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? [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]