Here’s what critics around the interwebs are saying about last night’s American Idol 12 Las Vegas Sudden Death Guys Pt 2. Read my recap here.
‘American Idol’ recap: Girls Rule, Boys Drool – Agh! Pretty blah episode for the big Top 20 announcement in Vegas. Here’s the 20-second recap: Most of Thursday’s guys were unmemorable and/or bad, and it was painfully obvious due to the judges’ scripted comments who’d been pre-selected to go through. Randy is still looking for “moments,” Nicki Minaj knows what everyone who “wants to make it out of the hood” FEELS LIKE, and Mariah Carey wants every contestant to know SHE has loved them from the very beginning. And now for the longer version…. – Read more at Entertainment Weekly
‘American Idol’ recap: Last five fellas added to final 20 – The “American Idol” voting will begin next week; we’ll indulge in two full nights of live performances (Tuesday and Wednesday) and a third (Thursday) in which the 20 semifinalists will be slashed to 10 finalists. For me, the audience input can’t come soon enough. Overpowered, swayed or just confused by Nicki Minaj, who has assembled her favorite contestants like bonbons in a box and dismissed the rest with eye rolls, shrugs, smirks and the occasional giggle, this season’s judges have made some choices thus far that viewers watching at home may question. It’ll be interesting to see which contestants have “connected,” as the judges like to say, with the voters and which have not. – Read more at Los Angeles Times
American Idol Recap: The Boys Who Fell to Earth – Remember that episode of The Simpsons where the makers of Itchy & Scratchy want to spice things up, so they introduce an outrageous dog named Poochie? And then Homer — who has been voicing the ill-fated new character — suggests to the producers that whenever he isn’t in a scene, everyone should ask “where’s Poochie?” Tonight’s American Idol reminded me of that episode, because I could feel Ryan, every judge, all of you, and myself asking “Where’s Zoanette?” It’s not a perfect analogy, as Idol’s new addition actually works (though if it stops working, I would not put it past Nigel Lythgoe to murder Zo on the way back to her home planet). These idiots have finally, accidentally found a character who can revive this show, and I’m just going to be angry every time she isn’t front and center. – Read more at Vulture
American Idol Vegas Round (Part 4) Recap: Tonight I Wanna Cry [UPDATED] – When aliens finally come to Planet Earth — and if you’ve watched Battlestar Galactica or Contact, you know it’s just a matter of time — let’s hope the Cylons don’t judge the pop-cultural significance of American Idol based on its February 28, 2013 installment. There are a thousand sleepytime metaphors I could call on to describe the tedious proceedings — gentle sheep leaping over fluffy clouds, the swooping descent of the Lunesta butterfly, a tin-soldier-esque lineup of the last letter of the alphabet (Zzzzzz) — but why not just speak the ugly truth of the episode: The final 10 guys competing for a spot in the Season 12 semifinals proved truly, depressingly unworthy of even nipping at the heels of past contestants like Matt Giraud, Anoop Desai, Michael Johns, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone and Joshua Ledet (just to name a few) — none of whom managed to make it to their respective season finales. – Read more at TV Line
‘American Idol’ Recap: Another Five Guys Get the Boot – (Sidenote: This would never happen in a million trillion gazillion years, but we’re dying for Idol to air the backstage footage of judges deliberating over the hopefuls. Remember when producers used to show Simon Cowell and company poring over contenders’ photos and crossing names off various lists? What’s the deal, Nigel Lythgoe? WHAT ARE YOU HIDING? We demand to see evidence of Nicki Minaj fighting for one of her “ladybugs.” Keith Urban butting heads with Mariah Carey. Randy Jackson asleep on the couch in Lythgoe’s office.) – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
“American Idol”: Five More Guys Round Out The Top 20 – “Who will sink, and who will swim?” Ryan asks at the outset of this episode, which has his “This… is American Idol!” perfectly timed to some dolphins leaping out of a pool of water and into the air. Well, given that we’re picking the final five male contestants in this episode, and the judges really want a female winner (have I mentioned that they want a female winner?), I suspect lots of flailing on both sides of the judges’ table! – Read more at Popdust
‘American Idol,’ Nicki Minaj Give The Guys A Chance – Even though “American Idol” producers seem to be really, really pushing for a female winner this year, they technically still have to give the guys a shot, and the second round of 10 dudes competed for the five remaining male slots on Thursday’s “Idol.” Early standout Burnell Taylor — now 40 pounds lighter than when viewers were first introduced to him — continued to shine during the episode, giving the night’s standout performance with his stirring rendition of John Legend’s “This Time.” The Louisiana native’s performance was hailed as “authentic and raw” by Mariah Carey, and Nicki Minaj politely informed him, “nobody else is in your lane tonight, at all, period.” – Read more at MTV
‘Idol’ Top 20 Revealed: It’s Not Reigning Men – It’s no secret that the “American Idol” powers-that-be want a girl to win this season. Or that they’ve wanted a girl to win for at least three seasons. In the past, they’ve tried various transparent tactics to orchestrate the result they so desired—saving Jessica Sanchez from early elimination in Season 11, creating a dramatic overcoming-adversity storyline for Lauren Alaina at the Season 10 finale, aggressively hyping the female contestants at every opportunity throughout Season 9—and nothing has worked. But now I think crafty Nigel Lythgoe and company are onto something. This season is the season when they’ve finally figured it out: Hey, if they don’t want another “WGWG” to win, then they just won’t put any “WGWGs” in the top 20 at all. Eureka! Problem solved, right? – Read more at Yahoo.com
‘American Idol’ Recap: Top 20 Revealed; Burnell Taylor Shows Star Potential – The general landscape of male contestants on “American Idol” this season has certainly changed in comparison to previous years. In the past, the show was often dominated by a guy or guys who sang lighter rock or adult-alternative fare and who played guitar. Those guys ended up winning, too; the exception to the rule has been Scotty McCreery, who slots into the country genre. While a few of that type of performer existed in the competition in 2013, virtually all of them are gone. The closest to that distinction is Charlie Askew, and he’s odd enough to still be far removed from guys like Kris Allen, David Cook and Lee Dewyze. In other words, if you’ve disliked what the show’s become in past years from a frontrunner standpoint, it might be time to give “Idol” another chance. – Read more at American Idol
‘American Idol’ gets its Top 20 – In the end, it all came down to soul. A little old school, a little new school. Thursday night on American Idol, worship leader Vincent Powell had it, singing a version of Lenny Williams’ 1978 hit ‘Cause I Love You that Nicki Minaj called “a sexy old-fashioned.” Burnell Taylor, a favorite of this season since he auditioned weighing 40 pounds more than he does now, had it, too, showing off his new, sleekly classic look as he sang John Legend’s This Time. Minaj praised that one, too, calling it “the best by far tonight.” And that was after Powell performed. – Read more at USA Today
‘American Idol’: The Minor Men – Last night the second group of boys had their turn, opening their song holes and letting mellifluous sound come pouring out like gravy. Well, actually, there wasn’t a whole lot that was either mellifluous or gravy-esque. Or if it was gravy, it was the cheap chemical goo-gravy from Kentucky Fried Chicken, not good homemade Thanksgiving gravy. Why am I talking so much about gravy? Maybe I’m hungry. Anyway, it was an underwhelming pack of mens last night, but we must do our due diligence and talk about them as if they were the most important things in the world. So let’s press on, by focusing on the five young gents who were put through to the semifinals. We’ll give the newly dead their due too, at the end. – Read more at Atlantic Wire
