Here’s the holding spot for the Idol performance show tonight.
In other Idol news:
-Power ratings. Both ew.com and TV Guide are doing weekly “power ratings” ranking the contestants based on your votes. (I’ve requested we do the same thing but have only gotten shrugged shoulders.) David Cook is No. 1 in both rankings. Jason is No. 2 on ew.com, slipping ahead of Archuleta. Carly is at No. 4, Brooke at No. 5 and Syesha No. 6.
At TV Guide,, the rankings are the same except Archuleta is No. 2 and Castro is No. 3. Syesha has been in the bottom two for six straight weeks yet has survived into the top 6. That’s impressive! The gambling sites remain in Archuleta’s camp.
-Have you noticed that “Idol” has been much more amenable for press to sit in the audience and report on how the show operates, at least from the crowd’s perspective? Entertainment Weekly is there virtually every week and even the New York Times stopped by, noting how organized the show is.
“At the end of every performance you will stand on your feet.” That is one of the commandments offered by Cory Almeida, the indefatigable warm-up man who exhorts and instructs the audience for 15 minutes before each performance and during the numerous commercial breaks.
For the audience members who stand in the “mosh pit,” the area immediately in front of the stage, special instructions are required. “When you are applauding after a performance, we need your hands above your head,” Mr. Almeida said before a recent Tuesday performance. “Otherwise we can’t see that you’re clapping.”
-And for your amusement, a Baltimore Sun story bemoaning how irrelevent Idol is, a story that features quotes set up to prove the writer’s point more than anything else.. I don’t agree with all his points but yes, “Idol” is showing signs of strain, the inevitable consequences of middle age. It happens to all of us!
-William Hung’s appearance fees must be finally drying up because he’s gone back to school, according to the California State University Sundial newspaper.. When I interviewed him last year, he said he had made more than $1 million. Not bad!
Before his 2004 appearance on “Idol” that made him the most famous mocked contestant of all time, he had been attending UC Berkeley but never finished his schooling because of the infamy (and cash) he received for singing — badly.
-Jordin Sparks, now resting her voice after an acute vocal hemorrhage, just got lapped on the top 40 charts by Simon Cowell’s “X Factor” discovery Leona Lewis and her song “Bleeding Love.” So “No Air” might end up getting stuck at No. 2 and not go to No. 1. I had a feeling that might happen.
And Mariah, who just appeared on “Idol” last week, should be disturbed—her first single “Touch My Body” is already losing steam on the charts after just 9 weeks and a couple of weeks in the top 10. Madonna’s single “4 Minutes” (with a heavy assist from Justin Timberlake”) jumped into the top 10 in just a month. Daughtry’s third single “Feels Like Tonight” appears to have peaked at 12. Carrie’s “Last Name,” her third single from her current album, is on the verge of the top 10 on the country chart. Both Bucky and Kellie have singles that are now falling off the charts after making it into the top 20. Josh Gracin’s “We Weren’t Crazy” is struggling but still gaining airplay and is at No. 26. Chris Sligh’s “Empty Me” is at No. 19 on the Christian soft rock chart.
-TMZ twisted some of Carmen Rasmussen’s comments last week to make it sound like she was truly peeved. “She went home in sixth place, to lead a life of obscurity and bitterness,” the gossip site noted. But she told [the Deseret News} that’s no the case: “The only point I was trying to make was that some contestants get more attention than others,” said Rasmusen, who — surprise! — was not contacted by TMZ about its story. “I chose that example because Clay is so well-known.” (She had said Clay got more time with the coaches than she did.)
