Robbie Rosen – Wait…WHAT?

And so it has begun, Ashthon Jones was eliminated last night on American Idol after her rather boring rendition of Diana Ross’ “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” Wednesday night.

I believe that the show is looking for the next hugely successful pop star, which is why Ashthon was picked by the judges to advance to the Top 13. She has the look and the sass, but she couldn’t pick an appropriate song choice to save her from elimination. If someone told me that they saw me as more of a Diana Ross-type, I’d pick a song that was familiar and have at it. Ashthon needed to pick a song that highlighted her strengths, and ballads just don’t seem to do her any justice, even with her big voice.

Ashthon’s ouster proved even more to me that Robbie Rosen deserved her spot in the Top 13. Robbie totally out-sang her last week. Obviously, I’m a tad bitter about this. It stings just a bit more knowing that Ashthon couldn’t last an additional week in the competition. It also speaks volumes about what this season’s audience wanted versus what the judges wanted. Robbie tweeted Wednesday night that if he had made it through to the Top 13, he was going to be performing Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River.” My instincts tell me that it would have been awesome, so thanks judges, thanks a lot.

With the playing field now leveled, it’s time to see if the females will continue to be picked off one by one. An all-female bottom three in what was boasted as “The season of the females” doesn’t seem like things are going to bode well for them. But you know, time will tell.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> Ashthon Ousted

Finally, we have 24 contestants moving onto the American Idol semifinals. We’re making progress, everyone! Of course, getting to this point meant sitting through four of the longest hours of my life to find out officially which contestants had made the Top 24.

To be honest (and this might be an unpopular opinion), I thought that first hour of Idol Wednesday night during the Las Vegas round was a huge waste of time. I didn’t care to watch group rounds again, and more than that, I don’t care to hear songs of The Beatles being sung by people other than The Beatles.

This episode we got to see Idol’s in-house mentor Jimmy Iovine sit in on some of the rehearsals, and oh my, I think he’s definitely going to be a presence when it comes to contestants working on their songs. He just got straight to the point and held nothing back. He wasn’t sugarcoating anything or sparing anyone’s feelings. His involvement on the show this season is going to be interesting.

The only two performances from Vegas Cirque du Soleil LOVE stage that I cared for were from Tim Halperin and Julie Zorrilla who performed “Something” and Paul McDonald and Kendra Chantrelle who performed “Blackbird.”

In case I haven’t mentioned it already, I am definitely a fan of Halperin’s voice. His vocals paired wonderfully with Zorrilla’s.

I also really like McDonald’s voice. There’s a James Morrison meets Rod Stewart vibe going on there, and I dig it.

The second hour of Idol Wednesday night was dedicated to revealing a portion of the Top 24. This hour and the two hours on Thursday night were so long, I felt like lifetimes were passing by as the show slowly revealed the Top 24.

The contestants got to perform one more final song, and then they walked down the ridiculously long walkway to sit with the judges to find out if they were in or out.
Continue reading Idol Wired >> The Top 24 Are Revealed!