Ayla Brown showed promise during her time on Idol's fifth season, but she bobbled the ball during Top 16 week when she picked Natasha Bedingfield's hit in the making "Unwritten." Watch the performance below:
The song was just starting to get big in the U.S., which probably was party responsible for audiences not being familiar with it and likely played a role in Ayla's early ouster. Still, things have been going fairly well for the now 21-year-old, so the lyrics of the song are pretty accurate in describing how things have turned out for her.
It has already been covered extensively elsewhere including VFTW, but the fact that Todrick Hall is still allowed to be on Idol despite being knee-deep in allegations of scamming parents into forking over hundreds of dollars for the chance to have their children in musicals that magically were "canceled" is puzzling.
Todrick was involved in putting together a national touring production of Oz the Musical last year, which billed Diana DeGarmo as the lead (unbeknownst to her, mind you). Naturally, kids were invited to audition for roles in the children's chorus at Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville as documented on the city's News Channel 5. After auditioning and handing over $75 per child for costume fees, the show was suddenly canceled and the parents were told they would not be refunded.
But things didn't end there. According to VFTW, Todrick also co-produced a theater class/performance called Cinderella Rock that cost $60 per child, but that show was also canceled and no refunds were issued.
Whether or not Todrick did these things intentionally, it is unthinkable that Idol would want an alleged scam artist attached to its brand, and considering contestants have been disqualified for arguably much less severe infractions, he should not be there. It can be argued that he never should have been selected as a semifinalist to begin with, and that's true, but the producers obviously dropped the ball on this one. The media had already raised questions before the Top 24 was announced, and if Chris Golightly was expelled for "having an existing contract when he auditioned," this story really needs to get back in the spotlight.
That said, it would be one of the biggest mistakes Idol could make in letting Todrick stay on the show past next Thursday.
The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:
>It was announced yesterday that Kelly Clarkson will join Sarah McLachlan and her crew on the 2010 Lilith Fair tour. Per MTV News:
Kelly Clarkson will soon take her pop anthems on the road as the latest artist to join the Lilith Fair. It was announced on Thursday (March 4) that Clarkson, The Bangles, The Go-Go's, Dixie Chicks' Emily Robison and Martie Maguire's side project the Courtyard Hounds, Martina McBride and Suzanne Vega will be the latest ladies hitting the road for the female-focused festival.
No word yet on when the tour kicks off, but some of the cities on the itinerary include Boston, Los Angeles, Raleigh and Seattle. Other artists accompanying Kelly range from Ke$ha to Colbie Caillat and La Roux and Loretta Lynn.
>Jay Leno made his much anticipated return to late night on Monday when he took back the reigns of NBC's The Tonight Show. Not surprisingly, Leno had a few friends help him out, including an appearance by Randy Jackson in a taped "man on the street" segment in which Leno went door-to-door searching for a new desk. Watch the clip below:
Randy brought along his pals from the third season of his America's Best Dance Crew, who did an impromptu break dance routine in some random family's doorway. Now that's a party!
>Randy wasn't the only Idol family member to appear on The Tonight Show this week. The next night, Adam Lambert took to the stage to perform "Sleepwalker." Watch the performance below:
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was also on the show that night, but there's no word on whether she and Adam exchanged any words.
>A few weeks after the release of "We Are the World 25: For Haiti," Emilio Estefan and Gloria Estefan unveiled the Spanish version of the charity single called "Somos El Mundo 25: Por Haiti" on Tuesday. The song and video features David Archuleta and can be viewed below:
The single and video can now be purchased at iTunes for $2.99, with all proceeds going to the efforts in Haiti.
>Elliott Yamin was in Chile last weekend when the infamous 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck the South American nation. He was participating in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival at the time of the disaster, and so he has been updating fans of his activities via his official Twitter account, sending tweets like the one below:
Hey yall,.I am fine....no need 2 worry about my meds!...I have insulin....I will live!!..thanx ur concern everybody!!...please retweet asap 8:31 AM Mar 3rd via UberTwitter
Since the earthquake, Elliott has been spreading his story on various media outlets, including Ryan Seacrest's radio show on KIIS-FM.
Unlike last week, only one of the semifinalists that received the most votes in the most recent edition of IDOL LIVE's poll of the week was one of the two contestants that performed last on his performance night.
Lee DeWyze's 18 votes (25%) were enough to give him bragging rights as the most voted for contestant among IDOL LIVE readers, topping last week's favorite Andrew Garcia, who took in 16 votes (22%). Casey James was relegated to third place with 14 votes (19%).
Among the girls, Crystal Bowersox crushed her competition with 31 votes (36%), placing above Didi Benami's 15 votes (17%) and Siobhan Magnus's 14 votes (16%). As for who's ahead in the overall season vote, Crystal is now leading with 43 votes to Andrew Garcia's 38 votes.
In the latest edition of the poll of the week series, readers are asked of who their favorite male and female Top 16 contestants are. Voting will be open for exactly one week.
Top 10 guys Lee DeWyze 18 (25%)
Andrew Garcia 16 (22%)
Casey James 14 (19%)
Todrick Hall 0 (0%)
Aaron Kelly 7 (9%)
Alex Lambert 7 (9%)
Michael Lynche 2 (2%)
John Park 2 (2%)
Jermaine Sellers 2 (2%)
Tim Urban 4 (5%)
Total votes: 72
Top 10 girls
Didi Benami 15 (17%) Crystal Bowersox 31 (36%)
Lacey Brown 4 (4%)
Michelle Delamor 2 (2%)
Katelyn Epperly 3 (3%)
Siobhan Magnus 14 (16%)
Paige Miles 2 (2%)
Lilly Scott 3 (3%)
Katie Stevens 12 (13%)
Haeley Vaughn 0 (0%)
Total votes: 86
Running total for Season 9:
23rd (tie) - Todrick Hall (0 votes)
23rd (tie) - Haeley Vaughn (0 votes)*
21st (tie) - Paige Miles (2 votes)
21st (tie) - Michael Lynche (2 votes)
20th (tie) - Janell Wheeler (2 votes)*
18th (tie) - Joe Munoz (3 votes)*
18th (tie) - Jermaine Sellers (3 vote)*
16th (tie) - Tyler Grady (4 votes)*
16th (tie) - Michelle Delamor (4 votes)*
14th (tie) - Lacey Brown (5 votes)
14th (tie) - Katelyn Epperly (5 votes)
12th (tie) - John Park (6 votes)*
12th (tie) - Ashley Rodriguez (6 votes)*
10th (tie) - Lilly Scott (7 votes)
10th (tie) - Alex Lambert (7 votes)
09th - Tim Urban (8 votes)
08th - Aaron Kelly (14 votes)
07th - Siobhan Magnus (16 votes)
06th - Lee DeWyze (21 votes)
05th - Didi Benami (26 votes)
04th - Casey James (28 votes)
03rd - Katie Stevens (30 votes)
02nd - Andrew Garcia (38 votes)
01st - Crystal Bowersox (43 votes)
It was a larger roster than usual for tracks by Idol alums on the most recent edition of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for the chart week of March 13.
Kris Allen led action with a new peak for "Live Like We're Dying," which was up one spot to #18. Kris also saw his charity live single "Let It Be" debut at #63 thanks to a good amount of sales following his performance of the song on last week's results show.
Next up was Adam Lambert's single "Whataya Want From Me," which was up four spots to #24. The "We Are the World 25: For Haiti" charity single featuring Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee and Jennifer Hudson was down hard, dropping 30 spots to #36. Look for a quick departure from the chart.
Daughtry's "Life After You" was up five spots to #41 this week, and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" continued to hold steady with an even #42. Carrie Underwood was up (slightly) #54-52 with her latest offering "Temporary Home."
A surprising placement was General Larry Platt's "Pants on the Ground," which was off 25 spots to #85. It probably won't be on the chart again next week. And Kellie Pickler's single "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" made its way back onto the Hot 100 at #97 after falling off last week.
Full chart positions courtesy of Wings of a Dream over on Pulse are posted below:
Hot 100
18 19 Kris Allen, "Live Like We're Dying"
24 28 Adam Lambert, "Whataya Want From Me"
36 06 Artists For Haiti, "We Are the World 25: For Haiti"
41 46 Daughtry, "Life After You"
42 42 Kelly Clarkson, "Already Gone"
52 54 Carrie Underwood, "Temporary Home"
63 -- Kris Allen, "Let It Be"
85 60 General Larry Platt, "Pants on the Ground"
97 -- Kellie Pickler, "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You"
Join us tonight as we blog during the necessary Top 20 results show. Is it bad that I'm excited for four more semifinalists to get the ax? Either way, it will be good to have Danny Gokey return to perform his debut single, "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me," during his album release week.
Please feel free to add your two cents throughout the one-hour blogcast, with coverage starting just prior to 8 p.m. ET.
Tonight's blogcast features the music of Brooke White, Daughtry, David Archuleta, Jason Yeager and Nick Mitchell.
Things are beginning to become a little more clear now that we're into the second week of live performance episodes for Idol's ninth season. Even though the majority of the latest batch of performances have still been bad, there have been a few surprisingly good showings as well.
This week's picks to leave are a little more clear cut than they were last week. Unless some former fan favorites lose their footings or recent recipients of praise from the judges don't mesh with the voting audience, people won't be left scratching their heads come tomorrow morning. Therefore, I have reasoned that the following four contestants will be departing tonight.
The next two guys to be eliminated are:
>John Park and Todrick Hall
I had John going home last week, but it is finally his time because he just couldn't pick the right song, and because he went in the dreaded (and some would say cursed) second spot, it's pretty a fact that he will be gone. It's not that his performance of John Mayer's "Gravity" was technically bad, but it was just lifeless, so the judges were in fact correct in their assessment of his offering. As for Todrick, he really will suffer from consistently bad critiques and shockingly poor song choices. I mean, c'mon, Tina Turner? Really? No common sense whatever. Todrick's bad attitude is not helping him, and the show's porudcers are probably itching to send him packing due to his growing reputation as a scammer thanks to his Oz the Musical scandal.
The next two girls to be eliminated are:
>Lacey Brown and Paige Miles
Lacey improved over her performance last week, but she's at the point where there aren't really any more expendable contestants. She seems to be skating by, and the fact that she performed third won't help her cause. Paige, on the other hand, will be a semi-shock tonight, as most people will expect Haeley Vaughn to leave. But Haeley has a few things on her side - she's got a great personality and she sang a song that all the little tween voters love. Plus she's young and likeable, so even though she probably delivered the weakest vocal performance, she will kept around for at least one more week. Paige actually did pretty well last night, but she's just not sticking out from her competition. Plus, audiences really don't like it when contestants sing songs originally sung by alums.
Hopefully I'm wrong about Paige. But I hope (and think) I'm right on everyone else this week. After one week of competition, my record is 1-3 in predicting eliminations, so I really need to step it up soon.
Tonight we blog during the Top 10 female semifinalists' performances, which will have to work hard to be worse than last week's offerings. Considering neither of the girls that went last week were unexpected, tonight should go a little smoother and should feel lighter with less voices needing to be packed in together. Hopefully Crystal will be well enough to perform.
Please feel free to add your input throughout the two-hour blogcast, with coverage starting just prior to 8 p.m. ET.
Tonight's blogcast features the music of Antonella Barba, Carly Smithson, Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Kelly Clarkson, LaKisha Jones, Megan Joy and Melinda Doolittle.
After another drama-filled day, it is still not known whether Crystal Bowersox will be healthy enough to perform on tonight's pTop 10 girls performance show. Rumors to both results are running rampant, and Ryan Seacrest literally justd weighed in on the topic:
RyanSeacrest I'm still in a run thru..uncertain. Planning for either way RT @CallofKJ: @RyanSeacrest Any news on Crystal Bowersox? #americanidol 7 minutes ago via UberTwitter
This comes after Ken Warwick sat down with Ryan to talk things over on his radio show this morning, in which he hinted at Crystal most likely not being able to compete and the possible ways to handle the situation:
If Crystal is not well enough to perform, it will be sad, but I don't see any fair outcome but to disqualify her. Hopefully it doesn't come to this.
IDOL LIVE is the place to stay up to date with the most current news on past, present and possibly future American Idol contestants, in addition to discussing the show in real-time as it happens.
