Articles by Ruth Boulet

by Ruth Anne Boulet Has it been that long that we need to “explore” the songs of the 21st Century? I didn’t think so, but apparently American Idol thinks I’m wrong, wrong, wrong. We’ve got an hour & a half for our Top 7 performances. You know what that means. Filler. Lots and lots of filler. Some of the filler is from people who’ve gotten kicked off. That means this season we get a girl-group rendition of Pink’s So What. At least it starts as a girl-group. Then Paul McDonald joins in. Oy. He sounds so uncomfortable. It’s safe to […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet I’m not even going to address whatever Scotty and Lauren sang together at the top of the show. Something about America and honey. There was twanging. I was trying to block it out. Time to make the Ford commercial. Why didn’t they make Paul a zombie? He’s got the most zombie-like moves of anyone in the cast. Maybe they were trying to give Paul the chance to stretch artistically. Being a zombie makes Haley feel sexy. Um, ok. Zombies just want to have fun, people. Next Haley & Casey sing. Idol may have officially given up […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman in the World has decided to show off her figure with a dress featuring a poof in the front & a sheer mesh in the back. Did you listen to Gwen, Jen? That’s a bad idea. Paul McDonald — Old Time Rock & Roll by Bob Seeger What is Will.i.am doing there again? Is Jimmy Iovine lonely? Does he really need a sidekick for giving feedback? Looks like Paul is going to just sing & not play an instrument. Oy. He’s in another glittery rose suit. This one’s in black. Wow, […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet The Idols greet us tonight with a group sing of Joan Jett’s I Love Rock & Roll. Oy, it’s bad. Casey then segues into My Baby Just Wrote Me a Letter. Many of the Idols don’t seem to be singing. Then bad karaoke reigns on Sweet Home Alabama. Are any of these contestants actually from Alabama? Oooh, a mashup! How Glee of them! It’s a screamy mess with everyone all over the stage. They even all have to run together like a ghostly border collie wants them to get together for a final “dance with ME! […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet Jacob Lusk — Let’s Get It On by Marvin Gaye — Man In the Mirror by Michael Jackson Jacob just can’t sing about the nasty that bluntly, so he goes with the MJ tearjerker. If he’s in the bottom 3 it’s because everybody in America wasn’t ready to look at themselves in the mirror. Wow, really Jacob? So even if you completely harf the song, being in the bottom three won’t be your fault. Very interesting strategy. You see Jacob, your going home has a lot to do with how America PERCEIVES you. I’m perceiving you […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet Over 55 million votes were tallied in last night’s American Idol voting. Oooh! Big numbers from Ryan Seacrest. First up for cheesy is a duet between Scotty and Lauren. Scotty is in full-head-tilt performance mode. It’s super irritating. And Scotty, I know you’re a guy so you can sit with your crotch open, but I’d rather not see it. Thank you. I had to fast-forward through most of their number. Too much twang for this girl. The judges are all up & excited. Scotty & Lauren get pulled center stage. The intro to the show promised […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet So this week’s performance episode of American Idol starts with Shock! Surprise! Tears! Elation! and veiled threat. No more second chances, kids. The save is gone. From here on out, the people that go home will just go home. And then come back for cheesy group numbers during the finale and to go on tour. I, for one, am glad the save is out of the way. The judges don’t need to pretend anymore and we don’t have to put the qualifier on the contestant’s final performance. Now the excitement will come from a favorite going […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet So just before watching tonight’s elimination episode of American Idol, I got my geek on and saw Michio Kaku on Rachel Maddow talking about the Japanese nuclear situation. He’s my 2nd favorite physicist, right behind Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Physics actually came into play with this episode of American Idol. The contestants get a lesson on how to use the in-ear monitors with Marc Anthony. Get it? Sound? Physics? Whatever. The Idols found that helpful, apparently. What probably wasn’t helpful was Marc Anthony contradicting the judges’ critiques, including his wife.

by Ruth Anne Boulet Finally, American Idol throws its fans a theme week. The songs of Motown, as an Idol theme, is not unexpected. It should favor contestants like Naima, Haley and Casey and seriously challenge contestants like Scotty. While I don’t think Idol is going to really challenge the contestants too much, hopefully we’ll hear a few of them finally break out of their safety zone. We’ve only got 11 singers left on Idol, so we’ve got some time to kill. Ryan is a pro at killing time with packages about ‘history’ and ‘influence.’ I’m not paying too much […]

by Ruth Anne Boulet Steven Tyler has chosen to mark this American Idol results show with a glittery Grimace trenchcoat with some St. Patty’s Day beads. Nice touch Steven. He looks like a St. Patty’s Day/Fat Tuesday float all wrapped up into one. Ryan tries to convince us that the Idol contestants are now going to perform live for us. I don’t think Ryan’s lying this time as Jacob Lusk’s microphone was off when he started singing. How refreshing! A live performance that’s at least partially live! It’s a weird mash-up of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way and Steppenwolf’s Born […]