ENTERTAINMENT
April 16, 2009 | Denise Martin
In an "American Idol" first, an eliminated contestant has been given a second chance to compete. On Wednesday night, the show's judges vetoed the viewers' decision to drop Matt Giraud and pulled him, the week's lowest vote-getter, back into the competition. Giraud, a 23-year-old piano player from Kalamazoo, Mich., looked nervous when he started up his sing-for-your-life redo of Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" from the film "Don Juan DeMarco."
ENTERTAINMENT
May 1, 2008 | Ann Powers, Times Pop Music Critic
I never thought I would have occasion to feel sorry for Neil Diamond, but "American Idol" always seems to introduce me to new and uninvited emotions. Tuesday's show, devoted to the songbook of the estimable Tin Pan Alley rocker, did him a great injustice -- and it didn't do much for the tremulous Top Five Idols, either. Maybe they're still processing the slaying of Carly last week, or perhaps they'd gotten into whatever made Paula render judgment on Jason Castro's second song before he sang it -- but with one exception, the contenders seemed a little, well, glazed.
SPORTS
February 27, 2010 | Staff And Wire Reports
For the second time in two weeks, the previously untouchable "American Idol" television show on Fox was beaten by NBC's Olympic coverage Thursday night. That coverage included Americans Billy Demong and Johnny Spillane going 1-2 in a Nordic combined event, the men's aerials and, most important, the long program for the ladies in figure skating. And the network should have strong ratings Sunday, now that the U.S. hockey team has advanced to the gold-medal game, which will be shown live in all time zones on NBC. The U.S. will play Canada, which beat Slovakia, 3-2, in a semifinal Friday night.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 19, 2009 | ANN POWERS, POP MUSIC CRITIC
The two-part finale of hit series "American Idol," which begins tonight, is the most talked-about thing in television right now, partly because this season's contenders, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, are exciting performers. But it's also because they have done something unexpected: Their unlikely friendship has presented America with a new vision of itself, beyond the deepest divisions of the culture wars.
BUSINESS
July 27, 2009 | Joe Flint
The first talent auditions for the ninth season of the Fox juggernaut "American Idol" are still two weeks away, but there is already a beauty contest going on behind the scenes. Negotiations on a new contract for Simon Cowell, the show's linchpin, chief prosecutor and animating force, are progressing quickly and could be concluded as early as this week.
ENTERTAINMENT
March 10, 2008 | Richard Rushfield, Times Staff Writer
Here we are, down to the top 12 of "American Idol" Season 7, and after a shaky Season 6, I'm far from alone in saying with a straight face that this may prove to be the best of all "Idol" seasons. Even the early departures of widely enjoyed candidates Danny Noriega, Kady Malloy and Asia'h Epperson last week seemed proof of the quality of this season.