There has been a lot of talk of Idol's freshest face, judge Kara DioGuardi, over the course of the past few weeks. Although there were many that speculated the addition of Kara would cause more headaches than it would create solution's to the franchise's tiring formula.
Fortunately for both fans and casual viewers of the show, Kara was viewed as being a generally positive aspect of the auditions (thus far, at least). Kara's critiques have been more meaningful than those Paula usually doles out and have been less pointlessly scathing than those Simon is used to granting auctioneers with. The fact that she is a singer-songwriter also gives credence to her advice, because she genuinely knows what those auditioning are going through most of the time.
Perhaps her brightest spot in the first two audition cities was how she handled obsessive fan Lea Marie Golde. The 16-year-old girl that gave Kara a binder full of original songs she wrote was in denial following her nasal take on Cascada's "Every Time We Touch," but Kara was able to tell off Simon for mocking the girl. She then firmly stated that the reality was Lea was not good enough, but gave her props for having the guts to perform. Even though it made for an extremely awkward few minutes, it goes to show that Kara can be both honest and gentle at the same time.
This segment was extremely eerie because of the suicide of Paula's obsessive fan Paula Goodspeed late last year, which happened after this audition took place. It was a little shocking that the producers went ahead and kept the segment in light of the tragedy, but that just makes Kara's handling of the situation that much more admirable.
Despite showing much promise, there was one episode where the inner cat came out in Kara, as she and Paula ganged up on bikini girl Katrina Darrell. Even though she was not the greatest, Katrina showed she could sing, but Kara's jealousy over the girl's attire clouded her judgment and even brought her to show the girl "how to really sing" her audition song, "Vision of Love." Granted, the girl had the attitude of a six year-old pageant queen from Alabama, but Kara's approach was less professional than it could have been.
Another thing the producers are probably counting on is that there will be an inevitable cat fight between the two female judges, but so far Kara has been just as cautious as Paula despite the fact that this scenario is still very much a possibility. Paula has actually been making more constructive comments than usually, which is probably a direct result of the addition of Kara. All in all, a good thing for the show.
Luckily for Kara, millions of viewers seem to be on her side and the balance and credibility she brings to the judging panel is worth the extra chair and Coke cup that will be needed each week.
Showing posts with label paula goodspeed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paula goodspeed. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2009
Analysis: Judging the new judge
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Poll of the week: Cook's win most memorable moment of 2008
It was more competitive than usual in this past week's IDOL LIVE poll of the week, as readers decided David Cook's big victory was the most memorable Idol moment of 2008.
Cook's win received 86 votes (40%), while Michael Johns' shocking elimination on "Idol Gives Back" followed closely behind with 60 votes (28%).
The third-most memorable according to readers was "other," which received 20 votes, but we will never know what some of those other moments were because no one posted their thoughts on IDOL LIVE's new Google group.
For this week's poll of the week, readers are asked which album by an Idol alum they are looking forward to in 2009 the most of the choices listed. You have exactly one week to vote.
David Cook wins 'Idol' 86 (40%)
Jennifer Hudson's family tragedy 10 (4%)
Paula Goodspeed's suicide 5 (2%)
Many 'Idol' alums dropped 1 (0%)
Clay comes out 11 (5%)
Paula messes up her critique 6 (2%)
Changes announced for Season 8 2 (0%)
Michael Johns eliminated on 'Idol Gives Back' 60 (28%)
"Plant" pasts exposed 2 (0%)
Jordin defends Jonas Brothers 9 (4%)
Other (please elaborate on Google group) 20 (9%)
Total votes: 212
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
IDOL LIVE's Top 10 most memorable moments of 2008 - Part 2
And now the continuation of IDOL LIVE's Top 10 most memorable moments of 2008. If you missed moments #10-6, catch up before you proceed.
05) Clay Aiken (finally) comes out
If this wasn't Hollywood's worst kept secret, this story would have been sitting in the top spot for sure. Season 2's runner-up had dodged the gay rumors for years before finally deciding to put an end to them in September after an awkward in vitro fertilization with record producer Jaymes Foster that gave Clay Aiken a son earlier this year.
Only time will tell if this decision was a wise one for his career, but conventional wisdom says any news could propel his next album over 156k copies.
04) Idol alums' stars burn out
Although this was more of a series of moments, collectively they warrant an important news story that has landed at #4 on this countdown. It is no secret that Idol is not an instant success story for everyone that is fortunate to become a part of the franchise, but it is alarming when finalists that actually finished near (or at) the top are shown the door.
It began when Ruben Studdard lost his record deal with J Records in the final days of 2007, then became a bigger story when Season 5's top two finalists Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee were dropped by Arista and RCA Redords, respectively, in January. Then Blake Lewis was released from his contract in June and Phil Stacey was released/dropped from his deal in October. And the latest casualty was in fact Season 7's own seventh-place finalist Kristy Lee Cook, who was dropped for the second time by Arista Nashville in December.
Although things are looking good for the latest crop of finalists, these droppings are surely a word to the wise that winning Idol is not even enough to guarantee a fruitful career of stardom in the music business.
03) Paula's crazed fan commits suicide
In what has to be one of the most bizarre Idol-related stories of 2008, Paula Abdul was left in a frenzied state following the shocking suicide of a crazed stalker named Paula Goodspeed just outside of her house in November.
The fact that Goodspeed was once featured as one of those token "bad auditionees" on Idol in Season 5 led to a controversy between Abdul and Idol execs over the decision to include Goodspeed's audition for entertainment value despite being against her wishes. The two sides aired their dirty laundry over the course of a few days in the media before Paula was told to put a lid on it. This story definitely sums up the tensions that have settled in among the Idol family and will only continue to strengthen before they burst.
02) Jennifer Hudson's family tragedy+(9-19-08).jpg)
Even more tragic than the death of Goodspeed was the family tragedy that claimed the lives of third season seventh-place finalist Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew. The news was something that gripped the nation and even prompted a statement to be issued from the president-elect. It was later learned that Jennifer's brother-in-law, William Balfour, was the chief suspect in the rampage and he was charged with the murders shorty after.
The extremely painful situation caused Jennifer to cut promotion for her self-titled album and film The Secret Life of Bees short, and she has not made any statements in public on the tragedy. Hopefully 2009 is kinder to Jennifer, maybe a Grammy win is in store?
01) David Cook wins American Idol
Yes, it's predictable, but the story on its own deserves #1. A 25-year-old bartender/beer-pourer rising to fame as a result of his ill brother's musical aspirations, only to be challenged for the crown by a like-named 17-year-old from Utah. Although there was much competition on his road to success, David Cook was able to personalize every performance he delivered on the show and connect with his fans on a whole new level.
If there's one thing Cook's win proved, it is that America loves to see a success story. And judging by his album sales to date, it looks like America loves his music as well.
So there are your Top 10 most memorable moments of 2008 as compiled by IDOL LIVE. Do you agree? Don't forget to voice your opinion in the poll of the week for your most memorable Idol moment of the year.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Paula & 'Idol' execs not sharing holiday cheer
It looks like Paula is trying her hardest to make this season season of Idol her last as a judge. TMZ is reporting that Idol execs told Paula to tone down her loud chastising of them while making stops on her recent press junket to promote her jewelry.
The latest development according to the gossip site is that Paula was told to "put a lid on her feud" with the show's producers prior to her appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman last night.
Things started to go sour publicly yesterday when Paula told Barbara Walters in an interview on Sirius' XM Radio that producers did not heed her warnings of the consequences of letting her crazed fan/stalker, Paula Goodspeed, make it to TV time on Idol. She said:
"It's fun for them to cause me stress. This was something that would make good television."This caused a certain famous former producer to fire back, with Nigel Lythgoe telling People.com:
"The very fact that this happened, I'm really sad for her family. It happened about four weeks ago. For it to come back four weeks later, I'm really sad we're still talking about it."Sure, Nigel. The only reason you're sad that it's still being discussed is because it makes you and your crew look bad. The longer it stays in the public domain, the worse things will be for Idol producers' reputations.
As a result of this latest Paulaversey, look for an announcement of Paula's intentions to leave the show to come midway into the eighth season. Considering all the times it seemed Paula was about to get the axe, it's kind of sad it had to happen this way.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Paula hawks her jewlery to Robin Roberts
Poor Robin Roberts had to fend off Paula Abdul when she was in the middle of one of her salesperson pitching sprees in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America this morning. At one point Paula tried to peer pressure Robin into taking some bling for free, which Robin wisely declined more than once. Watch Paula in all her glory below:
Paula appeared on The View later on in the morning to hawk her faux fur and accessories in addition to chatting about the death of her crazed fan/stalker, Paula Goodspeed. In fact, Paula said she had a "premonition" that something had gone wrong before she was made aware of the tragedy.
P.S. don't forget to tune into HSN to watch Paula in action with her sales skills. It airs sometime this month, possibly Saturday night.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Carrie, Diana react to Paula's fan's suicide
Upon hearing the news that an obsessed fan of Paula Abdul's named Paula Goodspeed committed suicide just blocks away from the judge's house on Tuesday night, Carrie Underwood and Diana DeGarmo offered condolences to the family of the fan. Below is video of the Idol alums' responses from last night's Country Music Association Awards courtesy of Entertainment Tonight:
The only comment out of Abdul's camp was that she was "shocked and saddened" to hear of the suicide.
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