BuzzSugar

Which "Idol" Contestant Would You Bring Back?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 May 2007 13:32:00 -0700

Seeing all the booted "American Idol" finalists cheering on Jordin and Blake from the audience last night made me wonder: If you could have brought back one of them for the finale, who would it be? (You can let me know in the comments if you would rather have replaced Jordin or Blake.)

Photo courtesy of Fox

"American Idol" Elimination: Haley Heads Home

BuzzSugar — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:29:07 -0700

It was going to happen sooner or later, but this week turned out to be Haley's time to go on "American Idol.". Good thing, too, or she might have come out naked next time around. She seemed prepared - after all, she'd been in the bottom three almost every week - and I was happy that she kept her composure enough to have fun with her final song. Well, as much fun as you can have when you've just been booted off the biggest TV show in America, I suppose. It bears mentioning that Haley was was wearing her most covered-up look yet for her elimination, with long sleeves and long pants.

Joining Haley in the bottom three were Phil and Chris, which really didn't surprise me. Phil hasn't been clicking these past few weeks, and he was my pick to go home. I didn't think Chris was very good this week (though the judges praised him effusively), and since this is his second appearance near the bottom, I'm starting to think his fan base isn't very strong.

I still wish "Idol" hadn't expanded the results show to an hour - even at its most drawn out, the actual elimination takes maybe five minutes - but they did make a good attempt to keep our attention on Wednesday. Among the added features: bonus footage with the singers chatting with J.Lo (Sanjaya: "Maybe I'll get her number later"), a man-on-the-street segment where Seacrest asked people in LA what they thought of the contestants, and a jokey fake audition bit with Tony Bennett. To see what I thought were some of the best - and most ridiculous - moments, read more

Here's when I knew Sanjaya was safe: During the intro, Ryan stood next to him as he solemnly said one of the contestants would be going home. "Who will it be?" he said, sending a faux-meaningful glance Sanjaya's way.
Group sing is back, full of flubbed words and awkward duets. It's so cheesy and awful, yet I kind of love it.
"That's nothing to you, is it, rich boy?" - Seacrest to Simon, on the topic of the $10,000 "Idol" challenge jackpot. Of course, the challenge question was once again too dumb to discuss.
The songwriting contest has already gotten 5,000 entries, Seacrest said. This week brought in 35 million votes, the highest so far (even though the ratings are fading).

J.Lo's never done much for me as a singer, but her performance had all the passion and energy she kept telling the contestants Latin songs need. I'm not sure what was going on with the bottom half of her outfit, though, and I was surprised she left most of the dancing to her backup crew.
The pimpomercial used that technology from Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video to morph one "Idol" contestant into the next. The freakiest part: realizing how much the new shorter-haired Sanjaya looks like Melinda.
J.Lo said she comes from "the Paula school of criticism." I assume she meant accentuating the positive, not acting drunk and incoherent on national television.

We got a sneak peak of Idol Gives Back tonight, with footage from the crew's trip to Africa. Some little girl put man-boobs on the picture she drew of Simon. She's my favorite person in the world right now.
Next week: country week with Martina McBride.

Photos courtesy of Fox

"American Idol" Elimination: Goodbye, Gina

BuzzSugar — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 09:23:16 -0700

Aww, our resident rocker is gone! Gina got voted off "American Idol" on Wednesday - and a few weeks too soon, in my opinion. She probably wouldn't have made it to the end, but she should have outlasted Haley and Phil at least (and, if this weren't bizarro-world, Sanjaya). I must say, though, that she didn't go terribly gracefully: Did anyone else think it was a little petulant the way she threw aside her lucky stuffed pickle?

The other big news of the night: Because Tony Bennett was ill, Michael Buble filled in with a last-minute performance. Good to know he had nothing better to do.

For more on Wednesday's results show, read more

The pimpomercial was a car wash set in a jungle - because the car was a hybrid, get it? - with weird stuff like soap coming out of flowers. Nice cameo by Kermit the Frog, though.
Seacrest pulled his whole "divide the contestants into three groups" thing before the elimination. For the record, Haley, Gina and Phil were the bottom three; Jordin, Melinda and LaKisha were the top three; and Blake, Chris R. and Sanjaya were the middle three.
I didn't notice it with all the gel on Tuesday, but Sanjaya's cut his hair. Can the KFC bowl cut be far behind?
The "Idol" challenge questions just keep getting dumber. As if we called Bucky Covington "chicken little." Come on, give us a hard one.
Buble made an Antonella Barba joke. Dude, you're about three weeks late.
The ratings weren't their best this week, but the vote total was the highest so far: 33 million.
When Seacrest announced Gina was leaving, were the boos louder than they've been for the other contestants? I can't say I'd really noticed them before, but they were obvious on Wednesday.
I was surprised that Jordin seemed the most broken up about Gina's ouster; I wouldn't have pegged them as friends, for some reason. But Gina let her pitch in on her farewell song, which was pretty sweet.
The results shows become an hour long as of next Wednesday, which means we'll get 58 minutes of filler instead of 28. Also, more group sings.
One note on the subject of Haley's legs: Her skirt (which she wore over nothing, except hopefully undies) was inches shorter than the one Gina wore over jeans. See?

Photos courtesy of Fox

"American Idol" Elimination: It's Curtains for Chris S.

BuzzSugar — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:22:27 -0700

Our 'fro-headed wisecracker is gone! Chris Sligh was voted off "American Idol" on Wednesday after he failed to really nail a performance in the finals. As much as I hate to agree with Seacrest, his assessment of Chris as one of the most clever "Idol" contestants was dead-on, and I'm sorry he won't be around to lighten the mood during performance shows anymore. I'm also sorry my DVR cut out before he told Phil that Phil owed him fifty bucks.

Phil and Haley joined Chris in the bottom three, and I was actually surprised to see Phil there. I'm really not a fan of his, but I can think of a lot of times he deserved to be in the bottom three, and this wasn't one of them. Haley, meanwhile, has to know her number's up soon; she just looks terrified all the time now, poor thing.

And yes, that means Sanjaya wasn't even in any danger. Dear America: What are you smoking? For more thoughts on Wednesday's elimination show, read more

Maybe I should have seen it coming, but Seacrest coming out in the Sanjaya ponyhawk wig was pretty amazing.
We got a Wild West pimpomercial - I'm sorry, "music video" - featuring Chris Richardson as an outlaw and Jordin as the sheriff trying to put him in his place.
"So that means either Chris or Gina will be joining Phil and Stacey in the bottom three," quoth Seacrest. Wow, I guess when Simon said he didn't know Haley's name, he wasn't alone.
The "Idol" challenge was about which finalist had been nicknamed "the velvet teddy bear," and Bo Bice was an option. I think he's one of the least teddy bear-ish contestants in Idol's history, actually.

Gwen's performance was so much better than what we usually see on "Idol" (read: washed-up stars in wildly inappropriate outfits attempting songs their voices gave up on years ago). So refreshing.
Was Paula trying to dress like Gwen? Both were wearing white button-down shirts, neckties and bib tops. Gwen, of course, looked awesome, while Paula looked ... well, kind of like a pirate. I think it was the fluttery sleeves.
Simon on who was going home: "I think it's bye-bye, Curly." I think he meant Chris, but Haley's hair was curly too.
If my coin had only come up tails on Tuesday, I'd be three-for-three in predicting eliminations
I'm glad Chris got a singout. I wish I could have just heard him crack jokes for two minutes, but I'll take the singout.

Photos courtesy of Fox