Judging American Idol: The Final 2

And then there were two: Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina dueled it out in the season 10 finale of American Idol Tuesday night. It was the boy next door vs. the girl, um, next door to him! It almost wasn’t, however, as Lauren strained her voice, as explained on Idol‘s stage by the world’s most [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 3

It was final three night on American Idol, which meant that the show packed a whole nine songs into a mere two hours. In their penultimate performance, the trio were mentored by Beyonce. Who was irreplaceable? Who proved not to be ready for this jelly? Click the pix for my reviews: Read Last Week’s Review [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 4

Tonight, the four American Idol finalists sang songs that inspire them, plus the songs of Leiber and Stoller. (Inspired by the songs of Leiber and Stoller? Too bad!) Who was inspired? Who should be fired? Click the pix to read my reviews: Read Last Week’s Review of the American Idol Performances

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Judging American Idol: The Final 5

Last night, the five remaining contestants on American Idol each sang a song from the present and one from a generation ago — a theme otherwise known as Now and Then; or, A Song, Plus Another Song to Make This Last 90 Minutes. Who made the past a blast? Who was a bad acid flashback? [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 6

It was Carole King week, as the half-dozen finalists sang the work of the song-scribe and recording artist whom, I assume, their grandparents once told them about. Who made the Earth move? Who made us want to go so far away? Click on the pix for my reviews: Read Last Week’s Review of the American [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 7

It was Music of the 21st Century night on American Idol. Which means anything recorded in the past decade — or maybe the distant future, when the tiniest and most delicate Canadian pop stars will beam viral music videos directly to your brain! Who channeled the fierce urgency of now? Who set Idol back a [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 8

It was “Music from the Movies” night on Idol, which, given the abundance of soundtracks, more or less translates to “Any Song Ever Written” night. Did it separate the Avatars from the Ishtars? And did the judges manage to say anything remotely critical of any performance all night? Click the pictures to find out. Read [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 9

This week’s American Idol performance night was themed on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which, coincidentally, is where Steven Tyler is stored in a plexiglass vacuum chamber in between episodes. The nine contestants had a long range of rock history to choose from, so who made the hall of fame and who made [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 11, Redux — Did Casey Vindicate Himself?

The eleven remaining Idols gathered last night to sing the songs of Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Who Crocodile Rocked it? Who’s going to hit that Yellow Brick Road? Click the pix for my reviews: Read Last Week’s Review of the American Idol Performances

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Judging American Idol: The Final 11

This week’s American Idol review is brought to you by Claire Suddath, who is filling in for James Poniewozik. This week was Motown week on American Idol, and the final 11 contestants chose from thousands of classic tunes, including over 100 number one hits that the Detroit label churned out during its heyday. Steven Tyler [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 12

This week, American Idol‘s dozen remaining finalists sang songs from the year they were born — some of those dates being in the mid-’90s, making your faithful reviewer feel like Grampa Simpson’s older brother. What’s with these whippersnappers and what they call “music” nowadays? Click the pix to find out: Read Last Week’s Review of [...]

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Judging American Idol: The Final 13

It was the first live night for American Idol‘s 13 finalists, and the theme was: songs by the Idols‘ idols! Who was worthy of worship and who had feet of clay? Click the pictures for my take: Read Last Year’s Review of the American Idol Final Performances

The Night Shift: Jon Stewart Confronts the Arizona Shootings, Makes a Passionate Appeal For Sanity and Hope

  Talk about a hard night to be a late night comedian. Given the very public violence of the weekend, and the attempted assassination of a sitting United States congresswoman, more than a few media observers wondered aloud as to how the nation’s funny men would return to the air Monday night. In the case [...]

Emmy Drama: What Will Happen If Conan Wins?

It might seem unlikely that Conan O’Brien will walk away with an Emmy Sunday night for his short-lived stint atop The Tonight Show, but surely no more unlikely than the fact that he received a nomination in the first place. And if he were to indeed win and hop up on stage to accept his [...]

While We Weren't Looking: Watch Letterman Kick The Leno Feud Back Into High Gear

Back in January, when the whole Jay Leno Show-Tonight Show controvery was blowing up, David Letterman made something of a short-term fortune in bashing Jay Leno and the suits over at NBC. Well, I missed this yesterday, but Letterman came back from vacation on Monday night, and seems to have rekindled the anger at his [...]

Video: The Rod Blagojevich-Jon Stewart Interview. Truly Haunting TV

It’s not every day that a disgraced former governor who’s been convicted of lying to the FBI goes on primetime television to chat about the trial. So I tuned in to Monday evening’s The Daily Show for a little good old-fashioned Schadenfreude, as Rod Blagojevich sat down across Jon Stewart to be pummeled and ridiculed. [...]

Mad Men Watch: Weekend Update

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Why is this Mad Men Watch being posted on the weekend? Three reasons. Because I had to think through my initial disappointment and confusion about season 4, episode 4: “The Rejected.” (Indeed, my first impulse after watching the show was to check out Jim Poniewozik’s blog for his usual insights, then realized that Jim’s on vacation, [...]

From GOP to Gallows Humor: The Daily Show Finds Its New, Exasperated Tone

I picked up the “Best of Summer” issue of Entertainment Weekly late last night (the July 9-16 double issue) and was startled to see sitting atop the “Must List” a full cast photo for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. “There’s nothing funny about the Gulf oil mess,” the magazine writes, “But he still wrings [...]

Michael Scott Resigns From Dunder Mifflin, Gives 'The Office' A Future

For anyone who has stuck by the American version of The Office since the very beginning – or maybe I should specify the beginning of the far superior second season  – the anticlimactic news that broke Monday about Steve Carell leaving the show was a bittersweet development. He’s been talking for months about stepping away [...]

Anything You'd Like to Know About Don Draper?

We’re only a couple weeks away from the July 25 return of Mad Men, so what better time to get back into the rhythm of debating the actions, motivations and true lies of Don Draper. TIME is just about to interview Jon Hamm about the show’s new season. Is there anything you want to know? [...]