Greetings, “American Idol” aficionados! I’ll be your guest blogger today, as Mr. Farley had plans which necessitated that someone step in for him on either “The Biggest Loser” or “AI,” and although I’m far from a regular viewer of either series, you don’t need to have been following “AI” to tune in and offer your opinions about the performances. Besides, before I got this sweet gig as a TV critic, I spent more than a decade writing almost exclusively about music, so it’s not like I don’t have a frame of reference to the topic at hand. (You kids are still listening to Marcy Playground and DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, right?)
We’re into the Top 16 now, of course, and last night was all about the ladies, with each of the eight female contestants getting their chance in the spotlight. I think it’s fair to say that any episode which begins with Ellen DeGeneres sitting in Simon Cowell’s lap, seemingly basking in his scent, is going to be an interesting one. It was, as ever, a mixture of magnificent and mediocre, but you can get my impressions on the performances after the jump.