Posted on 03/17/2009 5:57:44 AM PDT by silent_jonny
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American Idol Celebrates Motown; Ruben Studdard & Smokey Robinson to Perform Thursday
Smokey Robinson and Ruben Studdard to Perform Thursday, March 26
Finalist Alexis Grace was eliminated tonight from American Idol after she received the fewest of America’s over 31 million votes. On Tuesday’s show, finalists performed songs popularized by members of The Grand Ole Opry, and Grace, 21, from Memphis, TN, sang “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
On a special Wednesday, March 25 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) performance show, the Top 10 finalists (Kris Allen, Anoop Desai, Matt Giraud, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta, Megan Joy, Adam Lambert, Scott MacIntyre, Lil Rounds and Michael Sarver) will return to the Idol stage to celebrate and pay tribute to “50 Years of Motown” as well as perform classic Motown songs.
Tune in the following night Thursday, March 26 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) to find out if the judges use their save or if America sends another finalist home. Also, Smokey Robinson will perform, and American Idol winner Ruben Studdard will return to the Idol stage to perform his new single, “Together.”
More at the link
American Idol: What You Didn’t See (Paula and Simon Kiss!)
Simon Cowell might give Paula Abdul hell during the judging portion of American Idol, but in reality there’s a lot of love between these two judges. So much love, in fact, that they kissed!
OK, before we get too excited, it wasn’t that kind of kiss. No romance whatsoever, just a friendly judge-to-judge smooch, as judges do. Well, as they do. It happened off camera right after Simon, Paula, Kara and Randy took their seats at their table. So even if there’s no hanky-panky going on, at least they’ve made up after last night’s heated throwdown over Scott MacIntyre playing the piano.
K-i-s-s-i-n-g aside, the real shocker of the night was the elimination of one of our favorites, Alexis Grace. The singer, who was done in by her rendition of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” kept calm, cool and quiet on commercial breaks as she awaited her final fate.
The same can’t be said for the family of Allison Iraheta, who was in the bottom three. Her peeps wept and hugged each other as their little Allison’s name was called. On a commercial break, Paula went over to Allison’s family to console them. Awww, see how sweet Paula is?
Here’s what else we spied at tonight’s live Idol taping...
Teary-eyed: After the show, Kara DioGuardi spent the most time consoling the exiting Alexis, giving her words of encouragement as the singer wiped away a tear.
Girl power: Overjoyed at being safe, Allison plopped down on Megan Joy’s lap, hugged her and played with her hair.
Oopsie! When Ryan Seacrest announced that Michael Sarver was safe, the stunned oil rigger started to walk off the stage without hugging Alexis, who actually reached out to him as he was turning away. He finally realized what he had done and came back to hug her.
Odd sign of the night: “Kripples 4 Kris” (with a blue handicap sign and photo of Kris on one side, and a heart with Simon’s photo in it on the other side), by a man in a wheelchair showing his support for Kris Allen.
Most organized family: Lil Rounds’ (by the way, Simon, Lil is not “short for Little”) family came in T-shirts adorned with her photo.
Warming up the audience: Anoop isn’t the only talented one in the Desai family. His uncle Atul was pulled onstage before the show’s start to shake his booty for the audience. The man had rhythm! What a sport.
Most signage: Megan Joy. (Yay! Megan!)
Cheer-o-meter: The top three cheer-getters were, in order, Adam Lambert (again!), Danny Gokey (still don’t get it), and Scott (surprise, but a nice one!). As for the judges, Mr. Nasty Simon always gets the loudest response.
Upcoming on Idol: Last year’s winner, Cookie (as the stage manager called David Cook), performed his new single, “Come Back To Me,” with a 12-piece band that included a string section. The performance—along with the presentation of a platinum plaque for his self-titled debut album—will air on the April 1 Idol. David’s guitar was adorned with the initials of his brother Adam Cook, who has cancer. (Speaking of taped performances, Carrie Underwood’s performance tonight was recorded last night. It’s done all the time and still considered live, so let’s not get our panties in a bunch.)
Mystery solved: Ever wonder what time Ryan Seacrest, the man with many jobs, goes to bed? Joking around with the stage manager while waiting 35 (!!!) minutes for David Cook to take the stage, Ryan said, “Let’s go! Bedtime is 8:02 for me.” Ryan then proceeded to jokingly run through his KIIS-FM L.A. morning radio show: “We’ve got Commander Chuck on the scene…Ellen, what’s in the Sleaze?”
Cute moment of the night: Obviously still pumped from their opening group number, Danny and Allison jumped around in their seats with their hands miming holding a microphone and singing as they just did on the stage. Talk about having fun!
Cut-up moment: Simon laughed out loud when they played back his “absolute indulgent rubbish” comment about Adam’s “Ring of Fire.”
What do you think of Paula and Simon’s crazy antics? Are you as surprised as us that Alexis Grace got the boot? Do you like the behind-the-scenes tidbits? Let’s hear from you!
Adam's nail polish.
Wow, you NAILED Adam and his psychology. I am very impressed.
What happened to the stripper last year (or was it the year before)? Did they throw him off or did he get voted off, the week his strip club photos were discovered?
He got voted off.
So would he.
Thanks. :)
"Frenchie" Davis was an AI contestant who was disqualified for appearing in topless photos when she was 19. Davis said she was up-front about her pictures:
"When I first discovered that I had made it to Hollywood and found out I would be competing to get into the top 30 and then later in the top 12, they had given us all this paperwork to fill out, background checks and that whole thing. So when we were doing that I had a discussion with some members of the production staff and I exposed to them a piece of my past; that when I was 19 years old, I took some pictures and that’s not the person I am. I wanted to be up-front about it. We talked about it and then nothing happened”.
The AI staff initially took no action, but later decided that Davis's participation would be inappropriate.
Davis said, "They had decided that because American Idol was a family show, that they could not have me on the show because of the pictures I had taken."
But by 2007, the AI powers-that-be changed their tune about it being a family show. Revealing pictures of Antonella Barba surfaced on the internet, but she was not let go by the AI PTB. She was voted off. That drew controversy and charges of racism, because Davis is black and Barba is white. In an interview with The New York Post, March 5th, 2007, Davis said:
"I couldn't help but notice the difference between the manner in which she was dealt with and how I was dealt with...I think it's fantastic if 'Idol' has evolved, and I think it's fantastic she won't have to go through what I went through four years ago … but if the rules have changed, I believe there should be something to make up for the fact that I was humiliated needlessly."
Last year, David Hernandez made it into the top 12 before it was revealed that he worked for three years as a dancer in a gay strip club, where he did lap dances and full nudity stripping. The very next week, the judges gave harsh reviews for his performance, and he was the first of the top 12 voted off.
This past week the judges slammed Adam (But he was horrible so it didn’t seem like it was a set-up) and he managed to stay out of the bottom 3.
Interesting...
;-)
LMAO!!!
Really? Not even strawberry flavored gummy bacon?
When either of the two buttons are pressed, he exclaims a short burst of pro-toilet-training rhetoric. "Crap! Crap like a champion!" and "RRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHH!" seem the likeliest options.
One of my daughters informed me that Adam is really freckled and has reddish hair...could explain the thick makeup to cover up the freckles and he obviously dyes his hair if this is true...I’m having a hard time imagining him with red hair and freckles!
LMAO
Barak "Ron Burgandy" Obama: Oh Audrey - I look like hell! I got bags under my eyes. What's that? Well if you were a man, I'd punch you. Punch you right in the mouth. That's bush. Bush league. YOU HEAR ME? AUDREY! LOOK AT ME! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Alright?
Oh that is weird. But I’m not sure it’s 100% accurate. You can see on the extreme close ups that his skin is really broken out underneath all that make up.
When they do the extreme close ups I think of the movie “Tootsie.”
Rita: I’d like to make her look a little more attractive, how far can you pull back?
Cameraman: How do you feel about Cleveland?
Actually, Tony, only Simon was honest enough to slam Adam. Kara didn't like the performance but wasn't honest enough to say so straight out. Instead, she said something like it was weird for her, but it made her happy. Paula and Randy raved about the performance.
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