MJ’s Take: That Don’t Impress Me Much
For the record: I’m not much of a country fan, and I’m not familiar with the Shania Twain songbook. Still, not being familiar with a genre hasn’t stopped me from enjoying an ‘Idol’ episode if the performances were great.
Shania was one of the better guest judges back during the audition rounds in Chicago, and here, as an ‘Idol’ mentor, she brought a sunny optimism to the proceedings. Sitting in the audience in jeans and a fierce, glittery jacket, the country songstress clapped and cheered her protégés on.
‘American Idol’: Shania Twain sways, hugs, chats, and claps on the scene of Top 6 performance night
As I walked through the CBS Television City parking lot to the Idoldome last night, I passed two massive black steel abstract trees, and a pair of park benches with backs that looked like giant bloody razor blades. “Ah, country week on American Idol, ” chirped my snark demon, Smirkelstilskin. “It always takes me back to that glorious winter of 1986, when I headlined a West Berlin production of Waiting for Godot.” (I’ll get back to the trees and benches, promise.) After I got to my seat, Smirkel then caught sight of season 6 runner-up Blake Lewis hobnobbing with one of the sway pits, sporting a frosted emo haircut that made it clear he’d gone to his barber with a worn-out copy of Us Weekly, pointed to a picture of Kate Gosselin, and said “I wanna look like this — but just the front part.”
More Idol Headlines after the JUMP…
‘American Idol’ Dispatch: Blake Lewis in the house! Oh, and Shania Twain
Shania Twain night on “American Idol” was a surprisingly strong one — as it should be at this stage of the game. But the relative lack of off-the-wall performances and mostly positive comments from the judges didn’t make for the most scintillating hour of live broadcasting. That’s OK, though, because plenty went on when cameras weren’t rolling. Some of what we saw:
Blake Lewis: In the house for Shania Twain Night
Tuesday I got the pleasure of sitting in the American Idol audience. What a trip to be back — so great to see many friendly faces from Idol past.
Shania Twain was the mentor for this show and, man, did she look great. She was a couple seats away from me, and her presence is positive and her feedback for the contestants was spot on.
The night started with Lee Dewyze singing You’re Still The One, and he sounded really good. The arrangement was great, and he looked like he was enjoying himself for once.
‘American Idol’ Shania Twain Night Fits Michael Lynche, Siobhan Magnus
In a season filled with youthful mentors like Miley Cyrus, Usher, Adam Lambert and Alicia Keys, Tuesday night’s (April 27) “American Idol” brought back a country/pop superstar who hasn’t released a new album in eight years. But Shania Twain knows what she’s talking about, since she was a guest judge during the audition rounds, and her soft-focus advice to the remaining six finalists helped a few — Michael Lynche, Aaron Kelly and Siobhan Magnus — get back in the thick of the competition, even as longtime front-runner Crystal Bowersox faced her first neutral notices of the finals.
Ann Powers: Man, ‘Idol’ (sort of) felt like Shania
Shania Twain loves exclamation points! The woman who helped reinvent country music for the age of exurban sprawl and two-income, “The Blind Side”-style families has found success with many songs featuring that peppy punctuation — including her signature tune, the happy update on Mae West and Marilyn Monroe, “Man! I Feel Like Leedwyze3_l1kfginc a Woman!” You’d hope that an episode of “American Idol” dedicated to Twain’s music would have had more zing than anything else this season.
Twain’s presence Tuesday night did help — this was one of the most enjoyable shows of the season.Yet, as fun as it was, Shania Night still left questions about whether this season’s singers really get the point of crossover pop.
Shania Twain brings out the best in ‘Idol’ singers
LOS ANGELES — Not so fast, Crystal Bowersox. The other “American Idol” finalists rose to the occasion Tuesday during an evening of Shania Twain tunes on the Fox singing contest. After weeks of unabashed praise, the show’s judges weren’t so overwhelmed with the folksy rendition of “No One Needs To Know” from the usually captivating 24-year-old musician from Toledo, Ohio. They still kinda liked it though.
‘American Idol’ tackles Shania Twain tunes
Shania Twain guest stars on Tuesday’s episode of “Crystal Bowersox & Friends.” Show host Ryan Seacrest introduces the Crystal Bowersox Repertory Theatre cast members according to their occupation. There’s:
The Paint Salesman, played by Lee DeWyze
The High School Student, played by Aaron Kelly
The Glassblower, played by Siobhan Magnus
The Mother, played by this year’s presumed “American Idol” winner Crystal Bowersox
The Father, played by Michael Lynche
The Construction Worker, played by Casey James.
‘American Idol’ Season 9, Top 6 Perform Under Shania Twain’s Tutelage
Ryan Seacrest opened this week’s show with his most brow-furrowing monologue yet. Digging for drama, he rattled off the Idols’ pre-’Idol’ resumes. “A paint salesman. A high-school student. A glassblower” –- it was then that he lost me. Can’t take that seriously.
What you can take seriously is the haul from this year’s Idol Gives Back: $45 million. That’s some serious dough from an apparently dwindling and bored audience. Kudos, America. On to the show.
American Idol: The Top 6 Tackle Shania Twain
Siobhan Magnus > Michael Lynche > Crystal Bowersox > Casey James > Aaron Kelly > Lee DeWyze
So not surprisingly, no one did a faithful rendition of anything on the blue-disc version of “Up!, ” the “international” version of Shania Twain’s fourth album that was perhaps the single greatest mercenary pop maneuver of the last decade. Instead, on what passed for country-music week on “Idol” this season, the contestants stayed closer to Ms. Twain’s more conventional intentions — broad, soaring balladry with a dash of ragged, shuffling country.
‘American Idol’ Recap: Big Mike Shines on Shania Night
Shania Twain returns as a mentor and specifically to console me that John Park chose such a woofy group of songs in the early rounds, thereby hastening his exit. The Top 6 will perform Shania’s catalogue in a twist on country night, presenting us with the mindblowing option of either Siobhan Magnus or Crystal Bowersox performing one of my karaoke songs: “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” I can hardly wait.
6 Finalists Compete
OK, I’m going to do my Randy impression right now. Aaaargh, you know, it’s just…dude. It wasn’t my favorite.
While I only knew three Shania Twain songs total prior to tonight (and only one of those was sung), I did learn something new about her body of work: that it’s much less interesting when sung by somebody who doesn’t look like a supermodel. Even Crystal Bowersox couldn’t make it happen tonight. It was so boring and overall ballady that I almost wanted someone to sing badly, just to spice things up, but everyone sang well: well and dull. I feel like I’m shirking my work tonight but I really just don’t have much to say about anyone except Crystal, and in that case it’s just because it was so unusual for me not to be into one of her performances.
‘American Idol’ Tries To Impress Shania Twain
Tonight the six remaining ‘American Idol‘ hopefuls worked their way through the catalog of Shania Twain, the Canadian country singer who actually hasn’t released much new music in the past few years. But her turn as a guest judge during this year’s auditions got a fair amount of buzz — thanks in large part to the way she mooned over the dearly departed a cappella singer John Park — and the producers probably were desperate to remember the good times that happened before this season’s gradual sink into the morass of “eh” performers, so they invited her back.
Man! Twain helps ‘Idol’ singers sound like stars
This is the week “American Idol” viewers are going to find out which of the six remaining finalists are truly the favorites, and which are living on borrowed time.
That’s because each of the finalists got more praise than criticism from the judges, which was kind of a miracle considering the mentor was Shania Twain and each finalist sang from her catalog. If you haven’t spent the whole season thinking, “Man, I wish I could see what Lee Dewyze and Michael Lynche could do with a Shania Twain cover, ” well, you wouldn’t be alone.
‘Idol’ Shania Night: Man! They Feel Like Some Women
When Shania Twain was a guest judge earlier this season, I wasn’t all that enthused. All I really remember now of her Chicago episode was her shameless flirting with handsome future semifinalist John Park, whom she told had a “nice bottom end.” (Can’t say I blame the woman–John Park was a looker–but still.) However, many comments on that night’s blog post disagreed with me, all raving about Shania’s star turn and some even rallying for her to be Simon Cowell’s replacement. So I decided to give her another chance when she returned this week as the celebrity mentor for, fittingly, Shania Twain Night. This time, she did impress me much–even though the most indelible impression she made all evening long was when she engaged in a congratulatory embrace with John Park’s fellow Season 9 hunk, Casey James.
“American Idol” recap: Crystal Bowersox saves
Tuesday night’s “American Idol” was “Inspirational Night, ” and, at the risk of sounding like a non-believer, it wasn’t. If you are a regular viewer of sorry and soul-sucking season nine of “American Idol, ” it will not come as any surprise to you that five out of the seven singers who performed on Tuesday night’s show made me lose my religion, right on the spot. If “American Idol” is to faith what faith is to believing in God, then I went from agnostic to atheist in no short order. Given past weeks’ performances, I sincerely believed there was no hope for any redemption, not for the show that’s been going to hell in a handbasket before my disbelieving eyes.
Top 6 Recap – “It Sounded Almost Like You Were Giving Birth at the End There”
Tonight can be summed up by prescient Facebook. As I went to put Siobhan’s number on the Vote for the Worst Facebook wall, it made me do a captcha to confirm I am not spamming the site. And the captcha words were “considerable dullness.” I couldn’t sum up the night of Idol better myself. Dull as dishwater until VFTW’s very own Siobhan came out and gave birth all over the stage. Shania Twain week should’ve been full of hot messes, but instead the judges praised everyone for their mediocre performances and insulted Crystal to make it look as if she’s not running away with this thing. I haven’t seen acting like that since the last Lindsay Lohan abortion that went straight to DVD.
Twaining Day: AI 9 Top 6 Shania Night Recap
Alas. Shit happens. And sadly, tonight’s pimp spot goes to this season’s resident screecher, Siobhan Magnus. But I guess if you’re doing a night where Shania Twain provides the songbook & mentoring duties, its going to have to be when there’s only six contestants left, as you might only be able to name six Shania Twain songs if asked. Although I will admit a couple of things — I totally owned The Woman In Me and I watched the Biography on Shania Twain a couple of years back and after those two hours, I had a new found respect and admiration for the determined Canadian gal who got to where she is by actually working very, very, very hard and supporting her siblings along the way.
‘American Idol’ Recap: Shania Twain Week Don’t Impress Much
“American Idol” producers apparently sat down and said, “Let’s party like it’s 1998-2002!” Hence, Shania Twain week is upon us.
I don’t mean to slam Shania (whom you may remember as a guest judge on the Chicago audition episode earlier this season, where she praised John Park’s “bottom end”). The woman’s a record-breaking superstar who single-handedly supplied Delilah with enough hit songs to last a thousand phone calls. Sure, Shania hasn’t put out an album of new music since George W. Bush’s first term, but who cares? Ms. Twain was one of the most charismatic, genuine and insightful mentors this season. (And here’s when Adam Lambert fans get upset…) “They’re all singing my songs and I don’t want them to hate me if they don’t make it into the next round, ” she neurotically said in her intro package, channeling every single mom on Earth. Except maybe the one from “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire.”
Guest blogger Michael Sarver throws his weight behind Big Mike, posits a potential post-Shania shocker
For Shania Twain night, we enlisted Season 8’s resident country boy, Michael Sarver, to be our guest blogger and shed a little light on the popular “Idol” theme. The Jasper, Texas, native and Twitterholic (4, 200-plus tweets at last check) just made his own country debut with the single “Ferris Wheel, ” now available on iTunes. Take a listen at Michael’s official Myspace and read on for his take on the night’s shining moments and surprising stumbles…
American Idol Recap: The Judges Try to Pretend Crystal Bowersox Isn’t a Sure Thing on Shania Twain Night
After watching last night’s American Idol, one has to wonder if the four judges had a preshow parley and decided they needed to build up the inferior contestants in order to pretend season nine’s Bowersox-DeWyze victory isn’t as inevitable as everyone suspects it is. After all, those slipping ratings won’t hike themselves.
