‘the voice’ to overthrow ‘american idol’?

ask anyone – they’ll tell you i’ve been a fan of american idol for years.

it was only about a week ago that i realized i’m OVER IT. i mean, sure new judges jennifer lopez and steven tyler are cool but the show has lost its edge. every single performance is dubbed “amazing” and “ground-breaking” and just all-around perfect. where’s the fun in that? without simon cowell, there’s no spark, no discord and certainly no real opinions given.

so… with that being said, i’m now even more interested to see the 2 new singing competitions hitting the market this year: NBC’s the voice and FOX’s the x factor. the voice premieres april 26th and features a fresh new set of music judges – maroon 5′s adam levine, cee lo green, country star blake shelton and christina aguilera.

judging from the first 12 minutes of the show (check it out above), i can say the voice has some real promise. the judges sure have a great camaraderie and you can tell they’re having a blast. plus, the format is WAY different than anything we’ve ever seen which will definitely attract viewers.

cue, the x factor. very similar to american idol, but they’ve got mr. cowell. and he’s priceless! this one we’re gonna have to wait awhile on… it’s not hittin’ TV until september. so far the only confirmed judges are simon himself and music mogul l.a. reid, but we’ve heard rumors of jessica simpson, katy perry, and even mariah carey joining the judges panel too.

so, which one has more promise? it’s tough to tell. we’ll just have to wait and see!

american idol’s chris medina gets sweet surprise

…and the tears are pouring down my face!

if you’re a fan of american idol, no doubt you’ve also become a fan of season 10′s chris medina. the humble singer entered the reality show to draw attention to two things: his talent and his injury-stricken fiance, juliana.

juliana suffered from a traumatic car accident, which has unfortunately left her severely brain damaged. chris has stayed by her side relentlessly. after it was revealed chris did not make american idol‘s top 24, it left most of us saying, “ah come on, give him another chance!”

well, ryan seacrest did just that. he had him on his radio program this past week where it was revealed that guthy-renker donated $35,000 to his fiance’s foundation! seeing him tear up like that… yeah, i started crying too.

meanwhile, topher grace who was in the next room waiting to discuss his new movie take me home tonight, interrupts the interview to donate ANOTHER $35,000! see? people really do have good hearts. topher and the movie’s producer then go on to say that they’ll also donate 1% of whatever take me home tonight pulls in at the box office this weekend!

i just love stories like this.

 

ellen quits idol!

shocker! but a good shocker, in my opinion.

ellen degeneres has just announced via her twitter that she has quit american idol. her statement reads:

“a couple months ago, i let FOX and the american idol producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me. i told them i wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that i would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next.

it was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than i bargained for. i also realized this season that while i love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. i loved the experience working on idol and i am very grateful for the year i had. i am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”

i’m definitely a fan of ellen, but watching her on idol was always uncomfortable. i agree that it wasn’t quite the “right fit.” she excels on her talk show and at stand-up comedy, which is where it sounds like she’ll stick.

thoughts?

ellen: a music mogul?

i like ellen. don’t get me wrong. she’s a great TV host. but now she’s starting her own record label! whaaa?

it is actually painful to watch her judge on american idol. her funny one-liners just can’t quite mask the fact that she has no music industry know-how. you can only say “you’re good” and “you’re bad” in so many ways, you know, before her critiques all start to sound the same.

so what’s she doing starting a label? called eleveneleven, ellen’s new label will work in collaboration with telepictures productions. she’s even got her first signed artist! the AMAZING youtuber greyson chance will debut under eleveneleven, with co-managers guy oseary and troy carter (who’ve managed madonna and lady gaga, respectively).

okay so she’s got the help. but can she pull this off? if it weren’t for the big-name backers, i don’t think ellen would stand a chance. thoughts?

lane bryant bias?

what’s this? bias against full-figured girls, that’s what!

if you own a TV, you’ve been subject to one-too-many racy victoria’s secret commercials. you know, the ones with almost-naked stick figures with wind and silk and lace and… well, you get the picture.

those were fiiiiine for TV networks FOX and ABC. but when lane bryant came out with a lingerie commersh, the brakes were pumped! the plus-size retailer claims their above commercial was banned from ABC’s dancing with the stars and FOX’s american idol because they have a bias against full-figured models.

FOX and ABC’s rebuttal? it flashes too much flesh for the family-oriented shows. oh, and VS commercials don’t? uh huh.

the ad in question shows a curvy (and SEXY!) woman trying on various articles of lingerie, about to go “meet dan for lunch,” according to her smartphone appointment. she then heads out in a trenchcoat on, with nothing underneath but a bra and panties. presumeably for some lovin’!

a little racy for the family hour? perhaps, but it’s not too different from any other lingerie ad on TV, except that the model is voluptuous, not skinnier-than-skinny. what do you think? did FOX and ABC act out of line?

ryan seacrest is… not funny

throw it down, dunklemen!! me thinks american idol host ryan seacrest is starting to lose his coveted popularity votes – and in large numbers!

the over-eccentric host has been drawing awkward attention to himself the past few weeks, in the form of horrible jokes, dancing with unwilling strangers and overall, just making everyone feel generally uncomfortable. but nothing tops this!

back in season one, seacrest had a co-host – i know, hard to believe he would actually share the spotlight. brian dunklemen left idol after that season (bad move, buddy!) and has been the butt of lots of jokes because of it.

this past wednesday night, seacrest spat out that dunklemen would be returning to host idol gives back next week, to which the crowd applauded, then fell eerily silent after seacrest said it was a joke. GOOD JOKE RYAN!!

mr. dunklemen recently spoke with tv.com about the incident… and oh yeah it’s gettin’ heated!

“well, it was an attempt at a joke. but unfortunately for ryan, instead of a laugh, he got applause. that’s never really been his strong suit. but it was a joke, and whether it was mean-spirited or not is irrelevant. a joke’s a joke; you can either take it or you can’t.”

of ryan’s other strange behavior dunkleman says,

“the timing doesn’t surprise me. dancing with the stars has replaced idol as the no. 1 show for, what, the last two weeks? i’m sure that’s sending seacrest into a panic. it’s not surprising that he would act crazy to get attention, or throw my name out there — he’s done things like this before.”

cat fight! how long ’til seacrest responds? i give it 3, 2, 1…

adam lambert a mentor?!

mariah carey, neil diamond, dolly parton, usher, mick jagger… adam lambert?! clearly, american idol had one thing in mind when selecting adam lambert as their next mentor judge: money.

promoting lambert on the show is essentially free marketing for the idol peeps & their label. because they clearly weren’t thinking about music industry experience! this guy’s been around for what – 10.5 minutes? annoying.

adam will be mentoring tonight on idol – april 13th. alright i get it, it’s your show, you wanna promote your own people. but how about some previous idols with proven success stories… (aka carrie underwood, kelly clarkson)

regardless, the queen of glam will be mentoring on tuesday’s show, and performing on wednesday. are you excited? or like me… annoyed?

boyfriend of the year, simon cowell

man, i musta picked the wrong guy! it seems american idol judge/billionaire simon cowell has a heart of gold, despite how it may appear on TV. after splitting with longtime girlfriend terri seymour, cowell has quickly moved on!

and oh man, has this new lady hit the jackpot. makeup artist mezhgan hussainy and mr. simon have been in the land of love ever since their start – so much so that simon even popped the question! yup, they’re engaged. awkward much for ex-gf seymour? (they dated for 6 years!)

the future mrs. cowell celebrated her 37th birthday this past week, and no expense was spared. simon has reportedly purchased his lady love a luxury 1954 jaguar convertible priced at over $120,000! and that ain’t it…

“red roses, french lingerie, prada bags, you name it. he gives her something new practically every day. one particularly sweet surprise was private his-and-hers swedish massages in their london hotel room.”

sure, when you make $75 million A YEAR! congratulations mezhgan, you scored big time! see below for some preciousness from the lovebirds – especially simon! – on the tonight show with jay leno.

dear ke$ha, go away soon!

i’m pretty much over “ke$ha.” who’s with me??

she’s been all over lately, her attitude of entitlement causing more attention than her singing. she’s spendin’ more time apologizing than singing! not a good career move. and after her horrific “live” performance on american idol, i’m hoping her 15 minutes will be up soon. she’s ragged on everyone from britney spears to justin bieber… just shut it, ke$ha!

in an interview with maxim, ke$ha said of tweenie hero j.bieber “he’s a tiny little baby! i would love to just push him around on stage in a carriage.” yeah, i’m sure he loved hearing that! she took to her twitter for a grammatically brilliant apology: “dear justin b i am so sorry if my bad joke has hurt your feelings.u r obviouslyso talented andi would never mean to offend u.i think u r rad”

wow, that kinda hurt my eyes just reading that.

but she wasn’t done there! she then was up in headlines for criticizing ms. britney spears! a lyric in one of her older songs was revealed that said: “britney spears… britney, who?” check out her clarification for that below. is it just me or was she lookin’ a wee bit out of it? bizarre!

perez for american idol?

unless you’ve been holed up under a rock, you know that american idol‘s beloved simon cowell plans on parting ways with the ratings king at the end of this season.  so that leaves randy jackson, kara dioguardi and newly-minted ellen degeneres to hold down the judge’s fort. room for one more?

well, that’s what perez hilton is hoping for. the self-proclaimed celebrity and gossip blogger is campaigning - hard – to take over cowell’s spot. see his desperate plea above! it doesn’t sound like he has much of a case, considering his biggest rationale for hopping on the idol stage centers around the fact that he’s “gay.” oh really? because we weren’t quite sure.

my thoughts closely mirror this guy‘s comment… “if this douche nozzle ever ended up on idol, i would never watch it again!!” but others, like simon cowell himself, think perez might be a good fit. please, spare us!