Michael Giltz: American Idol -- Hollywood Week Ratings Down But Strong http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/emamerican-idolem----holl_b_163935.html [4/5/2009 12:32:16 PM] APRIL 5, 2009 HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY 23/6 VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE Make HuffPost Your HomePage Get Email Alerts Twitter: Follow Us BIG NEWS : Angelina Jolie | Madonna | Chris Brown & Rihanna | Paul McCartney | More...</p><p> LOG IN | SIGN UP Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur Posted February 4, 2009 | 12:36 PM (EST) BIO Become a Fan Get EmailAlerts Bloggers'Index American Idol -- Hollywood Week Ratings Down But Strong Read More: American Idol , Paula Abdul , Pop Music , Randy Jackson , Reality TV, Ryan Seacrest , Simon Cowell , Entertainment News OK, so I didn't post last week for two good reasons: my computer collapsed again (I spent somuch time at the Apple Store, they should havepaid me an hourly wage) and I headed downsouth to Alabama for my mom's 80th birthdayparty.</p><p> Guess what? Old people tend not to havewireless networks in their home and theStarbucks in Birmingham closes really early.</p><p> Myquick impression of last week was that we saw afew more successful auditions (in short bursts)but quite a few questionable people got through.</p><p> Hollywood Week continued that trend.</p><p> According to Marc Berman of MediaWeek , the overnight ratings for the Tuesday Idol were solid: the show scored a 14.0 rating.</p><p> Ratings have yo-yo'd all overthe place this season.</p><p> Last week (with three episodes) reached 24-26 million people and wenthigher than the equivalent week last year.</p><p> But last night's show reached about 26.3 million people(per Hollywood Reporter ), which is about 25% lower than the first night of Hollywood Week last season (which came a week later and scored a 17.3 rating).</p><p> Still it's growth over last week and lastweek was bigger than the week before.</p><p> American Idol is the #1 show on TV.</p><p> Lots of news: the Top 36 people competing for the Final 12 slots has possibly leaked online.</p><p> Checkout the Huffington Post link here or go directly to the NY Post, which has a nice run-down of the entertainment careers of some of the contestants, including stints on Nashville Star, roles as childactors, recording of CDs on their own and so on.</p><p> We've got to accept that anyone driven enough toget to Hollywood Week on Idol probably HASN'T been sitting at home in their bedroom: peoplewho want to be stars claw their way to the top and Idol won't always be their first stop.</p><p> Vote ForThe Worst.com has the complete alleged list.</p><p> Ken Levine didn't even watch the episode but groaned anyway.</p><p> Entertainment Weekly's Michael Slezak has a great suggestion: why not make the final cut to the Top 36 a live episode rather than taping it weeks in advance? That way there would be no chance of the info leaking out.</p><p> And it's still Be the First to Submit This Story to Digg Get Breaking News Alerts Share Print Comments never spam Popular Stories on HuffPost Fashion Face-Off! Michelle Obama And Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Finally Meet In France (VIDEO, PHOTOS, POLL) *Video, poll and slideshow Levi Johnston TalksSafe Sex With Tyra Banks (VIDEO) ***UPDATE*** 8:30pm: People.com is reporting that Sarah Palin has issued...</p><p> Oscar de la Renta Slams Michelle Obama's Buckingham Outfit As Major Designers FeelIgnored While Michelle Obamahas made lesser...</p><p> Verena von Pfetten 7 Lessons To BeLearned From Carla Bruni So here's the thing.There's no shortage of articles dedicated to thatcertain je ne...</p><p> Huff TV Arianna Discusses MichelleObama's "Fantastic" Style On CBS' Farrah Fawcett Is Hospitalized Madonna Tot's Dad Found: 'At Last I Can Be Part Of Mercy's Life' Reality Show Choreographer Accused Of Raping 4 Michael Giltz: American Idol -- Hollywood Week Ratings Down But Strong http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/emamerican-idolem----holl_b_163935.html [4/5/2009 12:32:16 PM] Michelle Obama's Clothing Has Sean Hannity All Out OfSorts Richard Poplawski, Gunman'Lying In Wait,' Kills 3Pittsburgh Police Officers Reality Star Jade Goody Buried In Lavish...</p><p> Robert De Niro Nanny Sues For $40,000 Demi Moore's Twitter-Based Suicide Intervention Anti-Chris Brown Song Hits Radiosnot too late for Idol to take advantage of the intertubes: as soon as the Top 36 is official, maybe THEN they could post all their auditions online so we can check out the ones who haven't receivedairtime.</p><p> Go to the official Idol forums and champion this idea.</p><p> My biggest complaint about Hollywood Week is that I still feel like there are loads of people I don'tknow yet.</p><p> The judges cut 147 people down to 104.</p><p> No one was cut that seemed deserving to go on(keeping in mind that we didn't see performances by most of them).</p><p> But some that did get throughseemed highly questionable.</p><p> What did you think of: Nathaniel Marshall -- an 18 year old emo kid with lots of tats and a sensitive soul who sang an obscure song called "The Anchor Holds" and broke down crying while defending his song choice.</p><p> By the way, I disagree with Paula when she criticized the song because it didn't have a broad range to show off his voice.</p><p> Does every song have to cover three octaves? Can't someone deliver a great performance of a song with a modest range? To me, the range of the song wasn't the problem -- the fact that it made little impact was.</p><p> Rose Flack -- sang a very flat, uninteresting take on "(Sittin' On The) Dock Of The Bay." Von Smith -- the cute guy who over-emoted facially and made Simon wince and declare it "indulgent nonsense." (In this case, the other three judges were right, I think.) Jamar Rogers -- the buddy of Robert Downey Jr lookalike and superior singer Danny Gokey, Jamar sang "California Dreamin'" and left me cold again.</p><p> Katrina Darrell -- the bikini girl who delivered an extremely modest version of Faith Hill's "Breathe" and while it's amusing to see the gals get annoyed by Simon and Randy champion her, it would be more amusing if they didn't also put her through.</p><p> Emily (I missed her last name) -- the cool-looking punker who had a bold song choice she rehearsed endlessly and then "panicked" and chose a really boring song she hadn't rehearsed a whit and delivered a poor performance of it to boot.</p><p> Nick Mitchell aka Norman -- the guy who dons a headband and dorks around in a "fake" persona.</p><p> This has to be the most annoying send-through of them all.</p><p> Nick camped his wqy through "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and if he were auditioning for a sketch comedy show, I'd sayhe was fine and shameless.</p><p> Paula said it would be nice if he actually just sang a song.</p><p> You think?Perhaps the reason is -- duh -- he isn't memorable as just a singer.</p><p> And this is a SINGINGcompetition.</p><p> So why didn't the judges applaud him for being amusing (not to me, mind you) andsend him on his way? What did you think of these performers geting through? Were there any others you found questionable? Anyone who impressed you more than with their original audition? (I found oilrigger guy Jeremy Michael Sarver to be better the second time around.) And ain't YouTube great?Does Von Smith out-sing Lil Rounds on the Dreamgirls showstopper "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going?" And how long before we hear Adam Lambert sing the Gnarls Barkley tune "Crazy" on air? See you tomorrow.</p><p> More in Entertainment...</p><p> HuffPost Stories Surging Right Now "Washington Unplugged" Arianna was on CBS' "Washington...</p><p> Alex Leo The "Real Housewives Of New York City" Flowchart Of Hate I'm a little embarrassed tolove this show as much as... "BRUNO" TRAILER! Calamity, African Babies, ChaseScenes And More (NSFW VIDEO) IT'S HERE! 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John Demjanjuk, Ohio ManAccused Of Being NaziGuard, Avoids Deportation Comments 9 Pending Comments 0 Ads by Google Official Ford Site Tour the New 2010 Ford Fusion.</p><p> Get Photos, Specs and More. www.FordVehicles.com/Fusion Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to View Comments: Newest First Expand All bbbtmenw See Profile I'm a Fan of bbbtmenw permalink One more thing or ten- WHO IS THAT NEW JUDGE? What other reality show was she dragged from, was she one of the crazy ex-Idol rejects, or is it in her contract that she has to keep kissing and kissing up to Paula? AND Ryan Seacrest has a "Girlfriend"? Was this a typo on E! ? bbbtmenw See Profile I'm a Fan of bbbtmenw permalink The fix was in already.</p><p> The picks were made.</p><p> Several "cuties" were passed through just for their looks (Oh, mister musicals boy with the big mouth and weird facial expressions), their previous audition (Nonot bikini girl), their family stories for publicity (dead wife/new "buddy" and the Osmand "don't you haveyour own IN to getting a contract 'cause your family has been in the business for YEARS" who has ahealth problem with seizures boy), less on performance (many of the favored blew their auditions), andthen there were the quotas (oops, we already have three cute darkish Mexican/Latin olive skin looking guys, we can't pass through another), and then the crazy heavy older psycho and the stripper-esque "Paris Hilton" girl to keep the crazy interview cycle alive.</p><p> I am not trying to sound prejudice or judgmental on the family or health issue candidates.</p><p> I am judging the judges.</p><p> Don't eliminate those who are good just because you have too many of one look, don't passthrough someone you know is WRONG, and what about your previous rules and statements.</p><p> If theydidn't listen to you about not crying, begging, or picking a decent song and totally blowing it, why passthem through? I am sure sad and happy that my roommate DVRs the program.</p><p> Sad, 'cause I end up seeing each one.</p><p> Happy that I can skim through it and then feel better when I press DELETE and get rid of one moreepisode.</p><p> Guitarsandmore See Profile I'm a Fan of Guitarsandmore permalink Don't you know it is against God's law to worship idols? Change the name of the show to Americansinger or American performer or American Rock Star - something like that....</p><p> Women's Rights Michelle Obama Europe Newspapers Cars War Wire Video Financial Crisis Barack Obama MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » Books by this author A cabin of one's own: New England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine) by Michael Giltz Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein.</p><p> In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine) by Michael Giltzlove it for a reason like being green! FastCompany...</p><p> HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES www.TheGodMovie.com Ads by Goooooogle Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:20 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 06:19 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 05:09 PM on 02/04/2009This Blogger's Books from Michael Giltz: American Idol -- Hollywood Week Ratings Down But Strong http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/emamerican-idolem----holl_b_163935.html [4/5/2009 12:32:16 PM] Comments are closed for this entrymozvell See Profile I'm a Fan of mozvell permalink I must say that American Idol is really missing the point.</p><p> This is a singing competition, and though the auditions are supposed to drive the ratings (at least I assume that's why they air so many ridiculous auditions) they could, at least, air more of the Hollywood performances.</p><p> I would like to see why these people made it this far, and more importantly, why those who were cut were sent home.</p><p> I feel likeHollywood Week should be moving us into the main course of the show, but again we're beingbombarded with unnecessary back story.</p><p> If they insist on airing the back story of the contestants, whynot show more of the "boot camp" footage to get an idea of how they prepared for Round 1.</p><p> I'm reallyinterested to see Emily's performance of her original song choice since they aired the commendationshe received from the "boot camp" counselors.</p><p> Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink I agree 100 percent.</p><p> I'd love to see boot camp -- hey Idol, more stuff to post online!Remember, they've reduced Hollywood Week to one week and just a few hours so they canrealistically only show so much.</p><p> But why waste the footage? put it online.</p><p> And I'd much rather see an emphasis on the work they due to perform then backstories of people and bad auditions and tantrums.</p><p> Furry1968 See Profile I'm a Fan of Furry1968 permalink Glad to see you back Michael! I was worried last week, all I had to capsule was Slezak"s thoughts! I dototally agree about posting the 36 online because last night there was so little to savor and so little timeto do so " I had to pause the TiVo to look at the line and see if any of my early favorites were there.(Note " please de-glam Mr.</p><p> Lambert " he looked just fine before!).</p><p> It would help if we at home had ascorecard! I have been avoiding the leak, so thanks for not commenting.</p><p> So far I like the waif Rose, butthe dirty feet need to go! Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink I think maybe Lambert likes the glam.</p><p> Look how sexy/glamy he is on that YouTube video.</p><p> Butyeah, I liked his more casual appearance better too.</p><p> And Rose is interesting.</p><p> Thanks forposting. billsmith77 See Profile I'm a Fan of billsmith77 permalink Why don't you report about this?http://americanidolexposed.weebly.com/ Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink Well, Bill, I wasn't familiar with that website.</p><p> I'll bookmark it and keep it in line.</p><p> I waswondering if the Osmond contestant we saw was one of THE Osmonds.</p><p> Good to knowthough I don't think it's a scandal that Simon worked with Marie Osmond.</p><p> We've seen plentyof people auditioning who were relatives of celebs or Idol contestants.</p><p> And none of themhave won.</p><p> The winners have all been relative unknowns. (Though Kelly had done demo workand I think had a CD, Taylor Hicks had a CD he did himself and released in Alabama etc.)There's just very little chance that someone who NEVER performed anywhere (no band, noTV, no local theater, no self-recorded album) would suddenly at 21 walk into an audition and be a complete unknown.</p><p> I definitely prefer the folks who haven't had a major label push behind their debut album to those who have so I hear where you're coming from.</p><p> You must be logged in to reply to this comment.</p><p> Log in or Ads by Google Official Ford Site Tour the New 2010 Ford Fusion.</p><p> Get Photos, Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 02:37 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:05 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 01:43 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:06 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:58 PM on 02/04/2009 Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:09 PM on 02/04/2009Michael Giltz: American Idol -- Hollywood Week Ratings Down But Strong http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/emamerican-idolem----holl_b_163935.html [4/5/2009 12:32:16 PM] HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING GREEN STYLE WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY FUNDRACE ARCHIVE Advertise | Login | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Jobs | FAQ: Comments & Moderation | FAQ: Huffpost Accounts | Contact Us Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | Archive | User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type Specs and More. www.FordVehicles.com/Fusion
