American Idol!!

We have the Top 24 woohoo!

Shiloh Jolie Pitt — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:15:35 -0800

And I totally love David Archuleta !! He has a great voice, a totally adorable face, the most pleasant personality. I can't wait to watch the show woohoo

Who are your favorites of the Top24 ? I also like Danny Noriega and Michael Jones.

First Listen: Blake Lewis, "Break Anotha"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:30:40 -0700

Hey, remember Blake Lewis? The beatboxing American Idol contestant who made women everywhere swoon? We haven't heard much from ol' Blake since he finished second to Jordin Sparks in the Idol finale, but now he's prepping his first album, Audio Day Dream, scheduled to hit stores in early December.

His first single, "Break Anotha," is now streaming on AOL's PopEater, and after listening to it a few times through, I ... kinda like it. It has hints of Blake's signature beatboxing, but it's more outright danceable than anything he performed on Idol, with a pretty great beat backing Blake's falsetto chorus. Just over two minutes in, the song gets all crazy with a horn section break and synth-y vocal effects. It's kind of the sonic equivalent of a strobe light, and I'm not sure I love it, but I respect how weird it is.

Idolator also has another leaked Blake Lewis track, "Know My Name," which is also a strange musical soup. This one is a lot heavier on the synthesizers, and it reminds me of how a slightly lamer Justin Timberlake might sound if backed by a college a capella choir. Which is not to say it's bad. I mean, it's kind of a mess, but it's a mess I'm oddly compelled to listen to, which must mean something.

Check out the songs and let me know what you think. Is this how you expected Blake's album to sound?

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My Pics

formless — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:20:27 -0700

My Pics!

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The Verdict

kristyrk — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 08:53:24 -0700

2 Round Trip tickets to Miami, Florida: $567.00

Hotel on the Beach for 4 nights: $237.78

Clothes, Makeup, Shoes and Hair Products: $278.99

Auditioning for American Idol: Priceless

Although I was "passed on" by 2 (obviously deaf) producer/judges this year at the American Idol Auditions in Miami, it for sure was an experience to remember.

I met some great people in line, had tons of laughs, got a tan, sat on beaches I had never seen, swam in the Atlantic Ocean, saw Ryan Seacrest up close (wears more makeup than me), had a really great Sangria (or 2 or 3) as a consolation drinky drink after the harsh rejection and overall found that I love Miami!

On audition day, we headed to the Arena and waited outside for about 3 and a half hours while the producers got the crowd shots they needed for the opening sequence of the Miami episodes. Choppers flew overhead for what seemed like forever and eventually filmed Ryan Seacrest while he worked a portion of the crowd for a shot. While we were waiting, I could see this cloud heading our way. Very dark cloud. About 15 minutes before we were let inside it dumped on us. Rain! It only lasted for a few minutes, but just long enough to get my hair wet and make it even more humid than it was before.

Finally at 9:00am, we were all let inside to get to our seats. Of course no one went right to their seats - they went straight for the bathrooms to prep. Don't get me wrong, I was hoarding the only electrical outlet for about 10 minutes myself. A girls gotta flat iron.

We really didn't have much time to practice or warm up vocally since there were more crowd shots to get once inside. So most of the contestants practiced their songs in small corners, in hallways, while standing and waiting to get food.. wherever. The sounds of hundreds of people singing at the same time was really really loud and by the end of my afternoon there, I was slightly deaf. Some of it was great, some of it was really not great at all. But one thing I realized is that the people who weren't that great still had the guts to go out there and get it.

Once everyone was in their seats, we were coached through our "city song" a few times. Ours was, what else: "The Rhythm is Gonna Get You" by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. So when you see the Audition rounds on TV come January, I'll be in there dancing my bootay off doing my best "Oooaayoway, Oooaaooohwayah".

Our section was finally called up. Our rows were put into groups of 4 and sent to one of 10 tables with 2 judges per table. In my group were 2 other girls and one guy. It just so happens that the guy and one of the girls were both from California too! WOOT! Finally after waiting in agony for about 10 minutes, we were sent to table number 7.

We were told to sing the best part of our song and don't feel like we have to start at the beginning (in other words, get it over with) I am 3rd in line to go. The first girl starts out. Shes pretty good! Very nervous I could tell though. The guy is called up and he starts doing some dance moves and singing "La Bamba". Oh what a great time the judges were having dancing in their seats. Crap. While he was shaking his groove thang, I was wondering to myself how I was supposed to stand out after this! So I tried to be funny and talk to the judges quickly before singing my song.
Me: "Hi! I'm Kristy. Have you heard any Sam Cooke yet today?"
Judge #1 Who?
Judge #2 (shakes her head no)
Me: Sam Cooke! You must know who Sam Cooke is!
Judge #1: Oh, no we haven't heard that yet today.
Me: OK, great! I'll be setting the bar pretty high then...(waiting for some sort of reaction. . .anything...the sound of crickets would start about now)

I got nothing. No reactions really. Even after singing the crap out of those 2 verses, making eye contact and really, really singing TO the male judge, I got nothing. I think I heard one of them say a little "Thank you" when I was done, but I couldn't be for sure.

The two debated for a few seconds, the 4 of us were totally on edge, trying to hear what they were saying. So they asked the guy next to me to stay and the rest of us were let go. Just like that.

So that was it! There was no more. So whats a girl to do then?? Immediately we head to the beach with a 6 pack of Corona and a lime of course! How else would I have spent the day? Crying into some Gelato? No way man. This is Miami and the beat goes on... So to speak.

What have I learned? You gotta stand out more than the person before you. I should have changed my song at the last minute to something more upbeat to overshadow the guy before me, but alas, hindsight is 20/20. And to be more prepared for the 9 hour wait on Audition day.. . bring an umbrella.

I also learned that I would go back to Miami in a heartbeat. And next time there wont be any getting up at obscene hours of the morning. Instead we will be going to bed at those hours!!!

Miami Idol

kristyrk — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:22:29 -0700

My American Idol journey has officially begun! We arrived in Miami on Sunday morning after spending 7 hours traveling from San Francisco to Houston to Ft. Lauderdale and a short drive to Miami Beach. Spent a little time shopping, a little time eating and a lot of time commenting on the stifling humidity on our first afternoon ever in Florida. But alas, after only 4 hours sleep in the past day and a half, we were ready for some sleep in our nice air conditioned room. So we wondered back to our hotel and went to bed early. Besides, Monday is American Idol Registration Day and was to be a very early morning indeed.

In case you are unfamiliar with the Audition process it goes a little something like this:

Registration Day (get a wristband and a seat ticket for Audition Day)
Audition Day (The Big Day - Audition in front of one of 12 producers)
Round 2 (Audition for 2 Executive producers)
Round 3 (with Paula, Simon and Randy)

You would think that everyone gets to audition in front of Paula, Simon and Randy by the way its shown on TV, but with 10,000 people auditioning in every city, that would take forever.

As we expected, Monday started early... 3:45 am early. But already it was 82 degrees and humid in Miami. Thankfully my stylist hooked me up with some really good anti frizz creme, otherwise I would be looking at sporting an afro for the rest of my time here.

Our Taxi driver was curious to know what was going on there so early in the morning, as he had been getting so many calls for pickups to the American Airlines Arena this morning. After telling him that it was American Idol, he professed his desire to audition only to be frightened away because he doesn't sing any English songs. I told him that he should give it a shot. He then proceeded to break out into enthusiastic Pakistani song. Everyone's got a dream.

Arriving at the Arena, you could already see quite a crowd forming and a few camera crews lingering about the front of the line. No doubt there were already people hamming it up and singing for the cameras at 5:00 am, but without my coffee, I was in no mood to put on that type of show.

We met some fun people in line after egging on a group of girls belting out a Christina Aguilera tune.(hey - if they lose their voice and can't compete, its not my problem!) and shared in the agony that is standing, getting up early and the joys of crowd paranoia (you know, when a crowd just starts moving up for no reason? Security had to keep moving everyone back because people kept thinking that they were going to get let in.)

Finally at 6:20 (earlier than I expected) they opened the doors to the registration area. We were all herded through a small opening in the barricade, up the arena steps into the lobby where we all waited just a bit more to get the wristband and a seat ticket into the auditions on Wednesday.

We find that the Wristband can't be removed, can't altered and can't get wet. Not get WET?! We are in Miami during August with mid 90's forecasted through Thursday, its humid and I am literally 30 steps from the beach. This puts me in a bit of a predicament, does it not?

So after discussing ways to cover the wristband (some suggest a baggie taped to your arm, others say to put packing tape on both sides to seal it, some want to laminate it - which would cause you to take it off which we all know is out of the question.) we head out for a fun filled day in the Miami sun.
A dip in the warm ocean, a big margarita and my butt planted on the beach would put a perfect end to this already exciting day. Now if I could just find a baggie and some packing tape. . .

American Idol Bound

kristyrk — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:18:08 -0700

If you listen closely, you may still be able to hear the echo's of the last Auditions held in Omaha just 3 short days ago.... 3 cities down, 4 to go.

I, myself am traveling from SF to Miami on Sunday to stake my claim in the American Idol Season 7 pie.
Stay tuned for updates, photos and videos of my adventure from sunny Miami.

Simon Cowell Bringing "Idol" to the Big Screen

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:57:22 -0700

Having already conquered British TV, American TV and even McDonald's, Simon Cowell is turning his attention to film. The "American Idol" producer is working on a film called Star Struck, a Fame-meets-Rocky story set - where else? - behind the scenes at a singing reality show.

"Fame was all about young people wanting to be famous, and in order to do that, they enrolled in a drama school," Cowell told the Hollywood Reporter. "The difference 25 years later is that everyone who wants to be famous today signs up for 'American Idol.' "

The movie will follow 10 contestants through the stages of the show, starting with the auditions. The Reporter continues:

For authenticity, the leads in the film - playing participants in a TV singing competition - will be cast through nationwide open call auditions similar to those used on the reality shows. Cowell, who hopes to hold the calls early next year in seven or eight cities, believes casting unknowns for the leads is crucial.

So basically, it's exactly like "Idol," but fictionalized, wrapped up in two hours, and costing you more money to watch it. Mmkay. Well, it has to be better than From Justin to Kelly ... right?

Source

Song of the Day: Carrie Underwood, "So Small"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:41:15 -0700

After Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood is my favorite "American Idol" winner. I love her voice, I think she has good stage presence, and her "I'm just a good ol' Oklahoma girl" persona has always seemed more genuine than forced (ahem, Kellie Pickler). But I don't have any songs from her post-"Idol" career on my iPod yet; despite her many awards, none of her singles have really grabbed me.

I wish I could say "So Small," the first single from her upcoming, as-yet-untitled album, changed all that. But after a couple of listens, "So Small" - which Underwood co-wrote - just sounds kind of generic to me, like something I'd hear while waiting in line for a sandwich or running errands at Target. I wouldn't change the station if this song came on the radio, but I wouldn't turn up the volume, either. Listen for yourself over at AOL's PopEater and let me know what you think.

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Nigel Lythgoe Talks About Where "Idol" Went Wrong

BuzzSugar — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:14:53 -0700

"American Idol" came under fire this past season for losing ratings, bringing on boring contestants, and undermining the legitimacy of the show with that whole Sanjaya thing. During the panel for "So You Think You Can Dance" this weekend at the TCA press tour, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe shed some light on where "Idol" might have gone wrong. He said the show made a mistake by not focusing much on the contestants' personalities:

We were so engrossed with the mentors that were particularly good last season, and we focused on their stories and not really on the Melindas. And we didn't know them as much as we knew the Kellie Picklers from the season before.

Next season, he said, he wants the audience to have more emotional hooks to the contestants - and he also wants the top 12 to be uniformly strong, the way the top dancers on "Dance" are this season. "There's no Sanjaya here," he said, prompting one reporter to ask if that was good or bad. "Listen, I'm not going to knock Sanjaya," Lythgoe replied. "I think Sanjaya helped the last season very well when we were sort of going down and everyone's going, 'Oh, the talent's not as good this year.' Sanjaya came through for us."

Lythgoe definitely put his finger on one of the problems I had with "Idol" this year, which was not feeling like I knew or cared about the contestants at all. In fact, I knew more about the top 20 from "So You Think You Can Dance" after one episode than I did about the top "Idol" singers after a whole season. Do you think adding the back stories back in will help the show reboot next year? Or does "Idol" have bigger issues now?

Photo courtesy of Fox

Miss the Ending of "American Idol"? Here You Go

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 May 2007 10:15:12 -0700

So if you're like Pop and me and your DVR cut off right after the lame Sgt. Pepper tribute on the "American Idol" finale last night, here's the clip of what you missed. For the record, I was right on all of my predictions of what happened, except there was no weepy Hasselhoff this year - just Jordin's tearful parents, which almost made me cry at my desk just now. What can I say? I'm a sap. To watch the clip, read more

Photo courtesy of Fox