American Idol
On Our TV

They’re adding venues by the day, so check the list below to see if there’s a venue near you, then go buy American Idols Live concert tickets. They’ve finally added Texas dates, so they’re back in my good graces. Now, maybe I can go see the show since they’ll be right here in Houston.

Wed July 5, 2006 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Thu July 6, 2006 Manchester, NH Verizon Wireless Arena
Fri July 7, 2005 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Sat July 8, 2006 Worcester, MA DCU Center
Sun July 9, 2006 Hartford, CT Hartford Civic Center
Tues July 11, 2006 Albany, NY Pepsi Arena
Wed July 12, 2006 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
Thur July 13, 2006 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Fri July 14, 2006 East Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Sat July 15, 2006 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Sun July 16, 2006 Long Island, NY Nassau Coliseum
Tues July 18, 2006 Wilkes Barre, PA Wachovia Arena
Wed July 19, 2006 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center
Fri July 21, 2006 Rochester, NY BlueCross Arena
Sat July 22, 2006 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Sun July 23, 2006 Atlantic City, NJ Boardwalk Hall
Tues July 25, 2006 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Thurs July 27, 2006 Pittsburgh, PA Mellon Arena
Fri July 28, 2006 Washington DC Verizon Center
Sat July 29, 2006 Richmond, VA Richmond Coliseum
Sun July 30, 2006 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
Tues August 1, 2006 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Wed August 2, 2006 Columbia, SC Colonial Center
Thurs August 3, 2006 Duluth, GA Arena at Gwinnett Center
Sat August 5, 2006 Sunrise, FL BankAtlantic Center
Sun August 6, 2006 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
Tues August 8, 2006 Birmingham, AL BJCC Arena
Thurs August 10, 2006 Nashville, TN Gaylord Entertainment Center
Fri August 11, 2006 Columbus, OH Value City Arena
Sat August 12, 2006 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
Sun August 13, 2006 St. Louis, MO Savvis Center
Tues August 15, 2006 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena
Wed August 16, 2006 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
Thurs August 17, 2006 Indianapolis, IN Indianapolis State Fairgrounds
Fri August 18, 2006 Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
Sat August 19, 2006 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
Sun August 20, 2006 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
Tues August 22, 2006 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
Fri August 25, 2006 San Diego, CA iPay One Center at the Sports Arena
Sat August 26, 2006 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Sun August 27, 2006 Anaheim, CA Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim
Tues August 29, 2006 Sacramento, CA ARCO Arena
Wed August 30, 2006 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Fri September 1, 2006 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Sat September 2, 2006 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
Tues September 5, 2006 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
Thurs September 7, 2006 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Fri September 8, 2006 Grand Prairie, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Sat September 9, 2006 Houston, TX Reliant Arena
Sun September 10, 2006 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Tues September 12, 2006 Duluth, GA The Arena at Gwinnett Center
Thur September 14, 2006 Huntington, WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
Fri September 15, 2006 Norfolk, VA Constant Convocation Center
Sat September 16, 2006 Reading, PA Sovereign Center
Sun September 17, 2006 Syracuse, NY War Memorial at OnCenter
Tues September 19, 2006 Hershey, PA GIANT Center
Thurs September 21, 2006 Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center
Fri September 22, 2006 Providence, RI Dunkin Donuts Center
Sat September 23, 2006 Bridgeport, CT Arena at Harbor Yard
Sun September 24, 2006 Wilkes-Barre, PA Wachovia Center

The night started with Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee singing “I Made it Through the Rain”. They were then joined for the end of the song by the rest of the final 12.

Birmingham, Alabama was being covered by the O’Donohue twins. It was packed with screaming Taylor fans. Universal City was covered by Tamyra Gray. It was packed, but it was hard to tell if they were Kat fans, American Idol fans, or Taylor fans.

This year they allowed several contestants to sing with their American Idol. Paris Bennett started this off singing “We’re In This Love Together” with Al Jareau. Then Chris Daughtry sang with Live.

Unless I missed it when I was out of the room, I don’t think Kellie Pickler sang a duet last night. She did, however, do a series of silly skits with Chef Wolfgang Puck. Called Puck & Pickler, these segments featured Kellie sampling escargot and fending off a live lobster.

Katharine’s choice of duet partner was odd, in my opinion. She sang “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” with meatloaf. Now, I understand this song was made famous by Celine Dion and Meatloaf, but I just thought that Meatloaf didn’t sound that great and that his voice really clashed with Katharine’s voice. You could also tell that Katharine’s aspirations include acting, as she chose to “act” the whole song. Was I the only one who found this grating and irritating.

Then they did this odd segment (repeated throughout the rest of the show) called the Golden Idols. This consisted of reviewing some of the worst and most bizarre performers of the season—AGAIN. Most of these were just annoying, but a few bear mentioning.

Crazy Dave Hoover made a return, fell off the stage, jumped back on, and then I’m pretty sure had to be dragged off by security, but we didn’t get to see the last part since they went to commercial. Elliott’s Mom won the proudest family moment. They also had the really, really bad guy who sort of looked like Clay Aiken on. They even let him sing. This was really just a setup to get Clay Aiken on the stage singing. Of course, it took me a moment to realize that it WAS Clay— what’s up with the hair, dude? And, finally, in their tribute to male bonding, the cowboys from the L.A. auditions made an appearance singing “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”.

The guys from the final 12 sang a medley of songs, starting with “Taking Care of Business”. Midway through the performance, Taylor came out and played the harmonica with them.

Then, there was the obligatory Ford commercial. This one was a bit special, though, as it lead up to the reveal of Taylor and Katharine’s new Ford convertibles.

Elliott sang U2’s “One” with Mary J Blige. I thought this was a really good performance. Their voices seemed well-suited to one another, and Elliott sounded great.

Carrie Underwood sang her new single, which is a real tear jerker. She looked great and was coming off her wins at the Country Music Awards the night before. I had heard Bo Bice was going to be there for last night’s performance but, again, unless I missed it, I didn’t see him.

I don’t know what was going on with the finalists’ duets last night. As previously mentioned, I thought Meatloaf didn’t sound as good as he usually does. Then Taylor sang “In The Ghetto” with Toni Braxton, and she sounded horrible. She seemed more intent on prancing around the stage in a REALLY short skirt than on singing the song.

Taylor’s duet was followed by the girls singing their medley, which was full of “I am woman, hear me roar” songs, starting with “I Feel Like a Woman”. The girls all sounded really great.

Shortly after the girls’ medley, there was a tribute to Burt Baccarat. This was really good, too, except for Kevin Covais singing “Pussycat, Pussycat”. Eww. The medley was finished off with Dion Warwick singing two songs, including “That’s What Friends Are For”. I was reminded how good Melissa McGhee was and led, once again, to wonder how Kevin Covais managed to reach the final 12. A lot of times when you see people later, you think “Wow, they really ARE good”. Not so with Kevin Covais. He was just nowhere near the league of the other performers. They might as well have let Cowboy Garrett join the final 12.

That was pretty much it, except for the reveal of the winner. But there was one other surprise. In the most random move of the evening, Prince sang a couple of songs. Um, what? Okay, it clearly wasn’t for ratings because a) they don’t need the help and b) no one knew ahead of time. It wasn’t in relation to anyone else singing (which leads me to wonder the rumors about them trying to get him on the show were true— that he didn’t want to interact with the contestants). So, what the heck was Prince doing on the show? I can only assume it was an attempt to lure “cooler” acts for the future. Now, they can say to more modern performers, “You should do American Idol. Even PRINCE has been on American Idol.” I don’t know. It just seemed odd to me.

Then they revealed that Taylor was the winner, he sang his single, and there was confetti and hugging all around.

In all, I think it was a really good season. We’ll be covering Idol goings-on between now and next year when we start the process all over again. So, stay tuned.

Season 5’s American Idol album will be out next week, May 23rd. Among the songs on the album: Chris Daughtry singing Bon Jovi’s “Wanted, Dead or Alive” (which I think was one of his best performances) and Taylor Hicks singing the Doobie Brothers’ “Taking It To The Streets” (I really wanted him to sing “Levon”). If you’re a Kevin Covais fan, you’ll get to hear him sing Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall In Love”. I don’t know that I’m planning to buy the compilation album, as I’m saving my nickles to buy Taylor Hicks album What about you? Anyone planning to purchase the album?

Well, I can’t get you tickets, I’m sorry to say, but you can read all about the ins and outs of attending an American Idol elimination show. Here’s a bit of what you’ll read. Audience members are not allowed to chew gum. There’s an MC, Cory, who warms up the crowd and gets them pumped up for lots of cheering. And, yes, the Idols waiting for elimination really do have to stand around and wait during the commercial break. How nervewracking that must be!

This particular article was written about the elimination of Kevin Covais. Apparently, he sounds much better in person, so perhaps that explains the judges’ fascination with him.

Many of you were happy to see Kevin Covais in the bottom three and even happier to see him gone from the show. I think we can all agree that he was a really nice kid, but a majority of the readers on this site (and others I’ve read) really didn’t have a high level of appreciation for his music.

How do you feel about Kevin Covais leaving?
I’m thrilled!: 50% (49)
I’m pleased.: 28% (27)
I don’t really care.: 10% (10)
I’m completely bummed.: 12% (12)
Total Votes : 98

Who was your favorite performer tonight?
Mandisa: 17% (13)
Bucky Covington: 1% (1)
Paris Bennett: 3% (2)
Chris Daughtry: 36% (28)
Katharine McPhee: 12% (9)
Taylor Hicks: 17% (13)
Lisa Tucker: 3% (2)
Kevin Covais: 0% (0)
Elliott Yamin: 1% (1)
Kellie Pickler: 9% (7)
Ace Young: 3% (2)
Total Votes : 78

I thought Barry Manilow was really good. I think I’ll buy his cd for my Mom for Mother’s Day. She doesn’t read my blog, so I can say that

So, they went really fast through the back row, with everyone safe. That was fine, except Taylor was sitting in the front row. My thought process went something like this: Why is Taylor sitting in the front row? Why is Taylor sitting in the front row? Why is Taylor sitting in the front row? Why is Taylor sitting in the front row? I think you get the point.

Fortunately, they quickly said that Katharine and Taylor were safe. Phew!

That left, oddly enough, my ideal bottom three: Bucky Covington, Kevin Covais, and Lisa Tucker. Lisa was quickly sent back to her seat, leaving Bucky and Kevin.

At this point, I was sure that Bucky was going home. I thought that the Kevin fans would keep him in there at least a couple more weeks. But NO— tonight was his night. No more Kevin to kick around. Way to go, America!

I wish Kevin all the best. But I am glad that I won’t have to hear him sing this week. This way, I can like him for the sweet kid that I’m sure he is, rather than liking him less and less every week.

I was really shocked that Mandisa didn’t know who Barry Manilow was— didn’t know AT ALL? How is that possible? He’s Barry Manilow. Other than that, I thought Mandisa’s performance last night was her best yet. And is it just me, or has she lost weight?

I thought Bucky Covington sounded okay, but I did not really enjoy the performance of the song. Simon thought theperformance was “nothing more than a pointless karaoke performance.” I thought that was a bit harsh, but I agreed that it wasn’t that great a performance. I thought it was the weakest of the night.

I don’t really have anything additional to add about Paris Bennett’s performance. She was very good. Barry thought so, and the judges thought so.

I mentioned that I found Chris Daughtry’s performance a bit boring. I thought it was good. And I appreciate that Chris “knows who he is”, as Simon is so fond of saying. But I just think it’s kind of like hearing him sing the same song every week. I like a little more variety.

I thought Katharine McPhee’s song choice was not the best for her. Simon loved it and thought that she was “a star”. I hope, for Katharine’s sake, that my trend with the “I just don’t get what the judges are raving about” songs doesn’t hold true. I didn’t get the fuss over Melissa, and she went home. And I like Katharine, so I’d like to see her continue to be around.

I loved that Barry Manilow thought Taylor Hicks was one of the best male vocalists in the show. I agree, Barry, I agree. I think someone’s been working with Taylor. It was still unique but less spastic.

I don’t know what else to say about Lisa Tucker. It was a cute, decent performance. Unfortunately for her, there were many performances that were much better than that.

So, supposedly Kevin Covais just broke up with a long term girlfriend, and they’re still such great friends that they still talk every day, but he gives us the “Aw shucks, I’m just a sweet kid still waiting to fall in love” routine. Hmmm. Wonder how the ex-girlfriend feels to find out she’s not his first love. Or is this just more manipulation of his female fans? I do have to say that this week’s performance was better than last week, but honestly I just don’t see how anyone could think there were three performers that performed worse, so that Kevin should avoid the bottom three.

I thought that after Barry Manilow worked with Elliott Yamin that Elliott sounded a bit like Barry at the beginning of the song, in particular—not that that’s a bad thing. Why did Elliott look so different this week? I couldn’t really put my finger on exactly what was different, but something definitely looked different. Anyone have any ideas?

I was glad that Kellie Pickler was back to singing country. I thought it was a good performance. I’m partial to Patsy Cline singing Patsy Cline, so I didn’t think it was out of this world, but I thought it was good. She seemed stressed, though. Particularly when they first walked out. Is all of this just a bit too much for Kellie?

When Barry Manilow said that he’d encouraged Ace Young to sing in falsetto, I screamed “NOOOOOO!” at the television. What is up with falsetto in this year’s competition. I hate it. Ugh. But last night it was only the last note, and it was fine and appropriate. I should have known Barry wouldn’t be wrong. I find a disconnect between the sexy image they try to have Ace portray and what I think is his true personality. He seems painfully shy to me and when they to portray him as the Constantine of this year, I just don’t buy it.

SPEAKING OF CONSTANTINE….

Did you see him? It was the highlight of the show for me. It would only have been better if they let him sing.

Well, that’s the wrap up. I’ll be back tonight to share in the agony and exultation of elimination night. See you then.

I don’t have time to do my full write-up tonight, so I’ll just write the abridged version and update you with all the scoop tomorrow.

Mandisa was great, singing “I Don’t Hurt Anymore”.

Bucky’s “Oh Boy” was alright, but not fabulous.

Paris Bennett is a great singer, and she did a great job with “Fever”.

Don’t hate me, but I thought Chris Daughtry’s “I Walk the Line” was a bit boring. More on that tomorrow.

Katharine McPhee won the “were the judges watching the same show I was watching?” award tonight. I like Katharine a lot, but I thought tonight was one of her worst performances.

I love Taylor Hicks. You all know that. I thought tonight was a great performance but not a great song choice.

Lisa Tucker sang “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”, which should have been a great song for her, but it was a bit high school talent show for me. I mean, don’t get me wrong— she would have won the talent show by a mile, but I didn’t think it was fabulous.

Kevin Covais. Well, we’ll just have to discuss this tomorrow. For now, I’ll just say he sang “When I Fall in Love”, and his ex-girlfriend must be so glad to know he’s never had a true love before. Are we being played by “sweet” Kevin?

Elliott did a great job with “Teach Me Tonight.”

It was back to country music for Kellie Pickler, singing, “Walking After Midnight”, and thank goodness for that after last week.

The closing number was “In the Still of the Night” by Ace Young. It was alright— definitely better than last week.

So, who will be the bottom three this week?

My ideal bottom three: Bucky, Lisa, and Kevin.

My predicted bottom three: Bucky, Lisa, and Katharine.

I think Lisa may go home, although I think it probably should be Bucky (well, you all know I think it should be Kevin, but I don’t think that’s going to happen).

Who do you think will do best singing music from the 50s?
Katharine McPhee: 10% (4)
Kellie Pickler: 2% (1)
Lisa Tucker: 2% (1)
Mandisa: 7% (3)
Paris Bennett: 7% (3)
Ace Young: 7% (3)
Bucky Covington: 5% (2)
Chris Daughtry: 2% (1)
Elliott Yamin: 10% (4)
Kevin Covais: 5% (2)
Taylor Hicks: 40% (16)
Total Votes : 40

Tonight was Stevie Wonder night. I agreed with Randy’s assessment of tonight. He said he was really looking forward to it because he likes Stevie but was a little scared of how the performers were going to do.

Let me just say that I’m going to sum up Paula’s comments right here at the beginning. Of course, she loved everyone— except Kellie Pickler. She didn’t have a lot positive to say about that performance, which tells you a lot about how that performance went.

First up tonight was Ace Young, singing “Do I Do”. I had just written that it was “alright” when Randy said exactly the same thing, so I guess that summed it up.

Kellie Pickler sang “Blame it on the Sun”. She seemed to struggle with the song. I know it’s not her style music, but I mean she REALLY struggled with this song. The best part of the performance was her talking about her false eyelashes. It was really funny because I said I thought she sounded like Dolly Parton and then Simon said she LOOKED like Dolly Parton. So, I guess there was a Dolly Parton theme going on. Sweet Kellie— she apologized every time one of the judges said something negative to her, which means she apologized a lot.

I really expected Elliott Yamin, who sang “Knocks Me Off My Feet”, to do excellently. I thought he did well, but I’m not sure it was a fabulous performance. Randy said it was good but not Elliott’s best performance. Simon said it was the “best so far” but that it was “good, not incredible”.

Mandisa sang “Don’t You Worry About a Thing”. As usual, she delivered a really good performance. Simon summed up her performance with “now we have a competition.” I was really glad she took off her shoes (or had Ryan take them off), as I don’t think she would have performed nearly as well with them on.

I was really scared of Bucky Covington singing “Superstition”. I expected it to be really disastrous. But it wasn’t. It was actually qute good. Randy thought it was an enjoyable performance. Simon said it was one of Bucky’s best performances, but the “Jessica Simpson hair has got to go”.

Every week there’s a performance that I just wonder what the judges are listening to that I’m not hearing. Melissa McGhee’s performance of “Lately” was that performance this week. They loved it. I thought it was iffy, at best. She forgot the lyrics, and I just thought it was not very good.

Lisa Tucker sang “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”. Now, don’t get me wrong— I like Lisa Tucker. But usually I find her performances a little dull. Not this week. I really thought it was her best performance, to date. Simon thought it was one of the best of the night.

Kevin Covais. Hmmm. I usually really like to keep things positive, as much as possible. But the only thing I can say about “Part Time Lover” is “ugh”. Simon’s “appalling” pretty much summed it up for me.

Katharine McPhee had the first song that was liked unanimously by the judges (and me) when she sang “Til You Come Back to Me”. It was just a great performance. I’ve read on some other reality television boards that some people don’t like her voice. Are they nuts? These same people must be the ones who vote for Kevin Covais and who will probably force me to listen to Kevin (as nice as he might be) for weeks to come.

And then my favorite part of the evening— Taylor Hicks. I don’t really care what he sings. I wish he had gotten a chance to play the harmonica, as well. I’m clearly not the only one who loved his “Living for the City”, as he got a standing ovation. Randy called his performance “fearless”, and Simon gave the very definition on a backhanded compliment when he told Taylor that people liked him because he was like “every Dad who’s got drunk at a wedding and got up on a stage and sang. Except you can sing”. I don’t know how much truth there was to it, but Ryan said that the hairstylists wanted to color Taylor’s hair. They better not, or I may have to get a ticket to fly to California and hunt them down. They should just leave his hair alone. He’s just fine the way he is.

Paris Bennett sang “All I Do”. I thought this was a great performance. So did the judges. And I thought that they stylists did a good job of making her look more her age. She looked cute. She sang great. What more can I say?

As they often do, they saved the best for last (shhh, don’t tell Taylor I said that). But, truly, Chris Daughtry singing “Higher Ground” was the best performance of the night. It was a rock star tonight, and Simon was spot on when he said it was the “best tonight by a mile”. I don’t know about “by a mile”, but I will give him “best tonight”.

This was a very bipolar night. There were really good performances and really bad performances. The good performances were some of the best ever. The bad performances were some of the worst so far.

I hope you all were able to get through to vote for your favorites and that you’re happy with the results tomorrow.

This falls into the category of stories I hope are untrue. Kevin Covais’ ex-girlfriend has reported that they broke up to increase his appeal to female viewers. Apparently, they decided that if he was single more young girls would vote him. That sounds like 17 year old logic, if I ever heard it.

Okay, here’s the quick rundown of tonight’s show.

First up was Gedeon, singing “When a Man Loves a Woman”. I thought this was really good. Even Simon said that Gedeon was growing on him.

Chris sang a song that I’d never heard before— Seether’s “Broken” (am I getting old?) I thought the song was okay. Simon wasn’t crazy about it and said the song was boring. Randy replied (and I rewound this make sure I got the quote right), “Song may be boring, but you were great. It’ about you, not the song.” I’m sorry? Last night Ayla was criticized for choosing a 5 note song because “it’s a singer’s competition.” But it’s okay for Chris to choose a boring song? I don’t think so. I didn’t think the song was bad, but if we’re going to criticize the girls for being boring, let’s be fair when the guys perform boring songs.

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin… Oh, what to say? In his preview he talked about how Kanye West inspired his singing. Then he went on to sing “Starry, Starry Night”. Huh? Um, yeah, I can see the connection there. Didn’t Kanye West just remake that? Nobody really liked the song (even Clay couldn’t pull this one off), although Paula liked the performance (well, what else is new?) However, the “let’s be fair” pendulum swung the other way on this one when Simon accused Kevin of being “too juvenile”. Hasn’t he been harping away at the girls to sing younger songs?

Who knew Bucky had an identical twin? Well, now we all know that there’s Bucky— and then there’s Rocky. Bucky sang “Wave on Wave”. Again, this was a song I had never heard. I liked it. Everyone liked it okay, although Simon was, as usual, unimpressed.

Will sang “How Sweet it is to be Loved by You”. I really love this song, but I thought this performance was, well… Let me just tell you what I wrote down— “not good”. Randy’s comment? “Not good for me.” I guess that tells you how the performance went. Paula, of course, loved it (see comment on Kevin’s song). Now, don’t get me wrong. Will’s from The Woodlands, which makes him practically a hometown boy for me, and I’ve liked so many other things that he’s done, but this was really not good.

Taylor, oh Taylor! Love me some Taylor! Loved seeing him dressed as the Easter Bunny (which was his first job). Loved hearing him sing. Loved his weird, funky dancing he does. I thought his choice of song (Taking it to the Streets) was a little weird, but I still loved it. As for his dancing? I think Simon summed it up by saying that performance “could kill the music video industry”. That’s okay. Even Simon liked the song.

Elliot’s performance on American Idol is even more impressive when you learn that he has hearing loss in one ear. Tonight he sang Bryan Adam’s “Heaven”. I thought it was his worst performance, but still decent. Randy and Paula loved it. Simon thought it was a cop out.

Ace sang Michael Jackson’s “Butterflies”. To be fair, I’d never heard the song before. But let me just say I HATED this performance. I do not like that whole falsetto singing. I didn’t like it when Sway did it the first week. I didn’t like it this week. But the judges loved it! Maybe they were delirious. Maybe I just don’t get it. Whatever. I have not disagreed more with them since they raved over Sway’s first week performance.

So, that was the boys this week. I think Kevin and Will will probably go home. But you just never can tell how America will vote. As long as Taylor’s still in, I’ll be okay with whatever the decision is.