American Idol News
May 27, 2004
It's Thursday morning and already I miss American Idol. I'm already looking forward to January and the next 70,000 plus auditions to find one American Idol. Congratulations to Fantasia, she is worthy of the title and will do us proud. I predict Fantasia will receive more air play and sell more records than Kelly or Reuben. Another prediction that will annoy some of you, but I'll stand by it. Diana DeGarmo will not get the air play Fantasia will, but she will out sell her.
According to AP; Fantasia "won by 1.3 million votes." According to USA Today the split was Fantasia 57.9% and Diana 42.1%.
May 25, 2004
It's finals night. Diana DeGarmo and Fantasia Barrino face off and sing 3 songs each. And then redial buttons everywhere will melt. Below are our picks for who we think should win based on potential as an American Idol and who we think will win based on the voting.
Writer
Who Should Win
Who Will Win
Ron Lemon
Diana DeGarmo
Fantasia Barrino
Quinton Carrol
Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo
Kelley Rhodes
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino
More Idol News:
Tonight is the final results show for American Idol 3. The two hour finale begins at 8 e/p so Fantasia and Diana will learn their fate around 9:50. Last night they each sang three songs and then turned their lives over to people with redial buttons. We wish them both luck. Either will be an American Idol we can be proud of. For a look at how we ranked them in the final round take a look at our American Idol page.
In a conference call with the press Fantasia has expressed some irritation with Diana's age, pointing out that next year the age limit will be 18. We point out that Fantasia is an ancient 19. She called Diana "big mouth D.D." reportedly using the term affectionately. She also told the press she believes young people are "probably getting on those telephones, calling all their friends saying, 'Vote for Diana." Affectionate or not I find this a bit disappointing. I thought better of Fantasia than this. It seems childish and petulant. And for all her talk about an age advantage, she is only 19. I doubt that makes much of a difference, which seems proven by the lack of maturity shown in her remarks.
Jasmine Trias who finished third in this years competition has an offer for a recording contract. Quiet Storm Records is offering Jasmine $100,000 according to Pacific Business News, "We'll give this island beauty everything she deserves and I will personally guarantee $100,000 for Jasmine's first year if she signs exclusively with us," says the labels CEO. She has not yet accepted, perhaps because of and exclusivity clause in the American Idol contract. We suspect they would release her from that. Although I don't believe she deserved to be the American Idol, and more properly belonged in sixth place rather than third I do wish her every success.
American Idol Executive Producer Simon Fuller is joining with Dick Clark to bring back Clark's dance music show American Bandstand. Coming in summer of 2005 the revamped show will feature a competition.
May 20, 2004
At last night's American Idol results show Jasmine Trias was finally sent home. Was there a melt down of the Hawaian phone system? Or did the rest of the nation decide to participate? Did the votes that went to La Toya London last week make the difference for Fantasia and or Diana this week? Who got the most votes? We don't know and FOX doesn't want to tell us.
According to FOX they are trying to help out with the American Idol voting problems by extending the voting time from two to four hours for the finale next week. FOX says it will "alleviate congestion." FOX has issued a statement in response to all the various charges that are plaguing the voting system this year and destroying the credibility of the show and the network. FOX says, "An independent company manages and tallies the ('American Idol') votes each week ensuring fairness. The reporting systems used are secure and there are multiple fail safes to ensure that the figures reported are accurate." Well, boy do I feel better! Thank you so much FOX! Did one word of that address any of the problems?
Time to get real. They doubled the voting hours for last years finale as well. It's nothing new. It will do nothing to alleviate congestion. What it will do is give the various voting blocks, fan clubs and phreakers two extra hours of finger exercise. And of course, since AT&T makes a reported ten cents per call for the text messaging they can better than double their take on finale night. We are trying to make a living with this site. We don't blame AT&T, FOX, the producers or anybody else associated with the show for trying to make a buck. But cut the crap. Nothing has been done to make the voting fair to the contestants or the audience. Nothing has been done to restore integrity or credibility to the voting process. At least be honest about it.
We have been talking for months about charging to vote. Fifty cents a call with the proceeds to charity will put an end to almost all the voting irregularities. But then FOX could not declare "a new voting record." I can not think of more meaningless words in this situaton.
Another suggestion is making it's way around the net. Give each judge one veto a season. In other words, if a La Toya London gets voted off, a judge can say, nope, this week you are safe. And nobody goes home. It has the advantage for FOX of making the season six episodes longer. It's something to think about, I'd like to know your thoughts on it. Email me here.
May 19, 2004
Below are the RTVC staff predictions for how the Idols will finish this week. The rankings are based on our impressions after viewing the May 18, 2004 performance show. These rankings are based on how we believe the women should finish. They do not take into account, power dialing, voting blocks, phreaking, or any of the other activities that have destroyed the credibility of this show.
Rank
Ron Lemon
Quinton Carrol
Kelley Rhodes
RTVC Predicted Finish
Average
1
Fantasia Barrino
Diana DeGarmo
Fantasia Barrino
1st - Fantasia Barrino
1.33
2
Diana DeGarmo
Fantasia Barrino
Diana DeGarmo
2nd - Diana DeGarmo
1.66
3
Jasmine Trias
Jasmine Trias
Jasmine Trias
3rd - Jasmine Trias
3.0
May 19, 2004
NBC is going to directly target the FOX heavy weight franchise by going after American Idol 4. And the show they think can knock it out is Mark Burnett's boxing show, The Contender. NBC announced the show as a mid-season replacement for the Tuesday night at 8 e/p block. A straight shot at American Idol's January 2005 premiere. NBC may see the weakness that Idol is showing with the continued voting scandals that are upsetting fans of the show. NBC President Jeff Zucker says "With regards to American Idol, we're not gonna roll over as we have the past two years. We think that in The Contender, we have the next great unscripted drama," and "Mark is fully on board and is incredibly excited about the schedule."
FOX does not seem to see the problem and looking at the ratings you can't blame them. But if you only look at the ratings, your going to get hurt. Keep in mind this is almost the end of American Idol 3. People are hanging on to see the outcome that is so close.
So can The Contender knock out American Idol? I doubt it, I expect that The Contender's subject matter is just not going to appeal to a large enough segment of the viewing public. It will be on Tuesday's for a couple of weeks and then they will move it.
Warning: Rant follows.
But will American Idol have the numbers next year, that it has enjoyed this year. I don't think so. I don't think viewers will come back next year to a promise of a voting system that mocks the contestants and the voters. Does anybody really want to continue watching a show whose outcome is determined by people with so little to do in their lives that they sit for hours hitting the re-dial key. Does anybody really want to encourage the heart break that is headed towards Jasmine Trias like an out of control freight train. Either she is going to get dumped soon, or win. It will be worse for her if she wins. Those who think they are doing her a service by playing with their phones will turn their back on her when it comes to buying her records. And what radio station, outside of her home state, would play them? The show is not entirely about singing talent. But if the winner is at the talent level of Jasmine, then in fact there is no winner. Jasmine would not win because she does not have the talent or the training to succeed in the industry at that level. Maybe she can rise to that level in the future. But she hasn't shown the ability to do so in this season. The public doesn't win if the outcome is determined by those who are too immature to understand the concept of one person - one vote. The country does not win if we set this kind of example. Hopefully Diana and Fantasia will will continue. Hopefully La Toya and Jennifer have gotten enough exposure to succeed. All four of those women deserve the title before Jasmine. To continue to campaign for Jasmine because she is from your state, or your age group, or you believe kids should be encouraged, is to set Jasmine up for a life scaring let down. She deserves better than that. She deserves the time to train her voice and gain experience. Don't push her beyond her current abilities because of something you believe in.
End of rant.
May 18, 2004
We are not the only ones saying American Idol has serious problems with it's voting system. So serious that the show is in risk of losing what credibility it has left with the industry and the viewing public. We have been calling for a revised system since before this season premiered. Lobbying for it in this column, on our American Idol page and in commentaries like this one from CaliGirl. Well we are certainly not alone.
Broadcasting and Cable magazine is reporting in its May 18 issue that American Idol "has a serious voting problem" and is "vulnerable to serious manipulation." "Technology is thwarting democracy on American Idol," Deborah Starr Seibel writes. "Power-dialers can skew the vote. Text-messagers have an unfair advantage. And potential hackers have a powerful new incentive to alter the vote tallies: betting on the outcome through Internet gambling sites." The article points out problems and solutions like limiting people to one vote each, and offering online voting, both have been rejected by FOX and both of which have obvious flaws and cheats. The magazines conclusion - "Despite fans' repeated accusations of inaccurate results, Fox is sticking with a voting system vulnerable to serious manipulation and tampering."
We've said it before and we will say it again. There is no cost effective way to guarantee one person - one vote. But you can dramatically reduce the "legal fraud" by charging for votes. 50 cents each and send the money to charity. That will put a stop to the "I called over a hundred times!" skewing of the results
May 14, 2004
La Toya London's ouster from American Idol continues to make waves. War is brewing between Hawaii and the mainland. I admit a part of me just wants to say "she didn't get enough votes, get over it!" But another part of me wants to scream this voting system is wrong and needs to be fixed! For some interesting ideas on correcting the voting system you should read CaliGirl's commentary here.
Here's the latest news from the war front. Verizon tells us that Hawaii logged more calls during Idol's two-hour voting period than all of the company's 29 coverage states — with the exception of New York and California.
Verizon told E! that "Hawaii residents attempted a record 5 million cellular and landline calls." And "of those, 1.3 million calls got through -- another record"
The population of Hawaii is approxiamately 1.2 million. More than one call per resident got through. Almost five call attempts were made for every man woman and child living in Hawaii.
Evidently Simon Cowell's comment that Jasmine "better hope every household in Hawaii has at least five telephones" was prophetic. She got more than one vote from every resident of Hawaii.
Hopefully this latest in a series of American Idol voting scandals will move FOX one step closer to a voting system that makes sense.
Don't forget: Monday is another AI special, this time it's American Idol: The Final Three which will be one more chance for FOX to milk the ratings. But I can't blame them and the fact is I'll watch it and I'll enjoy it.
Then Tuesday it's the "Judges' Choice" show. They will sing a song chosen by the judges, one chosen by themselves, and one chosen by Clive Davis of RCA Records. His label will be releasing and promoting the winners album.
On Wednesday we will see the results. RTVC's early prediction: The scandal will continue as Fantasia is voted off. I hope we're wrong.
May 13, 2004
We missed it this week. All three of us picked Latoya for third and Jasmine fourth. That we did better with first and second doesn't count. LaToya was sent home this week. Everyone in the audience, the judges and the contestants, including Jasmine knew this was wrong. But it was how the votes added up. Jasmine should get down on her knees and thank everyone in Hawaii. It's this type of "voting block" that is distorting this competition. Something must be done, and it must be done for next season to save the credibility of this show. I don't believe LaToya deserved to win American Idol, but she did deserve to place above Jasmine. Next week will be even tougher. We'll see how we do then. We'll have our predictions up after next weeks performance show.
May 11, 2004
Below are the RTVC staff predictions for how the Idols will finish this week. The rankings are based on our impressions after viewing the May 11, 2004 performance show. Last week we predicted that George Huff would hang on for one more week and that Jasmine Trias would be going home. It looks like we got it backwards. We'll see how we do this week.
Rank
Ron Lemon
Quinton Carrol
Kelley Rhodes
RTVC Predicted Finish
Average
1
Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo
Fantasia Barrino
1st - Diana DeGarmo
1.33
2
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino
Diana DeGarmo
2nd - Fantasia Barrino
1.66
3
LaToya London
LaToya London
LaToya London
3rd - LaToya London
3.0
4
Jasmine Trias
Jasmine Trias
Jasmine Trias
4th - Jasmine Trias
4.0
May 7, 2004
Bob, we thought we knew ya. Sixties's anti-corporate rebel icon Bob Dylan has sold out. Recently seen in a Victoria's Secret ad, he is now trying for a spot on American Idol. Yup, his people are talking to the Idol people about being a guest judge. If they go with it we hope he can rise above his usual mumble. Idol producers have already invited Paul McCartney to appear next season and he is reportedly "mulling" the offer.
Next week: The return of Disco night with Donna Summer! I saw a bumper sticker on a brand new Ford the other day, it said, 'Disco Still Sucks!"
Just to keep things in perspective, American Idol is averaging over 20 million viewers a night.
May 4, 2004
Here are the RTVC staff predictions after viewing the May 4th performance show. We did pretty well last week. We correctly predicted the ouster of John Stevens and predicted two of the bottom three. We'll see how we do this week.
Rank
Ron Lemon
Quinton Carrol
Kelley Rhodes
RTVC Predicted Finish
Average
1
Diana DeGarmo
Diana DeGarmo
Fantasia Barrino
1st - Diana DeGarmo
1.66
2
LaToya London
LaToya London
LaToya London
2nd - LaToya London
2.00
3
Fantasia Barrino
Fantasia Barrino
Diana DeGarmo
3rd - Fantasia Barrino
2.33
4
George Huff
George Huff
Jasmine Trias
4th - George Huff
3.00
5
Jasmine Trias
Jasmine Trias
George Huff
5th - Jasmine Trias
3.66
Well we missed it this week. We got the bottom two right, George and Jasmine, but we predicted Jasmine would be going home. We were wrong. American sent George Huff home giving us an all female final 4. Remember next's weeks Wednesday result show starts at 8:55pm e/p and runs for 65 minutes.
May 3, 2004
The tour dates and locations for American Idol Summer Tour 3 have been announced. The group will perform in 48 cities in just over two months. For locations and dates, click here.
AMERICAN IDOL: THE FINAL FIVE '04 is on FOX tonight at 8pm e/p. FOX promises an intimate view of the final five and we will hear them sing their favorite song from the season so far.
Tomorrow nights American Idol brings out the brass for Big Band Week. It is a shame this category was not scheduled several weeks ago for John Stevens. Although he did not belong in the competition as long as he stayed, he was well suited for this style of music.
May 1, 2004
American Idol judge Simon Cowell is creating a new Reality - Talent show called The X Factor. The show is reportedly for both the young and old and is being produced for the European network ITV. Simon says the show will "appeal to somebody over the age of 35 who keeps saying to me there aren't any artists I like in the competition," Again there will be three judges. He and his fellow judges "will divide finalists into three groups, with each judge in charge of preparing one group for the final." The groups will include the young, the old, and a category for bands. Cowell says, "We're trying to create a different competition." No word yet on an American airing or version.
April 30,2004
The judge we all love to hate, Simon Cowell of American Idol has made his predictions official. Since they agree with our predictions, click here, we have decided he's right. Simon says La Toya London and Diana DeGarmo will be the final two this year saying "I am going to predict La Toya and Diana to be the two finalists ... It's just who I'm guessing America will pick. If it was talent it would be La Toya and Fantasia, but I just don't think it will be those two." In the same Reuters interview he dismisses charges that last weeks vote was racist or that the results were somehow rigged by saying, "no, definitely."
April 29, 2004
Last night saw the departure of John Stevens from American Idol. In this writers opinion it was long overdue. Contestants with more talent and ability were voted off before John. But eventually the voters got it right. The bottom 3 were John, Jasmine Trias and George Huff. Again the voters got it right. It's interesting to give some thought to what Ryan Seacrest said about the vote numbers last night. A record number of over 28 million votes. John Stevens got over 4 million votes. That leaves roughly 24 million votes split between the remaining five. That works out to an average of 4.8 million votes to each of the remaining five. The voting is close. While we are on the subject. FOX needs a wake up call. All the accusations of racism would have been stopped immediately if FOX would simply release the vote counts.
Defending the American Idols:
John Stevens mother is upset about the way he is being treated .... and to some extent she is right. Entertainment Tonight is reporting that Lynn Stevens spoke with American Idol producers after hearing a radio personality tell listeners that they did not have to worry about John because during his first concert, "somebody will take him out." American Idol Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe responded, "I can't believe, really, what's happening to America," he told ET. "This 16-year-old came on this show and bought into the fact that if you like him, you pick up a telephone and vote for him. He, nor his family, ever bought into the fact that America would turn like this on somebody. And it's totally unfair."
My thoughts: I hope they fire the DJ. Sure he had the right to say what he did, but having the right to say something does not mean it is a good idea to say it. Predicting somebodies murder is amusing? If that kind of comment is good for the guys ratings, I don't want to meet his audience. And while I'm at it .... Simon is right, John Stevens does not have the talent nor the charisma to be the American Idol, but for a 16 year old, he's a hell of a man.
In defending the woman, who in my opinion should be the American Idol, Jennifer Hudson, Sir Elton John has gone to far. Siding with the foolish, the misinformed, the thought-less and those who simply like to promote the ugly side of the world the Pop Icon said of Jennifer's being voted off, it's "incredibly racist." He says "the three people I was really impressed with, and they just happened to be black, young female singers, and they all seem to be landing in the bottom three." My advice to Sir Elton; quit reaching for the easy answer that confirms an ugly view of the world and think about it for a minute. They landed in the bottom three because they were the best of the group and they were very similar. Very similar; that is the key. The vote got split between three similar performers as people had to decide whether to vote for Jennifer or LaToya or Fantasia. Choosing between those three incrediably talented young women was difficult, but not racist. Nor is it racist that 4 of the top 7 were black, nor that 3 of the top 6 were black, nor that 3 of the top 5 are black, nor that the winner of this years Idol should and most probably will be black, nor that last years winner is black. It's not race, it's talent. The world is full of the "glass is half full" and "the glass is half empty people." I'm sorry Elton John is in the latter.
Here are the RTVC staff predictions after viewing the April 27th performance show. We did pretty well this week. With the exception of having the Jasmine / Fantasia placing reversed we were right on.
Rank
Ron Lemon
Quinton Carrol
Kelley Rhodes
RTVC Predicted Finish
Average
1
LaToya London
Diana DeGarmo
LaToya London
1st - LaToya London
1.66
2
Diana DeGarmo
Jasmine Trias
Diana DeGarmo
1st - Diana DeGarmo
1.66
3
Fantasia Barrino
LaToya London
Jasmine Trias
3rd - Jasmine Trias
3.00
4
Jasmine Trias
George Huff
Fantasia Barrino
4th - Fantasia Barrino
4.00
5
George Huff
Fantasia Barrino
George Huff
5th - George Huff
4.66
6
John Stevens
John Stevens
John Stevens
6th - John Stevens
6.00
April 27, 2004
The final six perform tonight on American Idol without Jennifer Hudson who was sent home last week. Theories and conspiracies and excuses are all over net. If you haven't seen our version you can click here. We think it makes more sense than most. Including Jennifer's explanation. According to Jennifer, it was God. "I feel like He spoke and when He's got something to say, I ain't got nothing to say about it," she told Zap2it.com. She feels that storms sent by God prevented her relatives from voting. "That storm was a sign from God that it's time to remove you from this place." She says, "I don't think it was based on talent. If we're gonna base it on talent, I know I was robbed. I don't think ... I don't know exactly what it was based on, but I don't think it was talent at all." I have a great deal of respect for Jennifer's talent, she was my pick to win American Idol, but I think God has more important things to deal with than American Idol.
April 24, 2004
The fallout continues from Wednesday night's American Idol show and the exit of Jennifer Hudson from the competition.
There are a lot of theories out there as to what happened and why. There was a power and phone outage in Jennifer's Chicago hometown. But that only affected about 15,000 people. Statistically less than 1,000 of them would have been watching. Of those watching how many would vote? Advertising people would estimate 1 to 3 percent. Even if half of them voted it would be only 500 votes. According to Reuters it was the closest vote in Idol history. It's time FOX started releasing the results with accurate numbers.
Unfortunately there are those who will turn any misfortune into something ugly. The New York Post reports that it "was deluged with calls complaining that the voting was racially motivated since the three woman with the fewest votes were black." This ignores that last years winner Rueben Studdard is a black American.
There are other conspiracy theories out there including computer hackers and prejudice against unwed mothers. It's a shame people need to look for the dramatic and often the ugly to enhance their lives. It's not that complicated, or that mysterious. It's actually a compliment to the three young ladies involved. In the end, the winner will be one of the two women who were in the bottom three. If you want to know what happened and why ..... read this.
April 22, 2004
In the wake of Wednesday night's American Idol shocker comes this. When asked if Randy, Paula and Simon's remarks had any effect on the voting Executive Producer Ken Warwick told MTV, "It would be wrong to say that the judges' opinions on the show, when it's right in front of peoples' noses, don't have an effect, because they do. But generally speaking, I don't think overall it has that much of an effect." That certainly helps, thanks Ken.
Season one's Tamyra Gray recently said, "If you want to be in the industry, you should take the constructive criticism they give you, because that's it. After that, you're not going to have too many people say, 'You sucked,' to help you."
It appears obvious that what the judges have to say has little to no effect on what the voters are saying. If you are still upset about Wednesday's resultst take a look at the why it happened by clicking here, and why people are upset about it by clicking here.
Looking at the chart below you can see how terribly wrong we were this week. For our view on what happened, click here.
RTVC American Idol Rankings From The April 20 Performance:
RTVC Editor Ron Lemon, American Idol Recapper and Staff Writer Quinton Carroll and Staff Writer Kelley Rhodes are predicting the finish for the remaining American Idol contestants.
Rank
Ron Lemon
Quinton Carrol
Kelley Rhodes
RTVC Predicted Finish
Average
1
Jennifer Hudson
Jasmine Trias
Jennifer Hudson
1st - Jennifer Hudson
1.33
2
Diana DeGarmo
Jennifer Hudson
Fantasia Barrino
2nd - LaToya London
3.33
3
LaToya London
Diana DeGarmo
LaToya London
3rd - Fantasia Barrino
3.66
4
Fantasia Barrino
LaToya London
Jasmin Trias
3rd - Diana DeGarmo
3.66
5
Jasmine Trias
Fantasia Barrino
George Huff
3rd - Jasmine Trias
3.66
6
George Huff
John Stevens
Diana DeGarmo
6th - George Huff
6.00
7
John Stevens
George Huff
John Stevens
7th - John Stevens
6.66
Changes from last weeks RTVC staff predictions: Jennifer goes from 3rd to 1st ..... LaToya drops from 1st to 2nd ..... Fantasia and Diana move from a tie for 4th to a tie for 3rd ..... Jasmine drops from 2nd to a tie for third ..... George Huff drops to 6th from 4th and John Stevens moves up, sort of, from 8th to 7th.
RTVC Editor Ron Lemon got it right last week when John Peter Lewis went home, we'll see how we do this week.
American Idol News
April 21, 2004
What was with American Idol judge Paula Abdul's arm last night? She had it in a sling. Turns out the worlds least judgmental judge had to have her right thumbnail removed after a manicure went wrong. We've all had that problem from time to time. "They punctured me," she tells Entertainment Tonight. "I had surgery to remove the entire nail — the infection was too close to the bone. I almost lost my thumb!" So the question remains .... why was her arm in a sling?
A new American Idol special will air Monday, May 3rd at 8pm e/p. The Final Five 2004, takes us back to the beginning of the third season and brings us up to date with the lives of the final 5. Ryan Seacrest will host and the final five will perform.
April 20, 2004
Justin says it ain't so. Justin Guarini says he an Nicole Richie are not engaged and are not getting married. He did not say whether or not he got lucky. We reported on April 16th that, "American Idol 1 runner-up Justin Guarini and Simple Life side kick Nichole Richie will be married on June 12th. Nobody and nothing is confirming this ..... except online bridal registry WeddingChannel.com where they are shown as registered." He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the news was "hilarious" but is not true. While we are dealing with Justin news, he says the he has cut the bush off his head, "I just didn't feel like dealing with it anymore. It's not like it was some big, momentous occasion.... I'm making a lot of changes in my career and the direction in which I'm going." Reversing the direction from down to up would be a good start.
April 19, 2004
Running tonight is an encore performance of the American Idol Uncut, Uncensored, Untalented special at 8 e/p. FOX promises there will be new, never before seen footage in the repeat special.
April 14, 2004
The killer weed has been found on Ruben Studdard's tour bus. The bus was busted, Ruben was not. To keep the lawyers happy....everything here allegedly happened, wink wink, nod. It seems the bus was stopped because it did not yield to an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper who was "on the berm." This as reported by the Columbus NBC affiliate. Unfortunately what "on the berm" means is not clarified. According to the report Ruben "was not on the bus, but three people who were face charges." The American Idol 2 winner is on tour. He was in Chicago Friday night where according to the Chicago Tribune he did not come close to filling the auditorium. The Trib's reviewer says "his show had something all the other 'American Idol' tours lacked. It had a hint of spontaneity, a genuine sense of fun, and a dedication to music over showmanship. In other words, it had soul." A good joint will do that.
April 13, 2004
President Bush will be holding a news conference tonight at 8:30pm e/p. FOX has announced that it will cover the news conference and will postpone tonights American Idol performance show. The show will take place live in Los Angeles tonight, but will be taped and aired tomorrow night at 8pm e/p. The results show will air live Thursday night at 8pm e/p opposite Survivor All Stars. No other Reality TV scheduling is expected to be effected.
April 8, 2004
Last nights results show gave us a closer look at how the voting results have been adding up. Over 24 million votes were cast. Here's how it stacked up, from top vote getter to bottom:
Jennifer Hudson
Latoya London
George Huff
John Stevens
John Peter Lewis
Fantasia Barrino
Jasmine Trias
Diana DeGarmo
Camille Velasco (Sent Home)
April 7, 2004
American Idol's Simon Cowell will be a "special guest" on this weekend's Saturday Night Live. Janet Jackson is hosting. Will he critique boobygate? Last night's Elton John flavored Idol show was very disappointing. Performances by Jennifer Hudson, Jasmine Trias, and Diana DeGarmo were worth catching. The rest was best avoided. For RTVC staff writer Quinton Carroll's take on the night, click here.
March 31, 2004
I admit I am completely clueless, utterly baffled, I have no idea what is going on and if I ever make another prediction - ignore me.
Tonight's American Idol results show is a mystery. The bottom three are Latoya London, Jennifer Hudson and Amy Adams. I would have placed two of them in the top 4 and the other as number 5 or 6, but none of them deserved to be in the bottom three. Amy Adams is sent home.
Amy is sent home while John Stevens and John Peter Lewis at least have the grace and sense of right and wrong to look embarrassed and surprised. They belonged at center stage and they knew it. Camille Velasco looked like a deer caught in the headlights, totally clueless that she should have been going home. The shame here is that she may begin to believe she is still on the show based on her talent.
Simon said it best, "when you allow America to vote, you must accept the results." He's right, the rules say America determines the outcome. The show is a search for an American Idol....not an American Talent. I keep forgetting that.
But even so, it seems to be more and more obvious that who gets what voting demographic is determining our next American Idol. Whether that demographic is age, sex or geographic. And maybe that is the way it should be. But I keep thinking of two things.
This is not one vote per person. Organized voting campaigns are a reality in this "competition." Sitting there and constantly hitting the redial button for two hours is wrong. It's not against the rules ..... but it's wrong.
And I keep thinking back to last season, all the critics, all the industry experts and American Idol resident authority Simon panned Clay Aiken. But America loved him, voting him second in the competition and more importantly voting by buying his music and making him number one on the charts repeatedly.
So maybe in the long run America is getting it right? I don't know ..... like I said ..... I'm clueless and baffled.
But I'm foolish enough to make another prediction:
Considering who now remains the top four should be Diana DeGarmo, Jasmine Trais, Fantasia Barrino, and Jennifer Hudson. But considering my track record, they are probably the next four to go.
March 26, 2004
Did anybody besides a bored media even notice it? TV guide seems to have coined the phrase calling it "Birdygate." But I question if any fans actually saw it. Allegedly Simon Cowell flipped the bird at Paula Abdul on Tuesday nights live American Idol performance show. Looking at the tape you see his middle finger resting against his temple. Was he scratching, just resting his head, or having fun with Paula. Why is it so important? "Give me a break," Cowell said Wednesday during an interview on Ryan Seacrest's show. "If you scratch your nose with your middle finger, you're flipping somebody off. It's crazy." According to USA Today, Fox, which received an astounding total of 20 e-mails about the incident, did not edit it out because they "found it to be nothing more than a benign body posture. He was resting his head on his hands."
March 25, 2004
Last night's American Idol results show was full of surprises. The bottom 3 included, no surprise, Camille Velasco, big surprise, Matt Rogers and Diana DeGarmo. The surprises continued with Matt Rogers being sent home. I'm not sure which is the bigger surprise....that Diana DeGarmo was in the bottom 3 or that Camille Velasco did not get the boot. It demonstrates once again that this show is not just about the best vocal performance. It is about appearance, image, the emotional attachment that the voting audience has with the contestant, and disturbingly, it is becoming more and more about each contestants "voting machine."
Clay Aikens new RCA single CD, 'The Way' and 'Solitaire', which Clay sang on last weeks results show, debuted at #1 on the Nielsen SoundScan U.S. Singles Sales chart for the week ending March 21, 2004. The new single is the first to sell over 100,000 copies in a week since ... Clay's last commercial CD-single, 'This Is The Night' and 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', which was the only CD-single from 2003 to be certified platinum in the U.S. Clay bumped roommate and fellow idol Kimberley Clark from the number one spot.
And finally, next weeks American Idol theme is Motown. John Peter Lewis and John Stevens are being fitted now for center stage seats.
March 24, 2004
Last weeks television ratings show the American Idol Performance Show and The American Idol Results show were the number 1 and number 2 shows for the week. 26.7 and 22.9 million viewers.
Last nights Country Music themed performance show fell far short of last weeks spectacular performance. Why are they having Pop Idols sing country songs? Especially when it appeared they could not get clearance for any really good modern country music? If you want to hear country music in this format, check out Nashville Star....it is very very good.
Kimberly Locke will sing her number one single "8th World Wonder" on tonight's results show.
Joshua Gracin has a country single out, debuted at #43, and an album is soon to be released. Josh will be released from the Marine Corps in September when his hitch is up. He will be moving his family to Nashville.
March 21, 2004
The first two seasons of American Idol voting was tarnished by people trying to make a buck off viewers mistakes. "Three Utah-based companies bought dozens of phone numbers very similar to the toll-free numbers that Idol fans call to place their votes." According to the AP, "The three companies have agreed to pay a civil penalty of $40,000 for engaging in deceptive conduct and violating federal law, the commission said." Roughly 25,000 stupid people paid "up to $3 per call during the 2002 and 2003 seasons." The FTC shut the operations down.
March 18, 2004
FOX had its biggest Tuesday night audience ever, thanks to American Idol 3. The show pulled in 26.7 million viewers and then a record 18 million call / text votes were received. Congratulations to Fox and the American Idol crew....not only does it keep getting bigger....it keeps getting better. Last night's results show saw the first of the final 12 depart. Leah Labelle of Seattle, Washington, was sent home.
March 16, 2004
Even the judges...all of them....called it the best final 12 ever. It was an incredible two hours. With only a couple of exceptions the performances were stellar.
America agreed. It was the highest rated Tuesday for Fox in the history of the network. Plus 18 million votes were counted.
The bottom three were Amy Adams, Jennifer Hudson, which surprised a lot of people, and Leah Labelle, which surprised no one. America sent Leah home.
Oddsmakers Interops and Betwwts.com are giving the nod to American Idol contestant Fantasia Barrino as the favorite to win the competition. Simon Cowel is also betting on Fantasia, "If I had to choose one of the 12 now to offer a recording contract without the competition, it would be Fantasia," he said. Least favored to win - Leah Labelle. Simon also says "If I was making a record, I would pick the ginger-head (John Stevens) kid." The twelve finalists perform for America in a two air live American Idol show tonight. Clay Aiken is scheduled to perform "Solitaire" during tomorrow night's results show.
March 10, 2004
The American Idol Wild Card Show was held last night. Notable for a rather cruel format that included four wild card contestants who rehearsed all week and then were dismissed by the judges as unworthy of even performing on the show. The remaining eight sang with stand out performances by Jennifer Hudson and Susie Vulaca. Tonight the judges each announce one of the eight to go on and one will be chosen based on America's vote. Ruben Studdard will perform live tonight and Clay Aiken will be on hand next week. Also of note, the coke glasses are back.
March 9, 2004
Congratulations to American Idol 2 winner Ruben Studdard. Ruben won the Best New Artist award at the NAACP Image Awards.
Congratulations to American Idol reject William (She Bangs) Hung. The Hong Kong native has just signed a recording contract with Fuse Music Network and Koch Records. The CD includes his signature tune "She Bangs" and a cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man." Release date has been set as April 6. Fuse President Marc Juris says "He may not be the next American Idol, but he is definitely a star and inspiration to everyone who sings in the shower."
March 4, 2004
Random American Idol thoughts.
What is with "Seacrest Out!?" Congratulations on your success Ryan...but get over yourself.
What happened to the Coke glasses on the judges tables. Did the contract run out? The very plain water glasses screamed "Rent This Space!"
What happened to "Army Girl?" Although she did not make the final 32 she was better than most that did. She was called back and she killed on the Uncut.... special. Why no Wild Card selection? Did they fear the kind of scheduling conflict that Marine Joshua Gracin experienced in AI-2 or is "Support Your Local Military" Day over in Hollywood? Army Girl....we'd love to know what happened?
