JANUARY 7, 2011 FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS Michael Giltz Freelance writer and raconteur Posted: March 3, 2010 04:15 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index 0 3 views 0 10Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyIdol Season 9: Top 20 -- The Men What's Your Reaction: Read More: American Idol , Ellen Degeneres , Kara DioGuardi , Pop Music , Randy Jackson , Rock , Ryan Seacrest , Simon Cowell , Entertainment News RATINGS COVERAGE: With the Olympics out of the way, American Idol scored 23.4 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.</p><p> Though the format was different last season (with semi-finalists put in groups of 12), that's a modest 3-4% drop from last season's performance show on March 3, when the show scored 24.3 million viewers.</p><p> Idol beats the closing ceremonies of the Olympics to be #1 this week,but next week belongs to the Oscars.</p><p> After that, it's smooth sailing to the season finale when Idol will retain its crown as the #1 show on TV for the sixth straight year, the first to do so in the history of television.</p><p> SHOW COVERAGE: A good improvement for a number of men this week on American Idol ...but then, so many of them had so much room for improvement.MICHAEL LYNCHE -- Sang James Brown's iconic #8 hit "It's A Man's Man's Man's World," which hit the Top 40 the week I was born.</p><p> Lynche benefited from doing exactly what Simon said: command the stage.</p><p> Instead of being amiable, he was forceful and strong.</p><p> Yes, when he got soulful, he garbled some lyrics.</p><p> But for the first time, he seems like a contender.</p><p> Solid.</p><p> JOHN PARK -- Sang John Mayer's "Gravity." He started off rough, then when the song got slower, he was worse, and it all felt a bit interminable.</p><p> But it wasn't as bad as last week.</p><p> Better, but not good.</p><p> Will being cute keep him safe for another few weeks? CASEY JAMES -- Sang Gavin DeGraw's lone Top 10 hit, "I Don't Want To Be," which has been performed a gazillion times on Idol .</p><p> James apparently doesn't have a TV but once he realized how often it's been done, he should have picked something else.</p><p> His guitar playing was fun but it's not good when the vocals seem like an afterthought.</p><p> On the chorus, which sort of meanders down, he really struggled and faded out at the end of lines.</p><p> But the show loves him; he got a flashy low-camera intro and lots ofactive cutting to jazz it up.</p><p> MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2 BIG NEWS: Celebrity Body | Playboy | Movies | Britney Spears | Energy Debates | More...</p><p> More Dead Birds, Fish Found Across The World WATCH: Demi Moore In A Teeny Bikini Dead Birds Fall From Sky AGAIN, 300 Miles From Earlier Mysterious Incident Lindsay Garvey iPhone Alarm Glitch: How It Cost Me My Job Intestinal Parasites May Be Causing Your Energy Slump Rudeness Is A Neurotoxin WATCH: Ashton & Natalie Get Naked, Have Sex In New Movie Elizabeth Edwards' Will Revealed BECK IN TROUBLE? Dropped From New York Radio Station, TV RatingsLOG IN | SIGN UP Get Entertainment Alerts Email Comments 10 Recommend 63K Like 114 Recommend 23K Recommend 1K Like 302 Like 6K Like 137 Recommend 464 ALEX LAMBERT -- Sang John Legend's "Everybody Knows." I love that Lambert invented his own language and he almost certainly won the sympathy vote with his stories of nervousness and throwing up before sporting events, much less Idol . (Don't knock the sympathy vote; anything to stay alive!) Yes, he was very improved but since he had so far to come that's not saying much.</p><p> Lambert did sound pretty forceful at the moments where he dug in.</p><p> But he was still very nervous and shaking and what an awfullast note.</p><p> Still a long ways to go and the judges overreacted with their praise. (Lose the mullet.) TODRICK HALL -- Sang Tina Turner's career-defining, sole #1 hit "What's Love Got To Do With It." Last week he did Kelly Clarkson, so I thought, cool, he's gonna keep taking songs made famous by women until he gets it right.</p><p> But he took a song that's already pretty slow (though in a deceptive way; Turner keeps it jaunty) and made it even slower.</p><p> When he started to move it got a little better but thenhe had a horrible finale.</p><p> And how can the judges say Tina Turner's song isn't relevant? It's a classic! Notgood but not disastrous.</p><p> JERMAINE SELLERS -- Sang Marvin Gaye's brilliant #2 hit "What's Going On." I thought Simon was going to nail him when he started to describe the song as a great...pop song.</p><p> Almost, but not quite.</p><p> Here's the problem: Sellers sang one of the greatest protest songs of all time as if it were a love song.</p><p> Maybe he thought he was singing "Let's Get It On?" Seriously, did he even pay the slightest attention to the lyrics?"There's far too many of you dying....</p><p> War is not the answer..." and so on.</p><p> But watch him perform andyou'd swear he was romancing you.</p><p> Sellers was smiling and even winking at one point, I think.</p><p> When a singer is that completely divorced from the lyrics, nothing good can happen artistically.</p><p> If he wanted to bring passionate gospel fervor, this could have been the perfect time to take it to church.</p><p> Instead, he tookit to the bedroom.</p><p> ANDREW GARCIA -- Sang James Morrison's debut single "You Give Me Something." (Morrison's sure getting performed a lot for a guy who's never had a Top 40 hit in the US.) He was weak, especially on the chorus and kept moving his arms robotically.</p><p> It was so-so, not awful but sometimes that's worse since memorably bad is at least memorable.</p><p> AARON KELLY -- Sang the first #1 hit of The Temptations, "My Girl." I knew Aaron was going to break out or flame out when he did the whole, head-shaking thing. (You know, that back and forth sort of Egyptian-ish thing.) Now here's where it gets confusing.</p><p> A lot of times I criticize singers for riffing all over the place and singing their asses off a la Mariah Carey when they've barely even sung the melody.</p><p> But you can do anything you want if it works.</p><p> And for me, Kelly's runs and pretty convincing growl on"my girl" and his massive amount of vibrato all worked for me.</p><p> He was really quite good, although like almost everyone he ended weakly.</p><p> But even if he'd been terrible, I would take issue with the judges, who all insisted the song was too old-fashioned, not contemporary, not relevant.</p><p> Huh? It's a pop classic.</p><p> It'snot like he was doing some Tin Pan Alley number or John Park's disastrous take on Billie Holiday's "GodBless The Child." It's a timeless pop classic and people can sing it from now until doomsday as long as they do it well.</p><p> Kelly did it pretty well.</p><p> Ryan asking him if he liked Justin Bieber made me laugh.</p><p> There's no good answer to that one, Ryan.</p><p> Saying no annoys the girls who like him and Bieber as well; saying yesmakes him look uncool.</p><p> TIM URBAN -- Sang Matt Nathanson's hit "Come On Get Higher," which sold a million copies.</p><p> Leagues better than last week, though he set the bar so low that's not saying much.</p><p> In fact, he wasn't bad and I agree with Simon.</p><p> Kind of hit a groove in the middle, though again he hit a very very rough last note.</p><p> Ellen's comment that he should act -- despite having no stage presence -- made no sense.</p><p> Yes, it's nicewhen a cute actor can also sing, sort of, but it's even better when they can really sing. (And the cast ofGlee can really sing.) And if you have no stage presence as a singer you'll probably have no stage presence as an actor.</p><p> LEE DEWYZE -- Sang Hinder's #3 hit "Lips Of An Angel." It's easy to see the producers are rooting for him.</p><p> He got wildly dramatic lighting, with the theater darkened during his first moments for the total rock star effect.</p><p> But the audience started squealing during the first few lines (talent show Nashville Starloves it when that happens!) and I thought he looked very confident, hitching up his pants when he wanted to and smiling when girls screamed but digging into the lyrics.</p><p> Some of the lyrics got mumbled when he was getting "passionate," but overall I thought he was quite effective.</p><p> Too bad for him Karastepped over Simon's big line that Lee may be the one to beat.</p><p> Too many ready for home to pick two.</p><p> I'll just say that Lee Dewze and Casey James and Michael Lynche and Aaron Kelly are safe.</p><p> Who did you like this week? And who's going home? Thanks for reading.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.</p><p> Download his podcast of 1 of 5 Sen.</p><p> Jon Tester Tester Pushes to Reform Senate Rules With Greater Transparency, Efficiency Steve Ballmer My Keynote Address at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics ShowDON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS HOT TRENDS TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9 camille grammer jennifer connelly baby bump jersey shore raven symone weight loss rebecca budig Fall More Celebrity News at People.com More Celebrity News at Popeater.com Like 6K Camille Grammer: Kelsey Made Me Do Real Housewives READ MORE Rihanna to Launch Her First Fragrance READ MORE POLL: Take Sides in JerseyShore's Explosive First Feud READ MORE John Legend Parties With Pauly D, 'Precious' John Edwards Proposes to Mistress Already? J.Lo's Ex's Girlfriend Files For Restraining Order Ryan Seacrest: Simon Cowell Was Jealous Of...</p><p> Camille Grammer's Porn Past Comes Back To...</p><p> Taylor Swift & Jake Gyllenhaal Break Up:...</p><p> Pregnant Natalie Portman Shows Growing Baby Bump...celebrity interviews and his weekly music radio show at Popsurfing and enjoy the weekly pop culture podcast he co-hosts at Showbiz Sandbox .</p><p> Both available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.</p><p> Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz Related News On Huffington Post: Oscars 2010 LIVE: Academy Awards News In Real-Time The 2010 Oscars Awards Show may be entertaining to watch, but following the Twitter feeds of celebrities, nominees, journalists, bloggers, and viewers is sure to...</p><p> Red Carpet LIVE Video, Celebrity and Media Tweets Watch the Red Carpet in Live Stream video plus all relevant tweets.</p><p> Follow all the Oscars action right here.</p><p> Know of a Twitter user who...</p><p> American Idol's Elliott Yamin Tweets From Chile During Earthquake 'American Idol' finalist Elliott Yamin was reportedly in Chile at the time of this morning's 8.8-magnitude earthquake....</p><p> American Idol Dedicates Thursday's Show To Haiti "American Idol" has teamed up with the United Nations Foundation to benefit Haiti on its Feb. 25 show.</p><p> During the broadcast, "Idol" winner KrisAllen...</p><p> More News Posts: « First Prev 1 2 Next Last » Related Blogs On Huffington Post: Una LaMarche: Oscars: The Live Blog This is bizarre.</p><p> Where are Alec and Steve? I wanted them to ride in on horses or rise out of flaming garbage cans! David Wallechinsky: Academy Awards: Live Action Shorts 2010 This year's crop of live action short nominees is made up of three serious,issue-oriented stories, a Coen Brothers knock-off and a funny Swedish entry about a would-be magician.</p><p> Michael Giltz: Idol Season 9: Top 20 -- The Elimination Last night's show began with another godawful lip-synced groupperformance.</p><p> The group performances, with 20 folks crowding the stage, invariably have a painful 'Up With People' aura about them.</p><p> John Wellington Ennis: Oscars Red Carpet: Best Doc Nominee The Cove Dazzles! Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary The Cove made quite an impression on the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre today.</p><p> More in Entertainment...</p><p> Paltrow Dishes on Cruise Kiss Raven Symone's HugeWeight Loss Jessica Szohr's Sobe StripDown MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW HOT ON FACEBOOK HOT ON TWITTER Celebrity Skin Howard Dean Sex Airlines Video MSNBC Foreclosure Crisis Elections 2012 Lindsey GrahamHUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »Camille Grammer's Porn Past Comes Back To Haunt Her 558 Comments Seth Rogen: I'm Not Getting A Prenup 42 Comments Most Anticipated Indie Albums of 2011 (SLIDESHOW) 8 Comments Beastie Boys Rapper Beats Cancer 32 Comments Which Stars Will Play The Lead Roles In 'The Three Stooges' Remake? 26 Comments 'Knocked Up' Sequel Coming? 15 CommentsComments 10View FAQ 1 Fans 6 Fans 43 Fans 541 FansMediaCurve s.com conducted a poll on 3,804 American Idol viewers’ perception s of which male contestant s should be eliminated from the top 20 on tomorrow’s results show.</p><p> Viewers selected Lee Dewyze as the contestant who should advance to the next round of the competitio n based on his performanc e last night.</p><p> The contestant s with the lowest percentage of votes were Jermaine Sellers, with 2.9%, and Todrick Hall, with 4.3% of the votes.</p><p> The study will parallel American Idol voting to determine the weekly winners based on a democratic , “one person, one vote” methodolog y.</p><p> More in depth results can be seen at: http://www .mediacurv es.com/Ent ertainment /J7753-Ame ricanIdol- 3-3-10/Ind ex.cfm Thanks,Ben My ranking out of 10: Dewyze 8Big Mike 7.5 Andrew Garcia 5.5 John Park 5.5Casey 6Lambert 7Todrick 4Jermaine 3 Aaron 6Tim 6 (I think Ellen means he needs to "act" the part).</p><p> Overall I was much happier with the performanc es over last week., so that helps keep the interest alive.</p><p> I am most interested in how Dewyze and Lambert evolve.</p><p> Lynch's performanc e was the only one that I could stand to listen to again.</p><p> Entertainm ent Weekly called them The Boys of Slumber, and boy, ain't that the truth.</p><p> Hall and Sellers have more attitude than talent...( "you should come hear me in church").</p><p> Seriously? It wouldn't be worth the gas money.</p><p> I have my styrofoam brick ready to throw at the TV whenever either of them get around to butchering Sam Cooke.</p><p> Others are cute lightweigh ts.</p><p> When Casey has an off-week, you know the guys are in trouble.</p><p> He should have a TV, then he would know people got sick of that Gavin DeGraw song just from hearing it on "One Tree Hill".</p><p> And who knew Garcia's brilliant rendition of "Straight Up" would come back to ruin him.</p><p> I'll say it again.</p><p> The Final 10 should be 8 females and 2 guys.</p><p> Until the show becomes a meritocrac y rather than an even-steve n male-femal e connivance , it deserves to be the train-wrec k it is promising to be.</p><p> Those who "changed it up" and "took a risk" got panned for doing so and those that just came outFOLLOW HUFFINGTON POST Recency | Popularity benjak 05:35 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it anonimost 04:03 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it filmex 01:36 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USER MeinNH 11:03 AM on 3/03/2010Comments are closed for this entry View All 59 Fans 139 Fans 51 Fans 59 Fans 177 Fans Follow 59 Fansand sang got panned for not "changing it up" or "taking a risk"..... what are the judges looking for? Yep, the judges can often be contradict ory, which gets confusing for the artists who don't know themselves and what they want to do.</p><p> I always say criticism boils down to this: it didn't work.</p><p> The rest is up to the singers.</p><p> Jermaine Sellers and John Park need to go home.</p><p> Agreed.</p><p> No argument here.</p><p> What I always listen for is one word: elevation.</p><p> Did the singer elevate the music through their choices? And by elevate I mean did the singer make the music primary and not themselves .</p><p> I think three did last night: Michael Lynch had the greatest performanc e of the night.</p><p> Truly masterful artistry.</p><p> No need for words.</p><p> Just watch/list en to him.</p><p> Otherwise, Ellen got it exactly right when she said that Alex Lambert was something unique.</p><p> The quality of his voice is something one can only be born with.</p><p> And the fact that despite his nerves, hedelivers almost a flawless vocal performanc e is a testament to the natural facility of his one of a kind voice.</p><p> All the nervousnes s and inexperien ce is surely a plus.</p><p> If you have a one in a million voice and know how to use it, sit in a chair and sing for all I care.</p><p> Believe it or not, Tim Urban was the only other one that stood out for me.</p><p> I think the judges (minus Simon) need to listen to his performanc e back on video.</p><p> He was strong and on pitch.</p><p> It was a great song for him.</p><p> It was simple and it really worked.</p><p> He connected and elevated the music.</p><p> I think Aaron Kelly had the potential to do something special last night.</p><p> Sadly his voice sounded really tired and that just completely distracted me .. and him .. from connecting , elevating the music.</p><p> His battle with his voice became primary, not the music Alex does indeed have a cool voice.</p><p> Thanks for commenting .Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST BLOGGER Michael Giltz 01:41 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it SteveS 10:11 AM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USER RhiannonRings 12:46 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST BLOGGER Michael Giltz 01:41 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST SUPER USER Patrick Yaeger 09:43 AM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it HUFFPOST BLOGGER Michael Giltz 01:43 PM on 3/03/2010 Permalink | Share it FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ | Contact Us User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.</p><p> All rights reserved.
