American Idol 9 Top 8 Girls: Recap Roundup

‘American Idol’ recap: Octo Fuss

‘What have you done for me lately?” Janet Jackson asked a wayward lover in her classic 1986 single and video (the latter costarring a young hoofer named Paula Abdul). But tonight, Janet could just as easily have been delivering that burning question to the eight remaining female contestants of American Idol’s ninth season. Because while conventional wisdom might have led us all to believe that tonight’s semifinal performances were supposed to be nothing more than a formality, a televised exercise in sweeping Didi Benami and Lacey Brown from the reality TV dustpan, that pair of fiesty warblers refused to go quietly into the Hefty Cinch Sak of obscurity.

Entertainment Weekly

Ann Powers: In the doldrums with the ‘Idol’ girls

Every so often, “Idol” chroniclers are allowed — nay, required — to channel their inner Simon. Mr. Cowell is the show’s governing spirit, the voice of commercially savvy reason and Top 40-besotted prejudice. What he loves is often cheesy, what he thinks is strange is often as original as this resolutely Middle American program ever gets. I acknowledge those limitations — Simon will probably never understand Grizzly Bear or Amanda Palmer or rap in general. He probably doesn’t even like Leonard Cohen. But in the universe of “Idol, ” which influences — if not wholly shifts — the axis of mainstream pop, he is the paternal force.

LA Times

American Idol Recap: The Good, the Odd, and the Average. Oh, and the Bad

Last night American Idol zipped through eight female performers in one hour — not that anyone should complain about the abbreviated running time. Freed from tales of grandmas and babies, as well as demonstrations of cutesy quirks, the episode was devoted entirely to the music. Well, for the most part: The show opened with Ellen sitting on Simon’s lap and murmuring sweet nothings into his ear while he looked like he does at every other moment (somehow bored and furious at the same time). Any chuckles that her routine might have elicited (minimal to begin with) were dashed before Ellen even got to her “Oh, are the cameras rolling?” quip, as Randy launched into his rambling exclamations of fake surprise. Oh, Randy, you’re not even witty enough to play the straight man, are you?

NYMag

More Idol Recaps after the JUMP…keep checking back for more

Simon’s got short-timer’s syndrome on ‘Idol’

In public school systems across the country, the phrase “senior slump” refers to the tendency of college-bound 12th-graders to mail in the final few months of their high-school careers. With the next phase of their life already set and the acceptance letters received, there’s nothing left to do but mark the days on the calendar until prom and graduation. Some of you are undoubtedly in that situation right now, reading this instead of doing your homework.

MSNBC

Blake Lewis: ‘Captivated’ by Didi Benami’s ‘Rhiannon’

Last night American Idol opened up on the judges: Ellen was cuddling with Simon for a couple laughs. It was nice to watch him squirm a little.

The night started out with Katie Stevens singing Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway. It fell flat. The judges ripped into her real quick.

Siobahn Magnus sang House of the Rising Sun, and the arrangement was really nice. She started a cappella and sounded great. The judges thought so, too.

USA Today

Crystal Bowersox Sparkles Just Long Enough On A Fast-Paced ‘American Idol’

In the spirit of tonight’s hour-long, sorta-filler-free ‘American Idol, ’ let’s get right into the rundown of tonight’s performances from the competition’s eight remaining ladies! Yes? Yes.

Fancast

American Idol: A Place Holder Departs?

Let me start with a positive: this will be Paige Miles’s last week on “American Idol.” That’s good news – for her, for the viewers, for the “Idol” system that allowed her to make the top 24 without properly vetting her in the court of popular opinion. Despite Simon’s continued insistence that Ms. Miles has one of the best voices of this season, she’s been inconsistent and charmless, and her rendition of “Smile” this week was awkward and shaky, a final affirmation of her place-holder status

NY Times

Simon declares Bowersox to be ‘the one to beat’

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, season nine of “American Idol” is officially under way. Simon Cowell just threw out the first “you’re the one to beat” of the year.

That honor went to Crystal Bowersox, which is no great shock. She was her usual strong self this week, nailing Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason, ” but beyond that the judges noted that her big selling point was that she knows herself and who she is as an artist.

MSNBC

‘American Idol’ Top 8 Girls: Where’s The Wow Factor?

“This is the worst night to go, because you’re so close, ” Simon Cowell gravely intoned to the remaining eight ladies on “American Idol” Tuesday night, unsubtly pressuring them to perform at their personal best. After all, this was the night that would determine which six girls would advance to the all-important top 12 next week, so they all needed to sing like they’d never sung before.

Well, they sang like they’d never sung before, all right. They were even worse.

Yahoo

Crystal Bowersox’s ‘Give Me One Reason’ Dominates ‘American Idol’

If her straight-outta-the-hospital performance on last week’s “American Idol” established Crystal Bowersox as the unlikely front-runner, well, her Tuesday night (March 9) performance definitely put some distance between her and the rest of the field. Miles of it.

MTV

‘American Idol’ Ladies Night: Didi Benami And Crystal Bowersox Shine

With last week’s medical drama behind them, the top eight ladies took the “American Idol” stage Tuesday night (March 9) in the final performance before this year’s top 12 is chosen. In what is becoming an Adam Lambert-like bit of déjà vu, leading contender Crystal Bowersox nailed it again, while Siobhan Magnus, Lacey Brown and Didi Benami had solid enough nights to likely make it to next week.

MTV

Mediocre would be high praise: AI9 Top 16 (Girls)

I can already tell you the best part about tonight’s [second-to-last] semifinals episode of American Idol. It’s ONLY one hour long! One measly hour! Less suffering, although I know its only to give people that Glee shit. Hey, I’ve tried to watch it. I’ve tried to understand why all of you think this show is the second coming of that damned singing fish on those McDonald’s ads. But I don’t get it.

Top Idol

Top 16 Girls Recap – Chicken, Beef, and Shrimp Watch American Lullaby

To pay tribute to the most boring episode of Idol yet where just about every girl picked the slowest song they could, I’ve decide to write my most boring recap yet. Honestly though, you couldn’t make this shit entertaining no matter who was writing about it. So read on if you dare. But don’t say I didn’t warn you; you might spontaneously fall asleep from reading about what a boring show American Lullaby, I mean Idol, was tonight.

VFTW

Final 8 Girls – “You Sucked… The Life Out of the Room”

We have some classic Idol trademark sexually confused humor to start the show as Ellen sits in Simon’s lap and pretends to be aroused. Yeah, we’re back to the Bad Old Idol and it feels so familiar and cozy… like Kara’s leathery hooha. Anything that mocks Kara in her face without her knowing it is pretty funny, like her credibility-killing bikini girl embarrassment moment from last season’s finale.

VFTW

More recaps:

Eight chicks perform on ‘American Idol’

Eight Chicks Night on “American Idol” starts with judge Ellen DeGeneres, dressed in a gingham checked shirt and tie, sitting in Simon Cowell’s lap, nibbling on his ear. Simon calls it quite uncomfortable, speaking for us all. It’s even creepier than when Paula used to do it — and that’ s saying a mouthful.

“I didn’t know we started, ” Ellen jokes. Turns out, Ellen has a tin ear for music AND comedy!

Washington Post

‘American Idol’ Recap: Crystal Bowersox Continues To Dominate

Tuesday night’s (March 9) “American Idol” began with an intense roll call that had each girl peeling off one by one as Ryan Seacrest announced her name. Is this “American Idol” or a video catalog for mail-order brides?

“Idol” wasted no time to get to the eight performances so why should I? Let’s go!

MTV Newsroom

‘American Idol’ Recap: Siobhan Magnus Performs Crazy Good

“American Idol” is only an hour tonight? What am I going to do with my Tuesday night?! I have no idea! How am I going to write this recap during the commercial breaks when there’s only one every five minutes instead of every three minutes? I have no idea!

Billboard

Siobhan Magnus Resurrects ‘The House Of The Rising Sun’ On ‘American Idol’

Tuesday night’s (March 9) episode of “American Idol” did a great deal to help kill the opinion that the ninth season of the show has been the worst of its run. For the first time in this cycle, there were more great performances than not-so-great ones, lead by Crystal Bowersox’s throaty, soulful, rugged take on Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” and Didi Benami’s shuffling, groovy twist on Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon.” Even the less-than-stellar showings from Lacey Brown, Lilly Scott and Katelyn Epperly showed promise.

MTV Newsroom

About mj santilli 34891 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!