‘American Idol’: Six on-the-scene observations from the Top 13 live results show
Nothing can probably prepare one for the overwhelming nature of entering the Idoldome for the first time: It’s colossal, run by what seems like the Kremlin guard, and there’s a distinct crackle in the air. After years of watching on TV, last night was my first visit to the venue and live show, and I quickly realized that the atmosphere’s usual electricity was no doubt bolstered by the fact that what I had stepped into the first live results show of a rather energized season. Actually, to be even more specific, last night was the first live show of the season period, since both the Top 12 boys and Top 12 girls episodes were pretaped last Friday and Monday. Things felt heady and bubbly from the get-go.
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‘American Idol’ Recap: Top 13 Finalists Revealed
American Idol revealed its top 13 contestants of Season 10 on Thursday night as the judges added three wild-card picks — Stefano Langone, Ashton Jones and Naima Adedapo — to the 10 finalists chosen by voters at home.
Scotty McCreery was the first to hear the good news from Ryan Seacrest. The 16-year-old country singer, who continues to be a clear favorite among the boys, earned America’s vote over Long Islander Robbie Rosen.
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More recaps after the JUMP…
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American Idol Semifinal Results Recap: Now That’s What I Call a Top 13!
American Idol results show is kind of like a trip to the dentist’s chair: The faster you get through it, the better. But Thursday night’s two-hour extravaganza — in which the crop of 24 season 10 semifinalists was dramatically culled to a field of 13 — proved the exception to the rule. Okay, sure, that brief clip of Ta-Tynisa Wilson’s “Only Girl (In the World)” felt like the haunting touch of a dentist’s drill without the benefit of novocaine. But on the whole, the two hours zoomed right past, fueled by a laughing-gas giddiness that this year’s finalists, as a whole, are infinitely more appetizing than the curdled glass of milk Idol served up in season 9.
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‘American Idol’ recap: Three Wild Ones
It’s not a Top 12 — it’s a Top 13, America! So one more child gets to live, and the promo introducing last night’s two-hour results show was a liar. What a night. In between getting-to-know-you filler montages, the obedient singing dolls shuffled around the stage and waited for Ryan to either send them to the popularity sofa or deliver their life sentences in the tremendous form of “Now take to your stools.” Scotty wore a skull visor. J. Lo got to air her little video. The tears flowed; the cookies crumbled. I’m gonna keep this recap short. I like cookies.
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American Idol Gets Down to Business
Who among us missed the American Idol elimination episodes, where the producers turn 30 seconds of footage into a stone soup of puff pieces, promotional tie-in footage, and awkward banter? OK, I’m not seeing many hands! And I’m not surprised. But at least tonight’s episode, the first of the newish-look 10th season, was going to be different than those from previous seasons because of the way it would resemble a bloodbath. Nearly half of the cast would be left standing when all was said and done! A few singers would be forced to sing for their lives! Oh, the potential for drama was so high.
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‘American Idol’: ‘Finalists Chosen’ Recap
Ryan Seacrest promised us unprecedented drama tonight and maybe I’m a sucker, but I kinda think ‘Idol’ delivered with the Top 13 reveal.
Going into tonight’s first live show, it was still unclear exactly what was going to go down. Conflicting reports of a Top 13, then a Top 12, with wild cards to be decided next week, kept things up in the air. And that’s probably just the way Nigel Lythgoe and Simon Fuller wanted it.
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‘American Idol’s’ Unfortunate Casualties
Maybe after several weeks of warm feeling and strong singing, “American Idol” producers decided they’d had enough. This week, the 24 semifinalists were slashed down to the group of 13 finalists — a good old-fashioned bloodbath, and a reminder that “Idol” still has teeth.
But this scorched-earth tactic, while dramatic, also had unfortunate casualties. Some contestants, seen just a few times in the audition rounds and therefore with little backstory or accrued goodwill, ended up getting judged this week effectively on just one performance. Choose well, like Casey Abrams or Pia Toscano, and sail through. Choose poorly, and be gone before you were known.
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Lucky 13: ‘American Idol’ reveals its finalists
“American Idol” picked its 13 finalists on Thursday, ending a week that saw the field of 24 semifinalists cut nearly in half.
Ten of the spots in the final baker’s dozen went to the top five vote-getters of each gender. The remaining three were wild-card selections from the judges, who made some unconventional selections.
It would have been very easy to choose Kendra Chantelle and Robbie Rosen, both of whom were among the six selected to sing for their lives one final time (as host Ryan Seacrest so ably exaggerated). Both look the part of an “Idol” contender, and presumably could be shaped to sound that way as well once music exec and “Idol” mentor Jimmy Iovine and his team of polishers gets to work with them.
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‘Idol’ Results: America, You Got It Right
There was a big surprise on tonight’s “Idol” results show but it had nothing to do with the way America cast their 40 million votes. Nor did it concern the fact that Seacrest & Co. couldn’t edit the show to a measly 120 minutes. (Don’t they realize that 10 p.m. is allotted for “Jersey Shore?”)
No, the surprise was that the judges opted to choose three Wild Card finalists, making this the first Top 13 since Anoop Desai rounded out the group back in Season 8. More on that in a minute.
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American Idol Recap: Paul F. Tompkins Judges the Final Thirteen
Narrowing the contestants down. Shit. We’re still only narrowing the contestants down.
Tonight’s the night! We go from the arbitrary top 24 to the familiar and understandable top 10! With maybe some extra people! There’s some “wild card” business that’s gonna go down tonight, and I’m not sure how many additional contestants will make it through by the grace of the judges. I hope it’s fewer than fourteen.
