Odds and Ends

04/14/2006 mjsbigblog American Idol 5

Odds and Ends

Rod Stewart Week

I’ve gleaned a couple of tidbits amongst the message board chatter about the upcoming Rod Stewart week.  The theme will focus on Rod’s recent incarnation as an old-school standards crooner:

1. Per Taylor Hicks’s Dad via a Birmingham station TV interview (via Official Forums) – The contestants are restricted to songs from one of Stewart’s 4 standards CDs.

2. According to somebody interviewed on “Idol Extra” the kids won’t be allowed to mess with the traditional arrangements (i.e., no 90s alt-rock version of Unchained Melody).

thanks to cheese from the hh for that item

 

Simon’s Prediction of the Week
 
Simon Cowell was recently interviewed on Extra.  Here’s what he had to say about who stays and who goes:
 
  • About Taylor Hicks’s “stage theatrics”, “It’s ungainly, all over the place. It’s funny…I’m not disputing the guy can sing, but it’s all a bit stupid.”
  • About Ace Young’s future on the show,  “I think his days are numbered.”
  • About Katharine McPhee’s future on the show,  “She’s reaching a point where she’s looking so perfect and sounding so perfect. Ironically, it can work against you…she won’t win.”
  • Simon’s favorite according to Extra,  “His favorite to win is 17-year-old vocal powerhouse, Paris Bennett. ‘You gotta give the girl some credit. She’s a tough little thing, isn’t she?’, he said.”

The Ace and Katharine predictions look reasonable.  Ace has been treated like someone they can’t wait to get rid of.  Katharine is just not the type they typically like–too left-coast with an eclectic style that’s  not easily marketable.  However,  I’d bet my house that she makes at least the Top 5. The Paris “prediction”?  Am I missing something? I’m squinting at that quote, and I’m not seeing where Simon actually says that she is his “favorite to win.”

 

TMZ Gossip

Here are some backstage gossip items from the folks at TMZ.com.

Item #1:   According to “insiders”,  Taylor’s and Kat’s decision to switch Queen songs midstream last week upset The Powers That Be:

“Sources tell TMZ that McPhee and Hicks’ decision to pull the plug on their initial song of choice mid-week ended up costing a significant amount of money. The ‘Idol’ band and backup singers scrambled to learn the new compositions and the entire crew, especially lighting, spent costly hours making changes. We’re told producers were very frustrated.”

Eh, Contestants make song changes all the time, or their songs get changed on them.  No biggie.
 
“In addition, sources tell TMZ that ‘Idol’ producers were surprised by Chris Daughtry’s song choice — ‘Innuendo.’ They even went as far as telling Daughtry during Tuesday’s dress rehearsals — moments before the contestants took the stage live — that they disliked the song and wouldn’t have picked it if they were him. Simon certainly wasn’t impressed.”
 
Simon did seem upset about that.  And Nigel, in his weekly interview with TVweek.com expressed some regret as well.  Queen week almost seemed like a gift to Chris.  His performance wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t spectacular.  They might have been hoping, from Chris,  for one of those performances that gets talked about around the water cooler the next morning.
 
Item #2:  This next item has Taylor Hicks offended by Simon’s post-performance comment that he looked drunk during his performance Tuesday night.
 
“Sources say that Taylor was so upset with Simon’s “drunk” comment that he almost said something on the air, but resisted. After leaving the stage, Taylor made it clear that he was upset.”
 
No comment, really.