Category: american idol season 9

Atlanta brought us Jermaine Sellers, Mallorie Haley, Bryan Walker, and Skii Bo Ski in American Idol Season 9 Episode 2. Oh, and we also got treated to a song called Pants on the Ground. Tonight we go to Chicago with guest judge Shania Twain.

Katelyn Epperly has decided to try out for Idol following her parents’ divorce. She sings Syrup & Honey by Duffy. The judges see potential.

Amy Lang is crushing on Ryan, the first celebrity she ever had an inappropriate dream about. She sings Dr. Feelgood by Aretha Franklin. The judges can’t take her and her boob shaking seriously.

Charity Vance practices performing in her parents’ house/salon. She sings Summertime. Randy liked the interesting sound. Simon thought that was great.

Angela Martin is back for her third and final time. The last two times she was cut in Hollywood, dropping out last year due to a traffic warrant. It goes without saying she will be heading to Hollywood again.

Curley Newbern sings This Woman’s Work by Maxwell. Simon asks if a lot of animals turn up outside his house when he sings.

Brian Krause believes he was in the army in Korea. What the bloody hell is this? He swears on his mother’s life that the high pitched voice and tip toeing through the tulips is really him. His plan now is to slip into a warm bubble bath and relax.

Harold Davis has spirit, soul, and everything he needs to be the greatest. Except talent.

John Park sings I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know. Shania tells him he has a beautiful bottom end and nice lips. What program am I watching again? The other judges agree with her and put him through to Hollywood.

Paige Dechausse went into anaphylactic shock when she was 15 due to her asthma. The doctors gave her a 30% chance of surviving, and she’d probably have brain damage if she did. She sings A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cook. Simon thought it was a little bit indulgent and says no. Now that’s just silly. The other three say yes, although they’re not entirely convinced.

Justin Ray, Keith Semple, and Marcus Jones finish off the night with golden tickets.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 9 Episode 4, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Boston brought us Maddy Curtis, Amadeo DiRocco, Ashley Rodriguez, Tyler Grady, Katie Stevens, Justin Williams, and Leah Laurenti in American Idol Season 9 Episode 1. A surprising change of decent talent compared to the usual audition shows that feature one or two people with a chance.

Tonight we head to Atlanta with guest judge is Mary J Blige.

Keia Johnson sings the Titanic song. Although her comments from Simon are not entirely glowing, she’s through with 4 votes.

Miriam Lemnouni, Noel Reese, and Tisha Holland also advance.

Jermaine Sellers is a church singer who’s been taking care of his mom since he was 17. He sings One of Us by Joan Osbourne. Randy calls it the best vocal yet.

Christy Marie Argonow sings Love Is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar. She just lost that battle.

Vanessa Wolfe likes jumping off a bridge in her town of 1100 people. She sings Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show. Kara thought that was better than expected. Simon likes her, despite the fact that she’s ill-prepared and nervous. This trip to Hollywood will mean her first ride on an airoplane.

Jesse Hamilton believes he has almost died three times. But he survived to give us this painful audition instead.

Holly Harden gets dressed up as a human guitar. Simon is irritated already. She sings You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man by Loretta Lynn. I’m sensing another Kellie Pickler here. The judges are surprised that they can’t hate on this girl in a goofy outfit.

Mallorie Haley sings Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin. Good voice, although I don’t sense Janis from her. Mary says that was the best vocal she’s heard.

Antonio “Skii Bo Ski” Wheeler already has a stupid nickname picked out. As much as I want to hate him, he sings I Heard It through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye well. Simon calls him awful and terrible, but the other three like his voice. Randy suggests dropping the nonsense.

Carmen Turner and Lauren Sanders are BFFs for life. Lauren sounds, well, quiet. On the other hand, Carmen’s got a big voice. Simon wants them in a group together, the Ditz Sisters. Lauren is told no, but Carmen gets three yes votes. Simon tells her not to worry… they won’t be apart for too long.

Bryan Walker sings Superstar. This guy can sing.

Lamar Royal is there to meet Mary J Blige. He says before the audition he can take constructive criticism. After singing way over the top, he proceeds to refuse to listen to a word the judges are saying. As much as they’d like to tell him he may potentially have potential, he doesn’t even want to hear that. Security needs to escort this guy out because they don’t want to her him either. Now he hates Mary J Blige and wishes Paula was here. He continues making a fool out of himself out into the parking lot.

The final audition of the night is clearly going to be a waste of time. General Larry Platt has been beyond the age requirement for multiple decades. To make matters worse, he sings his own song, Pants on the Ground. The judges are far more amused with this than they probably should be.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 9 Episode 3, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Simon Cowell is back for a ninth (and final) season (minus his loopy sidekick because she thought she should make more dollars than she made sense), hoping to find America’s next top idol. We start off with auditions in Boston.

The first guest judge is Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice, now known for her marriage to David Beckham).

Janet McNamara has made the show for one purpose: promote the American Idol video game. Randy likes her 90% of the time in the game. Paula (not to be confused with Kara) always likes her. Not that it matters, but she sings Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield. Apparently, Janet didn’t get the memo. There’s a new judge, and one of the old judges is gone. Well, at least she knows who Posh Spice is. Granted, even if Paula were still around, she probably wouldn’t have voted for Janet either.

Maddy Curtis is number 9 out of 12 kids. Mom and dad, get a hobby. She sings Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Randy didn’t think it was going to be that good. Kara says she has an authentic old soul. Simon likes that she’s not annoying for a 16 year old. She’s through to Hollywood.

Pat Ford is, however, annoyingly perky. Kara likes him. Randy wants to hang out some time, as long as he stops singing forever. That said, he’ll be back next year.

Jennifer Hirsh, Claire Fuller, and Jess Wolfe get lumped into a going to Hollywood montage.

Amadeo Diricco sings Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters. The judges already like him before he starts singing, but when he starts singing, his big voice wins them over even more. Simon’s favorite audition of the day.

Derek Hilton thinks he sounds like Chris Brown and The Eagles. He doesn’t. There were 20 people in his head, none any good.

Mary Doyle believes she’s an anime character, and she hopes to make it big in Japan. She sings Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin. Simon tells her she’s verging on terrible. Well, that’s better than actually being terrible.

Luke Shaffer sings Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade. His lobby buddy Benjamin Bright sings All My Loving by The Beatles. Both make it through to Hollywood.

Andrew Finley is tired of the waiting. Oh, and by the way ladies, he’s single. He starts off giving Simon an attitude before singing House of the Rising Sun. When he finishes, Kara wants to know if he’s angry. When he says he didn’t like waiting, she gets angrier than he was, giving him a lecture and telling him she doesn’t like him at all. In closing, she offers to spank him.

Ashley Rodriguez sings I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys. Kara tells her she has a commercial look and voice. Set the bar. Victoria says she’s one of her favorites. Simon thinks she may have it.

Tyler Grady shattered both of his wrists when he fell out of a tree. Not good for a drummer, but his dream has been to be a front man anyway. In 1971. He sings Let’s Get it on by Marvin Gaye, and he gets 4 votes for Hollywood.

Lisa Olivero sings Vision of Love by Mariah Carey. Well, that took all of about three notes before it fell apart.

Mike Davis is an actor on speed boat Codzilla. He sings Yesterday by The Beatles. Kara found that touching, and he invites her out for steaks. He doesn’t get a yes (or a no) to that invite, but he is going to Hollywood.

Katie Stevens wants to bring good news back to her grandmother with Alzheimer’s. She sings At Last by Etta James and easily gets through to Hollywood.

Joshua Blaylock sings Bless the Broken Road. Simon thinks he’s forgettable, but good enough to advance. Now he just needs to teach him how to be mean.

I’m noticing a pattern here. What’s up with the 5 minute commercial breaks?

Justin Williams was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago. After surgeries and chemotherapy, he has recovered fine. He sings Feeling Good. Combining the story with the voice and looks, he could do well.

Norberto Guerrero is also from a few decades ago. Simon tells him he sings like a three year old girl dressed like Latoya Jackson. So that’s a no then?

Bosa Mora’s mom and dad are from Nigeria. He sings You Look So Good in Love by George Strait. Simon says good but boring. Victoria disagrees and wants Simon to stop rolling his eyes. Bosa gets a no from Simon, but the other three say yes, although he has a lot of work ahead of him.

Leah Laurenti grew up in an overly protective family, never sure whether music is something she should keep pursuing. She sings Blue Skies. Randy calls her one of the best of the day. Kara wants her to know she really is good.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 9 Episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Speculation has been building for a while, and Simon Cowell confirmed it today. He will be leaving American Idol after this season. I’ll still watch for as long as it takes everybody else to stop watching, but it certainly will not be as interesting.

Instead, Simon plans to be a judge and producer on X-Factor, which will be coming to America next year after its success in Britain. Fox also has the rights to this new show from Simon Cowell, and it will no doubt be a huge hit when it premieres.

X-Factor is pretty much American Idol with a handful of changes, such as allowing groups and older people to sing.

Ellen DeGeneres has been announced as the replacement judge for Paula Abdul for American Idol season 9.

Last season on So You Think You Can Dance, she made an appearance as a guest judge. Entertaining… but didn’t really seem to have much input. Granted, it’s not as if Paula ever really had much input that made any sense anyway, and at least Ellen’s funny.

Ellen acknowledges that she doesn’t have any technical experience in the field, but she hopes to be the people’s point of view, representing all those people at home on the couch with something to say.

Apparently believing she was worth a bigger payday than she was, Paula Abdul has decided to move on. To what it’s unclear. Paula announced the departure on Twitter.

“With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #IDOL. I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all..Cont’d…

I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day1become an international phenomenon.

What I want to say most, is how much I appreciate the undying support and enormous love that you have showered upon me

It truly has been breathtaking, especially over the past month

I do without any doubt have the BEST fans in the entire world and I love you all”

This comes as no great surprise. Once they hired a fourth judge, it was obvious that one became expendable. While Paula’s banter with Simon was more entertaining than his banter with Kara is likely to be, Paula’s random babbling never really added very much.

The good news: perhaps the incompetent producers can get the show finished on time instead of running over by 8 minutes. At the end of the day, though, this is likely to have about as much impact as Brian Dunkleman’s departure.

Unsurprisingly, and more to the point if anyone cares, Kara DioGuardi will be returning as a judge for American Idol Season 9, according to a tweet from the LA Times’ Kate Arthur.

“Confirmed: Kara DioGuardi is returning as a judge to “American Idol.” She’s “happy to be going to Denver next Thursday” said a friend.”

The first of the new American Idol contracts has the ink drying, as Variety confirms that Ryan Seacrest has signed a new deal with Fox, 19 Entertainment, and FremantleMedia worth $15 million per year for the next three years. As part of the deal, Seacrest is now exclusive to 19 Entertainment in primetime. So I’m guessing that means there was some concern he’d show up on America’s Got Talent or something.

“Ryan is an essential ingredient to ‘American Idol’s’ success,” said “Idol” creator and 19 Ent. CEO Simon Fuller.

I don’t know. I’m fine if you bring back Brian Dunkleman. Just as long as Simon sticks around.

Speaking of which, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi are all in the process of renegotiating their contracts, and at least two of them are pretending like they may actually leave the show.