The tearful singer-songwriter type Didi Benami couldn’t get fans to dial in after the judges pilloried her “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” Tuesday night. She was nixed last night, landing in 10th place.

She reminded me a bit of Megan Joy Corkrey last year, who finished in ninth. A wee bit quirky and cutesy at the same time, she would twist words around and mess with the melodies of songs in a way that didn’t always sit well with listeners. Her best performance went back to Hollywood when she sang Kara’s “Terrified” with heart and passion. She never quite reached those heights again.

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Tim Urban, after a cheese-irific take on Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” Tuesday night, escaped the knife yet again. The folks at Vote for the Worst are certainly rejoicing again because he’s been their …

Continue reading Who was nixed next on ‘American Idol’? »

You can join us for live blogging about tonight’s results show with Usher, Diddy and Ruben Studdard – or do it the old fashioned way below:

American Idol top 10 results live blogging

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ top 10 results live blogging »

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This isn’t a top 10 that would be known for its soul (the them for the night). Good voices, mostly so. Stage presence and heart? Not so much.

Fortunately, Lee DeWyze gave a brilliant vocal and salvaged another so-so night. He was by far the best. Biggest disappointment: Siobhan Magnus.

The bottom three? Tim Urban again, of course. He earned it with a lounge singer take on Anita Baker with all the soul of Carrot Top. Siobhan earned it, too. She has been a favorite but she was godawful. Didi Benami also will likely land there as well, though I didn’t think it was quite as bad as the judges did.

The top 10 ranking: 1. Lee 2. Andrew 3. Crystal 4. Casey 5. Michael 6. Didi 7. Tim 8. Siobhan 9. Katie 10. Aaron

I found Katie and Aaron …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ top 10 performance recap, rankings, poll »

With Atlanta’s Usher helping out, maybe the top 10 will be able to channel his on-stage mojo. Probably not, but we can always dream, right?

American Idol top 10 performance show live blogging

Continue reading American Idol top 10 performance live blogging »

Yes, I barely remember her, too, but when a former “Idol” gets in any trouble (right Chickezie?), it’s always worth a mention. Stephanie Edwards, who finished just behind Chris Sligh and missed the tour season six, is from Savannah and obviously still lives there.

Maybe she can now try out for Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club?”

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A former “American Idol” finalist is out of jail after Savannah authorities arrested her for fighting in a local park Monday night.

Savannah-Chatham police say they reported to a 50th Street park around 9:40 p.m. to find 22-year-old “Idol” finalist Stephanie Edwards fighting with 20-year-old Laquilla White.

According to a police report, the women were separated without any injuries.

Edwards told police the fight began after she received several harassing phone calls.

According to the Idol Web site, Edwards was an 11th place finalist in its sixth season, which aired in 2007. The site also lists Edwards’ hometown as Savannah.

Both women …

Continue reading Season six’s Stephanie Edwards arrested for fighting »

The print edition of the AJC wanted a story about “Idol” for the top 10. So here was my take:

Fox’s top reality show “American Idol” is struggling to maintain its footing as it muddles through middle age.

Ratings in its ninth season have slipped again. Fans are complaining about the lack of depth in this year’s lackluster top 10. Simon Cowell seemed especially peeved after last week’s poor showing by virtually all the contestants.

This top 10 is arguably the weakest since season six, which at least had Blake Lewis’s beat boxing and Sanjaya’s hair to distract us. Maybe the contestants can redeem themselves working with Atlanta R&B star Usher, tonight’s guest mentor.

Let’s review the top 10, from worst to best:

10. Tim Urban: Inserted as a substitute in the top 24, Urban sang a heartfelt version of “Hallelujah” one week but otherwise seems incapable of connecting with the songs he chooses.

9. Andrew Garcia: After an intriguing version of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” …

Continue reading The lamest top 10 ever? »

Carrie Underwood’s gentle ballad about a foster child “Temporary Home” hits the top of the country chart. This is her ninth No. 1 hit.

She has seriously yet to have a song not do well on the charts. Every major country single she has released has gone top 2. It’s an incredible four-plus year run that few artists have ever achieved.

- Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo hobnob with the New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg at a dinner where he joins them on stage in “Hair” garb. Oh, and there’s Snooki and the Situation from “Jersey Shore” too!

Continue reading Carrie Underwood gets her ninth No. 1 song with ‘Temporary Home’ »

Usher was already previously announced to be on Wednesday’s results show to sing “OMG.” Now Diddy is joining Dirty Money to sing “Hello, Good Morning.”

MTV also confirmed that Atlanta’s Justin Bieber will get a few minutes, too. I presume he’d sing his latest single “Baby.” Usher helped sign and develop Bieber. UPDATE: The MTV dude James Cantiello who Tweeted sent me this email note:

Saw on your site that you’re using my Tweet as confirmation for the Bieber appearance Wednesday. I was just cracking a joke based on a Tweet I saw from MJsBigBlog. No official confirmation. (Although I’m 99% sure it’s happening.)

Yes, all this hip hop and youthful pop is another attempt to bring in the younger viewers, who are fleeing the show much faster than older folks.

-Nigel Lythgoe is also Tweeting changes to “So You Think You Can Dance.” Among the changes, no more top 20, a different partner each week and only one person out each week. That tells me there will likely be a top 12, not a …

Continue reading Diddy, Justin Bieber to be on results show Wednesday; Paula Abdul going to Broadway? »

Another day, another show courting Paula Abdul. CBS is ordering up a new dance show for next season called “Got To Dance,” a British reality show which is open to all ages, all genres.

This Hollywood Reporter story says CBS is interested in Abdul. Does that mean she’ll take it? At this point, who knows? She’s turned down “So You Think You Can Dance,” “Dancing With the Stars” and a reboot of “Star Search.”

- The top 11 results show drew 21 million viewers, down 10 percent from a year ago but almost 20 percent in the younger 18-49 demographic.

And “Idol” still beat “Dancing With the Stars” this week with its painfully bad Billboard No. 1’s top 11 show Tuesday. Preliminary numbers had DWTS edging out “Idol” 23.9 million (its final figure) to 23.8 million (”Idol” early figure). Revised, “Idol” actually ended up with 24.2 million on Tuesday night. The show also finished well ahead of DWTS with 8.4/23 ratings/share for 18-49 year olds.

- I’m skipping the Paige Miles exit …

Continue reading CBS’s new dance show courting Paula Abdul, ‘Idol’ ratings do beat DWTS »

R&B is the theme next week with Atlanta’s own Usher as the guest mentor.. iTunes gave us the complete list of songs the “Idols” can choose from. (In the past, the “Idol” contestants could go off the menu in hopes of getting a song cleared but it’s a risk. I’m not sure how much they can do that this year.)

Some of the songs have been overdone by “Idols” in the past. I’d say avoid any of the Aretha songs, for example. And I don’t think it’d be wise to repeat “Grapevine” after Andrew Garcia just did it last week. Ditto with “Superstition” and Siobhan.

* At Your Best You Are Love – Aaliyah
* Try Again – Aaliyah
* Tell It Like It Is – Aaron Neville
* Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
* Tired of Being Alone – Al Green
* No One – Alicia Keys
* Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart – Alicia Keys
* Sweet Love – Anita Baker
* Chain of Fools – Aretha Franklin
* Respect – Aretha Franklin
* You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman – …

Continue reading R&B songs ‘Idol’ contestants can choose from next week, Ryan Seacrest on ‘Oprah’ Friday »