IDOLSPOT.COM - American Idol 8 Fan Reviews

Season 9: Grand Finale

Inna — Thu, 27 May 2010 02:43:02 +0000

Only two more hours left, finally! And really, the only thing that interests us about tonight is that it’s Simon’s last episode of Idol ever. Wish we could say the same for ourselves.Things get underway with a cheesetastic performance of “School’s Out” by the top 12, complete with a guest appearance by horribly aged Alice Cooper. Not much to say, the whole thing is lame.Last year’s winner Kris Allen performs his new single “The Truth.” It’s harmless, but nothing to write home about. Turns out it’s one of the least painful things we’ll see tonight, though.Of course, being that tonight is Simon’s last at the judges’ table, we have to sit through a million cheesy montages of past footage. The first one is a “lowlights” reel. Moving on.Siobhan Magnus and Aaron Kelly sing “How Deep Is Your Love,” and they’re joined by the remaining Bee Gees. Double the fail! Then, Michael Lynche sings “Takin’ It To The Streets” with Michael McDonald and we nearly fall asleep.We wake up when Dane Cook takes the stage to sing a song about Simon’s insults. Sadly, this is one of the best things that happens all night. Hilarious!The top 6 girls sing a medley of Christina Aguilera songs. Really? It’s not as though any of them come even close to Christina’s vocal ability, so why showcase the mediocrity? Thankfully, Christina shows up halfway through. Sadly, though, it seems the suckiness is contagious- she’s not very good either.The top 6 guys sing a Hall & Oates medley, and of course are joined by Hall & Oates. This isn’t even exciting any more because it’s the same thing over and over, just with different artists. Next.Crystal Bowersox performs with Alanis Morissette. We giggle because the judges have spent all season talking about how “original” and “unique” Crystal is, and then they pair her with an artist JUST like her for the finale.Carrie Underwood performs her new single “Undo It.” Her outfit is terrible, but she sounds great, so we can certainly forgive that. One of the few performances all night that isn’t completely torturous to watch.Now comes the part where the top two get “surprised” with new cars. Remember the days when they used to get Mustangs? We thought it was lame when they downgraded to Fusions, but now they get… Fiestas? Wow.Casey James performs “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” with Bret Michaels. Painfully dull, but it’s great to see Bret is doing so well.Lee Dewyze performs with Chicago, there’s another Simon montage to sit through, and the “Pants On The Ground” guy returns, complete with hip hop track and a million backup dancers. Dear God, is it over yet?Paula Abdul returns to Idol to make a speech in Simon’s honor. It’s just a bunch of tacky, obviously scripted one-liners, and the whole thing is REALLY awkward. But it’s followed by a nice performance by 7 of the 8 past winners (sans David Cook) and a bunch of former contestants. Highlight of the night.Janet Jackson joins the top 12 to perform, and then sings a couple songs on her own. She’s wearing spandex to cover up the fact that she has zero energy and is quite possibly lip syncing. We’re falling asleep again.Finally, after a painfully dull season and what has been the worst two-night finale of any show in the history of television, the winner is crowned- and it’s Lee DeWyze!Congratulations, America, on picking the least terrible contestant to take home the title.

Season 9 – Finale

Inna — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:33:33 +0000

Finale week. Thank God. Tonight there are three rounds- round one is contestants’ favorite from the season, round two is producers’ choice, and round three is the coronation song. And Crystal Bowersox won the coin toss and will be performing second.

Lee chooses “The Boxer” as his favorite song of the season. Really? Why? This wasn’t bad the first time around, but there are several songs we would have preferred to see again instead of this one. He sounds… okay. Not a big standout, but it’s good, we guess. Our rating: 7/10

For her favorite song, Crystal chooses “Me & Bobby McGee.” We had totally forgotten she did this song, so it goes without saying that we wouldn’t have wanted to see it again. And it’s really pretty obnoxiously bad this time around. Our rating: 5/10

The producers apparently want Lee to lose, because they make him sing “Everybody Hurts.” The arrangement is pretty much unrecognizable, and the vocals are just okay. We’re not impressed. Our rating: 5/10

And speaking of bad choices, the producers make Crystal sing “Black Velvet.” No, no, no, no and no. This is such a terrible choice! Further proof of just how far out of touch this show has become. Oh, and she sounds bad too. Our rating: 2/10

Apparently, the Idol gods have decided they’re not even going to bother writing original coronation songs any more, because Lee’s is “Beautiful Day” by U2. A really bad rendition of it. Sigh. This has been the worst finale ever! Our rating: 4/10

Crystal’s coronation song is no better: “Up To The Mountain.” So slow. So boring. Not a chance this would be successful on top 40 radio. And again, it sounds terrible and she screams most of the time. Our rating: 4/10

Well, that was a train wreck. Tomorrow night, the winner is crowned. We don’t really care at this point.

Season 9 – Top 3 Results

Inna — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:17:40 +0000

Welcome, boys and girls, to the most predictable Idol results show of all time. We predicted the finale at the beginning of the season, and we knew before the show started last night who’d be going home tonight. And in case it wasn’t already going to be boring enough, there will be performances by Travis Garland and Justin Bieber. Oh well.

The first ten minutes of the show are completely useless. Just a lot of babbling and rehashing. And then there’s the Ford music video, which might as well be the same one we’ve seen almost every other week this season. Yawn.

The footage from Casey James’s homecoming is pretty much more of the same too. Screaming teenyboppers and creepy middle-aged housewives abound. Casey visits the hospital he was in after his accident six years ago. Hooray!

Travis Garland’s performance consists of an autotune-rigged mic and some backup dancers. It’s boring.

Lee and Crystal’s homecoming footage is mildly entertaining, and we really like that Lee is finally wearing his heart on his sleeve. But at this point, we’re ready to just find out what we already know.

Justin Bieber performs “You Smile” and “Baby,” and it’s about as much of a joke as we expected it to be. We can’t wait until the next cute 12-year-old makes an appearance, so this one will go away.

Finally, the results. The first person in the finale is Lee. He’s joined by Crystal. Casey is elimianted. Shock. Awe. Or, um, not.

Next week, FINALLY, the finale!

Top 3: Contestants’ and Judges’ Choices

Inna — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:56:47 +0000

Top three week is here, which means there’s only one more week to sit through. Oh, and it also means the contestants are each performing twice tonight. They’ll be singing a song of their own choosing, and a song chosen by the judges.

Casey James starts the contestants’ choice round with “OK It’s Alright With Me.” We think it’s really lame that he chooses a folk-sounding song, plays acoustic guitar, but then sings like he’s auditioning for a grunge band. The whole thing is unimpressive. Nothing memorable at all. Our rating: 6/10

We’re uber-excited when Crystal Bowersox says she’s going to be singing “Come To My Window,” but it turns out to be a huge disappointment. She starts shaky and off-key, and never gets much better. The whole thing is weak and sloppy and it’s probably her worst performance of the season. Our rating: 4/10

Lee DeWyze’s choice of “Simple Man” is the most promising for this round. He sounds good, seems confident and comes across well. We just wish there was a bit more behind it, because it seems a little bit lazy. But it’s easily the best we’ve seen so far tonight. Our rating: 8/10

Back to Casey James. Randy and Kara choose “Daughters” for him to sing, for reasons completely unbeknownst to us. This is not at all the kind of thing we see Casey doing, and it shows. In fact, he may as well have not sung at all, and instead opted to stand onstage and make a speech about how he’s not going to bother because he knows he’s not going to make it past tomorrow’s elimination and has thus given up. That’s how this performance comes across. Not only do we nearly fall asleep, but it looks and sounds like he might, too. Our rating: 2/10

Round two for Crystal Bowersox is “Maybe I’m Amazed,” chosen by Ellen. She screams more than she sings, the whole thing is a big ugly mess, and THIS is actually her worst performance of the season. What happened to her? Does she WANT to go home? Our rating: 3/10

Lee DeWyze closes the show with “Hallelujah,” chosen by Simon. We’re disappointed. Not because he sings badly, because he sounds great. We’re just so tired of this song being done on the show- it’s already been done THIS SEASON, for crying out loud! It’s a good rendition, and we’re proud of him and the huge standing ovation he gets at the end is deserved. But we would have rather seen something we haven’t already seen a million times. Our rating: 9/10

Tomorrow night, we find out who’s in the finale, and we’ll also be forced to sit through performances by Justin Bieber and Travis Garland. Joy.

Season 9 – Top 4 Results

Inna — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:11:35 +0000

37 million votes last night, and we still expect the results to be completely predictable and anticlimatic. But, oh well- at least there are performances from Daughtry and Bon Jovi to look forward to. Fantasia as well, but we’re not so much looking forward to that one.

Speak of the devil, at least we get Fantasia’s performance of “Bittersweet” out of the way quickly. There’s only one singer in history whose voice annoys us more than hers, and it’s Macy Gray. This is slightly less awkward than her performance last year was, but it’s still terrible.

The Ford video is underwhelming. The song isn’t even catchy. Not much to say about it, since it’s pretty much the same commercial we see every week.

Before we get down to business, Seacrest reminds us that the three contestants who survive tonight’s elimination will be given homecoming trips this weekend. Then we reflect on some past homecomings from all 8 seasons.

Seacrest reminds us that the results will be given in no particular order, and then sends Casey James to safety. What? Why? Well, here’s some helpful advice for next year’s hopefuls: When in doubt at your audition, take off your shirt. Obviously it worked for Casey.

Daughtry’s performance of “September” is unlike what we’ve come to expect from them, but we like it. The song is mellow and pretty, and while it doesn’t totally blow us away, it’s a good way to kill a few minutes of an otherwise mind-numbingly dull show.

Back to the results, and Lee Dewyze is safe. That leaves… Michael Lynche and Crystal Bowersox? The suspense is killing us. Or, um, not. At all.

Bon Jovi’s performance is… well, lackluster. We like them, but this song is about as cookie-cutter as it gets. We’re happy when it ends.

And since we could cut the tension with a plastic spork, let’s just get it over with. Michael Lynche is eliminated. Crystal Bowersox is safe. Like we didn’t see that coming.

Next week, the top three perform and we learn who’s in this season’s finale.

Top 4: Songs From The Movies

Inna — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:15:18 +0000

Tonight, we’re actually excited about the show for once. That’s due largely in part to the fact that the theme is “Songs From The Movies,” which means we might actually hear some songs from this century for the first time all season. Also, the mentor is Jamie Foxx, and he did a really good job last year. Here’s hoping it happens again. And finally, not only will we be seeing the usual solo performances, but there will also be two duets.

First up is Lee Dewyze, singing “Kiss From a Rose.” We’re really excited about this, until he starts singing and the life is drained out of it. He sounds fine, and it’s a passable performance, but this song has some huge moments, and we expect those, and they just never happen. This is just okay. Our rating: 7/10

Michael Lynche starts off a bit shaky and nervous with “Will You Be There,” but once he hits his stride, the performance gets better. But, like Lee, we also don’t feel that extra level of excitement that should go along with this song. Another performance that’s just okay. Our rating: 8/10

The first duet tonight comes from Lee and Crystal, and it’s “Falling Slowly.” This is a beautiful song, and one that we want to be excited about, but it seems SO wrong for Crystal. And we’re right. It is. She overpowers Lee, and not in a good way. Lee, however, sounds great, so points for that. Our rating: 7/10

Casey James apparently WANTS to be laughed out of the competition, because he sings “Mrs. Robinson.” Really? And he’s so obviously channeling Jason Castro. Only problem is, Jason would have pulled this off. Casey, not so much. This is lame beyond words, and he doesn’t sound particularly good either. Our rating: 4/10

Crystal Bowersox says she’s going to liven things up with “I’m Alright.” It starts off like a funeral dirge, but does eventually pick up. Buuuut, it’s really just more of the same thing she always does. Sure, she sounds great, but we’ve heard it all before. A few million times. And quite frankly, we’re really bored. Our rating: 8/10

Finally, the last duet tonight is from Casey and Michael. They sing “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman,” and it comes across like two guys singing simultaneously on different stages. They’re singing at the same time, but really not together. And could Casey’s goat vibrato be any more prominent and annoying? Our rating: 4/10

So, the performances are over for another week. Tomorrow night, one more person goes home, and we’ll see performances from Daughtry and Bon Jovi.

Season 9 – Top 5 Results

Inna — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:25:33 +0000

It’s results night again, but before we find out what we actually care to know, we’ll have to sit through performances by Harry Connick, Jr. and Lady Gaga. Wait. Lady Gaga? On Sinatra week? Well, that’s awkward and inappropriate. Oh well, guess they have to fill that hour somehow.

First, the top 5 sings a medley of Sinatra standards- in other words, it’s naptime. Every week, we think these group performances couldn’t possibly get any worse. And every week, we’re proven wrong. This is a hot mess.

The Ford music video is cutesy and really pretty lame. And the vocals are weak, like the singing was an afterthought. Really? Are we still watching the right show here?

The only redeeming moment of the night is the behind the scenes footage from Tuesday. We miss the days when there was stuff like this every week. We miss feeling like we actually know something about the contestants as people. Why can’t we do this more often? Oh wait, we forgot, we can’t do that because then there’d be less time for commercials and shameless plugs of other, already established artists’ work. Sigh.

One result is in- Lee Dewyze is safe. We see it coming- Seacrest is going to split everyone else into two groups and try to force Lee to choose which other two contestants are safe. So predictable.

Lady Gaga performs her new single “Alejandro” while dressed like the bride of Frankenstein. Her performances are like a bad car crash- you don’t want to look, but you can’t stop yourself. This one is no different.

After a montage of Harry Connick, Jr. being obnoxious, he performs. We nearly fall asleep. Really, there’s not much else to say. Then he accompanies the top 5 while they perform a medley of his songs and we sink deeper into our suicidal tendencies.

Back to the results- and we were right. Seacrest splits them down the middle- Crystal Bowersox and Casey James in one group, Aaron Kelly and Michael Lynche in another. Then he asks Lee if he would choose his group, and Lee refuses, like we knew he would. So, Seacrest just tells us that Crystal and Casey are safe, and Aaron and Michael are the bottom two. Michael? Really? Why? And why is Casey safe? Oh well.

Aaron Kelly is finally eliminated, which means Michael Lynche makes the top four. Aaron performs “Fly Me To The Moon” again, and while he sounds okay, the song is still incredibly dull, much like everything else this week.

Next week’s theme is Songs From The Cinema. Finally! Something that might actually include songs from this century! Jamie Foxx will be the mentor. He did a good job last year, so we look forward to it.

Season 9 – Top 5: Sinatra

Inna — Wed, 05 May 2010 01:23:12 +0000

Sinatra night. What a great theme idea, since the judges are always crying about how the performances aren’t young and current. Note our sarcasm. Also, the mentor is Harry Connick, Jr. We can’t think of too many people more annoying than him. And he’s also responsible for all the arrangements we’ll hear tonight, which we’re not happy about. Seems the contestants are getting less and less control all the time.

Aaron Kelly’s rendition of “Fly Me To The Moon” is the same as he always is: shaky and boring. He’s a little better than he’s been the last couple of weeks, but that’s not enough at this point. We’re not impressed. Our rating: 5/10

Casey James starts way off key with “Blue Skies,” and he never gets much better. And besides being off key, the whole thing is really incredibly awkward. And what’s with the vibrato? A little is fine, but it’s probably not good to sing like you’re sitting on top of a washing machine. Our rating: 6/10

Next, Crystal Bowersox sings “Summer Wind.” Her voice sounds good, but we still feel like we’re on hold with some boring phone sales company and we’re being forced to sit through the most painfully dull music they could find. Nothing memorable here, and we’re really starting to dislike the way she mouths off to the judges week after week. Our rating: 7/10

Michael Lynche’s rendition of “The Way You Look Tonight” starts off a little slow and boring, but once he gets into it, it’s really quite good. He seems very comfortable in this style of music, and sounds good. We’re not blown away, but it’s a good, solid performance among a bunch of lifeless, sloppy ones earlier tonight. Our rating: 9/10

Finally, Lee Dewyze blows us away with “That’s Life.” We really like the old southern soul feel this has to it, and he seems so much more comfortable than he did earlier in the season. This is what this show is supposed to be about- taking good artists, and watching them grow as the season progresses. He’s really the only person who’s done that this season, and as far as we’re concerned, he should have no competition. Our rating: 10/10

Tomorrow night, one more person goes home and we’re another week closer to the finale.

Top 6 Results

Inna — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:11:48 +0000

Last night, 33 million votes rolled in. Tonight, we learn the results. There will also be performances by Rascal Flatts and Shakira, Sons of Sylvia and Lady Antebellum.

Things get underway with the first Rascal Flatts performance of the evening, “Unstoppable.” We like Rascal Flatts, but these vocals are weak. The whole thing is forgettable. We’re excited when it’s over.

Now it’s time to go behind the scenes of this week’s Ford music video, where the contestants are being “transformed” into vampires. Well, at least it’s not the usual CGI and cheesy dancing. It’s a pretty obvious homage to Twilight, but that’s okay, we guess. The video is at least entertaining.

Which is more than can be said for all the footage of the top 6 meeting the director of Shrek Forever After, recording voiceovers and seeing the movie with a bunch of fans. Really? Why do we care?

Finally it’s time for some results. Seacrest says he’s going to create three groups of two. We’ve got Siobhan Magnus and Lee Dewyze in one group, Aaron Kelly and Crystal Bowersox in another, and Casey James and Michael Lynche in the third. But wait! The groups were a ruse! The bottom three is Casey James, Michael Lynche and Siobhan Magnus.

Seacrest announces that next week’s mentor is Harry Connick, Jr. and the theme is… Songs of Sinatra? Well, that ought to be nice and current. Very “young.” What’s up with these lame themes this year?

Carrie Underwood introduces Sons Of Sylvia, and they perform pretty badly. About what we expected, really. Next.

Finally, a country performance on country week! Lady Antebellum rocks our faces off with “Need You Now.” This is possibly the first time all season we’ve actually enjoyed a guest performer. Too bad that can’t happen more often, because that was great!

The Shakira/Rascal Flatts performance turns out to be Shakira singing her song “Gypsy” while Rascal Flatts stand on the stage with her. Very anticlimatic, and she still can’t sing. Oh well. At least it’s almost over.

Surprisingly, Michael Lynche is sent back to safety! We would have bet he’d be going home tonight. And also unexpectedly, Siobhan Magnus is finally eliminated and Casey James lives on.

Season 9 – Top 6: Shania Twain

Inna — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:19:51 +0000

In lieu of a generic “country” week, we’ll be treated to a bunch of dudes singing Shania Twain. Should be interesting. And, of course, she’s also the mentor. Well, at least she isn’t Miley Cyrus.

Lee Dewyze opens the show with “You’re Still The One.” We love this song, but this is just not good. The tune is nothing like the original song, and he’s just all over the place. Very disappointing, considering Lee is usually our favorite. Our rating: 6/10

Michael Lynche chooses a song we’re not familiar with: “It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing.” He sounds good, but it really doesn’t stand out, and the obscure song might not be a good idea at this stage of the game. It’s decent, though. We just wish he hadn’t busted out that bad falsetto at the end. Our rating: 7/10

We scoff and voice our doubts when Casey James says he’ll be doing something different tonight. He hasn’t so far all season. But his rendition of “Don’t” makes us eat our words. It’s not perfect, but it’s easily our favorite of the night, and it’s got far more emotion and connection than he usually does. We’re very impressed. Our rating: 9/10

Crystal Bowersox goes for the throwback sound with “No One Needs To Know.” We can appreciate that, but the whole thing comes across as corny and goofy. And that really doesn’t suit her. She just doesn’t seem comfortable with bouncy and fun. Our rating: 7/10

Aaron Kelly starts off as shaky as always with “You’ve Got a Way,” but it gets better as he goes. For him, anyway. It’s still nothing to write home about, but it’s not nearly as atrocious as some of the things we’ve seen this season, so we can’t completely write him off. Our rating: 6/10

We could hug Shania Twain when she calls Siobhan Magnus on her lack of life and depth in her performances. We’ve been saying that all season. And, frighteningly enough, Siobhan reaches a whole new level of suck with “Any Man Of Mine.” She screeches, sings off key and generally sounds like a five-year-old trying to sing like a big girl. Then, of course, she banshee screams to end the performance and holds one obnoxious note for half an hour. This is absolutely terrible and she should have been gone weeks ago. Our rating: 1/10

Tomorrow night, performances by Rascal Flatts, Sons of Sylvia, Lady Antebellum and… Shakira? One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong! Oh well.