American Idle

The top 10 from American Idol season 8 kicked off the annual ritual of performing as a group around the country.

This year it was in Portland, Oregon at the Rose Garden. Some of the songs they played included:

• Michael Sarver: “I’m in Love with a Girl” by Gavin Degraw, “Closer” by Neyo
• Megan Joy: “Put Your Records On” by Corrine Baily Rae and “Tears Dry on Their Own” by Amy Winehouse
• Scott MacIntyre: “Bend and Break” by Keane and “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton
• Lil Rounds: “Be Without You” by Mary J Blige, “No One” by Alicia Keys, “Single Ladies” by Beyonce
• Anoop Desai:”Always on My Mind” by Willie Nelson, “Mad” by Ne-Yo, “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown
• Matt Giraud: “Hard to Handle” by the Black Crowes “Georgia” “I Found You” by the Fray
• Group Medley: Megan and Lil sing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” Matt and Scott on duel pianos for “Tell Her About It” by Billy Joel, Michael sings “Suspicious Minds” by Elvis Presley,  Anoop begins singing Madcon’s “Beggin”, but it’s in the style of the original 1967 4 Seasons version–Matt, Scott and Michael join in. Lil sings the Madcon rap, and Megan joins her.
• Allison Iraheta: “So What” by Pink “Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin, “Barracuda” by Heart
• Danny Gokey: “P.Y.T.” by Michael Jackson, “Maria Maria” by Santana, “What Hurts the Most” by Rascal Flatts, “My Wish” by Rascal Flatts.
• Adam Lambert: “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zepplin “Starlight” by Muse “Mad World” by Tears for Fears/Gary Jules “Slow Ride” by Foghat w/ Allison, Bowie Medley: “Life on Mars”, “Fame”, “Let’s Dance”
• Kris Allen: “Heartless” by Kanye West, “No Boundaries”, “Bright Lights” by Matchbox 20,  “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers  and “Hey Jude” by The Beatles (the Idols join Kris for the “na nas”)
• “Don’t Stop Believing” The Top 10 - Encore

Also, watch an interview with Anoop and Kris prior to the concert in Portland.

You can judge from the video yourself as to what your feelings are, but mine are one of anger and disgust after watching Madonna dance alongside a Michael Jackson impersonator.

How sacreligious! And for it to happen at the very arena where Jackson would have had his tour, the 02 in London!!

I think David Cook was right in making his tribute a “moment of silence,” not a damned musical tribute from somebody, who frankly (no offense, Madonna fans) isn’t even half the performer that Jackson was.

Jackson was in his own class of performers, even before his death. That’s why his tickets sold in minutes. In my view this is an attempt by Madonna to cash in on this unfortunate moment in time.

She may not be responsible for this, but her handlers might. And all I know is this is really messed up. We all know how messed up Madonna is, anyway. This video just proves the obvious.

According to multiple well-placed sources, Ashley Ferl, the Crying Girl who famously bawled for Sanjaya on American Idol 6, was eliminated in the first round of the LA auditions of American Idol 9.

She even was one of the first in line at the Rose Bowl, leading me to believe we’ll be seeing more of her in January.

What…you expected her to advance past the producers? Hah! Anyway, that slams the door shut on a potential meeting with her hero, Sanjaya. As far as we know anyway.

She could be on the show. For that, we’ll just have to see….

Meanwhile, back in reality, we have ourselves quite the video here, of a girl named Eliza Siep, whom the judges apparently LOVED at the Chicago auditions. So much so that she basically got red carpet treatment at the audition, according to Vote For The Worst.

But…it turns out Siep has a past, as evidenced by her appearance on the dating show Blind Date a few years ago. Here it is below:

Do we have our first Idol 9 controversy?

If ever the American Idol producers had trouble finding the next Bikini Girl, they need look no further than Britney Martinez, a bubbly 19-year old who apparently made it into the next round.

Whether or not that means Martinez can actually sing? Well, that’s to be determined. But she did make it through the Los Angeles auditions and even has an admirer, uh, hanger-on next to her, a girl she just met.

Nevertheless, the slightly annoying Britney highlighted, uh, headlighted us all as soon as we saw the video. You know Simon will be all over her! Watch it again below!

Ah, the auditions were back in session at American Idol 9, this time taking us to Los Angeles and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Approximately 11,000 stepped out into the smog/sunshine and gave it their best shot.

Some met with disapproval from the judges, like these folks below, who were not given a golden ticket but will forever be linked in our hearts and our laugh boxes, especially the guy with the reverse faux-hawk and matching white sunglasses (above photo).

The Losers:

On the other hand, we had some winners. Sort of. Anyone who knows how the auditions really go, knows that there is a double-edged sword to the whole process.

For example, you may have been selected, but it may not have been for your singing ability. That could be the case with at least two of the people interviewed below, including the Darth Vader-looking guy (above photo).

The Winners (????)

First, we had four days of how great a person Michael Jackson was, and now we get the backlash.

Damn, this guy isn’t even buried yet and the media is having a field day with all of this information. Can we at least bury the guy first, before going after him?

Apparently, we can’t for whatever reason. US Weekly has basically ripped apart whatever dignity Jackson had after his death.

They’re claiming Jackson’s dermatologist, Arnold Klein, is the father of Prince Michael and Paris Michael. The mother is still Debbie Rowe, Klein’s assistant that Jackson married and later divorced.

“He is the dad,” says a Jackson insider. “He and Debbie signed an agreement saying they would never reveal the truth.”

Though neither Rowe nor Jackson ever confessed to their kids’ true lineage, she did admit in 2002 that she carried his children as a personal favor (and would not confirm that the marriage was ever consummated).

“I said, ‘Let me do this. You need to be a dad. You have been so good to me,’” Rowe — who met Jackson when she was a nurse’s assistant in the 1980s — has said.

So…that brings us to the $1 billion question: who is the father of the third child, “Blanket”? And who is the father and mother of this kid? I think the third one is Lisa Marie Presley’s and Michael’s.

I can’t wait for THAT bombshell, because you know it’s coming…

David Cook always does things in a classy way. For example, instead of singing a song that would have been below par in comparison to The King Of Pop, Cook just had a moment of silence.

That’s a far cry from the people (no names mentioned) who actually tried and failed to deliver even a decent perofrmance of a Jackson song.

There is a reason that MJ’s The King of Pop, you know, and it’s one that a lot of people, professional singers included, are forgetting these days now that MJ is gone.

But Cook didn’t and that’s why he’s okay in my book. He’s real, he’s genuine, he’s been through some shit in his life like MJ and his fans love him. He is a true American Idol and this gesture proves it.

Gene Simmons is back on his damned soap box again, preaching a bunch of crap that nobody wants to hear. Again.

Didn’t we already have to listen to this guy spout off a bunch of nonsense about how Adam Lambert wouldn’t be a rock star?

Now he’s going off on Lambert’s homosexuality and Simmons simply doesn’t think America will “forgive” Lambert for whatever he did (?) to them by coming out in Rolling Stone.

Here’s Simmons’ take on Lambert:

…He’s enormously talented, best talent ‘American Idol’ has had, but I think he killed his career because now the conversation is not about his talent but about his sexual preference. He’s done. You’re forcing people to deal with issues they may not be interested in. Life is unfair, and the masses don’t all live in L.A. They live in Wisconsin and Nebraska, and you’re on crack if you think the same rules apply there. My advice is still the same, shut the f*** up, just sing and let people say whatever they want. But I do wish him the best because he’s got all the talent in the world. If only the world was not homophobic, but it is.

If only some people who shouldn’t be talking about things they don’t know about weren’t so stupid, but they are.

I really, REALLY wanted to stay away from this madness surrounding the tragic death/possible murder of the King Of Pop Michael Jackson, but these latest photos and video here are just too much.

If he looks this gaunt, then how in the hell would he have been able to perform a 50-show tour? That’s my question and it’s one that hasn’t been answered by anyone, including the people who paid him, AEG Live.

Now comes the news that the company may already have Jackson’s final performance “in the can” as his last album. Talk about bullshit. Here’s more:

Press reports have said that AEG Live stands to lose tens of millions of dollars from the unexpected cancellation of Jackson’s 50-date London tour.

The rehearsal, which went on for several hours, included dancers, musicians and aerial performers. Three people close to the production said it had been captured by multiple cameras, and the audio digitally recorded in a manner that could be used to produce a surround-sound DVD and audio products.

Some are already speculating Jackson may not have died of natural causes. While it’s way too early to speculate, it does raise my suspicion when a company like AEG Live invests all of this money in him, he doesn’t show up to all of the rehearsals as per the terms of his contract and then, all of a sudden, Jackson’s no longer with us.

Yeah, things are a little messed up at the moment.

In what is gonna come as a huge shock and disappointment to many fans of Ace Young, the star of season five, he’s now off the market.

Ace is now engaged to Allison Fischer, a 20-year-old with whom Ace is starring with on Broadway in the musical Grease.

Young has always been a favorite of the ladies who like American Idol and this news will do doubt put their panties in a wrinkle.

But you can’t blame the dude for wanting to get with somebody. Frankly, it’s better he gets together with Fischer than some stalker who wants to carry around a locket filled with his saliva.

I’m just speaking the truth here, you know. Also, Young is a cool cat, a laid-back dude from Colorado so this girl probably fits him well. Best of luck to the Acemeister and Allison!