Tag: American Idol season 10

Idol Wired >> Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina Are Headed to the Finale

I know a lot of people are shocked and upset at last night’s American Idol elimination of Haley Reinhart. I am not one of those people.

I thought that Haley was coming into her own and peaking when she needed to, which I love, because she provided a couple fantastic Idol moments. However, it was obvious from the beginning of the season that Idol was looking for a younger singer to appeal to a younger demographic just based on the contestants that were getting through from the beginning like Jacee Badeaux and Brett Loewenstern. That said, I am definitely not surprised at Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina both moving on to the finale. (Also, just based on the hometown footage alone, I felt like Haley’s package was put together as if it was an afterthought and as a major hint that she was going to be eliminated. Not cool, Idol.)

Wednesday night’s show was pretty good. All three of the contestants kind of had mini-moments.

I thought Scotty made a smart decision singing Lonestar’s “Amazed” as his personal song choice. He showed that he could handle a big contemporary country hit. Plus, who doesn’t just love that song? I thought “She Believes in Me” was an old fashioned and lame song choice from the judges, but Scotty did what he could with it.

I really liked Lauren’s performance of “If I Die Young” by Band Perry, which Jimmy Iovine picked for her to sing. We finally saw some true emotion from her! It was one of my favorite moments of the night.

Haley had three really great songs, but I felt like the only one she completely pulled off was “What Is And What Should Never Be” by Led Zeppelin. She sounded amazing and just rocked it out. I love that her little stumble up the stairs didn’t throw her off at all.

With “Rhiannon,” I thought she sounded like she was mumbling part of the first verse. I didn’t think she really connected with that song well at all, because she was just trying to remember the words. It actually made me really miss Didi Benami’s performance from last season.

Continue reading Idol Wired >> Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina Are Headed to the Finale

Video: Tim Halperin Covers “Rhiannon”

Earlier this morning, Tim Halperin took on his latest “Idol Got It Wrong” challenge, and sang Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon, which was sung last night on American Idol by Top 3 contestant, Haley Reinhart.

Take a listen below!

Tim had nine songs to choose from this week, and he went with one of the two songs (Lonestar’s “Amazed” was my other pick) that I would have chosen for him to sing. Per usual, he sounds fantastic.

I wish I had the money to open my own record label, because I would sign Tim in a hot second. (And I would totally move up his record release from September to right now.)

Download the MP3 of Tim’s performance here!

If haven’t downloaded Tim’s recently released Acoustic Sessions EP or “The Last Song” yet, what are you waiting for? Go grab your FREE downloads at TimHalperin.com!

Don’t forget that “I Wanna Fall In Love” is also available on iTunes!

Check out my interview with Tim from earlier this year! Part one // Part two

Live-Blog >> ‘American Idol’ Top 3

Live-blogging the Top 3!

Refresh for updates throughout the show!

Round 1: Contestant’s Choice

Round 2: Jimmy Iovine’s Choice

Round 3: Judges’ Choice

This week’s mentor: Beyonce  (Could that be because Idol is debuting her new music video tonight? )

Continue reading Live-Blog >> ‘American Idol’ Top 3

Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery & Haley Reinhart Find Out Judges’ Song Picks

Over the weekend, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery, and Haley Reinhart aka American Idol’s Top 3 had an opportunity to their respective hometowns.

While they were there, they each found out what the judges picked for them as one of their song selections this week. Check out the video below! (FYI: Lots of screaming/cheering)

Lauren Alaina

Scotty McCreery

Haley Reinhart

The judges’ picks are:

Lauren Alaina – “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack

Scotty McCreery – “She Believes in Me” by Kenny Rogers

Haley Reinhart – “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette

What do you think about the judges’ picks? If given the chance, what would you pick for the contestants to sing this week?

Josh Turner Surprises Scotty McCreery During Hometown Concert

Yesterday afternoon in Garner, North Carolina, Scotty McCreery was in the midst of performing “Your Man,” the song that put him on the map this season on American Idol, during his hometown concert, when he was surprised by onstage by country star, Josh Turner.

Check out the video below!

Scotty’s reaction was priceless! I can’t wait to see more footage from each other the Top 3’s trips back home this week.

Idol Wired >> And Then There Were Three

This week on American Idol, James Durbin was eliminated from the competition. Shocking? Eh, not really.

Personally, I never saw James getting past the Top 5. But, I figured Randy Jackson had probably pissed off every Haley Reinhart fan Wednesday night to the point where they probably voted until their thumbs were numb.

I figured when it came down to it, we were going to see either Lauren Alaina or James head home. Yesterday when Ryan Secrest tweeted, Tonight will be a VERY interesting #americanidol. Good luck @LAlainaAI10, @JDurbinAI10, @SMcCreeryAI10 & @HReinhartAI10,” I knew Haley had to be safe and that there was going to be a “shocking” elimination.

I felt for James, because as soon as Haley was declared safe last night and it was between him and Scotty McCreery going home, you could just tell that he knew his time was up. However, I do think it was time for him to head home.

The thing with James, and season 8 contestant Allison Iraheta kind of touched on in her guest blog on The Hollywood Reporter website yesterday was that we never truly saw a James Durbin performance. We saw a lot of knock off Adam Lambert performances.

“With James, as far as song choice is concerned, it was hard for me to hear it because we had to sing “Don’t Stop Believin’” on the season 8 tour so many times – it was a group number. And to hear Adam Lambert sing that same song night after night… well, it’s hard not to compare the two,” Iraheta said in her blog.

Continue reading Idol Wired >> And Then There Were Three

Video: Tim Halperin Covers “Love Potion No. 9”

Tim Halperin took on his latest “Idol Got It Wrong” challenge and took on “Love Potion No. 9,” which was the song James Durbin closed the show with on American Idol last night. 

Watch Tim perform his rendition of “Love Potion No. 9” below.

Not gonna front here, I was a tad skeptical when I found out this was the song Tim went with, but as soon as he started singing it became totally clear that this was a great decision. Tim really got to let that unique tone to his voice shine. I thought this was another great performance.

Download the MP3 of Tim’s performance here!

If haven’t downloaded Tim’s recently released Acoustic Sessions EP or “The Last Song” yet, what are waiting for? Go grab your FREE downloads at TimHalperin.com!

Don’t forget that “I Wanna Fall In Love” is also available on iTunes!

Check out my interview with Tim from earlier this year! Part one // Part two

Mercury News Reveals “Durbin Day” Plans

Tonight on American Idol, we’ll find out which three contestants will advance to the Top 3, and get to return to their hometowns.  If you are not aware of how big a deal an Idol hometown visit is, check out this video of Lee DeWyze’s homecoming from last year below.

If contestant James Durbin makes it through, he’ll be returning to Santa Cruz, CA  for “Durbin Day” on May 14.

Here is what “Durbin Day” will entail!

– 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM – AT& T Store at Capitola Mall

James will be there meeting fans and possibly will find out what song the judges have chosen for him to sing the following week.

– 2:00 PM — Downtown Santa Cruz Motorcade

According to the press release the Mercury News cited, “The motorcade will start at Cathcart and Pacific and travel north on Pacific to Water Street at the Clock Tower. The motorcade will continue down Center Street to the Louden Nelson Community Center at 301 Center Street.”

– 2:30 PM Louden Nelson Visit – Blast from James’ Past

James will be visiting with media and local community programs that “developed his legendary vocal and performance skills.” The Santa Cruz Teen Center, Kids on Broadway and All About Theatre will be hosting James to visit the kids in their current programs.

– 4:30 PM — Travel to Beach

“Led by the Santa Cruz High School Marching Band and a police escort, James will travel down Center Street to Santa Cruz’ Main Beach. James will be followed by participants from the Teen Center, All About Broadway and the Kids on Broadway. ”

– 5:00 PM – James on the Beach Bandstand

James will “give a short performance of 2-3 songs” while be backed by The White Album Ensemble. He will also be honored by Santa Cruz City Mayor Ryan Coonerty.

These are the basic details, check out the Mercury News article for more information.

EDIT: James Durbin did not advance to the Top 3 on American Idol this week.

Idol Wired >> One Last Growl

You know, I was all set to praise how wonderful this season’s American Idol Top 5 is, especially since for the first time since season seven, two girls are in the mix. I mean, it seemed like nothing could get in the way of the best possible Top 5 that we could have with the remaining contestants. And then this happened.

Are you kidding me? Casey Abrams goes home, instead of Jacob Lusk, who was predicted by most Idol fans to be heading home. I’m not going to hide the fact that I’m disappointed. Was Casey going to win? Probably not. But, I can tolerate his personality and his performances a lot more than Jacob’s.

Let’s face it, the ship sailed on me ever becoming a fan of Jacob a couple weeks ago when he boldly told America, “If I end up in the bottom three, it won’t be because I sang the song bad, it won’t be because I sang the song wrong, it will be because everybody in America wasn’t ready to look at themselves in the mirror.”

Sorry bro, I’m totally over you being on this show.

After last night’s Idol results, my Twitter feed was full of angry fans wondering who in the world is voting for Jacob? Personally I don’t care who you vote for, that’s your decision. My hope is that people are only voting for one contestant, instead of splitting their votes among several contestants, because that is how you take part in eliminating someone that had at the very least one more week left. Just sayin’.

I have to say that Casey definitely went out with class, and had put on quite the show during his final Idol performance of “I Put A Spell On You.” Plus, how adorable was he when finished the song off by singing directly to Haley Reinhart? I’m on board with Team Caley!

Moving on, next week the Top 5 will each sing two songs; one current song and one song from the 1960’s.

So Idol fans, what did you think of last nights results? Did the right person go home? And what would you like to hear the contestants sing next week?

Originally posted on Blogcritics.

Idol Wired >> Everyone’s In It to Win It

I never thought I would ever make the following statement this season, but I thought each of the remaining contestants actually did pretty good last night. Who knew that “Carole King Night” on American Idol would bring out the best in the contestants? I surely didn’t.

Let’s just go down the line and start with Jacob Lusk, who sang “Uh Oh Not My Baby” last night. Other than the last note getting kind of weird at the end, I thought this was the best Jacob has sounded all season. I don’t think singing first last night is going to do him any favors, in fact, it will probably send him packing tonight. And taking a nose-dive into Steve Urkel’s closet wasn’t help him out either. What in the world was that outfit? Definitely plaid gone wrong.

Following Jacob up was Lauren Alaina, who sang “Where You Lead,” which once upon a time served as the theme song to the show Gilmore Girls. What was it with the outfits last night? Lauren looked tragic. I thought her vocals were alright. I think this was a great song choice for Lauren, but I think she needs to let go and stop trying to please the judges. And if anyone else’s voice would have cracked trying to push for a high note, they would have been called out for it in a in a non-loving fashion…last season, anyways.

Continue reading Idol Wired >> Everyone’s In It to Win It