Posted Nov 24th 2009 11:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Judges, Reality-Free
If you don't already know her story, get ready to hear all about it. On December 13, the
TV Guide Network will present a Susan Boyle special. An hour all about the unlikely Scottish singing sensation.
I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story is a one-hour documentary/interview/performance special chronicling the rise of the
Britain's Got Talent performer who became a You Tube phenom and has just released her first CD.
American Idol's Simon Cowell is the mastermind behind this production, which will also be broadcast in England on the ITV1. It'll have celebrity interviews including Simon himself, footage of Susan's hometown, her TV appearances till now, and -- naturally -- Susan singing songs from
I Dreamed A Dream, the new CD.
Continue reading Coming soon: the Susan Boyle TV special
Posted Nov 13th 2009 9:24PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
If
Kara DioGuardi has her way, she and Ellen DeGeneres will be hitting it off like franks and beans, peanut butter and jelly, frick and frack... two peas in a pod. At at an industry conference in New York, Kara was
musing about the upcoming season of American Idol in which DioGuardi and DeGeneres will be sharing the judges' table together -- with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, of course.
"I'm hoping the chemistry with Ellen will be great -- and a great start to the season," said Kara.
With that in mind, Kara's going to sleep on the couch at Ellen's house until they're bosom buddies. ...Kidding! But Kara will try to spend some time with Ellen during December when they both have some time off from their busy schedules.
Continue reading American Idol's Kara DioGuardi on Paula and Ellen
Posted Oct 11th 2009 2:45PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, Casting
Have you wondered why
American Idol's recently debenched judge Paula Abdul has yet to land somewhere? You know, as a TV personality, it seemed like after her tweet that she was not returning to the show, she was hit with an avalanche of offers... and then nothing. No dancing show. No
talk show. Just rumors. Okay, there was the
VH1 Divas thing and a guest appearance on
Drop Dead Diva, but nothing substantial.
Now, Ms. Abdul herself has hinted that there's yet a new possibility for her. She again used Twitter which is cheaper than a publicist.
Paula sort of attached herself to The X Factor. The British musical competition show is coming to America next year if Simon Cowell can work out the deal. Paula may be part of that package. Paula tweeted:
"Hey guys, I'm having a great time in London. Going to watch x factor rehearsals now. So excited! Almost the weekend!!!! Xoxo"Continue reading Will Paula Abdul join Simon Cowell on The X Factor?
Posted Sep 24th 2009 5:26PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Pickups and Renewals, Judges, Alumni, News and Gossip
Simon Cowell's
The X-Factor has been a huge in the UK for several years now; that's where we got Leona Lewis. Due to his contract with
American Idol, he hasn't been able to bring it to the US. FOX feared the increased competition from a similar singing competition might hurt their juggernaut.
Now that Cowell is in the final year of his current contract, open negotiations to keep him on
Idol are including
talks of bringing The X-Factor to FOX. If
So You Think You Can Dance continues to underperform in the fall,
The X-Factor might be a logical replacement, pushing
SYTYCD back to the summer.
Continue reading Simon Cowell may bring The X-Factor to FOX after all
Posted Sep 17th 2009 5:35PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
The past few seasons have seen some controversy about some
American Idol contestants. Particularly in the case of Carly Smithson who'd already had a major label deal. People want their American Idol to be an unknown. Some waitress plucked from Texas or something.
Now that Kara DioGuardi's sticking around on TV's top show, she wants to have her own reality show. Everybody else on the panel has side projects. So
DioGuardi is shopping around a show she's developed called Dropped. The idea is simple: grab the best acts that have been dumped by their labels and give them a second chance to make it big. America loves second chances, right
Biggest Loser?
What a great idea. There are a lot of talented artists who got dropped by labels because of poor sales on an initial CD, or just differences in creative direction before they even got that far.
Continue reading Kara DioGuardi thinks Dropped artists deserve a second chance
Posted Sep 10th 2009 4:28PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, News and Gossip
If the news that
Ellen DeGeneres was going to become a judge on American Idol had broken a year ago, I would have been totally psyched. Hopefully she would replace Paula, and bring some much-needed humor to the show (humor that isn't mean-spirited or
allegedly pill-addled, that is). But now that Ellen will be the new fourth judge on Idol, the news comes as somewhat as a disappointment.
I've been a huge fan of Ellen since her stand-up days, so I'm all for her showing up anywhere. I also think her purpose of bringing a "fan's perspective" to the show is a good idea on the producers' part. But does Paula need to be the only judge Ellen replaces?
Continue reading Can Ellen replace another American Idol judge too?
Posted Sep 10th 2009 2:07PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Sports, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, Casting
Now regular Squad hoppers know I'm no drooling
American Idol watcher, so maybe you think my opinions on this show are worth less than the U.S. dollar injected with swine flu.
But this move to bring in Ellen DeGeneres, a talk show host, actress and comedian, screams of another move in the world of TV commentating. A move that seemed well reasoned enough but went down in a glorious ball of blue and orange flames on live television.
Comedian and long time TV fixture
Dennis Miller's very short stint as the color commentator for ABC's
Monday Night Football screams of similarities louder than that guy in the Edvard Munch painting watching the Orson Welles sex tape. Great, Miller's voice is back in my head again. Thanks cha cha, I mean, Ellen.
Continue reading Idol's Ellen DeGeneres decision sounds eerily similar to MNF's Dennis Miller manuever
Posted Sep 9th 2009 9:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
There is big news in the world of television tonight. Multiple Emmy winner and talk show host
Ellen DeGeneres has joined American Idol as a judge. She will essentially be the permanent replacement for Paula Abdul, so if any of you were holding out hope that Paula was standing by to resume her post, forget about it.
The bigger story here is that a star of Ellen's stature, someone who has high visibility and is beloved by the public, has decided to become a member of America's number one rated prime time show.
Ellen DeGeneres on
American Idol as a guest star would be a rating boost, so it's safe to say that her weekly presence will ensure that
Idol's numbers will continue to be top of the chart.
Continue reading American Idol shocker: Ellen DeGeneres replacing Paula...permanently
Posted Sep 8th 2009 2:32PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Judges, Reality-Free
Oh sure, now that she's not there anymore, they miss her. Sounds like a familiar story, but this is
American Idol.
Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell are missing Paula Abdul at the judge's table. They're in the midst of the audition process, using guest judges like
Neil Patrick Harris and
Kristin Chenoweth, and Randy confessed that he's looked over for Paula during the process and wondered, "Where's my P?"
Simon, who seems to have a lexicon all his own, said that he misses Paula, too. But in his bizarre way with words, he compared the new
Idol atmosphere as different, like "comparing a carrot to a banana."
Continue reading So now Simon and Randy miss Paula
Posted Sep 2nd 2009 4:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, News and Gossip, Casting
I'm not a giant fan of guest judges on
American Idol. I don't mind when musicians come in during the later rounds to mentor the contestants, but guest judges during auditions just kind of throw off the dynamic of the judging. However, recent judges like
Kristen Chenoweth and
Neil Patrick Harris are awesome enough that I totally don't mind them showing up.
Avril Lavigne and
Katy Perry? Well, that's an entirely different story.
FOX has announced that the "I Kissed a Girl" singer will be guest-judging the final two days of the Los Angeles auditions along with Lavigne, who from what I remember from 2003, is an angry Canadian. If I was asked to think of two people that I would enjoy watching less, I would be hard-pressed to come up with anyone. Wait, okay.
Heidi and Spencer Pratt would be worse, but that's just a given, right?
Continue reading American Idol tries to annoy me to death with guest judges
Posted Sep 2nd 2009 8:33AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Talk Show, Judges, Reality-Free
Paula Abdul needs some career advice. In the wake of her departure from
American Idol, the sometime choreographer/occasional singer and QVC pitch woman has been rumored to be doing all kinds of TV projects. Most have turned out to be rumors and nothing more, but in an interview with
TV Guide, Paula said there is a TV dream she covets.
Paula Abdul would like to host a TV talk show.
I can't imagine a worse TV vehicle for Paula, especially the kind of talk show she envisions. She said, "It would be a lot of fun variety with a ton of unexpected stuff and tributes to everyday people getting their big chance."
That sounds perfectly cloying, especially if you assume that Paula will be pretty much herself, pretty much like she was on
American Idol, which was uncritical, sweet, gentle and pleasantly unfocused.
Continue reading Could Paula Abdul thrive as a talk show host?
Posted Aug 27th 2009 10:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, Celebrities, Judges
Could the departure of Paula Abdul from
American Idol actually result in a revitalization and renewal of the Fox monster hit? I ask that question because in the past couple of days, guest judges have been announced to sit in Paula's place and I'm absolutely psyched by the choices. The other day it was
How I Met Your Mother star
Neil Patrick Harris. Today,
Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth has been snagged as an American Idol guest judge. She's currently filming auditions in Orlando, Florida.
Continue reading Kristin Chenoweth on board as American Idol guest judge
Posted Aug 26th 2009 11:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: American Idol, Pickups and Renewals, Judges, Alumni, News and Gossip, Reality-Free
I'll admit I have no way of knowing what Paula Abdul's thinking at any given time. Even people who listen to her talk generally have no idea what she's thinking. You have to figure that after negotiating to join
So You Think You Can Dance,
Dancing With the Stars and
Ugly Betty,
Adbul hosting the latest VH1 Divas special on Thursday, September 17 is a bit of a let-down.
It's a great nab for VH1; people will be curious to see her first post-
Idol gig. You can even argue that the choice makes sense, considering the concert will feature two former
American Idol winners: Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks. Joining them are Adele, Leona Lewis and Miley Cyrus. It doesn't take nearly as much to be a diva these days.
It'll be fun watching Abdul try to steer an entire show rather than just a single coherent sentence of criticism. Who knows, maybe she'll find out that she's great at this and she can take over VH1 the way Ryan Seacrest took over E!. As long as they don't do a
Who's That Girl? series with male skanks like Corey Clark trying to date her.
Posted Aug 25th 2009 7:39PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, American Idol, How I Met Your Mother, Celebrities, Judges
Of all the names bandied about as replacement judges and guest judges on American Idol, I can honestly tell you that today's name made me smile.
How I Met Your Mother's
Neil Patrick Harris is filling in as a guest judge on American Idol as they conduct auditions in Dallas, Texas.
Neil is not only one of the funniest talents around, but he is a legitimate singer who has appeared on Broadway, hosted the Tony Awards (and the upcoming Emmys, too) and knows what it takes to sing professionally. And let's not forget
Dr. Horrible.
Continue reading Neil Patrick Harris is the latest American Idol guest judge
Posted Aug 21st 2009 3:28PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Judges, Contestants, Alumni, Reality-Free
Bo Bice, who was the runner-up on
American Idol a few years ago, says that
FOX shouldn't let Paula Abdul go because she's part of what makes the show great .
To be fair to the other judges on the show, Bice does say that if they got rid of either Randy or Simon it would be equally devastating. I don't quite think this is true of Jackson, Paula and Simon really are the heart of the show (along with Ryan Seacrest).
Continue reading Bo Bice thinks American Idol is making a big mistake
Next Page »
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
