Bill Cosby at the Playboy Jazz Festival broke into a spontaneous rendition of Larry Platt’s “Pants on the Ground,” the latest celebrity to embrace the most memorable thing about “Idol” this year.

- In a press conference Friday, 70s wannabe rocker Tyler Grady said he wasn’t bitter when he said the judges didn’t give him constructive criticism Hollywood Week after he was axed. He said he merely wanted to express himself after failing to do so on Wednesday night. I asked him what he wanted to sing next week if he were to survive. He said originally he was considering “Baba O’Riley” or “Remedy” by the Black Crowes. But he thought after their critique he’d go for a more modern song although he wouldn’t change his style.

Continue reading Bill Cosby the latest ‘Pants on the Ground’ fan; Tyler Grady said he wasn’t ‘bitter’ Thursday »

Credit: Associated Press

Simon Cowell is engaged. The lucky gal? Mezhgan Hussainy, a makeup artist he’s been dating for nearly a year.

-Ellen DeGeneres made jokes today on her show about “Idol.” A sampling here.

“The mix is different in the studio so everyone sounds one way in the studio and then I go home and I listen to it….even the judges. You know, in the studio Simon has a Texas accent and he’s the sweetest guy. He’s totally hairless,” she joked.

- Alex Lambert was bleeped after Ryan Seacrest declared him safe. I’m not sure what he said but it was obviously not FCC friendly.

-Thursday night ratings were the lowest in many years: 17.8 million viewers. Of course, the show normally does worse on Thursdays but this is bad. “Idol” can chalk it up to the Olympics, which drew about 19.2 million. This was the second time “Idol” has lost to the Olympics in five tries.

- Season seven singer Chikezie, TMZ said, was busted yesterday for using a stolen credit card trying to buy …

Continue reading Simon Cowell engaged, low results ratings, Chikezie busted for using stolen credit card »

Boy, that was a bad performance week all around. Let’s hope these contestants improve next time.

First out: Janell Wheeler, the sweet wine rep. She is not a bad singer. While she wasn’t even in the neighborhood of Carly Smithson singing Heart, she held her own. In fact, I thought she was middle of the pack, not someone who would get axed.

Second gal gone: Ashley Rodriguez had some early appeal with the “Idol” producers and judges but she went big and failed big with a relatively obscure Leona Lewis song Tuesday. Her verses aren’t bad but her chorus and runs were still horrible, post-elimination. Her end note was better than Tuesday, at least.

First guy ousted: Joe Munoz, who was ignored by ‘Idol” producers until last night. He wasn’t half bad but I guess he didn’t leave enough of an impression either. I feel bad for the guy. I could see some potential there.

Second guy done: Tyler Grady. He was the ’70s rocker wannabe with not a scintilla of genuineness to him. And then he …

Continue reading American Idol results show recap, semifinals top 24 to 20 »

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We’ve already pilloried the boys last night, who were mostly terrible. And overall, the two nights were so lackluster, you have to give Simon Cowell credit for cutting out when he is because this could be one painful season ahead of us.

So at least I got to play with Cover It Live. Let’s go over the pros and cons. I’m split on its usage. I enjoyed it last night more than Tuesday night, probably because I was getting used to the rhythm.

Pros:

- People were definitely getting into it. We posted a whopping 2,621 comments over four hours, six times more than under normal blogging.
- No need to keep pressing refresh.
- You can get your snark on and receive instant reaction. Yes, folks like C-Dogg and Chuckles(TM) were able to keep us amused as we suffered through lame performance after lame performance.
- You can …

Continue reading Hungover from last night’s awful ‘Idol’ night, let’s review Cover It Live »

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No wonder the judges are pimping the girls. The guys, overall, were dismal. This may be the weakest male pool since season three.

It’s hard to decide who will get booted because half of them could go home and I wouldn’t blink an eye.

My prediction of the bottom two: Todrick Hall (early and way too weird with that Kelly Clarkson song) and Tyler Grady (just grating). If not them, Jermaine Sellers is out for missing 87 notes in 90 seconds.

The top two were the final two as the producers expected: Casey James and Andrew Garcia.

My rankings:

1- Andrew Garcia – So he tried to add melody to a song without much in Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down.” I thought it worked well. I enjoyed it. He brings personality and at least some …

Continue reading American Idol top 12 guys – my rankings, predictions, polls »

We are going to try it again tonight and see if my head won’t spin again — too much.

American Idol live blog top 12 guys

Continue reading American Idol live blogging semifinal top 12 guys »

The New York Times was able to peruse the contracts for the “Idol” contestants last year, the first glimpse we’ve seen since the first year or two.

Clearly, 19 Entertainment is far more generous than it used to be. How did they get the contracts? California laws require state approval of entertainment contract for minors so the law applied to Allison Iraheta (top 4) and Jasmine Murray (top 13).

Based on the contracts, winner Kris Allen made at least $650,000 and that didn’t count “Idol” tour money and merchandising deals. Allen made $200,000 from Disney for  saying “I’m going to Disney World” after winning and spending a day filming scripted dialogue for the “Idol” attraction and taping a performance for them. He also gets a generous $350,000 advance for his new album, plus a $100,000 advance from merchandising over three years.

-Ratings last night: 24 million total viewers and 18-49 rating/share of 8.9/22. It did better than the Olympics by about 13 percent. Tonight will be …

Continue reading ‘Idol’ contract details mean Kris Allen earned at least $650K last year; Perez Hilton campaigns for Simon Cowell’s spot »

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Night No. 1 was okay. The producers definitely put the better singers in the second hour.

And it was Lilith Fair redux with a mugful of intense coffeehouse balladry and not as much big vocal Whitney Houston-style singing.

Who will go home? My predictions: Paige Miles and Lacey Brown. Paige, for lacking distinction and having to open the show, unfortunately. Lacey muffed “Landslide” and looked hideous.

Based on the past five seasons I’ve blogged, my predictive powers are mediocre at best.

Ellen DeGeneres’ first live show? Not good. Her humor went into hibernation and what was left was comments I could have made. (Not good at all!)

My rankings for the night:

1- Crystal Bowersox. Easy pick there. She may not …

Continue reading Lilith Fair 2010? American Idol ranking, semifinal night, top 12 gals »

This is our experiment tonight. We will be able to do what is basically instant messaging via coveritlive.com. Tell me how you like it tomorrow!

American Idol semifinal top 12 guys

Continue reading American Idol live blogging, top 12 gals semifinal live performances »

Carrie Underwood will making her acting debut on “How I Met Your Mother” on CBS on Monday. Here are some clips. She plays Tiffany, a pharmaceutical rep. Tell me what you think. Can she out-act Britney Spears, another HIMYM alum?

Continue reading Carrie Underwood clips from ‘How I Met Your Mother’ »