FOX: Michael Becker/Fox

The Casey Abrams farewell press conference today was far more fascinating than your typical “Idol” exit press conference simply because he’s a truly interesting guy. He’s a music geek who doesn’t speak in cliches like Pia and her “It all happened for a reason” pablum. He just speaks from his heart. He’s sweet and guileless.

For the tabloids, he said he is not dating Haley Reinhart, nor has he ever, despite the rumors.

Here he is on various topics:

Instruments he plays: The guitar, the piano, the melodica, the bass, of course. He also plays the sit-tar, the drums, the accordion, the clarinet, the cello (his favorite!).

On his wacky post-elimination performance: “I was in completely random mode. I didn’t plan on ending up on Haley [at the end.] It just ended up that way. Nothing was planned. Like jazz, sometimes the best performances are improvised.

What would a Casey concert be like: “Pure craziness would be the title.  There’d be everything. That last …

Continue reading Casey Abrams is not dating Haley Reinhart »

AMERICAN IDOL: Final 5: Clockwise from top L: James Durbin, Lauren Alaina, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery and Hayley Reinhart. CR: Michael Becker / FOX.

The top five will each sing two songs next week, another way to keep the show at 90 minutes.  They will each get to pick a song from the 60s and a current hit, thus the theme “now and then.”

The word that Jennifer Lopez was performing was true, but it didn’t air last night. The pre-taped segment will air on Thursday. She’ll perform “On the Floor” with Pitbull, her top 10 single. Lady Antebellum will reveal a new single as well, though the “Idol” press release did not say what that would be.

The keep-the-women-alive campaign has worked because we now have three men, two women after three guys have been ousted in a row. Haley Reinhart has certainly stayed around far longer than I predicted many weeks ago. I still give her no chance of winning.

I placed Casey Abrams on top at the time with the notation that the early leader almost …

Continue reading Next week’s theme: ‘Now and then,’ with Jennifer Lopez and Lady Antebellum performing »

AP

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Casey Abrams is out again. And there’s no save for him this time around.

But he didn’t appear upset at all this time around. Given his growly, self-indulgent performances last night, he clearly does not care anymore. He just wanted to move to the beat of his own drummer, not try to cater to a pop audience. More power to him for that.

From day one, Casey was an intriguing fella. “Idol” producers used him as one of the sample auditioners we reporters got to see early on before the show even launched. His natural musicality and joy of singing (plus his scatting) caught the attention of the judges. And voters liked him – up to a point.

He was got the lowest vote at the top 11 but received a save. Thank goodness. The man could entertain. (There’s a reason Vote for the Worst picked him up after Paul …

Continue reading Who is out next on ‘American Idol’? »

Sorry to post this (almost) late. But after two weeks unable to do this on results night, I’m back! We are all assuming Jacob Lusk is going home, which means he probably isn’t, eh?

Anyway, it’ll be good to hear from Crystal Bowersox and Bruno Mars tonight! Rumors that we’ll see Jennifer Lopez perform, too, but that has not been confirmed by “Idol.”

‘American Idol’ top 6 results live blogging

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ top 6 results live blogging »

I’m sticking with the obvious and picking Jacob Lusk to go home:

Continue reading Video: my prediction on who will go home tonight »

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The Idols Live tour played to half empty arenas last year with several dates nixed completely. Even in Atlanta, where “Idol” tends to do better than most cities and usually sells out, Gwinnett Arena had yawning acres of unsold seats.

This year should be better thanks to a much stronger array of talent. It’s been so good, “Idol” for the first time is giving us 11 singers instead of the usual ten. This year’s crew will be at Gwinnett Arena July 26. Tickets go on sale May 13, with a special pre-sale May 12. Prices are $45 to $65 ($56.05 and $77.90 after fees.)

Overall, there are 45 dates, from July 6 to Sept. 10.

- EARLY RATINGS: The show’s early numbers are 21.8 million and a 6.9/20 18-49 rating/share. That’s up 12 percent over the comparable top 6 performance show last year and flat 18-49. When final numbers are out, both will be up. My guess: 22.4 million overall and 7.1 …

Continue reading Idols Live tour coming to Gwinnett Arena July 26, ratings numbers »

AP photo of Carole King from 2005

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“Idol” went to the wayback machine, plucking Carole King songs for our pleasure. And since the show had only six songs left and 90 minutes to kill, producers added duets.

At this stage, the final six singers all have something good to offer and it’s becoming a real battlefield. As Randy constantly stays, who really wants to win this?

[NOTE FOR ATLANTA VIEWERS: We missed a lot of the commentary and an entire song due to tornado warnings from meteorologist Ken Cook. Please see below for James'  performance.]

Among the solos, nobody had a truly bad night. But none of the duets really sparkled either.

My top three of the solos: The trio I think will be in the last three surviving by May 12, Lauren Alaina, Scotty McCreery and James Durbin, all …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ top 6 performance show recap: itch that scalp! »

Join us to blog live while the ‘American Idol’ top 6 perform live from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST, covering Carole King songs, both solo and in duet form. Miley Cyrus will be a guest mentor. Bleh.

‘American Idol’ top 6 performance show live blogging

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ top 6 performance show live blogging »

Frenchie Davis tries again for a recording career after spending years on "Rent."

If “American Idol” never existed, I’d be captivated by “The Voice.”

But you can only fall in love the first time once. The innocence is gone.

Still, you have to give NBC credit for pulling out all the stops for this show. And it should get some sampling, even  against “Glee” and “Dancing With the Stars.” There’s talk show host Carson Daly, Ryan Seacrest minus the schtick. Big stars on the coaches’ panel. Great singers.  If you missed it, NBC will repeat the  show Wednesday night.

[UPDATE: All the promotion paid off. I expected the show would open with 10 million viewers against "Dancing With the Stars" and "Glee," among others. But it actually pulled in 11.8 million and an impressive 5.1 rating with 18-49 year olds, based on early Nielsen numbers. It beat "Glee" during the 9 p.m.-9:30 p.m. hour 18-49 4.6 to 3.4 and "Dancing With the Stars" during the 9 p.m. hour 4.9 vs. 3.5. ]

The concept is a …

Continue reading My take on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ »

Since she left last year, Kara DioGuardi kept her feelings about her time on “Idol’ closely guarded. She said virtually nothing to the media about her time there, even after she left the show last year.

But with her memoir out Tuesday called “A Helluva High Note” (and I have yet to get a copy though I requested one last week), she is talking to media now about her experience, which was obviously painful, especially her first year there, season eight. (I have already summarized her personal travails about being molested in a previous blog entry.)

The Daily Beast reviewed some of her own descriptions of her time there:

“Sick to my stomach,” “rejected and disrespected publicly,” “mentally, physically, and emotionally challenging,” “barely survived,” “crucified by the American public,” “I wanted to DIE,” “state of terror,” “the sorrow poured out of me,” “the depths of humiliation.”

But she also told the Beast it wasn’t all horror:

“There were days when I was like, ‘Oh my God, …

Continue reading More details on Kara DioGuardi’s often miserable ‘Idol’ experience »