You could be forgiven for assuming Simon Cowell’s upcoming American version of his hit British talent show, The X Factor, won’t be any different than the show he’s leaving, American Idol. But “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby),” the debut video from Jedward, twin brothers who made it to week 7 on the UK series’ 2009 season, makes painfully clear Simon’s program will offer more than just wanna-be Kelly Clarksons and Kris Allens. Along with the young solo dreamers we’re used to, The X Factor lets a number of older singers and groups compete as well. Imagine, on American Idol, these guys would have never been allowed to sing together, denying us the sight of two massive pompadours bouncing to a mash-up of Queen and Vanilla Ice (who raps in the video as well). Who knows what freaks Simon will find in America once he doesn’t have to play by Idol’s rules? You’ve been warned.
Get a better look at the magic that is Jedward in the gallery below.
“General” Larry Platt may be enjoying some unexpected fame for the instant classic “Pants On The Ground,” debuted on last night’s American Idol—remixes like the one above are already beginning to pile up—but he’s already more than earned his name in Georgia. As learned by USA Today, Platt was heavily involved in the desegregation movement since his teens, taking part in the infamous Bloody Sunday march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and earning his “rank” from civil rights leader Rev. Hosea Williams after organizing multiple sit-ins in Georgia.
Still a community activist today, he was honored with his own day by the Georgia General Assembly on Sept. 4, 2001, which noted “it is highly fitting and proper that this body recognize the significant contributions of this esteemed man…commending Larry Platt for his great energy and commitment to equality and the protection of the innocent.” At the very least, the rest of us can pay tribute by keeping our pants up.
“American Idol” has a history of picking the most likable, friendly and perky contestants as its winners (flashback: Kris Allen and his wife own matching aprons). Go ahead, we dare you to pick a winner that’s done something objectionable. As further proof to our theory, in a recent interview season four winner Carrie Underwood gushed about her love for the show, saying, “I will always have the biggest love for the show as a participant and as a fan.”
She also admitted that she, like the rest of America, still votes for her favorite singers. “It’s so crazy for me to watch and think I was on it,” Underwood said in a conference call with press. “I love the people working on it and I love to go back and talk to the contestants. I vote too, just like everybody else! It’s great being able to see both sides.”
Underwood’s humility and down-to-earth attitude is pretty cool, especially considering she just became Idol’s the biggest-selling winner, surpassing Kelly Clarkson this week with over 10.5 million albums sold. [Photo: GettyImages]
American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi was responsible for penning the universally loathed season 8 finale song “No Boundaries.” We’ve spent countless hours thinking about how bad this song was, and we clearly weren’t alone — even Kris Allen opted to cut it from his set list during the Idol Summer Tour. Seems like Kara isn’t willing to let us forget the craptastic ballad though, she has re-recorded it on her own and released it on YouTube so America will have yet another version to deal with.
To be fair, her version sounds better than either Kris Allen or Adam Lambert’s renditions. However, let’s face it, it’s still a pretty sucky song. What say you, does her rendition give the song the respect it deserves, or is it superfluous and pointless to release this three months after the fact? [Photo: Getty Images]
With the news that Paula Abdul wouldn’t be returning to “American Idol” next season, the producers started scrambling immediately to find replacements to fill her always unpredictable (and available on QVC) shoes. Though they often have guest mentors, the show has never seen such a roster of guest judges like the one they’re pulling together for the 2010 season.
After Abdul announced her departure, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham was asked to join the judges for one episode (maybe more), and in the past week, the list of guests has grown. Adam Lambert-o-phile Katy Perry will appear on the show, as will Shania Twain, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas and Kelly Clarkson. Radar Onlineis also reporting that Faith Hill is in talks to join Simon Cowell and Co. Personally, we think Paula should feel kind of honored that the show needs to book so many celebs to make up for her departure.
The real question is, will this rotating roster of famous faces at the judges’ table equal one Paula? We think not - it’s hard to instantly create chemistry (both good and bad) with a temporary guest - but we’ll have to wait and see. [Photo: GettyImages]
Cipriani’s in downtown Manhattan is not the setting for bar brawls and such, it is what you’d call a classy venue. On Wednesday night, however, Constantine Maroulis got into a fist fight with another party-goer there, over a comment made about Paula Abdul leaving American Idol. Seriously.
Maroulis was just sitting there talking about the show that made him famous, when he expressed his desire to see Paula return to the show. All of a sudden and from out of nowhere, “Some drunk dude tackled me in the middle of the concert and jumped on me,” he Tweeted. Said another source, “It was hilarious! Constantine got into it with this guy who was probably 6 inches shorter and 60 pounds lighter. The guy body-slammed him and punched him in the face and then just stood up, straightened his tie, and said, ‘Bitch, don’t you ever,’ before walking away.”
One of these days we’re going to get our Fly On The Wall machine working just to see a man in a suit say, “Bitch, don’t you ever.” [Photo: GettyImages]
We have this internal struggle going, ’cause for six months this year, we were so anti-Adam Lambert it was all we could think about. We imagined that his voice was like a special sound that would somehow trigger the release of hell-demons, that’s how much we didn’t want him to win American Idol. The screeching, oh, how it makes us shiver! And yet, when it comes to Lambert as a person, we want to be friends with him in a bad way; he’s hilarious and he gives a great interview. Just yesterday, Lambert rebuffed a tabloid rumor that he went off on a fan for smudging his nail polish, saying, “That never happened. Oh my god, I love it! I love how they always go with a ‘very reliable source,’ ‘a close friend of Adam.’ I’m like, ‘Who?’”
As if the rumor wasn’t ridiculous enough on it’s own, Lambert goes on to explain his mani routine to further prove his point. “What’s really funny is, if I indeed painted my nails that day, it wouldn’t have been at the time when we meet and greet fans.” Like, no duh! Everyone knows you don’t paint nails before the meet and greet. It really is too bad we don’t like his voice, because we love everything else about Glambert. [Photo: GettyImages]
Take a good look at Paula Abdul sitting at that judges’ table, because she won’t be returning to it for season 9 of American Idol. After weeks of contract disputes, Abdul finally confirmed our biggest fear last night on her Twitter, thus giving Kara DioGuardi way more screen time than we see fit.
Paula wrote (tearfully, we assume): “With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to Idol. I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon. What I want to say most, is how much I appreciate the undying support and enormous love that you have showered upon me It truly has been breathtaking, especially over the past month I do without any doubt have the BEST fans in the entire world and I love you all.”
Honestly, we will miss Paula more than we care to admit, and not just because it means more Kara (we’d blame her for everything if we could) - Paula’s rapport withSimon Cowell and Randy Jackson was sweet and unpredictable even while being contentious, and was reason enough to watch the show. We will miss her glitter makeup and high necklines, her nonsensical, free-form poetic critiques, the palm clapping, the forgetfulness, the mustache Simon drew on her face last season, but most of all, we will miss not being able to reference MC Skat Kat in any of our future Idol recaps. ‘Tis a sad day indeed. [Photo: GettyImages]
We have never been the type to throw things onstage at a concert, mostly because underwear is expensive. But Adam Lambert fans aren’t so cheap (or shy) and these days, they’re throwing underwear, bras, and a whole lot of toys from babeland up on stage during his American Idol tour.
Lambert tells E! Online that he’s starting quite a collection of sex toys, thanks to his fans. “Somebody threw onstage a red-leather tasseled whip. . .And then the next night, I got one that was made out of, like, purple fur. It’s getting really S&M.” While he appreciates the fan fervor, he says it’s also a bit distracting while he’s trying to do his job. (We’d sure be distracted if people threw sex toys into our cubicle.) “Somebody threw a bra on during ‘Starlight,’ and, literally, it missed my face by three inches. Yeah, I am going to be a little bit more passive-aggressive, so I decided not to even acknowledge the bra that got thrown on stage, because I didn’t want to condone the behavior.”
Also, we get the whips and handcuffs that people throw, clearly Lambert can take these home for personal use. A bra though? That just seems like a waste on many levels.[Photo: GettyImages]
America voted … and the loser of American Idol is “No Boundaries.” This season, as with all other seasons on Idol, the winner has sung a theme song written specifically for the show. Think “A Moment Like This,” the song Kelly Clarkson sang at the end of the first season, which became a best-seller. This year, the song “No Boundaries,” co-written by superfluous judge Kara DioGuardi, was that special song and it’s safe to say no one took to it. Not even DioGuardi: during the finale she actually told winner Kris Allen that the song wasn’t written for someone with his register, which is probably one of the reasons the song has been canned from the Idol tour this summer.
Apparently, the song was getting such a poor response during the live concerts that producers told Allen to find something else to sing to replace it. We hope Kara doesn’t feel too bad about it — if anything, she should take a lesson from her own overly-optimistic lyrics. Let nothing stand between you and your dreams, Kara. [Source: NY Post]
