‘American Idol’: Pia Toscano drops in and other top moments you didn’t see on TV – Pia Toscano in the audience. Pia!!! She was in the first row, camera-ready, and the whole time I was just waiting for Ryan to call her out. But he didn’t. The warm up guy introduced her, but that was about it. I was this close to being sure she was the surprise reveal coming back at the end. Wishful thinking, I suppose. Pia was robbed! – Entertainment Weekly
‘American Idol’: 13 Things You Didn’t See on Tuesday’s Show – 1. Talk about a brand new set, as the audience was filing in for episode 1 of season 11 (1-1-1, for the numerology-inclined), stagehands were still pulling off chunks of the plastic seal covering the ultra-shiny stage. Even as close as 10 minutes to airtime, drilling was taking place on the judges’ table. Not that’s what I call the 11th hour. (There’s that number again!) – Hollywood Reporter
‘American Idol’ recap: 13 Men and a Confused Baby’s Nipple – Welcome to the live shows! We’ve got an all-new American Idol set featuring a giant spacecraft-y oval that reminds me a little too much of The X Factor, and some wind-machined amber waves of grain behind Ryan to remind us of how easy breezy beautiful representative of America he is. (Noted.) It may look different, but the judges are up to the same old crap — blind praise of mediocre performances and then sudden, weird criticism of some of the better contestants. Their commentary was overwhelmingly positive on the whole, and just stunningly beautiful, as always. – Entertainment Weekly
Steven Tyler offers his own nip slip on ‘American Idol’ – The problem with the two-hour “American Idol” semifinal shows is that every performance runs together. Thirteen singers in two hours, combined with nonstop compliments from the judges and poignant home videos to serve as campaign advertisements make the whole night a festival where everyone is declared awesome and you can just vote for whoever you want. – MSNBC
The Top 13 Guys Recap – Let’s start this season of American Idol right: with a multiple choice test. Don’t worry, much like the Idol judges, I won’t fail you, and the right answer will mean as much to you as the outcome of last night’s show. Which of the following was most annoying last night? A: The fact that even with a new set and increased promises that this was the best season ever, nothing seemed to have changed from last year. TV Overmind
‘American Idol,’ Season 11, Episode 13, Male Semifinalists Perform: TV Recap – They wasted no time getting right down to it tonight on “American Idol” as the show set up shop on a newly designed stage for its first live show of the season. Tonight, 12 guys, plus one yet to be named 13th, took the stage all hoping America votes their way. It’s going to be a tough decision for voters if they were looking to the judges for some direction as everyone got gushing reviews from Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler post-song. – Wall Street Journal
Semi-finalist Boys Perform – Finally, tonight, it was time for America to make some choices. Ryan Seacrest sported a new, wavier, Billy Bush-ier ‘do and Randy evidently beat up a circus clown and stole his shirt for the occasion. So we knew it was going to be a special night. Let’s get right to what happened when the Top 13 boys sang whatever the hell they wanted to. Incidentally, (and this is going to apply to the whole season), unless I say otherwise, if I neglect to say what the judges thought of a singer, you can just assume that they loved him or her. – AV Club
‘American Idol’ Recap: Boys Who Love Girls – OK, America, you have to start caring about the 11th season of American Idol starting right . . . now! Tonight the Top 24 performs, only to be culled down to a Top 12 on Thursday, perhaps by crocodiles. Tonight is also the first night that the judges’ opinions are secondary to whatever standards by which America is judging its popularity contest. Tabloid gossip? Hair height? Adorkableness? It’s weird to sing Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” on Idol, right? What with Adam Levine being a judge – and premiering the song last season – on The Voice, a.k.a. The Upstart, Wildly Popular Competition? – Rolling Stone
‘American Idol’ recap, season 11, semifinal top 13 men – For “Idol’s” first live show, the producers back-ended the stronger performers into the second hour. That’s typical. They also created fake “suspense” by waiting until the end for the 13th guy to show up. It was Jermaine Jones, the baritone mama’s boy. Although I would have preferred Johnny Keyser or David Leathers Jr. but as Randy Jackson said, they have a surfeit of sopranos this year and needed a lower voiced man to mix things up. – Atlanta Journal Constitution
American Idol 11: Top 13 Guys Sing A Bunch Of Ballads – So tonight is the big night, eh? Not only will we discover who this elusive 13th male contestant is, American Idol goes live. So who will deny their first nip slip? Jennifer Lopez or Steven Tyler? All I know is that Heejun Han’s Twitter account is by far the most entertaining thing we’ve seen all season.
(PLEASE TELL ME WHO JLO’S AGENT IS. WHY IS SHE STILL WORKING? WHY WAS SHE PRESENTING ON THE OSCARS? WHY? WHY? WHY?) – Top Idol Blog
