AP

It’s “Dancing with American Idol” night! Constantine Maroulis and Pia Toscano both performed on DWTS tonight. And Jordin Sparks was in the crowd!

I’m still befuddled by that godawful “Unchained Melody” Maroulis did a couple weeks ago on “Idol.”

Fortunately, he made up for it during the first “recap” hour by doing justice to cheesy ’80s songs on “Dancing With the Stars”: Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” and Poison’s “Nothin’ But a Good Time,” courtesy of “Rock of Ages.” The new Tony-nominated dad will be at the Fox Theatre in July with that musical. I will be there!

At 9:45 p.m., Pia sang “I’ll  Stand By You” while her boyfriend Mark Ballas danced. (Yes, we are assuming they are dating now, aren’t we?”)

“I gotta ask you just from this side of the hallway, how did the hell did you get voted off?” asked host Tom Bergeron.

Pia has the boring cliches down so well, she seems to know to say them all in a row. “Everything happens for a reason,” she said. “I’m in a good place. I’m all …

Continue reading Constantine Maroulis, Pia Toscano on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ »

CREDIT: Michael Becker/Fox TV

With 90 minutes to kill and only six performers left, “Idol” has to find a way to stretch things out. Solution: duets! So the six remaining singers will not only do solo Carole King songs but also throw in duets, according to an exclusive from ew.com.

During seasons eight and nine, the top 4 performed duets.

And along with Bruno Mars and Crystal Bowersox, the “Idol” results show will also include a pre-taped performance by the one and only Jennifer Lopez, according to the New York Daily News. I have no doubt her exposure on “Idol” has helped propel her rather mediocre dance tune “On the Floor” with Pitbull into the top 10.

Jimmy Kimmel mocks how overly positive the judges’ panel is, courtesy of Christof Waltz (”Inglorious Bastards”). I guarantee all of you will get a good laugh out of this one:

Continue reading Top 6 to do duets; Jennifer Lopez to perform on results show this Thursday »

Cheryl Cole. AP

The men on this blog wanted a photo of Cheryl Cole, who is a would-be coach on “X Factor.” She has been on the U.K. version of “X Factor.” Here ya go!

The 27-year-old single woman is identified as a singer, songwriter, dancer and model. She replaced Sharon Osbourne on “X Factor” in 2008.

Here she is singing “Fight For This Love” from 2009:

Continue reading Who is Cheryl Cole? »

Simon Cowell has been pondering for months who to put on his panel of “X Factor.”

When I talked to him last month, he said Paula Abdul was still in the picture, though he understood the downside of being too much like “Idol.” But in an interview with Nikki Finke last week, he said he really wants Abdul (though negotiations have not started) and Cheryl Cole, his colleague on the U.K. “X Factor.”

Finke was pretty harsh,  saying this panel (with L.A. Reid) sounds boring and that Cowell clearly wants to be the biggest person on the show, that he prefers being comfortable as opposed to taking a risk with a big name.

I’m withholding judgment for now, though I do think Abdul is about as safe as it gets.

- I was supposed to interview Cee Lo Green Friday but he was too busy. It didn’t happen. I don’t know if I’ll get a few moments with him or not. His show “The Voice” debuts on NBC tomorrow.

Continue reading Simon Cowell really wants Paula Abdul, Cheryl Cole on ‘X Factor’ »

AP

I skipped the Stefano Langone exit interview. Still recovering from Charlie Sheen! Anyway, here is a very brief review of what he said, courtesy of MJ. It didn’t sound like I missed much. He said he feels there’s a market for what he sings (though is there a market for him?). He’s close buds with James. He was shocked when Pia was out before him. He learned how to sing with his eyes open. Only song he wished he hadn’t sung was “Hello,” which he wasn’t familiar with.

Will Vote for the Worst miss him? Not in the least.

Stefano Langone is finally sent home after boring the audience to tears. Who will miss him? Tween girls maybe. Not us. It means the awesomely entetaining people are still there.

- Final Idol  ratings from Wednesday: 22.54 million, way up from the early estimate of 21.8 million. The show is up 15 percent from the top 7 performance show in 2010 and even up 18-49 (7.1 vs. 6.9). This is only the fourth time this year the show beat the previous year’s 18-49 number …

Continue reading Idol bits: Stefano’s exit comments, Idol ratings, Phil Stacey at Six Flags »

AP

Carole King, who made some of the most indelible singer-songwriter hits from the 1970s, will be the theme next week for the top six. Her album “Tapestry” was one of the biggest sellers of that decade.

Among her biggest hits included “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move”  and “So Far Away.” She also wrote more than 100 pop hits over the years including the Chiffons “One Fine Day,” the Shirelles‘ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and the Drifters’ “Up on the Roof.”

And it’ll be great to see Crystal Bowersox back next Thursday, along with the wonderful modern-day R&B singer Bruno Mars.

Continue reading Carole King theme next week; Crystal Bowersox and Bruno Mars on results show »

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I survived Charlie Sheen tonight at the Fabulous Fox Theatre. I can’t say he “won,” but he didn’t “lose” either. The audience didn’t walk out and the booing was seldom targeted at him. My recap will be up tomorrow morning on the Radio/TV blog. (I was assigned to do this. Not my call!)

AMERICAN IDOL: Stefano Langone performs in front of the judges on AMERICAN IDOL airing Wednesday, April 20, (8:00-9:30- PM ET/PT) on FOX. CR: Michael Becker / FOX

Stefano Langone, after skirting elimination for weeks, is out.

He was the last wild card to survive the cut but never had a realistic chance of winning.

So the efforts to save the women appear to have worked. Haley Reinhart has managed to gain enough fans (though I’m not one of them) to survive.

Stefano has given a very ’90s R&B vibe that was always on the cheesy side. …

Continue reading Who is going home tonight on ‘Idol’? »

Continue reading Video: discussing ‘American Idol’ »

Here’s the 12-minute NBC promo for “The Voice,” which debuts April 26. This will air tonight at 11:35 p.m. EST before a repeat of Leno. It features quick bios of the four judges and a performance of Cee Lo Green’s “Crazy” as Gnarls Barkley. “We’re not judges. We’re coaches,” Blake Shelton said. Each celebrity picks eight people on their team, then cuts it to four each. Then they will go to a live show for America to pick.

We see a sampler in Patrick Thomas, a country singer, who does some Tim McGraw impressively well and draws three of the four coaches. Then Patrick has to pick one of those three coaches. You can guess who he’ll take.

- IDOL RATINGS: Early ratings numbers for last night are 21.8 million and a 6.8 18-49 rating. Both are down slightly from last week. But that isn’t unusual at this time of year. Last year, the comparable top 7 show had dipped below 20 million viewers to 19.67 million with a 6.9 18-49 rating. These early numbers always improve once the finals are …

Continue reading Here’s ‘The Voice’ promo to air tonight, plus ‘Idol’ ratings »

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Casey Abrams shook up the night with a spontaneous kiss on Jennifer Lopez’s cheek. (Marc Anthony would not have been pleased if he had gone for the lips but she smartly turned away while he was staring her in the face.) Otherwise, there weren’t a lot of surprises tonight and two favorites played it too safe.

Songs from the 21st Century was chosen purposely to see if these singers can be contemporary. The results were a mixed bag on that front.

My favorite three: I think James Durbin gave Muse plenty of grit, even with one too many signature screams. Stefano Langone shed his over-eager posing in favor of a more confident swagger. Casey Abrams added some dynamic growls at the end of his Maroon 5 cover.

My top 7 in order: 1. James 2. Stefano 3. Casey 4. …

Continue reading ‘American Idol’ top 7 performance show recap: kisses in the wind »