‘American Idol’ Season 9 Top 11 – Worst Episode Ever?
American Idol’ 9’s Top 11 is bound to go down in ‘Idol’ history as one of the worst nights of ‘Idol’ performances EVER — from the lame and generic song choices to the trainwreck performances to the teenaged mentor, Miley Cyrus, speed-talking as she offered up super-obvious performance tips to the kids.
‘American Idol’: On the scene for Top 11 ‘performance’ night
When Your. Top. 11. took the stage at the top of the show, I had a few observations: I would like Katie Stevens to start wearing more age-appropriate shoes. Didi Benami cuts a Carrie Underwood-esque figure. Crystal Bowersox looks great in a hippie dress. Siobhan Magnus needed to be singing Pat Benatar in her outfit/fauxhawk, or nothing at all. Michael Lynch could devour up to three of his fellow contestants without noticeably changing in size. With about 20 seconds to go, Debbie — whose wide-leg pants I now covet — directed Ryan Seacrest toward two audience girls sharing a single sign proposing marriage. He gestured the world’s least-sincere yesss fist-pump at the prospect of statutory polygamy. And THIS. was American Idol.
More Idol Recaps after the jump…keep checking back for more.
‘American Idol’ recap: 10 Mileys of Bad Road
I’ve never quite understood the inherent sadism of American Idol’s summer tour policy. Every year the show names 12 (or last year, 13) finalists, but only makes room on the sightseeing bus for 10 of ’em.
Okay, yeah, so last season’s Kradison Festival of Awesome wouldn’t have benefited much from the vocal stylings of Jasmine Murray or Jorge Nuñez (although Alexis Grace is quite another matter…hmph!), but as Simon pointed out tonight, finishing 11th on Idol is akin to getting five out of six lottery numbers: ”It’s the worst night to go home.”
Ann Powers: Underconfident, the Idols overreach
Hubris. Whomever remains to sing and, eventually, go on the summer tour after Wednesday’s elimination round on “American Idol” should spend some time pondering that very old but suddenly relevant term. Though this season’s remaining bunch is hardly overconfident, the ridiculous song choices and emotionally tone-deaf performances this week showed a lack of self-awareness that translated into fatal overreaching.
Miley Cyrus gives back on ‘American Idol’
It’s Billboard No. 1’s night on “American Idol” and Miley Cyrus mentor night too! Let’s see how many times Miley can make it all about her!
Show host Ryan Seacrest asks judge Randy Jackson to explain the mysteries of ‘Idol’ arithmetic to him; it goes like this. There are 11 Idolettes. The top 10 get to go on tour, the one who gets the hook this week does not get to go on tour because 11 is one more than 10. The 1 Idolette will lose out in the Giant Opportunity. Judge Ellen The Generous talks about the importance of something called “voting” because it’s votes from viewers that determine which of the Idolettes has the fewest “votes” and that person will be the one who is not part of the 10. Judge Simon Cowell, however, says it’s like if you were an Idolette who had six numbers on a lottery ticket and only get five, because then you don’t get to go on tour, you lose a lot of money and it’s damaging to your career. “That’s why I love this night”. Cowell adds.
American Idol: The Top 11 Tackle No. 1 Hits
Given free reign to pick any song that’s been a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, which one – which era – the “Idol” contestants choose says a lot. Is Casey James a tacky goofball? He most certainly is, as was clear from his selection of “The Power of Love, ” by Huey Lewis and the News. It’s a square, stiff song, moldy even upon its release, and its terse vocal lines did little to show off Casey’s rough edges.
Forget ‘Idols’ singing No. 1 hits — focus is Miley
In many ways, Tuesday was a typical night on “American Idol.” Crystal Bowersox was good, Paige Miles and Tim Urban were bad, Ellen DeGeneres compared one singer to a pen and quoted Oliver Twist to praise another … you know, the usual.
‘American Idol’ Top 11: Crystal Bowersox, Aaron Kelly Find Hits On #1 Night
With Tuesday night’s (March 23) broad theme of #1 Billboard hits to choose from, “American Idol” contestants had the opportunity to choose the perfect vehicles to establish themselves as artists worthy of making the top 10 — and the lucrative Idols Live! summer tour. But several stumbled anyway, leaving the judges baffled by their wrong or too-easy song choices. Only Crystal Bowersox, Aaron Kelly and Katie Stevens earned praise across the board.
‘American Idol’ Recap: Michael Lynche Loves A Woman, Crystal Bowersox Parties With Bobby McGee
Expectations are now so low on this season of “American Idol” that when news broke that Miley Cyrus was going to “mentor” the Top 11 as they sang “Teen Idol Hits No Wait Billboard #1 Hits No Wait Both Maybe, ” I shrugged and said, “Eh, they’ve had worse.” (I’m still laughing at producers for letting Jennifer Lopez give singing tips to Melinda Doolittle.) Looking back on my reaction, I now see I was dead wrong.
Alexis Grace: ‘I secretly want Crystal and Siobhan to duke it out’
Last night on American Idol, the stakes were high!
The top 11 contestants performed on what Simon said to be “one of the most important shows of the season.” Tonight, one will say goodbye to the Idol stage and the top 10 tour for good.
The theme: Billboard’s Number One hits.
Miley Cyrus Dishes Out Advice On ‘American Idol’
While previous “American Idol” mentors have included Barry Manilow, Randy Travis and Diana Ross, the show took things a bit younger this week with Miley Cyrus coaching the top 11 contestants. The theme of the week was #1 hits, and, as Ryan Seacrest pointed out at the top of the show, “This pop princess may only be 17, but she has a lifetime of experience.”
American Idol’ recap, rankings, polls, top 11 performances,
The show should have stuck with “teen idols.” We might have been more entertained than this overly broad “Billboard Number Ones” theme.
Overall, this night was uninspired at best. I only truly enjoyed Crystal Bowersox as usual. A few folks were okay – Casey, Michael, Lee, Katie. Everybody else left me in the cold – with no coat.
‘American Idol’ Season 9, Top 11 Perform; Miley Cyrus Mentors: TV Recap
The Idols picked their way through Billboard’s best Wednesday night in an episode that raised many questions:
Okay, that wasn’t a real concern. But it was strange that the seasoned veteran mentor could have been many of the Idol’s 17-year-old kid sister.
‘American Idol’ Recap: Idols Take on Billboard No. 1s
Wooo! Billboard No. 1s is the theme this week! The “AI” behind-the-scenes people have been running around our offices this week — alas, no Miley Cyrus sightings, though. Let’s get to it. Oh wait, let’s get to it after 10 minutes of inane chatter between the judges.
First up, Miley’s advice for the contestants: Have a famous dad, and hook up with Disney when you’re 11. Failing that, be true to yourself and connect with your fans.
American Idol: The Final Eleven
Legendary music veteran Miley Cyrus imparted her decades of showbiz wisdom to the young whippersnappers of tonight as they chose #1 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 (a list that’s three times as old as Cyrus is). Who benefited from her mentoring? We’ll find out… after the break! (Or, actually, by clicking on the pictures below.)
Miley Cyrus Guides “American Idol” Through Disastrous Number Ones
You may not like “Party in the U.S.A.” You may not understand the significance of the response, “She’s just bein’ Miley.” But it would be hard to claim that mentor Miley Cyrus was the weak link on last night’s horrendous American Idol. Which songs were up for grabs? Every single Hot 100 Number One in history. So why did history range from 1967 to 1998 with one little detour into the present century for a Fergie ballad? And perhaps more importantly, why did every contestant respond to their critique by announcing they “had fun with it”? What’s fun about disastrous, awkward songs? And even more importantly why did nobody mention the passing of Memphis legend Alex Chilton when Lee DeWyze sang a song by his early band the Box Tops? Disgraceful stuff, Idol.
The ‘American Idol’ Top 11: Just Being Miley
I admit that when I first learned that teen-queen Miley Cyrus would be the guest mentor on “American Idol” this week, I bristled and balked. Considering that past “Idol” mentors have been veterans with decades of experience–Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton, Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen, Gladys Knight–the idea that Miley (who, at 17, is younger than all of this season’s remaining contestants except for Aaron Kelly) would be doling out advice seemed very suspect. But Crystal Bowersox, arguably the most indie-credible contestant of Season 9, showed Miley some real respect Tuesday night by asking Miley to autograph her six-string. (“I always have powerful and beautiful women sign my guitar, ” Crystal explained; other honorable signees include Melissa Etheridge and past guest judge Shania Twain.)
Final 11: It’s Karaoke Time
This is what Idol has fallen to. A night of Karaoke Klassics sung by the weakest Final 11 yet, while being mentored by a 17 year-old singing Disney automaton. It’s safe to say this night will not go down in the annals of history.
This season is horrible. There’s no getting around it. The category could be “The Greatest Songs Of All Time” and they’d still manage to find the duds. Tonight was about horribly over-played songs ruined in all new horrible… and funny ways.
Top 11 Recap- Miley Cyrus Saves The Season With The Best Episode Yet
Bless you, Miley Cyrus. I don’t care that you’re a trashy baby hooker that mentored contestants 10 years older than you for #1 hits week even though you’ve never had a #1 hit. And I don’t care that you somehow thought it was appropriate to introduce yourself to each contestant that you mentored as if they don’t know you. For you, Miley Cyrus, have taken an incredibly dull season of American Idol and made it hilariously entertaining. I don’t know what you did, but whatever you told the contestants suddenly made them all hilariously terrible. Tonight, there were so many classic VFTW performances, I couldn’t contain myself. It was one of the best episodes of Idol all season, if not in the last few years.
When Eggheads Attack: An American Idol Debate
Miley Cyrus’s mentoring skills on last night’s American Idol were no match for the train wreck of vocals that followed. Fortunately, we have assembled a trio of experts who can help Cyrus assess what exactly went wrong with each performance. The panel includes: Susan Fast, a music professor at Ontario’s McMaster University and author of “In the House of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music”; Dr. Avi Rubin, who studies electronic voting as a professor of computer science at John Hopkins University and was a former research scientist at AT&T Labs; and Richard Drews, a professor of voice at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. Here’s the advice they have for the final 11.
Top 11 Perform
Hi there, American Idol watchers! I would call you “fans”, but you would only deny it. You=Peter, Simon Cowell=Christ. Claire is out doing the things she does that make her so undeniably Zulkey, so I’m here to miss Lost and keep you apprised of what these eleven dingalings are up to tonight. This week’s theme is “Billboard #1 Hits”, which is boringly broad, but at least leaves open the possibility that someone will sing “In the Year 2525”.
“American Idol” recap: Wake up, Ellen!
Tuesday’s episode of “American Idol” featured the top 11 finalists singing #1 Billboard hits. The good news was that the contestants had literally thousands of songs to choose from — songs they could make their own, be original and strut their stuff. The bad news was that even that couldn’t save Billboard’s #1 night.
Miley Cyrus a surprisingly good mentor to the final 11, four of whom should go home now
The good news: American Idol 9 is starting to show some signs of life, with a few great performances, a couple good ones, and a surprise. The bad news: We still have to wait a month until after Tim Urban, Paige Miles, Andrew Garcia, and Katie Stevens get voted off for the performance shows to not drag. Then again, I might just be holding the show to the same standard that Ellen applied to Paige: As long as it doesn’t fall on its ass, it looks good. And no one is doing anything truly stunning.
‘American Idol’ Throws Its Very Own Party in the U.S.A.
Tuesday’s ‘American Idol‘ paid homage to songs that reached No. 1 on the pop charts, with the singers being mentored by a teenaged starlet who has never achieved that feat. (Oh, ‘American Idol, ’ your logic this season continues to be impeccable!)
‘Hannah Montana‘ star Miley Cyrus helped the 11 remaining contestants navigate their way through songs that were more often than not older than everyone involved, and the results were, to put it kindly, not all that great.