Haley Reinhart – Page 2

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?

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

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 >> Stefano is LanGONE

I figured as soon as the first guy was eliminated from season 10 of American Idol that they would start falling like dominoes, and as it turns out, that’s the only prediction I’ve made this season that’s been on point.

Following Paul McDonald’s exit from Idol last week, Stefano Langone was
eliminated from the competition last night. I’m not too surprised that Stefano was eliminated this week, it’s just too bad that it had to happen the night after he had what I considered to be his best performance in weeks. It takes me back to when Carly Smithson had an amazing performance of “Jesus Christ Superstar” during season seven, then got knocked off the next night, except I definitely wasn’t as upset.

This may be a little surprising to most who read Idol Wired, but I would have preferred Stefano to stay one more week if it meant Jacob Lusk was going home. I cannot believe Jacob has made it as far as he has in the competition. And Jacob’s performance in comparison to Stefano’s was definitely the weaker of the two performances.

Alright, I have to say it; I was super disappointed to see Haley Reinhart in the bottom three. C’mon, America! Haley had the best performance the other night, she deserves your votes.

Also, did anyone else catch Stefano totally snubbing Scotty McCreery when giving out hugs last night? What in the world was that about?

Switching gears over to the return of David Cook to the Idol stage. David performed the first single, “The Last Goodbye” off his highly anticipated sophomore album, This Loud Morning.

I thought that once David shook off his initial nerves, his performance was excellent. It must be a trip to return to the show that made him “more than a name or a face in the crowd” to debut his new single. I love that he’s kicking off his album with something upbeat and lyrically catchy. I’m really hoping that you, yes you and everyone you know hopped on iTunes and downloaded his single. I am all in favor of supporting former Idol contestants, especially ones named David Cook.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch David’s performance of “The Last Goodbye,” or you just want to watch it again, check it out below!

What did you think of last night’s Idol results? Are you liking David Cook’s new single? Also, what do you think of the Idols singing Carole King songs next week?

Originally posted on Blogcritics.

Video: Tim Halperin Covers Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep”

Tim Halperin returned to Kidd Kraddick’s radio show this morning to perform his rendition of Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” as apart of “Idol Got It Wrong.”

Each week for “Idol Got It Wrong,” Tim is choosing a song to perform that one of the Idol contestants performed during that week’s show for your votes. If Tim gets more votes than the contestant that performed during the show, he performs again the following week. If the Idol contestant gets more votes, then he’s out. So basically vote for Tim, so we get these radtastic covers each week! Sounds good, right?

This week Tim is taking on Haley Reinhart who performed Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” last night on Idol.

Check out Tim’s rendition of “Rolling In The Deep” below!

I think this is my favorite cover that Tim has done for “Idol Got It Wrong,” so far! In particular, I really liked when he hit the larger notes in the chorus and went up into his falsetto range towards the end of the song. Good stuff!

Obviously I’m a fan, but what did y’all think of Tim’s performance of “Rolling In The Deep”?

If you want this song on your iPod, and I know you do, click here to get a free download of Tim’s rendition of “Rolling In The Deep.”

Also if you haven’t downloaded Tim’s single, “The Last Song,” get your free download here.

Make sure to check out Tim’s Kickstarter page and get involved with the making of the music video for “The Last Song” and to support the fight against breast cancer!

Annnnnnd don’t forget to check out my interview with Tim from last month! Part one // Part two

Idol Wired >> Another Girl Bites The Dust

And so it goes, Karen Rodriguez was eliminated from American Idol this week. Not shocking in the least. And she did herself absolutely no favors by singing Mariah Carey’s “Hero” as her swansong, and then pleading to the judges for “The Save.” Ooh…girl. That save is reserved for Lauren Alaina, Pia Toscano, and possibly Casey Abrams.

In my eyes, Karen was booted for her hot mess of a performance from last week. I think sometimes when contestants have a bad performance, the audience’s opinion of them carries over into voting the following week. Not saying that it’s fact, just that it could be the case for Karen’s dismissal this week.

Let’s talk about the other two contestants that found themselves alongside Karen in the bottom three this week, Haley Reinhart and Naima Adedapo.

I figured that Haley would find her way back to the bottom three just based on the judges comments from the night before. The judges definitely can sway the vote, and if they are consistently giving a contestant a hard time, I think that translates to the audience as, “Vote for Lauren Alaina.” Ha ha, I’m kidding. But, I do think that their comments combined with her lackluster performance is why Haley found herself back in the bottom three this week.

I was legitimately disappointed when Ryan Seacrest announced that Naima was headed to the bottom three. I think the judges gave her too much of a hard time in their critiques. Her performance was nowhere near as bad as they made it out to be. She is one of the more polarizing contestants this season, and it would be a shame to see her before she reaches her full potential on the show. I think Naima is keeping the show fresh and bringing something new to the table. If she’s eliminated in the next few weeks, I feel like it could be a devastating blow to the season.

I wanted to touch on this week’s group song, which was a mash-up of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” First off, good on Idol for a live group performance! Nigel Lythgoe tweeted last week that the group performance was live, which I’m still not sure I entirely buy, but it is what it is. I felt like this week’s mic issues were done purposely to show that the contestants were singing live. You got your point across, Nigel.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Another Girl Bites The Dust