videos this evening are aimed at introducing us to the contestants' family lives, and in Big Mike's, we learn that his thoughts turned to music as his mom suffered from a fatal illness. We also meet his wife and very cute baby — and experience the kind of disconnect that happens when a person that big holds a person that small.

He sings "Miss You" with an almost theatrical flair and a considerably less spare arrangement than the original. His tweaks to the song's pacing are a much better fit with his style than the original would have been, and his voice is as powerful a force as ever. It's not as good as last week's performance, but Big Mike has kicked his game to a whole new level. He's very much a contender.

"I wasn't so crazy when the arrangement started, but it reminded me of how great a performer you've become," Randy says. "Dawg, you slayed it."

"At some point I'm going to be disappointed, but not yet," Ellen says. "That's a way to start the night. Good, good, good."

"First night, big stage. It's hard — you've got to fill up that stage," Kara says, before going on a predictable, tiresome rant about how very good the Stones, a band that's been famous for nearly 50 years, are.

"I really liked it," she adds, finally returning to a critique of Big Mike.

"I thought the performance at times, particularly your dancing, was kind of corny," Simon says. "You sang it well, but I think when you watch it back, it was verging at times [on being] a tiny bit desperate."

Have you been missing the Seacrest/Simon squabbling that used to be common in previous years? Tonight, it returns with a vengeance.

"What part of the dancing or other components looked desperate to you?" Seacrest asks Simon.

"Do you want me to talk to you," Simon responds snippily, "or to Mike?"

Here's the surprise move: Seacrest — who normally strikes me as a lover not a fighter — walks menacingly up to the judges' table, gets right in Simon's face and growls, "I'm actually trying to help him out a little bit, buddy, because I want him to stay in the competition. You all right with that?"

Woah. It's like the fights I used to see in the old neighborhood when Jimmy the Fish used to rumble with Joey Knuckles. Of course, by "I" I mean someone else and by "old neighborhood," I mean 1920s Brooklyn. But you get my drift.

What the hell would have provoked that? Is Simon being more of a prick than usual backstage? Was it the safety of knowing that Big Mike — who could surely bend Simon into a biscuit and dunk him in a well-sugared cup of English Breakfast — had his back?

I'm not sure. But the two of them seem to get back to business as usual afterward.

"Ryan, we can sort this out in my trailer afterwards if that's what you want to do," Simon says obliquely.

Seacrest out? Not yet.

Continue Reading "Beggars Banquet: The Rolling Stones Sustain Siobhan Magnus, 'American Idol'" »

A Lucky Break: 'American Idol's' Katie Stevens Is Spared

LAST THURSDAY, Katie Stevens should have played the lottery.

When the final elimination on a gut-churning "American Idol" results show pitted the 17-year-old Middlebury, Conn., native against Littleton, Colo., folkie Lilly Scott, it seemed that Stevens would be sunk.

Scott had a signature sound, a flamboyant look and a strong cache of performances. Stevens had a middling catalogue and three weeks of tepid support from the judges.

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Lilly of the Tally: 'American Idol' Voters Send Scott Packing

IT WAS A GAME-CHANGING WEEK on "American Idol": Big Mike Lynche was ascendant after his powerful rendition of "This Woman's Work" on Wednesday — a performance that brought the audience to its feet and tears to Kara's eyes. Meanwhile, on the women's side, Siobhan Magnus rode a pair of strong performances to acclaim.

Early favorite Crystal Bowersox continued to shine on the women's side. Casey James also remained strong, yet slightly wobbly.

But it turns out the week wasn't done with us yet: Thursday's results round brought one of those early eliminations that leave bloggers clacking at their keyboards and co-workers chattering in the morning: the departure of Lilly Scott.

Here comes your recap.

ROLL WITH IT
You know when Seacrest starts a show by saying "we could be in for a surprise or two" that ... OK, actually you don't know a thing from that. He could be tipping his hand. He could be lying through his perfectly pearl-white teeth. And that's what makes him such an endearing man of mystery.

Next, Seacrest mocks Simon's assertion on Wednesday that Alex Lambert should picture Randy in a bikini to calm his nerves by popping a poorly Photoshopped picture of the dawg in a tiny swimsuit up on the stage's big screen to peals of laughter from the audience. Simon's zinger of a response: "Is that from your home collection, Ryan?"

Seacrest out? Not yet.

Thankfully, we have the lip synch-fest group sing to distract us. The song is Michael Buble's "Haven't Met You Yet," and the performance is Grade A cheese.

My favorite contestants to watch during these things are Crystal and Casey — they still seem so hilariously uncomfortable with the whole thing. But you know who seems considerably less stiff than usual? Alex Lambert. Maybe being on stage in a group freaks him out less than being up there solo?

After that silliness wraps, we learn some good intel: the first theme of the top 12 performance rounds will be the music of the Rolling Stones. Hope Mick and Keith are ready to see their life's work run through the "Idol" distortion machine.

Also, it turns out iTunes will now start offering for sale ahead of the performances the slate of songs the contestants will pick from for their turn in front of the cameras. Smart marketing, no? I'm surprised it's taken them this long to come up with that one.

EPPERLY'S EXIT
It's results time, and the girls are first to taste the fear. Those who succeed in running the voting gauntlet will perch themselves on the Stools of Safety, which are looking especially shiny on their first appearance of the season.

Seacrest calls Didi Benami down to talk with him. Is consistency an issue for Didi, he asks Randy. "You've gotta be hot, you've gotta be dope, it's gotta be great every night," Randy says.

Didi will get her chance to aim for, um, dopeness — she's in the top 12.

Siobhan is the second up, and Seacrest shows how very little he knows about how to talk to women when he asks her, "How's your gut tonight?"

Don't try that one out on a first date, kids. It's all downhill from there.

What would Ellen like to see from Siobhan? "I'd like to see you do exactly what you're doing," she says.

Siobhan is safe. No surprises there.

Next up, Paige Miles and Katelyn Epperly — one's in and one's out. I'd guessed earlier this week that both of them would be out, so it looks like I start out wrong. But I'll still guess that it's Paige who's out. And I'm wrong again! It's Katelyn who's going home.

Paige looks overwhelmed. Katelyn looks understandably emotional. And in a strange bit of stagecraft, Katelyn's parents are joined in Coke Corner by the top 8 guys as she performs.

Continue Reading "Lilly of the Tally: 'American Idol' Voters Send Scott Packing" »

American Idol: Big Mike Lynche's Big Moment

TRANSITIONING FROM THE girls' performances Tuesday night over to the boys' on Wednesday has the feeling of ambling into a fifth-grade talent show after watching Cirque du Soleil. Some of the women have been so good and the men so middling that I can't help but wonder what brand of disappointment will greet me.

Although I suppose a little deflation is better than what the contestants themselves must confront as the show begins: in their faces is Seacrest's face as he walks melodramatically up to each of them, turns, stares like that creepy guy on the Metro and says their name. We can only hope that he didn't have tuna for lunch.

Also, has anyone else noticed that Seacrest seems unable to keep his hands off poor little Aaron Kelly? If this was a traditional office, he'd have such a sexual harassment suit on his hands. Maybe he should just start tickling him instead; that seems to be in vogue these days.

It's another one-hour, eight-contestant show, so the amount of horseplay is kept to a delightful minimum. Except for this little exchange:

» SEACREST: Can I ask you guys a question seriously, because I was reading the e-mails: Why are you so close to each other this year?

» KARA: He's leaning on me.

» SEACREST: Are you leaning on her?

» KARA: I feel like it's separation anxiety maybe because you're not with your fiance? [nudging unbearably close and looking at Simon with puppy-dog eyes] Whaddya think?

» SIMON: So I'm leaning into you?

» KARA: Definitely.

» SIMON: Yeah, right.

» KARA: You are completely leaning into me.

» SEACREST: I think Kara's your binky.

» KARA: Oh! [laughs]

» SEACREST: What's a binky?

» SEACREST: I'll explain in the next commercial.

Fascinating. A pertinent question, a pointless answer. Now, on to the performances.

The players: Todrick Hall, Aaron Kelly, Tim Urban, Lee Dewyze, Michael Lynche, Alex Lambert, Casey James and Andrew Garcia.

The songs: More random whatever!

The mood: A little creeped out.

LEE DEWYZE
He sings "Fireflies" by Owl City. Which I originally wrote as Open City, which now has me craving an omelette. Silly brain.

I like Lee's voice. I don't like that song very much. And the combination of the two leaves me feeling a little meh.

It's a poppy tune, and it's certainly a current tune, which seems to be more important to the judges than it does the people who buy music, given how popular classic rock and artists like Alison Krauss continue to be. But the performance as a whole feels like it's all air and no substance — even a happy song has to have some kind of concrete feeling behind it (like, um, happiness). And all I get from Lee is a strong sense at the end of the song that he's relieved that the performance is over.

"For me, it was a strange song choice," Randy says. "There were a couple little pitch problems here and there, but you really kinda made it your own. ... You worked it out."

"I like that you made it a little rock," Ellen says. "I think that a lot of people like you."

"You look confident tonight," Kara says. "That's what we've been waiting for is for you to step up. ... I think you actually made the song a better song."

"There's nothing to rave about after that," Simon says. "I don't think you had a moment with that song. ... I actually think you are better than the version of the song you just did, I genuinely do."

Continue Reading "American Idol: Big Mike Lynche's Big Moment" »

American Idol: Girl Power

THIS SEASON'S TOP TALENT is furiously female. So far, even the best of the male contestants have earned some strikes against them — some sub-par song choices, constant pitch problems, an inability to walk and chew gum at the same time — while the ladies' side of the store has already produced two formidable talents: Crystal Bowersox and Lilly Scott.

Both are hippie chicks, both have displayed an ease with arranging songs to fit their sounds. And each one is beginning to develop a following, as you'll probably be able to tell in the comments section as I get pummeled for having lumped the two together.

But they are thus far the season's true standouts, so sidling up to a Tuesday night on which they'll both perform is, for the first time this season, a joy. As long as they don't let me down.

And you know what packing eight contestants into an hour-long show means? No filler! This might be the only time this season when we get to enjoy a B.S.-free week — aside from the usual fluff-fest on results-night Thursday — so soak it up, friends.

Even with limited time, the well-paid folks at the big table can't help but kibbutz for just a moment — and what a moment it is. Perhaps attempting to put rumors of a judges' rift to rest, the camera "catches" Ellen canoodling with Simon during the show's first moments, which is a little weird for many reasons: a) I really don't think they get along; b) Doesn't he belong to Kara? c) He's not really Ellen's type; d) Ellen's married and Simon's allegedly about to be; and e) Kissing Simon? Ew.

But on to the singing!

The players: Paige Miles, Lilly Scott, Katelyn Epperly, Didi Benami, Siobhan Magnus, Lacey Brown, Crystal Bowersox and Katie Stevens.

The songs: More of the best mix of the '70s, '80s, '90s and today! Music the whole office will enjoy — even the boss!

KATIE STEVENS
Katie sings Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway," illustrating once again how very much contestants haven't realized that Miss Kelly's very tough, very particular songs are performance-night poison on "Idol." They've been the ruin of many a poor girl, and Katie is one.

She does a reasonable, but generally uninteresting, job with it. The verses sound dull, although she adds a little punch to the hook, which helps matters a bit. But she certainly doesn't dig herself out of the middle of the pack, and her choices thus far make me wonder if she ever will.

"Kelly Clarkson's one of the greatest contestants we've ever had," Randy says. "It paled in comparison. It was almost like karaoke to me. She's so good and so stylized and this just didn't work for me."

"I love that you took our note, you took a young song," Ellen says. "I think that was a great song choice ... and you have a great voice. ... I think that all those words you were singing, you were singing and not feeling."

"You have a great radio voice," Kara says. "I think what's going on this year is we have people who really know themselves and people who don't. And I don't think you know who you are yet as an artist, and that's what we're seeing week to week is that you're stumbling trying to figure it out."

"I think this has been very confusing for you, because you've had an awful lot of advice and to be fair, you've taken the advice," Simon says. "The problem was that the second half of the song didn't go as it should have done, and you kind of sucked the energy out of it a little bit and made it a little bit gloomy."

Is it just me or do the judges — Simon and Kara especially — seem to be almost apologizing for how all over the place they've been in their advice-giving this season? I hope so, and I hope it signals a change of pace.

But I think they're right on. Katie's got a reasonably good voice, but she hasn't been able to cut through the noise and find her own niche. And that could be her undoing this week.

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Striking Silver: 'American Idol's' Lilly Scott

FORGET ALL THOSE TV commercials singing the praises of investing in gold. On "American Idol" this year, your best bet might be on silver.

Amid all of the pessimistic carping by the show's judges, the squawking by a set of male contestants who have yet to find their footing and the general era of bad feelings that has enveloped "Idol" since the elimination duties were handed to the show's audience weeks ago, gray-maned Colorado native Lilly Scott has been quietly building a cachet of solid, tactile performances.

Her first, a take on "Fixing a Hole," a Lennon/McCartney deep cut from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," provided a rare moment of joy during a bleak two hours of warbling by the contestants and chastising by the judges.

Last week, Scott took on the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come." Choosing to sing such a widely beloved track could have been a fatal error for a lesser singer, but Scott's approach was so reverent, so soulful and so completely her own that she drew cheers from the studio audience and high praise from the dais.

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American Idol: The Unkindest Cuts

THERE'S A DOMINANT BUZZWORD in this season of "American Idol." It's not "dawg," it's not "pitchy" — it's "frustrated."

After many of the performances over the past two weeks, the judges have made constant, exasperated references to their frustration, as if the contestants are purposely taunting them by hopping on stage and playing the kazoo for two minutes. And commenters on this blog and elsewhere are also venting their frustration — the show's worse than ever, the contestants this year are no good, don't you miss the days when [name of popular former Idolite here] ruled the roost?

I'll agree: there's something wrong with this season, but it's not the contestants.

Let me throw some quotes your way:

"It was bad, bad, bad last night. I nearly turned the TV off several times."

"I was shocked at how bad most of the singers were. Even if they picked a bad song they couldn't stay on key."

"I have recorded the last hour of the show, but frankly not sure I want to spend the time watching it....that was really bad (at least what I saw)."

Groans from this year's horribleness? Nope. They're all snippets of comments left at this time last year, when the top 36 were performing ("Idol" let three groups of 12 perform, then combined them later).

And, yes, this particular show was one that featured season eight star Adam Lambert, who was reviewed by some commenters with derision ("Then there was Adam. Hate. Agree with Simon and you that there were parts ranging from good to abysmal, but oh god, the screeching.") and damned by others with faint praise ("I really think only two people deserve to go on--Adam and Allison-- and not because they blew me away but because they didn't suck.")

So even the great contestants don't always start off being perceived that way. Did David Archuleta fare better two years ago? Nope.

The contestants always take some time to warm up — and it always takes us time to warm up to them. So have faith, dear readers.

So, what is different this season? The judges. I'll call it the Karafication of "Idol," and it's a trend I hope will stop.

Gone are the days where "pitchy, dawg" was the extent of the technical gobbledygook these poor folks ganked off the street to sing were subjected to. Now, we're forced to listen to Kara, Randy and Simon sound like huffy industry snobs as they prattle on about vocal minutiae and yank these kids hard to the right, then sharp to the left. Only Ellen seems to be offering any regular positive reinforcement, and even she seems to be caught up in the race to see who can sound most hypercritical.

Has the show really gotten to the point when telling a 16-year-old girl not to smile so much is anything but unmistakably rude?

The judges need to freaking cool it. Criticize, sure. Critique, of course. Tell the hard truths. But if all of them are trying to be Simon, trying to offer the most cutting criticism possible, and if each contestant is heading on stage expecting a four-gun firing squad, can you blame these amateur singers for doing whatever the hell they have to do not to get pummeled on national television?

"It's a really bad atmosphere," Simon remarked Wednesday after four doses of judges-panel harshness nearly brought Didi Benami to tears. He was right. And it's his team's doing. They need to knock it off, or we might all stop watching.

And all of this leads to perhaps the most troubling question of all: Could Paula have been more integral to the show than any of us realized?

On to the results-show goodness.

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American Idol: Ascent of a Woman

IT'S ALWAYS A LITTLE unsettling when unexpected reality sets in on reality television, and that's exactly what happened to "American Idol" this week.

The top 10 guys performed a day early in an extremely rare "Idol" schedule change. The reason? Crystal Bowersox, one of the top 10 girls, was taken to the hospital Tuesday morning, where she apparently remained throughout the day. That intrepid truth-seeker Seacrest got details on his radio show Wednesday morning from "Idol" Executive Producer Ken Warwick, who said that Crystal's ailment, which he didn't name, was "worse than we expected" and that he wasn't sure even then whether Crystal could perform Wednesday night.

But lo and behold, when the cyclonic "Idol" sting sounds to begin the show, there Crystal is.

"I feel good. I'm a tough cookie," she tells Seacrest. "Let's do this."

But while Crystal was on the mend, Randy apparently started off the night with his hallucinogen of choice. When Seacrest asks him to rate the guys' performance, he's straight trippin'.

"The guys were hot last night," he says. "They had the fire in their eyes; I think a bunch of them really were really trying to win this thing."

I wish I'd watched the show he saw; that sounds awesome.

A question about Kara's increased physical proximity to Simon — they almost look like they're canoodling during most shows — brings only demurring and awkward banter. And Simon's advice to the girls: Don't suck.

We can only hope.

The players: Paige Miles, Lilly Scott, Katelyn Epperly, Didi Benami, Siobhan Magnus, Haeley Vaughn, Lacey Brown, Michelle Delamor, Crystal Bowersox and Katie Stevens.

The songs: Still more from the Billboard Hot 100.

The tide: Apparently high, given Ellen's sailor suit attire. Maybe it's a tribute to Donald Duck.

On to the performances.

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