American Idol Recap: Those 24 About to Rock, We Salute You!
Ryan Seacrest pulled a Gwyneth Paltrow and went all Country Strong on us, but not before getting lifted like a set of Jersey Shore dumbbells by male and female contestants alike. Rachel Zevita opened up a commanding lead in the Season 10 Millinery Race. A pissed-off rocker chick took home the prize for Most Endearing Contestant (I kid you not!) by candidly flipping off the Idol cameras. And Sam Cooke’s classic civil-rights anthem “A Change Is Gonna Come” underwent radical plastic surgery — without the benefit of anesthesia!
***
‘American Idol’ Recap: The Top 24 Are Ready For Prime Time
When the dust finally settled and the also-rans were told to mind the gap as they boarded the “Idol” Obscurity Train (Erin Kelly, Tiwan Strong, Brittany Mazur and Jimmie Allen, meet your conductors Vanessa Wolfe, Erskine Walcott and Hadas), “Idol” fans were left with a promising batch of 24 hungry young singers. And in an “AI” first, all 24 semi-finalists were profiled over the course of the two “big reveal” episodes. (Although, how could they not be in three hours of televison?!)
***
More recaps after the JUMP…
***
‘American Idol’ recap: 500 Miles to Seacrest
Last night, the contestants sat around for hours and hours in order to mentally prepare for the 250-mile march along the disco runway of broken dreams that “is…American Idol.” Ryan was extra haunting in this episode, right? My favorite of his voiceovers was positively Randy-esque in its utter inability to advance the plot. “Inside, the judges are awaiting the next victim in the chair.” Aw, it was like capital punishment, but for minors. “Has Lauren Alaina’s fire gone out?” “Will Jordan Dorsey live to regret Hollywood Week?” Will Jordan Dorsey live, period? Read on!
***
American Idol Fills Out it’s Galaxy
Another reason to like American Idol this season: It’s realizing when to get to the point. (Well, except for that horrible Los Angeles audition episode, but let’s not talk about that.) The second and third hours of the show’s “Green Mile” episodes—when the 24 semifinalists are given the green light by the judges—aired tonight, and of the 28 people who were featured, only nine were shown the door. And we got to hear everybody sing, which was a pretty welcome development given that in seasons past the semifinals have had a couple of people who seemed to be surprise guests / people who were picked for the sole purpose of streamlining certain favorites’ path to the Top 12. (There will still be some “who”-ing, but at least tonight’s episode was an attempt to temper that.)
***
‘American Idol’ reveals its top 24
“American Idol” finished picking its 24 semifinalists on Thursday’s show, and there wasn’t a ton of drama. For the most part, the singers you’ve heard of made it, the singers you barely remembered from their initial auditions did not.
What drama there was largely centered on a pair of 15-year-olds looking to take full advantage of the lower age limit. Of course, the two hopefuls had to wait until the final moments of the selection process to find out their fates.
***
‘American Idol’ Recap: Top 24 Revealed
Among those who made the cut? Nearly everyone who’s earned a significant amount of screen time thus far, as viewers were treated to two hours of almost entirely good news and given nary a chance to mourn early favorites getting the boot. Idol also made good on its promise to go young — shoo-in Lauren Alaina, who has turned 16 years old since first auditioning at the minimum age in Nashville, received the good news in a pastel leopard-print dress and matching cowboy boots. The bubbly teen was joined by other young favorites like 15-year-old Thia Megia, who has already competed on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, and 16-year-old Scotty McCreery, who was chosen over similiarly husky-voiced country crooner John Wayne Schulz.
***
Season 10’s Most Robbed ‘American Idol’ Contestants
The “American Idol” top 24 has finally been announced, and while much of America is still reeling from the shocking pre-semifinals elimination of fan favorites Chris Medina, John Wayne Schulz, and Jacee Badeaux, I think there are a few other also-rans who really got robbed this season. Season 10 is packed with talent, so much so that some awesome singers who would’ve sailed through to the top 10 in any other season are sadly left on the sidelines this year. So let’s hope these people audition for “American Idol” Season 11–or maybe “The X Factor”–in the future.
***
‘American Idol’ Season 10: Top 24 Announced
The dreams of 24 young singers lived on tonight, while those of 14 others were crushed.
This is it – we’re down to the list of semi-finalists on “American Idol.” The show was not without some drama, fewer tears than last night, and one flying chair. And wow – the judges really leave people hanging before they give them their final judgement.
***
‘American Idol’ 2011: Top 24 survive the Trail of Tears
Part Deux of “American Idol” 2011: Final Judgment starts Thursday with a reprisal of judge Jennifer Lopez’s bad-news breakdown of Wednesday night, when she had to send home Chris Medina, the nice guy with the wheelchair-bound car-accident victim fiancée.
“Will Jennifer find the strength to go on?” show host Ryan Seacrest asks. Can you spell “rhetorically”?
***
American Idol, Season 10: Separating The Nobodies From The Assholes
Last night’s show ended with a cliffhanger: We didn’t know, as it faded out, whether Jennifer Lopez would be able to continue judging, or whether the strain of eliminating good kids was just too much. As the show returned tonight, we got the dramatic payoff: Ryan Seacrest saying, “She took a short break.” That was it! That was all we got! Not even just, “She took a break.” A short break. **** this show.
But anyway, this is the part of the season where they finish announcing the top 24 singers. I started with this in the last column, but here’s the rest of the list, with commentary.
