AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Who Needs Charisma Anyway?

If you’re like me, you sat and plodded patiently through this past, awful season of American Idol knowing that at the very least we’d receive some sort of consolation in knowing that Crystal, the immensely talented busker from Ohio, would win it all and thus preserve the one thing this franchise had left: a thread …

‘American Idol’ Sends Simon Off With A Yawn

You might not realize it, but tonight marks the season finale of American Idol. Even more significantly, it will serve as Simon Cowell’s final episode before he jumps ship to his other franchise, X-Factor. However, buzz on Idol has been so low that it’s difficult to imagine that either of these things are about to …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Desperately Seeking Charisma

We’re down to our final three on American Idol, and in just over a week, we’ll have a new recording superstar. And by that, I mean the next featured artist at Starbucks. Casey, Crystal, and Lee are all very talented musicians, and they certainly do love strumming their geee-tars, but man oh man do they …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Blame It On The Ah-AhAhAh-Ah-Ah-Actor

With only four performers left on American Idol, the producers threw two wrenches into the mix. First, the final contestants would have to sing duets with each other — a nifty device started last year. Second, they’d have to endure the bombastic mentoring of the insufferable Jamie Foxx — a not-so-nifty device also started last …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Big Bland Night

Start spreading the news: Frank Sinatra night on American Idol sort of sucked. It’s not Frank Sinatra’s fault. And it’s not guest mentor/composer Harry Connick Jr.’s fault. Really, it’s the producers’ fault. I know people love their standards, and I know they love their Sinatra (my mom excluded), but on a show that’s about finding …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Shania on Fiya

I took a week off from American Idol coverage last week because of deadlines elsewhere in my life, but that’s okay because really all we missed was the lame “inspirational” week, which somehow left us hearing Casey James singing theme-inappropriate Fleetwood Mac and Tim Urban taking on a forgettable Goo Goo Dolls song. Sure, there …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: A Little Less Andrew Garcia, A Little More Action

It was Elvis week on American Idol last night, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. [crickets] That was sarcasm. Let’s put it this way: the only theme less interesting to me would have been the great Rascal Flatts songbook. Truth be told, I’m not a huge Elvis fan. I only have one song of …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Continuing Down The Long And Winding Road

Apologies for my one week absence in American Idol coverage. I was in NY last Tuesday, and I forgot to record the show on my parents’ Tivo. Even worse, the performance videos on Idol’s official (and extremely crappy) website didn’t work; so I was left with little else to do but listen to mp3s of …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: It's Miley!

Pic via New York Daily News It never ceases to amaze me how terrible the contestants on American Idol are at picking tunes to sing. Last night’s episode offered them the simplest way to sound contemporary by providing the wide-open theme of #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, and yet despite the show all but begging …

AMERICAN IDOL RECAP: Ain't Got No Satisfaction?

American Idol moved onto the big stage last night, and without the presence of Lilly Scott or Todrick Hall or Alex Lambert or Katelyn Epperly, I feared we may be worse for wear. After all, it’s safe to say that none of those four truly deserved an ouster last week (I’d have reserved that honor …