Idol Wired – Wait…WHAT?

Idol Wired >> Wait…What Just Happened?

I could be heard throughout American Idol’s Thursday night’s results show repeating the same question, “What just happened?”

I mean, seriously, where to start? Do I start with the “Judges’ Save?” Do I start with Hulk Hogan? Or do I start with Steven Tyler turning 120? (I kid, I kid!)

Let’s start with the “Judges’ Save,” because a little more than a week ago I made what has been I believe my only prediction about season 10 so far via Twitter. It was then shown on MTV.com’s “Idol Party Live!” hosted by the super awesome Jim Cantiello live after each results show. Check out who I thought the “Judges’ Save” was going to go to this season.

Of course, if you watched Thursday night, you know that my prediction was totally wrong. Supposedly Casey Abrams had the lowest total number of votes after Wednesday night’s performances. I can kind of believe it, because he didn’t have a great performance and he went first that night, which means that with 10 other performances, people could have just forgot about him. Also, there’s the possibility of voter complacency. However, the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that Idol really wanted to create some buzz. And what better way to create some buzz than to possibly eliminate a huge fan favorite?

Even I have to admit that when the judges told Casey he was saved was a great moment. Although, I thought for sure he was going to throw up, or have to take another trip to the hospital. Casey’s reaction was truly the icing on the cake for the night.

Other than that, I hope next week’s results show can be as entertaining and unexpected as last Thursday’s was. I loved seeing the contestants singing with Stevie Wonder. More than that, I loved Steven Tyler’s reaction to Stevie Wonder on stage. As much as I enjoyed Idol pulling out the stops to celebrate Steven’s birthday, I had to wonder if Randy was sitting there thinking, “I’ve been on this show for the entire time it’s been in existence, and never has anyone surprised me with Mariah Carey serenading me on my birthday!”

I have to say that seeing Hulk Hogan on Idol is hands down the craziest thing that I have seen on this show. I loved the video of the contestants talking about James Durbin’s love of pro-wrestling. His reaction to Hulk Hogan coming on stage to let him and Paul McDonald know they were safe and going on tour was pretty hilarious. Hogan “punching” Ryan Seacrest into the crowd was also funny. I don’t care to see a professional wrestler every week on Idol, but it was a cute moment this past week.

Thinking ahead to next Wednesday, with Casey being saved this week, what does that mean for the contestants? Well, all 11 contestants will be going on tour this summer, so there’s that. But, they still have to sing their butts off next week, because it is “Elton John Week” and two of them will be eliminated. My only advice for the contestants next week is more like a plea. Please don’t sing “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.” It’s been done over and over and over again.

So to recap, Casey was saved from elimination, the Top 11 will tour, and two contestants will go home next week. What did y’all think about the results and Thursday’s overall show?

Originally posted on BlogCritics.

Idol Wired >> Top 12 Standings

I reviewed last week’s performances, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that the females of American Idol season 10 are having a bit of a hard time this season. Take a look at my current standings for this season’s Top 12 as of last week’s performances.

12. Karen Rodriguez

Karen’s star is fading awfully fast. Blaming her pitchy performance of Selena’s “I Could Fall In Love” on a “couple technical difficulties” during the results show last Thursday was eye-roll inducing. For Karen to survive this week, she’s going to have to step outside of her Selena/J-Lo repertoire, sing something that gets people talking, and sing it well.

11. Jacob Lusk

It’s time for Jacob to realize that his performance of “God Bless the Child” was his season 10 shining moment. He has now tried to re-create this moment twice, and it is not paying off in his favor. I think he is going to need to rein in his vocals and try something a little more subdued. Sometimes the quieter performance can be quite powerful (i.e. Kris Allen’s performance of “Falling Slowly” during season eight.)

10. Haley Reinhart

I like Haley, I really do. She’s been able to show the versatility in her voice this season in her past couple performances. That aside, she seems to lose her nerve midway through her performances, which causes all sorts of pitch problems. Haley needs to stay confident in her ability to continue to survive each week.

9. Thia Megia

I seem to be the only one that doesn’t get the weird, old fashioned tone to Thia’s voice. Personally, I don’t think she has a voice that will go over well on the radio. Singing-wise, Thia needs to adapt her style and show that she can be current. Personality-wise, I’m sure she has one, but I’m just not sure why she’s opting to operate in robot mode all the time.

8. Lauren Alaina

Oh, how quickly they fall from grace. Lauren’s problem last week was that her performance was boring. She can definitely sing, but she has to work on her stage presence. I suggest finding space in that mansion that the contestants are currently living in and practice on moving while singing. If she can match her stage presence with her singing, she will probably save herself from an early ouster.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Top 12 Standings

Idol Wired >> Hollywood Drama

This week’s episodes of American Idol were packed with talent, tears, and drama that make “Hollywood Week” the must-see episodes of the season. It also lets you see a very real side to the contestants. However, seeing some of the contestant’s candidness was not always very flattering. In other words, Clint Jun Gambia, dude you’re toast. But we’ll get to him in just a bit.

Idol chose to mix it up this year with the group rounds. Contestants had make up their group with participants from both group one and group two from the first round of “Hollywood Week” auditions.

Remember the days of Idol when contestants would just group up and make it work? Yeah, that wasn’t flying this week. Contestants were making other contestants audition to get into their groups. It’s a brilliant move, but at times just seemed kind of rude.

I have also never seen so much footage of parents in Hollywood with their underage child/Idol contestant. I think they should have let their kids work a little more independently on their group routine and wait to be asked for pointers, but a couple of these moms were a little too much to handle.

James Durbin (totally over him, by the way) weighed in on the stage moms, and told the cameras that there shouldn’t be young kids in the competition. Really showed a little bit of a cocky side to him. I think he was just jealous that the group of teens were about to wipe the floor with his group, as they were both performing Queen’s “Somebody To Love.”

A quick word of advice to Mr. Durbin: You really need to stop inserting the screechy note into every one of your performances. It’s not necessary. But if you’re going to repeat the path of Siobhan Magnus and toss that note in during each of your performances, you should aim to be on key.

I think the biggest foul of the group rounds was Clint Jum Gambia kicking young Jacee Badeaux out of his group in favor of Scotty McCreery. Gambia didn’t think that Badeaux’s voice fit with the rest of the group, so he sent him on his way. Badeaux ended up joining up with Brett Loewenstern’s group.

If Gambia makes it past the Las Vegas round next week into the Top 24 where the viewers vote, I don’t think he has a chance in hell making it to the main stage. He completely shot himself in the foot by kicking Badeaux out of his group. Plus, he’s managed to come off as completely obnoxious this week. Good work, Gambia.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Hollywood Drama

New Features For Wait…WHAT? at KirstenCoachman.com

As American Idol starts back up, I will be getting ready to make an attempt at writing a lot of words about the new crop of contestants for BlogCritics, while maintaining fresh content for Wait…WHAT? at KirstenCoachman.com.

I have come up with some features that will be for the most part exclusive to Wait…WHAT? at KirstenCoachman.com. They will highlight mainly movies and music. Big shocker, right? ;)

I have come up with two new movie features for the blog, Netflix Nights and Lil’ Bro Recommends, and a music feature called, Ear Candy.

I am slowly making my way through my Netflix queue, and I figured along the way, I would do some original commentary with my Netflix Nights feature. I already did some commentary about Charlie St. Cloud earlier this week. I don’t see a whole lot of movies while they are in the theater, so some movies may be somewhat old, and in some cases you’ll probably just question my taste. Haha!

Lil Bro Recommends is a new feature that’s going to be made up of movies that I have watched based on recommendation from my lil’ bro. He’s got a very eclectic taste when it comes to films (he’d probably just refer to it as having good taste), but so far he hasn’t thrown me anything too left of center. I’ve already watched a couple movies he’s recommended, so there should be commentary up about those soon.

Ear Candy will be apart of my music reviews. I tend to do a lot of album reviews, and I want to put my two cents in about new songs that are coming out this year.

Idol Wired is my upcoming Idol feature on BlogCritics, and I also will be posting every column here as well. Idol Wired will include my weekly commentary, plus Idol news, interviews, and music reviews of former contestant’s music. It’s an all-encompassing feature.

Yay, new features! I’m very excited for what 2011 will bring and I hope you keep coming by the blog to check out the posts and comment!

Also check out:

http://bloggerkirs.tumblr.com
http://twitter.com/IdolWired (where I will be live-tweeting Idol during the WC show. My immediate reactions to Idol performances and the judges’ critiques will be there, so follow me!)

If you haven’t already, also follow me at @KirsCoachman on Twitter!

Shine On,

Kirsten