American Idol 6 News (Page 4)

Here's what Debra Byrd, vocal coach and arranger for American Idol, had to say about some show-related topics:

LaKisha Jones: "I think she's a wonderfully humble young lady. She carries herself very well, but quietly. They're all excited. She's excited, too.

My first encounter was she has to learn to speak less. I say that to all of them. This is more singing than they will do in their entire lives. We women can be very chatty.

You have to learn to be on vocal silence and rest your voice, so I told her to use voice mail and text messaging. Unless it's your mom and daughter, you don't have to speak to a lot of people.

The hardest thing for her to learn is how to conserve her voice. ... Kelly Clarkson had the exact same problem. You'd be in a room full of people and I could hear Kelly yelling over people. LaKisha has that same thing. She's learning to conserve and I applaud her. She's just great. Everybody's crazy about her."

Jennifer Hudson: "I used to say to Jennifer Hudson all that time that I knew she'd be perfect for that role (Effie in Dreamgirls, for which she won an Academy Award). Everything she did was loud and big.

The word I used with her was restraint. You don't have to sing to the top of the balcony every time you sing a song. You can pull it back. That's something Jennifer Hudson had to learn. LaKisha is learning that as well."

Gina Glocksen: "She has come into her own so magnificently. I love that girl for her perseverance alone. This is her fourth time trying out for American Idol. I love that girl so much. She works hard and it pays off. That girl has a big heart."

Sanjaya Malakar: "Sanjaya won't practice in front of his mom, which drives her crazy. She knows what her son is not; she knows how he won't present himself.

He says, 'I'm OK, I'll be fine.' He's not fine. We're watching him not be fine. I feel for her. These kids are not prepared. They think they are. They are not, but they don't get it."

Ashley Ferl, the American Idol uberfan, doesn’t use many words, but she doesn’t need to.

Whe talking about Sanjaya Malakar, little Ashley's tears speak for themselves.

“I just think he’s so phenomenal,” the 13-year old told Meredith Vieira on TODAY. “I just can’t believe I saw him live. It was like a dream come true.”

Vieira let Ashley know that the TODAY host knows what it’s like. When she was a girl, she confessed, she cried while watching the Beatles — especially Paul McCartney.

Dressed in an American Idol t-shirt and well-stressed jeans splitting at the knees, Ashley clasped her hands tightly against her knees as she talked about her passion for the popular FOX show and her transcendent joy at being able to attend Tuesday night’s show.

She had gotten tickets after attending a dress rehearsal and being moved to tears at meeting her favorite performer, Malakar, who has been critically abused, but has survived on youthful good looks and androgynous charisma.

Asked whether she felt her tears had helped Sanjaya survive, she replied, “I have no idea.”

Her mom, Stacy, had no fewer reservations, saying, “I think it may have had something to do with it.”

Winning the hearts — and votes — of little girls
Stacy Ferl says her daughter is a typical American girl, and it is true that the core audience for Idol is kids at the cusp of pubescence. “I would say her room is half ‘SpongeBob’ and half American Idol, ” Stacy said.

Ashley votes often for her favorite Idol, but she said she also votes for “Melinda Doolittle, Gina Glocksen and Jordin Sparks.”

Though she would love to be on the show herself some day, her mother says Ashley isn’t a singer, and, the girl admitted, “I probably wouldn’t make it far.”

What stood out most at the American Idol auditions Tuesday night? It may not have been the singers.

A little girl named Ashley would not strop crying. FOX cameras would not stop showing her. The young fan even got to hug Sanjaya Malakar.

Just who was she? Her name is Ashley Ferl, she's 13 years old and the LA Times caught up with her after the show:

The family obtained tickets on a website to attend a taping of Smarter Than a 5th Grader, a day passage that included not just the taping of the show itself, but also the dress rehearsal of either Grader or Idol. The fates were kind, and the mother and daughter found their way to the Idol rehearsal, where Ashley’s waterworks began. Her prowess was quickly brought to the attention of producers, who summoned the clan to a ringside seat of honor at the final taping.

Her powers of speech slowly returning, Ashley revealed that while she was on stage she had been thinking that “this was the coolest thing ever.”

Asked whom she was supporting in the competition she named “Sanjaya, Melinda, Gina and Jordin” as her picks, refusing to narrow her vote down to a single choice. It didn't matter how much the reporter probed, Ashley repeated her mantra: “All Four: Sanjaya, Melinda, Gina and Jordin.”

And so the race begins in earnest, with tears at every step of the way.

We weren't surprised that Brandon Rogers went home last night. Starting the show, as he did Tuesday night, by forgetting lyrics and seeming generally bored is never a good sign. Brandon never seemed to capture the audience's heart.

The same certainly cannot be said for Sanjaya Malakar.

He was stuck in the bottom three contestants, but will return next week to anger the judges - along with any viewer that isn't tone deaf.

The final singer that was in danger of heading home was Phil Stacey. Again, hard to be shocked by this one. While a strong enough vocalist, Stacey lacks charisma ... and has a slightly frightening look that involves a bald head andwide, bug eyes.

But the man is safe for at least one more week. We'll see if he can rise up and threaten any of the finalists Tuesday night, similar to how Jordin Sparks did this week.

Thanks to USA Today for this in-depth look at the much-talked about American Idol surprise this season ...

The show will be adapted to become a two-night special (April 24 and 25) called Idol Gives Back. It's described as a special "raising awareness and funds for organizations that provide relief programs to help children and young people in extreme poverty in American and Africa."

On the 24th, the usual Tuesday performance show will feature the remaining six finalists singing songs "that can be considered 'Life Anthems' ... all the songs performed will be about compassion and hope." Viewers will cast their votes as usual, but show sponsors Coca-Cola and AT&T, along with other contributors, will donate money to the Chairty Projects Entertainment Fund, which will distribute funds to Save the Children and other U.S. organizations dealing with poverty in this country.

CPEF will also distribute proceeds to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and other organizations involved with health and education programs in Africa.

The Wednesday (25) results show will be expanded to two hours (8-10 p.m. ET live/PT taped), adding a ton of entertainment, including Gwen Stefani, Josh Groban, Pink, Michael Buble, Annie Lennox, Il Divo and Borat Sagdiyev (aka Sacha Baron Cohen). Viewers will be encouraged to make their own donations on toll-free lines and the Internet, and the funds will be distributed similarly.

The charitable effort is a spinoff of the U.K.'s Red Nose Day, which according to the press release has raised $820 million via the BBC. Red Nose co-founder Richard Curtis, director of Notting Hill, Love Actually and other films, worked on Live 8 with Bono, who lent a quote for this occasion:

Said Bono: "We'll see worlds collide when Africa appears on America's most-watched TV show. This is a big deal, a little bit of pop history ... I wouldn't underestimate the reach of this show or the impact its audience can have."

Why does Rosie O'Donnell use her platform as host of The View for such misguided purposes?

She blasted American Idol before the season began because it supposedly took advantage of two special education contestants ... even though the Special Olympics actually lauded Simon Cowell for the way he handled these cases.

Now, Rosie has called the show racist and weight-ist because it has allowed Antonella Barba to remain, despite having kicked out Frenchie Davis for similar photos a few years ago. Apparently no one told O'Donnell that the top two women at the moment - Lakisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle - are African-American and not exactly thin.

Nigel Lythgoe, the series producer, responded:

"Without wishing to add to the obvious self-promotion of Ms. O'Donnell, I feel as though I must refute her absurd and ridiculous claims that 'American Idol' is racist and/or weightist.

"Ms. O'Donnell has, once again, spoken without thought or knowledge. Viewers need only look at the show tonight to realize that American Idol constantly confirms to America that talent has nothing to do with weight or color."

We agree completely.

Chuck Ross is editorial director at TelevisionWeek. He recently sat down for an interview with American Idol executive producer, Ken Warwick. It took place before the most recent round of cuts.

Mr. Ross: First off I have to say I was a little worried after last week that this was going to be a route with the women, but the men really stepped up this week.
Mr. Warwick: Yeah, well to be absolutely honest, it does happen quite often that the first show of these weeks is terrifying for the kids. It's the first time they've walked out on a television studio, they know there's 30 million people watching them, you've got all those cameras looking at them, they know that Simon's going to step it up this week; so they come out and the truth of the matter is the first show, whether it's boys or girls, it always a bit rocky. And whoever is on the second night, they've had a bit more chance to get used to it; they know what to expect.

So invariably, whoever's on first, comes back the second week. They know where the benchmark is and they know they've got to throw caution to the wind a little bit and not be too safe and just go for it. And that's what the boys did a little bit this week; they were unbelievably better than they were last week.

Mr. Ross: It was like night and day, beginning with the very first singer, which was Phil Stacey. And it's interesting: Randy and Paula come alive; unfortunately Simon was not too impressed this week.
Mr. Warwick: Well he has weeks like that, doesn't he? I thought Phil was very good. It's difficult when the first singer comes on because you've got nothing to compare it with. If you say it's fabulous and then the next person comes on and blows you away, then you've got little place to go. So Simon's always a little bit cautious with the first singer.

Mr. Ross: Next came Jared Cotter with a great Marvin Gaye song, and again I don't think the judges were too impressed. I loved his comeback though when Simon said that it reminded him of "Love Boat" and he said, "Well, I would've been a great 'Love Boat.'"
Mr. Warwick: [Laughs] I have to say I did think he was an awful lot better than he was last week. I wasn't impressed with him last week, but not only did he sing well, but he looked good this week.

Mr. Ross: Another person I thought was definitely better this week was AJ, and I think the judges agreed that he really did do a much better job this week.
Mr. Warwick: He did. He was a lot more comfortable with his song, wasn't he? Yeah, he's got a good voice; he has got a good voice.

Mr. Ross: Next we had Sanjaya Malakar who sort of slowed it down, and I think he had a little bit of trouble this week. He's only 17 years old and I think it was tough for him.
Mr. Warwick: Yeah, it was tough for him. He sang a song that really was probably not the best for him and his style; he went retro on us, he put his Frank Sinatra hat on. And Simon said that he looked like a kid that was dressing up for his mom and dad. And that unfortunately was how it came over a little bit to be honest. But he's a good-looking boy, and the girls love him, so who know what's going to happen.

Mr. Ross: Next we came to Chris, and I think Chris really stepped up to the plate this week. I think he did a song that really reminded us why he's on the show.
Mr. Warwick: Chris Sligh we're talking about, yeah?

Mr. Ross: Yes.
Mr. Warwick: Yeah, he did a song that Taylor did last year: "Trouble." And to be honest with you, I liked it better than I liked Taylor's version.

Mr. Ross: Blake Lewis I thought was interesting for reasons that really surprised me. Simon did not like his singing and thought it was sort of a copy-cat, but I thought he did a real good job again this week.
Mr. Warwick: So did I. And you've got to remember that a majority of the public won't know that song very well, and he did put it over well. He was good; he performed well even though he kind of mixed a scat in with his scratch stuff in the middle, boogie box stuff, but I thought he was good. I really enjoyed it.

Mr. Ross: Then next we had Brandon Rogers doing the "Time After Time" song and that was a tough one for him.
Mr. Warwick: Well and for a couple of weeks he sang songs that, to be honest, are below him. He's got a great voice, he knows how to sing, he's got a great face, he does really communicate with that camera and all he's got to do is find the right song and then I think he's going to be a surprise. But he hasn't done it yet for me.

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Wow. Our first surprising results are upon us.

While the exit of Alaina Alexander didn't come as a shock to many, who pegged AJ Tabaldo as a candidate to be given the boot? We were impressed by his enthusiasm Tuesday night. Guess America was not.

Before mentioning the others to be voted out, we'd like to give props to Kellie Picker for a fine rendition of her song, "I Wonder." It's current number-42 on the radio charts. Maybe this performance will give it a boost.

Meanwhile, we know he looks nice and everything - but Sanjaya Malakar simply has NO business being around. His audition this week was humiliating. Do people really wish to see this seemingly gentle soul be torn to bits again next week by the judges?

Nick Pedro was certainly more impressive and we're sad to see him go. Alas, we're actually glad Antonella Barba remains in the competition. Sorry, Leslie Hunt, we do like you - but Antonella has been through so much already. Let's give her at least one more chance.

At the 79th Annual Academy Awards last night, Jennifer Lopez could not contain her excitement. No, neither she or husband Marc Anthony were up for any Oscars.But Jenny from the Block will be appearing on American Idol in April.

"I’m very excited about it," Lopez told Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet. "[American Idol] is one of our favorite shows. We TiVo it and are watching the early auditions."

The singer was mum on specific details about her Idol itinerary, but did reveal that she will perform.

Lopez's American Idol stint comes on the heels of a promotional tour for her first ever Spanish language album, "Como Ama Una Mujer" ("How a Woman Loves"), which hits stores April 3.

While Antonella Barba photos dominate the news, Entertainment Weekly recently caught up with the four American Idol contestants that are no longer making headlines.

That's because they were voted off the show last week. But let's listen to what Paul Kim, Rudy Cardenas, Amy Krebs and Nicole Tranquillo have to say about their experiences:

PAUL KIM:

So Paul, you've done more than your share of interviews today... Are you so over the bare feet thing?
Yeah, it has gotten a little old. It's turned into some type of gimmick, which it was never supposed to be. That's just me being me, and people think I was trying to get extra votes that way, and I wasn't at all! I've been doing it for, like, five years. But it was cool to see [Ryan Seacrest] do it, too.

Now that you've had a chance to sleep on it, do you regret choosing ''Careless Whisper''?
Yeah, I do. Honestly, it wasn't what I wanted to do. It was sixth on my list of songs. My first choice was Donnie Hathaway, ''I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know,'' but my top five songs didn't clear and so I had to go with option number 6. I wasn't really comfortable with it and on top of that, I got sick and had to lower the key half a step, which made it kind of boring. But I have no excuses. I just didn't sing as well as I should have, that's why I went home. I'm really mad at myself for that, but I did try.

What was ailing you?
I have bronchitis and a sinus infection and was actually quarantined at a different hotel because they didn't want me to get anybody else sick. I have no clue how I got it, must've been lack of sleep or stress. I only slept an hour last night.

You were very passionate about wanting to represent Asian singers on American Idol. Do you feel your mission was accomplished?
I'm not trying to get political or anything, it's just that we're stereotyped a certain way in the media — where people think all Asian guys wear glasses and are unathletic and really nerdy — that really bothered me. William Hung was shown over and over again, and at first I thought it was funny, but then it got to the point where it started getting embarrassing. That really irked me, and I was out to prove that that's not what we look like, it's not who we are as a whole. So I just wanted to bring something new to the table, and hopefully I did do that.

RUDY CARDENAS:

Do you feel like you were at a disadvantage being the first of 12 performers?
I didn't really think about that going in. I just wanted to grab America and be like, ''This is going to kick ass!'' Was it too much? Maybe, but I just wanted to give my all and sing from the heart. I did the best I could. Four people have to go, what are you going to do?

You're a musician, too. Was the group performance hard for you to handle?
It was a little cheesy for my taste, and it's funny that Randy used the word corny for my performance. But that's the thing I love about the show. Obviously, they're doing something right — American Idol is the biggest show to ever air on TV. It may be a little corny, but it's also so much fun!

Have you gotten calls from the people who turned down your band for gigs?
It's funny, my band had to get a sub and is on the road right now without me, and we actually have gotten those calls. Both saying, ''If Rudy's not going to be there, we don't want you anymore'' or ''Hey, I take back what I said, I do want to book you.'' So it goes both ways. But I feel super blessed to be in this position. it's just sad I had to leave a little early.

Amy Krebs: 

Your song choice, ''I Can't Make You Love Me,'' turned out to be prophetic, huh?
Yeah. I wish that Paula would've stuck up for me a little bit more because she has in the past. But to have all three judges sort of say the same thing was a huge eye-opener for me. As much as the criticism was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to take, it definitely made me take a look at something that I've always struggled with, which is trying to fit in somewhere and feeling comfortable in my own skin.

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