Last night’s season finale of “American Idol” had a bit of everything. It even had another somewhat surprising ending, at least from where I sit. Ryan Seacrest promised that there would be a few tributes to outbound Simon Cowell during the night, and there were. But here is how the rest of the show went down, and we’ll sum it up as quickly as we can:
The Season 9 Top 12 sang Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and once we saw the school kids dressed like Alice Cooper we knew the man himself would make an appearance and he did. But he didn’t sound very good.
Last night’s “American Idol” sing-off between Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox was a veritable love-fest. It is Simon’s last week on the show, so there was love for him. There was love for both contestants, especially Crystal. And it all bordered on sickening. Well, not really, but it was fun to say that. With that, let’s grade each performance of the night. For the record, the contestants had to sing three times–their own choice from this past season, a Simon Fuller (co-creator) choice, and the song that would be their first single. Thankfully, this “single” was not some Kara DioGuardi written schlock, but a cover song. Maybe they figured out after all these years that those formulaic pieces of trash that masquerade as songs aren’t selling in the long run. But I digress. Here is the recap!
It’s hard to believe we’ve reached that time of year, but here it is. The “American Idol” two-part finale is next Tuesday and Wednesday and we’ve got your two finalists. But first, unless you just scroll down, we’ll make you wait just like the producers make us wait.
The show began with Casey James being whisked back to Cool, Texas, which looks like it’s a suburb of Fort Worth. He even went back to the hospital where his life was saved after a motorcycle accident seven years ago to thank his doctors for keeping him alive and giving him this opportunity.
Then Travis Garland performed. This kid is a signing of celebrity entrepreneur Perez Hilton, who was on hand to help Ryan Seacrest announce him. He did his new single, “Believe,” which wasn’t bad, but there were too many dancers on stage that were really distracting. Why can’t these pop acts just sing?
Then Crystal Bowersox went back to Toledo, and she appeared to have more fans than Casey. Hmmm. Anyway, that was cool. But Lee’s visit back to Chicago seemed even cooler for some reason. He finished by returning to the paint shop where he’s worked.
Then Justin Bieber performed two of his new songs, “You Smile” and “Baby.” That kid is pretty talented too for a teenybopper.
Finally, it was time to find out who was going home and who would compete for the title next week. First in, Lee Dewyze. No huge surprise. Down to Casey and Crystal. Crystal Bowersox, in, Casey James, going home. That’s how I saw it, and I’ve thought it was Casey’s time for weeks anyway. And that’s how it should be…Crystal vs. Lee for all the marbles.
So there you have it…..I think last season we thought it would be Adam Lambert crushing Kris Allen, and the year before David Archuleta crushing David Cook, but both turned out to not be the case. So while I think Lee will win, Crystal absolutely deserves to win just as much. It should be interesting, and an entertaining ride. See you all then!
At this stage of the season on “American Idol,” you know who wants to win and who could care less. You hope that they all want to win, and probably do, but some just want it more than others. Last night that was made perfectly clear during both rounds of performances. No mentors this time around, just two performances each from Casey James, Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox. They would choose one song, and one or two judges would pick the other. Here is our recap of how it went down, and we’re going to do it differently this week…we will break it down by performer and grade them at the end of our analysis:
The network upfronts roll on, this time with the fine folks at Fox trotting out their new fall schedule and revealing which new series have been selected to accompany those series which have survived. As of this writing, there are no clips to accompany the descriptions of the new shows, but I’m led to understand that we’ll be getting those in due course, so…oh, wait, scratch that: they just arrived!
Well, with that being the case, you can read the descriptions and check out the clips of what Fox has for us for the upcoming season. Just be sure to let us know what you think about what they’re offering up! Oh, and before you ask, we didn’t forget to include a clip for the last series. They didn’t offer a clip for the last series…but, hell, I don’t even think they’ve cast it yet, so at least they’ve got a good excuse.
MONDAY
8 – 9 PM: HOUSE
9 – 10 PM: LONESTAR: a provocative soap set against the backdrop of big Texas oil, from Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman, the creators of “Party of Five”; Marc Webb, the director of “(500) Days of Summer”; and creator Kyle Killen. Robert / Bob Allen (newcomer James Wolk) is a charismatic and brilliant schemer who has meticulously constructed two lives in two different parts of Texas. He’s juggling two identities and two women in two very different worlds – all under one mountain of lies. As “Bob,” he lives in Houston and is married to Cat (Adrianne Palicki, “Friday Night Lights”), the beautiful daughter of Clint (Jon Voight, 24, “Midnight Cowboy”), the patriarch of an ultra-wealthy Texas oil family. More than 400 miles away in the suburban west Texas town of Midland, he’s “Robert,” living a second life with his sweet, naïve girlfriend, Lindsay (Eloise Mumford, “Mercy,” “Law & Order: SVU”). In Midland, he plays the perfect boyfriend while secretly bilking local investors of their savings. In Houston, he’s a devoted husband, charming Cat and her family to cement his position in the rich family business he aims to clean out. Bob has lived both lives successfully for years without arousing any suspicions…so far.
While one brother-in-law, Drew (Bryce Johnson, “Popular,” “The Mentalist”), admires Bob, his other brother-in-law, Trammell (Mark Deklin, “Nip/Tuck,” “Desperate Housewives”), is suspicious of his motives. Bob begins to fear his secret lives may unravel. With the cons closing in on him, Bob is divided by his love for two women; his loyalty to his father and mentor, John (David Keith, “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “The Class”); and his respect for his father-in-law, Clint. Now as he tries to hold his two lives together, while fending off angry investors and the suspicions of those around him, Bob puts it all on the line hoping he can beat the odds, leave the schemes behind and keep two separate relationships afloat.
