Idol Pool Standings Week 7

American Idol Viewer's Guide - Idol Gives Back

Next up on Idol is Idol Gives Back -- the two day event where American Idol reminds the American public that Africa is a continent and not a country.

Last year due to the economy (which has apparently made a miraculous recovery!) Idol Gives Back did not take place but two years ago, it was the week that Aussie Michael Johns was sent packing. This was a major disappointment one week after his sexy Dolly Parton number, "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right".


God, remember when Idol contestants put on performances that actually made you press rewind so you could watch them again?!

This week, we expect to see the following special guests:

Joss Stone, Lady Antebellum, Justin Bieber


and Mary J. Blige, Carrie Underwood, Black Eyed Peas, Annie Lennox and Alicia Keys, who will also mentor the Top 7. Someone we won't be seeing however is this man.

And now for the predictions (that I made before having the benefit of the actual "Inspirational Songs" available for the contestants to choose from).

Lee: Man in the Mirror
Casey: No Boundaries (keep working Kara!!)
Mike: Turn Turn Turn
Siobhan: God Bless the USA (keep us guessing -- and it worked for Kristy Lee!)

Crystal: Talkin''bout A Revolution
Aaron: Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Tim: Redemption Song

See ya when I see ya,
IPM

Idol Pool Standings Week 6

First of all, everyone who watched American Idol on Wednesday night, not to get you down, you did not see Rihanna performing live. Her entire performance was staged about an hour before the show. It was prerecorded, which means they record the performance before the show and run the footage for the show. While on the topic of Rihanna and her performance, my mom and I agree that Rihanna is much prettier in real life. And, she cannot play guitar.

Another little Hollywood secret, they have a “pepper-upper” person on the set to get everyone in the crowd pumped up. His name is Cody. In between the commercials and everything, he plays fun music and talks to everyone. At one point, he had two brothers, Max and Jack, come onstage and dance. The boys ended up ratting out their mom, who won't let them vote. So, Cody gave the boys a brand new AT&T cell phone.

Also during commercial breaks, all of the judges get up and leave. We don't know where, we don't know why. But on the show, the judges are only in their chairs for like, 12 minutes.

Another funny thing about Idol is the makeup girl. She is about a foot around and she carries this bag around her waist that is just as big as she is, if not bigger. She carries about every makeup brush, puff and brand known to man.

The studio is very small. There are only about 25 rows of seating. We were in the seventh row behind Randy. The pits (the people standing by the stage) are constantly moving to put in a new piece of stage or to light something up. People were dressed kind of casually and just walked around and talked.

The Idol studio and the people within are very fond of rules and regulations. Like, no electronics of any sort in the studio. They take your cell phones, cameras, iPods, anything that could possibly record something or look bad on TV. While on the subject of looking bad, the Idol producers and stagehands do not want the audience to be unattractive. So, their brilliant solution is to pass a gum cup. For those of you who have never heard of a gum cup, it is a cup passed around the entire studio in which people dispose of their gum. I personally found it disgusting.

After Idol, we went over to this restaurant called Wild Ranch. As our food was being served, my mom screams 'Oh my gosh! It's Katie!' We had already met her mother, so, she kind of recognized us. They walked over and Katie seemed genuinely happy to meet us. She has a very good sense of humor and is very talkative.


Lacey was at Wild Ranch as well.


Also during this dinner outing, I discovered my mother’s slight stalker side. Casey James showed up at the Wild Ranch, too. He immediately headed towards the bathroom, which was right by our table. Almost instantly, my mom tells me to watch the door until he comes out. It was a little weird. Eventually, Casey came out and we got our picture.


We met Big Mike and his wife (Idol Central!) outside of the restaurant. We got a picture with him and soon retired to our hotel. I think my mom is still a little star struck.



Week 6 Standings

American Idol Double Elimination Viewer's Guide

Idol's producers really grabbed our attention here at Idol Pool headquarters when they announced that Adam Lambert would be this week's mentor. Just what kind of job can we expect of such a young star? Will his advice offer contestants a boost or the kiss of death?

Thinking about these questions led us to larger musings on the nature of mentorship itself. As someone who was first an Idol Pool Apprentice, then an Idol Pool Journeyman, before becoming the Idol Pool Master, I know about mentorship from both sides. Though the Idol Pool Internship Program has now folded, old-timers in the Pool will no doubt remember Debbie the Intern, author of innumerable emails and blog posts during Seasons 3 and 4.

Many of you have probably wondered what happened to Debbie. What has she done with the last five years of her life? Where did she go after her auspicious start here at Idol Pool Headquarters?

Well, we're happy to report that Debbie has been in a grad program studying statistics since she left Headquarters, and all that education is finally paying dividends. Debbie's dissertation, "Performance Order as Destiny: An Empirical Study of the Determinants of American Idol Success" is nearing completion, and she wrote to share some of her early findings. Apparently, we've all been fooled this whole time. As it turns out, on Idol, mentorship doesn't matter. Song choice doesn't matter. It doesn't even matter whether you can sing. (That's the good news, Tim Urban.) The ONLY thing that matters is the order in which the contestants perform. Here's Debbie's proof:


For those who don't understand statistics, can't follow graphs, or are colorblind, Debbie summarizes: "America hates contestants who go first or fourth. They are doomed to failure."

Frankly, we find this hard to believe. Doesn't Debbie's own story prove that good instruction and careful mentorship makes anything possible? If that's not true, why would we have spent $17.95 worth of your Idol Pool entry fees on "What's Up Dawg?: How to Become a Superstar in the Music Business"?

For that matter, why would we have have spent the rest of this year's pool money on an hour lesson with Randy and Kara?

No--we still believe in mentorship here at Idol HQ. If mentorship didn't work, there wouldn't be any hope at all for slashing sugar, hearing the music in our lives, or--most importantly--singing the Elvis songbook.

We'll see you on the Comments Board tomorrow night.