David Cook to Run for Brain Cancer Charity

In the midst of a busy tour schedule, David Cook is planning to take a break à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ well, technically a run à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ for a cause close to his heart on May 3 in Washington, D.C.

Cook, 26, whose brother Adam has been battling brain cancer for over a decade, will serve as grand marshal in the Race for Hope 5K, which benefits brain cancer research, and run the race as part of a team he set up à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ which has already raised more than $40,000.

For more on the race, visit curebraintumors.org.

People.com

Eyeing the ‘Idol’ odds: 2009 American Idol Meter

Analyzing Idol isn’t a science. But it’s fun to approach it that way. We’ve come up with a fast-track formula to gauge each singer’s momentum heading into the next week of competition. Contestants can score up to 100 points, or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ if they’re in danger à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ into negative numbers.

Kris and Danny tie for second place this week.

USA Today

Idol in 60 Seconds: ‘American Idol’ Recap: Matt Giraud Is Saved By Judges

This week, America voted Matt off the show, but the judges disagreed. (4.16.09)

MTV

More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…

Adam and Danny are favorites to win à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢

As à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  enters its final stretch, there are three tiers of contenders left among the remaining seven singers. Odds are high that the champion will be one of the two leading men, but a trio of others has a chance to sneak in if one of the favorites falter. A couple of wild-cards, on the other hand, need to pull an inside straight to have any chance at the title.

MSNBC

Kris Allen Closes The Gap On Danny Gokey In American Idol Betting As Matt Giraud Is Saved By Judges

The American Idol judges used their right to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹saveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ a contestant from elimination this week as Matt Giraud was spared having received the fewest votes from the voting public.

Matt Giraud The first To Be Saved
Matt Giraud was given a second chance by the judges to prove his worth after the judges invoked their new right to save one of the singers. That must be a massive boost for Matt Giraud who can now be backed at 66/1 with Bet365 and Paddy Power to win American Idol.

Kris Allen Could Outlast Danny Gokey
Kris Allen is looking as though he could soon challenge Danny Gokey for second favouritism, Kris Allen is down to 6/1 with William Hill whilst Danny Gokey is 4/1 with Totesport, Boylesports and William Hill. Danny Gokey had been favourite to win American Idol at one time but it seems his charms may be wearing off.

Online Betting

Did Matt Giraud Deserve To Be Saved On ‘American Idol’?

For the first time, “American Idol” judges gave themselves a do-over this year: a one-shot chance to save a potential winner from being tossed from the show too early. They’d held on tightly to the save for weeks, repeatedly telling contestants they were not worthy of a second chance.

And then, Wednesday night, they finally used it à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  on Matt Giraud. Was the mild-mannered Justin Timberlake-esque singer from Kalamazoo, Michigan, an unlikely candidate to get the second chance? We asked some “Idol” fans in Times Square on Thursday morning (April 16) if they thought Giraud deserved the lifeline.

MTV

The Next Great Phenom: Adam Lambert

Well, sports fans may not be aware of this at the moment, but a prodigy is currently taking America by storm and at the same time dominating the competition that has become THE national obsession of spring.

No, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not referring to March Madness or the Masters. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m referring, of course, to American Idol, and he who shall heretofore be known in Idol parlance as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Great One,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Adam Lambert.

Sporting News

The Most Important American Idol In History

The f**k? The long-threatened veto was finally exercised last night. On Lil! Wait, no. On Gokey! Oh, hm, not that either. On Matt Giraud. Really, Irdol? A season’s worth of build-up for… Matt Giraud.

Not that Matt isn’t good. I mean he’s great if you like fourth-rate Justin Timberlake impersonators who sing like they’re underwater. If you like that kinda thing, I mean, if that’s your bag, if that’s what you’re into, if that knots your knickers, if it kibbles your bits. Me? I think he’s an overgrown Cabbage Patch doll who found a falsetto in a creepy old chest in his granddad’s attic and has tried it on for fun.

Defamer

American Idol: Farewell, Judgesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Save

On Tuesday night, instead of bumping off Lil Rounds (who certainly deserved it and would’ve been spared no sympathy from the judges), a cruel nation carelessly voted to send home Matt Giraud, ruining the next few episodes of American Idol for everybody (but especially us). On last night’s results show, Ryan Seacrest had nearly sent Matt back to work in a piano bar, when the judges announced they were using the season’s one and only save to bring him back for another week.

NY Magazine

Idol Tracker chats with Season 7 heartthrob Michael Johns. Jealous?

In a chat with Idol Tracker today, Michael sounded happy for Matt, but, believe it or not, expressed reservations about the new rule he helped inspire. “I personally don’t necessarily, like, love the rule,” he said. And when pressed about the reasons why, Michael was impressively honest, saying of his own elimination, “The amount of press I got with everyone crying foul was phenomenal.” In other words, maybe it’s not so bad to get the boot before your time. Michael also pointed out how humiliating it would be to get eliminated, saved and then eliminated again the next week. Still, he’s flattered that he à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  along with Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’  was part of the reason for creating the rule.

LA Times

Katy Perry Explains Her Link To Kelly Clarkson’s New Album

We’ve already spoken to Katy Perry about her relationships with Rihanna, Josh Groban and Zooey Deschanel, but what we haven’t discussed is her link to Kelly Clarkson. Perry co-wrote two songs on Clarkson’s All I Ever Wanted album: her new single “I Do Not Hook Up” and “Long Shot.”

Perry wrote “Hook Up” with new “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi and producer Greg Wells and “Long Shot” with noted songwriter/producer Glen Ballard and Relient-K frontman Matt Thiessen. So how did a pair of her songs end up on Clarkson’s album?

MTV

Fantasiaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Reality Is Coming To VH1

Fantasia Barrino propelled to stardom via American Idol, so it shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be too surprising that sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s set to share more of herself via reality TV. A new candid reality series from the diva is on its way. Details in the press release below:

VH1.com

Idol also-rans bring spark to Hanover

If you like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  on TV, then you almost certainly would have liked the Idols alumni show at the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Wednesday night. Even if you donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t watch the show and canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t tell this seasonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s frontrunner, Adam Lambert from, well, Adam, you still probably would have liked it.

The song list and vocal work were strong enough to engage even the uninitiated, which Wednesday night were mainly parents accompanying passels of school-age children who absolutely delighted in seeing beloved tele-types come to life.

Telegram.com

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Starsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ dancer at helm of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Ballroom with a Twistà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢

Dancer and choreographer Louis Van Amstel competed on seasons 1, 2, 3 and 6 of “Dancing with the Stars,” sashaying alongside partners Trista Sutter, Lisa Rinna, Monique Coleman and Priscilla Presley. He also choreographed the subsequent tours that followed.

Now he is at the helm directing, choreographing and performing in “Ballroom with a Twist,” which, with host Barbara Eden, will be presented at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora on April 25.

And what a show it is. “Ballroom with a Twist” features 14 of the world’s champion competitive ballroom dancers, along with celebrity guest host Barbara Eden and singing performances by two “American Idol” finalists: Anthony Fedorov and Mikalah Gordon.

Suburban Chicago News

Susan Boyle: What’s the big deal?

“Amazing” “Unbelievable.” “Mind-blowing.”

All these words have been thrown around pretty liberally in reference to Susan Boyle, the unassuming 47-year-old Scottish woman who bowled over Simon Cowell with her rendition of a Les Miz song on Britain’s Got Talent. Her clip went viral, and next thing you know, she’s got 11 million hits on YouTube and an endorsement from Patti LuPone herself on The Early Show (see clip above, and check out Ken Tucker’s take here).

Not to be a grump, but am I the only one who finds this a little over-the-top and, frankly, a little condescending? Plenty of big-voiced PYTs sing their hearts out every week on American Idol (not to mention onstage in Broadway shows) without getting this kind of reaction.

Entertainment Weekly

Jennifer Hudson Goes Back To The Future On à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢

Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s no secret that some of the performances on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  elimination shows are pre-taped. And, most of the time, you canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really tell because of all the flashing lights and carefully choreographed camerawork.

Except last night, when returning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  finalist Jennifer Hudson ripped a hole in the showà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s space-time continuum by forgetting to pretend she was in the present and speaking about a future that had already happened in the past. Confused? Let us explain.

MTV

Ryan Seacrest’s New Love!

Ryan Seacrest may be one of the hardest-working men in Hollywood but last week he took time out from his gig as a host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest for a romantic jaunt to Paris with L.A. bartender Jasmine Waltz.

Seacrest, 34, met Waltz during a night out at Guy’s, a West Hollywood lounge. Waltz, who has previously worked at other L.A. hotspots including Les Deux and Italian restaurant Bella, is an aspiring actress, a source tells PEOPLE.

People

Steve-O Opens Up About ‘Dancing With The Stars’

On Tuesday night, Steve-O bid adieu to his days on “Dancing With the Stars.” Despite not always impressing the judges and being injured a few times during his tenure on the show, the “Jackass” star did manage to hold on for five weeks, beating out the likes of Steve Wozniak, Denise Richards and Belinda Carlisle.

Describing his time on the show as “a growing experience,” Steve-O told MTV News that once he learned to relax he actually enjoyed himself. “I think I struggled to enjoy myself a lot of the time ’cause I was too stressed out,” he said. “I kind of got better at dealing with that. I felt anxious a lot. I learned to relax and it was cool.”

MTV

Maksim Chmerkovskiy: I’m Not Leaving DWTS Anytime Soon

Maksim Chmerkovskiy isn’t leaving Dancing With the Stars anytime soon.

“We are under contract, but honestly, why not?” pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy told Usmagazine.com at the A/X Watches party at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills Wednesday.

“In this economy, to have a job like this?” continued Chmerkovskiy — who was voted off with Denise Richards a few weeks ago. “Believe me, It’s not a bad job!”

US Magazine

MTV BRINGS THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF STEVE-O TO LIFE IN “STEVE-O: DEMISE AND RISE” AIRING ON SUNDAY, MAY 3RD AT 10:00PM ET/PT

“Steve-O: Demise and Rise” Is The Latest In A Series of Self-Doc Programming Set To Air On The Network

New York, NY April 16, 2009 MTV continues to experiment and break the mold in documentary filmmaking with the release of “Steve-O: Demise and Rise,” a self-documented look inside the mind of a man struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. This explosive special gives a raw, intimate first-hand account of Steve-O’s downward spiral to when he ultimately hits rock bottom and is saved by the intervention of friends and his own will to do whatever it takes to get and stay sober. “Steve-O: Demise and Rise” airs on Sunday, May 3rd at 10pm ET/PT.

The Futon Critic

Ty Murray injured at Dancing with the Stars rehearsal

Rodeo cowboy and Dancing with the Stars celebrity Ty Murray was hit in the eye with a microphone pack while rehearsing a group dance routine for Dancing with the Stars on Wednesday.
Murray, who is married to singer Jewel, is one of seven remaining celebrities on Season 8 of DWTS. He downplayed the injury, which occurred when partner Chelsie Hightower’s microphone pack struck him.

Examiner.com

 
  • wjmtv

    Danny Gokey had been favourite to win American Idol at one time but it seems his charms may be wearing off.

    My day is now made. :mrgreen_wp:

  • kbr

    Idol Tracker chats with Season 7 heartthrob Michael Johns. Jealous?

    Simple answer, yes! Love this article…Michael seems to be getting better and better with these interviews!

    Oh and all mentions of Danny’s chances sliding in articles couldn’t make me any happier today. Kris all the way!

  • cay

    USA Today needs to take out the Dial Idol part of their formula. They had Lil 2nd last week with Kris last the past 2 weeks. DI is clearly useless this year yet USA today uses it in their Idol meter. If they took it out of the formula, then Kris would overtake Danny I think.

    Matt’s clearly a sweet non threatening guy to people. Hey, he’s most Idols BFF. But, I agree with MTV and if he stays next week he’ll get some backlash. He’s been bottom 2 3x and had to get in on the wild card. He’s the most inconsistent one left. He’s the Kristy of this year. People like him now because he’s not perceived as a threat, but if he takes someone’s place – especially that of Danny, Allison, Adam, Kris – I wouldn’t want to be him. Even Lil and Anoop fans will be pissed if he stays.

  • weareallinnocent

    Aww, looky there. Adam has a fanboy at the Sporting News! Great article, particularly if you’re a fan of Adam, too. :-)

  • wjmtv

    Yeah, it’s looking to me like DI’s goose is in the oven, on its way to being fully cooked.

    Sporting News? Seriously? Ooh, that is too cool.

  • sma11ie

    Did Matt Giraud Deserve To Be Saved On à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢?

    Well, even though I personally loved it, I could see arguments both ways. It’s interesting that in comments sections for internet articles, I see that a lot of people didn’t think he deserved the save, but in real life– if those that MTV interviewed in person are an indication– a lot of people do think he deserved it. From my own real life, it seems the general audience enjoyed the save cuz it was a great TV moment and aren’t debating the “deserve” it or not aspect too hard. Anyway, I guess the MTV article is encouraging, if anything, that Matt does seem to have a young fanbase if the interviewees are any indication… heh, I like him, and am glad he’s still around :) . Still not looking forward to disco night though.

  • tinawina

    USA Today needs to take out the Dial Idol part of their formula. They had Lil 2nd last week with Kris last the past 2 weeks. DI is clearly useless this year yet USA today uses it in their Idol meter. If they took it out of the formula, then Kris would overtake Danny I think.

    No offense to you, but statements like this drive me crazy! LOL. That is not how Dialidol works people! The “ranking” just represents the raw score each contestant got after Dialidol applied their mathematical formula to the busy single based data they collected. But that is BEFORE the margin of error is taken into account. So that’s why you can’t go by the “rank”. You look at the little dots and color coding that appears to the RIGHT of the bars. That is the real prediction.

    Last week almost everybody was in the yellow. What that probably means was that the overall voting was so close that only Danny got a significantly higher score from the rest of the pack to be declared absolutely safe. It makes sense, because of you think about it, everybody was bad to just okay… even the most praised performance of the night (Kris) was polarizing. So causal voters were not going to break big in anyone’s direction.

  • wjmtv

    As one of three people in America who enjoyed this week’s commercial AND group sing, a lot of my enjoyment came from watching Matt have a blast.

    I’m starting to see him as this year’s Brooke. He’s clearly got some nerves going on, but when he isn’t under the gun onstage, he’s wonderful. I’ve listened to “Part-Time Lover” about 9000 times since I downloaded it, and I’ve always hated that song. He made it not only listenable, but lovely.

    So, I’m thinking that when the tour kicks off, he’s going to get a lot of the same comments as Brooke. I remember how many posts I read where people were stunned at how comfortable (and fantastic) she was. And of course, I can’t help noticing that her career is doing much better now than a certain singer who placed higher than she did.

  • kbr

    Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m starting to see him as this yearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Brooke. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s clearly got some nerves going on, but when he isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t under the gun onstage, heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s wonderful.

    I completely agree with this wjmtv. I really like Matt, but the nerves seem to get him just like they got to Brooke…perhaps it’s those sensitive piano players?

    I really love Matt’s recordings, it’s too bad he has trouble getting it together the night of. I hope he can stay beyond this week, unlike Lil’ he has had some really strong performances: Human Nature, Part Time Lover, Let’s Get it On, So Small. I thought these were all great performances.

    I also think this is probably Anoop’s time to go. Unfortunately I think he has proven over his consistantly good performances over the last couple of weeks that he really is a 1 trick pony. Ballads or bust for Anoop and disco week isn’t really going to work for that.

  • Tess

    Anyone who puts their faith in DialIdol to accurately show voting results shouldn’t really be betting all their nickels in Vegas. When I called AI contestant lines last Tuesday I got a different recorded voice numerous times even though I was voting for the same contestant. I’m sure AI has added alot of lines per phone number than they had initially. Also, the numbers on dialidol are weighted disproportionately towards the Eastern and Central time zone since these guys share the same 2 hour call in time and have the larger base population. And if DialIdol cannot track text messaging from AT&T they are missing a whole segment of the population. And the Dialidol margin of error would be laughed at in any statistics class as being way to generous. Political polsters would fire any polling service that had that high of a “maybe” factor.

  • Buderschnookie

    As one of three people in America who enjoyed this weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s commercial AND group sing, a lot of my enjoyment came from watching Matt have a blast.

    I was happy to see Matt featured, but it was so overdone that all I could think was “Here’s your lovely parting gift, Matt.”

    And The Sporting News article seriously cracked me up- if there was ever a magazine that Adam didn’t see himself featured in this is it.

    And on an equally WTF level, here’s a story about Idols and lessons to be learned in how they handle their feedback in Business Management Daily.
    It is a very positive piece on Adam… on some of the others not so much.

  • lovecert

    I feel that Danny and Lil peaked too soon, somewhat like Brooke’s “Let It Be”.

    Danny’s best, may I say, was during Hollywood rounds when I thought he didn’t do anything sub-good. Lil peaked with “Be Without You” and is just spiraling downwards with every performance she does.

  • frogcooke

    I was happy to see Matt featured, but it was so overdone that all I could think was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Hereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s your lovely parting gift, Matt.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

    this is exactly what I thought when i saw the ford commercial etc etc.. I was like, he had the least amount of votes and he’s going home this week. before they even got to the results… and they even film that before the show on tuesday.. i was like ominous much?

  • OldHag

    Haha. I’m with the MTV guy – I hope this save thing blasts AI in the face by Gokey being cast off this week, and no save for him!

  • SpenserJ

    And on an equally WTF level, hereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a story about Idols and lessons to be learned in how they handle their feedback in Business Management Daily.
    It is a very positive piece on Adamà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ on some of the others not so much.

    That was a really interesting read. I’m not 100% certain I agree with him about Anoop – but as far as the others go – I think this guy is spot on.

    Another interesting thing: if you scroll down to the comments, you’ll see that even after all of this time, the Claymates will still locate the most obscure AI related article and drag him into it LOL.

    I forwarded that Sporting News article to Mr. Spens – I think he’ll appreciate it. It’s pretty funny,and I loved all of the little sports analogies.

  • http://myspace.com/susanatfox sumidol

    “Aww, looky there. Adam has a fanboy at the Sporting News! Great article, particularly if youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re a fan of Adam, too. :-)

    Crazy isnt it? My husband watches Mike and Mike in the morning and they were even talking about Adam there!

  • wjmtv

    Thanks for the Biz mag article, Buderschnookie. That was pretty interesting. I realy loved how he felt he had to drag the Harvard Review into it, too. LOL.

    I agree with his assessment of Matt and “Chris.” For Anoop, I think I agree with what is currently being said about him elsewhere on this blog: that the only one he’s ever mad at is himself. But he should read that article, because it might be helpful for him to see how he’s being perceived.

    Clay was before my time but yeah, it sounds like he has some pretty…erm…dedicated fans.

  • OldHag

    That was a really interesting read. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not 100% certain I agree with him about Anoop – but as far as the others go – I think this guy is spot on.

    Not 100% but I do think that’s what happened on “Caught Up.” (I personally think it was justified) I also think his body language yelled sadness and dejection on the results show after “True Colors.” He did seem to control it a little better this week. I think Anoop is one of those people whose non-verbal language is actually louder than their spoken words. I kind of like that trait in people – you know what you are getting – but I think it is killing him on Idol. He quickly needs to learn how to rein it in. The buses are bearing down on him and he has to appear to appreciate being ran over, while others are given a free ride, so people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t call him a brat or arrogant again.

  • gingerly

    I agree with both Dial Idol’s goose being cooked and those looking at it as seeing the “one and only” who is safe. I just think that unless that site gives us more than everybody but one is in jeopardy, they don’t really serve any purpose. I do believe most of us thought that there were “two and only.” What’s the point of Dial Idol anynmore if they can’t see more than one contestant being safe? The text votes are the one thing they can’t put into their formula. I’m 52 years old and have exclusively texted votes (well only for an hour for Allison this year but hardcore for Cook last year). I don’t know that it’s only kids texting. If I want to talk to my kids, texting is the only way.

    I’m not saying Dial Idol is wrong. It’s difficult to be wrong when you say only one in seven is safe. I’m just wondering why anybody cares what they say anymore.

  • abbysee

    To take a song like that, one of the greatest pop songs ever written and one that is so etched in our collective consciousness, and completely re-invent it with a version that seems like some impossible hybrid of Chris Isaak, Bryan Ferry and Curtis Mayfield … well, it was pure genius.

    That’s some fine reporting there, at the Sporting News. The couple of comments there about the writer’s ‘man card’ are very funny.

  • Michelle

    DI is pretty useless this year. We don’t need to go to all that trouble to know the one person who is safe every week!

    Although it has been good for rallying Kris’ fanbase for 2 weeks running :D

  • Kath77

    The problem with DI is that they only track the calls of their user groups. This year, it seems that a higher proportion of their user groups are Danny’s organized evangelical Christian block, and Worsters, which would explain why Danny consistently gets high rankings and Lil’s baffling high rank over the rest of the field save Danny last week.

    The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“rankingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  just represents the raw score each contestant got after Dialidol applied their mathematical formula to the busy single based data they collected. But that is BEFORE the margin of error is taken into account. So thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s why you canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t go by the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“rankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ . You look at the little dots and color coding that appears to the RIGHT of the bars. That is the real prediction.

    If DI truly wishes to be useful, they could redo their predictions page to make it clearer because most people aren’t going to take the time to click around and try to make sense of their formulas.

  • tinawina

    The problem with DI is that they only track the calls of their user groups. This year, it seems that a higher proportion of their user groups are Dannyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s organized evangelical Christian block, and Worsters,

    The formula they use to come up with a final number is supposed to compensate for biases among users. I don’t know if it DOES, but it is supposed to. That is also why the margin of error is employed.

    Whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the point of Dial Idol anymore if they canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see more than one contestant being safe?

    That may not be a function of DialIdol itself and more a function of how the close the voting was in a given week.

    DialIdol always gets more precise as the number of contestants dwindles and the differences between votes becomes more stark.

    Its not a perfect tool and I’m not saying people have to take it as gospel, but I do think it is unfair when people criticize it based on things its not even supposed to do. LOL. I think they are aiming for a rough estimate… its supposed to be fun.

  • dv

    From MTV Twitter

    Be on the lookout for Kelly Clarkson’s Video Premiere, “I Do Not Hook Up” on Monday 4/20 @ mtvmusic.com,

  • leome

    Its not a perfect tool and Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not saying people have to take it as gospel, but I do think it is unfair when people criticize it based on things its not even supposed to do. LOL. I think they are aiming for a rough estimateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ its supposed to be fun.

    Yeah, that’s how I see it too. And they don’t always have everyone in the yellow and only 1 in green, it depends.
    And yes, it’s really fun to play with DI. Like, after a few weeks we know they always put Matt a bit higher and someone like Kris and Allison a bit lower. This probably tells us that Kris is getting much more text votes, and Matt not so much.
    And well, at the most important night they get it right. And last year, if it wasn’t for DI many more people would have been shocked with the result. I for one don’t find it useless.

  • Kirsten

    Mattà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s clearly a sweet non threatening guy to people. Hey, heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s most Idols BFF. But, I agree with MTV and if he stays next week heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll get some backlash. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been bottom 2 3x and had to get in on the wild card.

    Minor nit. He’s only been bottom 2 twice. Motown week and Movie Week (this week). It’s conceivable he might have been bottom 2 during his semi-final round, but we wouldn’t know that (we just know that he was at least no better than the third most popular male).

    He probably will get some backlash, but I don’t think he deserves it. He didn’t orchestrate his save, the producers did. Don’t hate the pimpee, hate the pimper!

    BTW, the Save could have been implemented by having the judges say “We don’t want to boot out X contestant, we want to boot the second lowest vote getter this week” which is effectively what they do anyway (they boot off the second lowest vote getter the next week), but it’s less directed. It would make the judges look like the bad guys, though, and they would rather have the hate directed at one of the contestants.

    The fan bases will be on HIGH alert next week. I’m betting that their won’t be a lot of vote splitting (could hurt those “second favourites” who won’t get tossed a few votes because people are less confident about their “first favourite”) and those fans of Idols that hit the bottom 3 will be energized (chronic B3 dwellers may not be helped by that very much because at some point, the fan bases get B3-fatigue).

    Performance order will be critical. There is apparently an interesting article on the “What Not to Sing” site analyzing performance order in more details. We tend to get into the crude “first is the worst”, “second half is the best”, “pimp spot is the bestest” theories. This article goes into more detail tracking the ebb and flow of the show. It gets into how people have short attention spans and the brain tends to reset after every 3 or 4 performaces. Especially after a big performance.

    Let’s just say I pity the person who has to sing after Adam next week. This week, they bookended the show with the girls. Next week they’ll probably have them singing 2/6 or 3/5 to even out the show. I’m pretty sure they’ll have Danny go last and Matt be one of the last three singers (I think they’ll want him to survive the week to prove the save was useful unless Simon wants to get rid of the save (but I think Simon will like to keep it. He enjoys having the power and it really made for a heartwarming moment for the show)). Adam may start the show out with a bang and then bring out Anoop or Lil (probably Anoop, Simon wants him gone. If Anoop goes home next week, it won’t be Matt’s fault. It will be because he will be nothing but a flat oil stain on the road after being repeatedly run over by a bus for the last several weeks. And the uptempo thing).

  • tinawina

    I think Matt, Anoop, and Lil are up next for the chopping black anyway. Its just a matter of who goes first. Allison might sneak in there for an upset, but really the top 4 at this point is Adam, Kris, Allison and Danny. I cannot get worked up over what order they go.

  • http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=587900002&ref=name cruzceleste

    @ Buderschnookie, thank you the article is really good…

  • Buderschnookie

    And in more breaking news…. …. apparently Gokey is dating already??

    “Last week, Danny Gokey called Christian singer Rachel Lampa telling her he à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“wants to meet her and spend some time together.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ”

  • cochem

    Taylor fans… Seven Mile Breakdown Live at Cafe du Nord 041409 with harp

    http://vimeo.com/4193030

  • kimberann

    I have my pom poms out again. Seriously, how can anyone not love David Cook? He is the greatest guy and idol EVAH!!! :wub_tb:
    Somehow I can’t see him running. :tongue3_tb:

  • wjmtv

    I’m not usually this mean, but I can’t help myself. Danny wants to spend time with someone he has yet to meet? That’s a bit presumptuous, innit?

    Kimberann, maybe Terry will run for him.

  • Michelle

    Or since it’s a constitutional monarchy, the guys will carry him on a litter and run for him :king_tb:

  • LK09

    JMO on Susan Boyle— She has a good voice, even a great voice. BUT, there are beautiful Diva’s that are a dime a dozen out there, and it is hard to get noticed.

    The difference is that Susan Boyle created a moment in time– a HUGE moment in time when everything that everyone thought was turned upside down. A frumpy old (looks much older than her age) village cat woman is NOT supposed to sing like that. She has become a symbol that you can overcome things, even when everyone is against you. And the song she sang is very inspirational– a symbol of her dream.

    She is also a wake up call to everyone about how cynical we have become– how judgmental we have all become.

  • sunchick

    Or since ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a constitutional monarchy, the guys will carry him on a litter and run for him

    :laugh_tb: Aww, now you know King Cook prides himself on being a man of the people. Surely the guys will simply run beside him and see about fanning him, wiping the sweat from his brow, carrying his water bottle, giving shoulder massages, that kind of thing.

  • dv

    Preview Kellys “I Do Not Hook Up” video

    HERE

  • anijsch

    Aww, now you know King Cook prides himself on being a man of the people. Surely the guys will simply run beside him and see about fanning him, wiping the sweat from his brow, carrying his water bottle, giving shoulder massages, that kind of thing.

    Here is the link to the original People article
    David Cook to Run for Brain Cancer Charity

    Maybe that give you some more facts.

  • ohnonotagain

    WTG DC, you always give yourself to the cause. Thank you for that, I joined your team. Thank you for your music and your heart.(not a cougar,who are best of the best).
    Female hostess mentioned are terrible the front runner being KC, hurts my ears and so silly.

    Go Kris….

  • weareallinnocent

    Yikes, he doesn’t run normally? At all? I hope he’s trained a little to build up to the 5K. And, I sure hope he’s not a competitive type guy who refuses to run/walk or at least jog really, really slowly. Or dude’s gonna truly regret that run! LOL Seriously, best to him and his family. I joined his team too, running virtually, cuz I’m no fool (and nowhere near DC anymore, snif snif, even though I do actually run… :-) )

  • Michelle

    Aww, now you know King Cook prides himself on being a man of the people. Surely the guys will simply run beside him and see about fanning him, wiping the sweat from his brow, carrying his water bottle, giving shoulder massages, that kind of thing.

    So the next question is, will he run in boots? :tongue1_tb:

  • hardkandy

    not a headline but the susan boyle video is closing in on 20M views… wow… i think idol is making such a mistake by not allowing the videos to be up on youtube this year. youtube is very good promotion especially if the videos go viral. oh well.

  • Trina

    DC is in Vegas and went to see the Beatles LOVE show last night.

  • soundscene

    DC is in Vegas and went to see the Beatles LOVE show last night.

    Didn’t he already see that last year when the top 4 were sent to Vegas?

  • lizland

    Susan Boyle: Whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the big deal?

    I completely agree with this article. It’s all a very backhanded compliment.

  • tierbee

    I hate running (hurt my back playing soccer, didn’t like it before that but now… ow), but I’m bringing my 5 yr old and we’ll be walking the 5K. Well, probably running some to chase him – we did another one and every now and then he’d break out into a sprint. Ugh, my 35 yr old body is not meant to go from walk to spring like that. I think it’s going to be a cool day. Don’t know how David is doing it, flying up from his show in FL, and then I believe he has a show the next day too. Of course if I was 26… maybe I’d be more energetic!!! Love that about him, though, that he’ll be there and will be running.

  • weareallinnocent

    DC is in Vegas and went to see the Beatles LOVE show last night.

    Thanks for the pic! Is it just me, or does Joey appear to be gaining some lbs?! Whadda ya think, too much partying? Oh well, they still look great!

  • Jolene

    DC is in Vegas and went to see the Beatles LOVE show last night.

    Aww band picture! I love those guys. We need a band photoshoot.

    Do we know anything yet about when we’ll hear the official band name? Not that EEB isn’t a cute (and appropriate) name. LOL

  • Laurie

    There is so much more to love about David Cook beyond his amazing voice. He is so committed to finding a cure for cancer. His fans have raised thousands of dollars in his name for this race. And yes he is trying to train. He is running on the campus grounds where he is performing and he mentioned playing basketball on campuses as well. Off topic, but I just saw him perform on 4-14 and the man and his band rocked the place. People were lining up as early as 5:30am for an 8pm show. Then people waited for 2 hrs at the buses for a chance to meet him. He was very gracious to everyone waiting. I did see him perform at the AI tour, but this small intimate venue was a dream come true for a fan. It was a very different experience and vibe than the AI tour and I loved it! The college kids were going crazy for him.

  • BootStar

    And in more breaking newsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦. apparently Gokey is dating already??

    à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Last week, Danny Gokey called Christian singer Rachel Lampa telling her he à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“wants to meet her and spend some time together.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ 

    BWAAH!!! Gotta agree with Rickey that Rachel looks a lot like Gokey’s late wife. Oh, Lord, this could blow up into quite the story! :lol_tb:

    Bravo, Cook, for walking the walk and not just talking the talk, but maybe you really should walk and not run? It sounds like he just started training a week or two ago. Just don’t want him to hurt himself, and there’s no shame in walking. (Who am I kidding? He’s a regular guy with a healthy ego, he’s so gonna run even if he has to stop to vomit every half mile or so. Lord, have mercy on his big ol’ heart!)

  • Keel

    Yikes, he doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t run normally? At all? I hope heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s trained a little to build up to the 5K.

    If you want a real lolz moment, there’s an interview out there somewhere where he calls it a 5K “marathon” (and he say it in all seriousness and not as though he was putting quotes around the word marathon). I’m not a runner myself but that just cracks me up and makes me want to pat him on the head at the same time. Poor boy. He’s got no idea what he signed himself up for. (Well, maybe he does. He has been seen running around the various campuses in the past few weeks (most memorably in voluminous knee-length red shorts (skorts?) that he was photographed in), but during his concerts he keeps talking about having to vomit at the 1/4 mile mark. Maybe he can send Archie to be his proxy. Archie runs, right?)

  • Trina

    The full LA Times piece by Richard Rushfield is up now..Good reading there.

  • runner09
  • thesheriff

    Did the ratings stats get posted?

  • primeminister

    The full LA Times piece by Richard Rushfield is up now..Good reading there.

    I LOVE THIS!!! (Kris wears a Giraud Squad bracelet?! wow)

  • Michelle

    The full LA Times piece by Richard Rushfield is up now..Good reading there.

    There’s a ghost in the mansion! Allegedly! :help_tb:

  • hermy

    aw, I liked that article. They seem very close. The ghost part cracked me up haha.

  • Jabkmc

    Maybe he can send Archie to be his proxy. Archie runs, right?

    ^^^
    :laugh_tb:

    Yeah. Cross-Country so he’s got the endurance. But he’s got a concert that night in the UK. That would be epic though. :laugh_tb:

  • http://myspace.com/girlgeek mj

    Idolatry is up:

    Idolatry

  • tinawina

    Love Idolatry.

    Their assessment of Matt was spot on. And the whole “chip malfunction” storyline was hilarious.

  • Duke

    Anyone catch the BGT Clip of the wtich lady? hhahahahahaha. It looks like Simon might be in trouble…
    i recommend fast fowarding to 1:45 and waiting til she gets axed to see what she says.

  • Allen

    Jesse Langseth had a new post to her myspace thanking Idolatry for all their references to her in their videos. :)

    http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=458206746&blogId=483847210

    I hope she does get to do an interview with them.

  • Victoria

    ^ Ricky Braddy twittered a few days ago and said he was looking into being on Idolatry… Slezak must be psyched!

  • Trina

    Oh MY God the subtitles they used for Lil made me nearly keel over laughing :lol_tb:

  • lifeisgood

    Hope it’s okay to post this here.

    Jason shot a video on the streets of NYC yesterday – on his way to a songwriting session.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WugtAwF43U4

  • lifeisgood

    Just love Idolatry!

  • soundscene

    Ok, David A. decided to go out to the movies tonight, and there are a bunch of twitter spottings of him. Apparently some girls saw him and started to chase after him, according to one tweeter. Another tweeter said a “stampede” broke out because of him.

    Oh, David. Poor guy.

  • frogcooke

    ^^oh my gosh! lol thats kinda funny and scary at the same time….

  • lovecert

    Ah… yes! My weekly dose of Idolatry!

    Spot on comments for Randy. That was so inane trying to play catch-up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=587900002&ref=name cruzceleste

    ^Thats why he keep his endurance at running… being chased by all the fans…lol…I hope everybody is safe…

  • frogcooke

    he cant stooooppp ruunnniiiinnn.. hahaha

    /overused song quote of the day

  • Jabkmc

    ^^^
    A little “pitchy” there Frog. :wink1_tb:

  • cookcricket

    Just got on here after a long evening w/ guests and was happy to see Idolatry!!!
    Too, too funny!!!! Can’t wait until Monday! LOL!

    Bonus: Jesse blogging to Idolatry!!! I hope her message gets to them, yeah!!

    Extra Bonus: Jason on the streets of NYC!!! He’s so excited about this deal, can’t wait!!!

    Thanks y’all!!!!

  • elisa3da

    I love the way they described Kris Allen:
    “While Kris Allen seems a truly nice guy on stage, it is almost haunting what a nice guy he seems in person, giving the impression that he does not possess a mean molecule in his body.”