American Idol Updates @ BLOGGED

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As with every year, the American Idol kids rang the Nasdaq closing bell, but Matt Giraud and Anoop Desai dropped by the Daily Show with Jon Stewart afterwards. From their Twitter accounts:

@MGiraudOfficial twittered: What an amazing day so far. Went to the Daily show. Noop and I Hung out with Jon Stewart after which was amazing!! http://twitpic.com/dg4m8

@AnoopDoggDesai twittered: Great day, went to the Daily Show, hung with Jon Stewart, now off to dinner.

Meanwhile, Kris Allen guested on MTV’s It’s on with Alexa Chung, where he talked about his travels as a missionary, his childhood tumor, and his biggest fears. At some point during the interview, he sings jingles while sitting on Alexa’s lap – pretty fun stuff. Check out the video under the jump!

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In this entry, you will see photos of our top 12 Idol contestants goofing off in between Saturday’s tour rehearsals. These pictures are actually from Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, and Michael Sarver, who posted them on their Twitter accounts. In fact, Danny says that they did a full run-through of the show and that everyone could really sing their lungs out.

Unfortunately, Adam Lambert and Scott MacIntyre don’t make an appearance in the photos but everyone else is here. Check out the jump for two more photos, including one where Allison Iraheta is being a total cutie. She’s so adorable, I swear! The American Idol tour begins at July 5. in Portland, Oregon.

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Sorry I couldn’t make a recap of the performances on Tuesday; I was swamped with work and didn’t have time to watch TV! But I did see the eliminations round and I was really surprised with the results. Because the judges saved Matt Giraud last week, the seven Idols faced a double elimination last night. I was expecting him to go this week, but Allison Iraheta ended up in the bottom 3 along with Anoop Desai and Lil Rounds. And with last night’s eliminations round, ethnic diversity in the show ended because because Anoop and Lil had to go.

I wasn’t too surprised about Lil’s departure because I was personally getting tired of her declining performances – and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels the same way. But Anoop? Sure, he annoyed me at times and came off as a little too arrogant, but he got better in the last two weeks. Not to mention that he seems to have a strong fan base online. I didn’t like how American Idol didn’t even bother giving him a proper goodbye – he had to share his exit video with Lil. At least his last performance was fantastic. Incidentally, this is the first American Idol season without an African American female in the top 5.

Other noteworthy things about last night’s episode: Paula Abdul choreographed the Disco group dance number and it was the best EVER. They were dancing to Michael Jackson’s Shake Your Body Down to the Ground and it was wild. David Archuleta was the guest performer and he sang Touch My Hand, though it wasn’t really a very good song. He’s still adorable though – I really do think he would have made a better Idol than David Cook. Stronger fan base, plus has there been an American Idol as young as he?

So what do you think about Lil and Anoop’s departure?

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My suspicions on yesterdays Movie Theme recap were confirmed. Matt Giraud was indeed eliminated, but the judges used their save! Which means that he’ll be back next week when two people get eliminated.

In the bottom three with Matt were Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai, who was sent back to the couch. He sang for dear life last night and while I thought he sounded a little too desperate, the girl judges bought the entire thing and they all end up saving him anyway. I really don’t think he deserved to be saved. Simon is right – he’s definitely not going to win the competition. And I have a feeling he’s going to get the boot next week anyway, along with Lil or Anoop.

Guest performers last night were Jennifer Hudson and Miley Cyrus! Zac Efron was in the audience too, pimping his new movie.

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Last night, the American Idol contestants picked out songs from movies and were mentored by film director Quentin Tarantino. I was a little disappointed when I saw how nice Quentin was being to the kids and despite his good advice, my worst fears were confirmed – it was a crappy night all in all. In my opinion, the best performers were Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, Allison Iraheta, and Kris Allen; everyone else was pitchy and painful to watch.

Allison Iraheta – I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing by Aerosmith from Armaggedon

I’m not the biggest fan of this song and maybe that’s why this isn’t my favorite Allison Iraheta performance. But it’s also because she’s better when she sings soft sweet songs; this one was a bit low for her range and had too many glory notes. Simon finally showed her some love tonight, I’m surprised he hadn’t noticed her in her previous performances!

Anoop Desai – Everything I Do by Brian Adams from Robin Hood

This song was from Robin Hood? Really? In any case, Anoop really killed everyone with this song. It didn’t quite go as roughly as Quentin would have liked, but he had the audience’s attention, his vocals were solid, and there was so much soul and emotion – but not too much.

Adam Lambert – Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf from Easy Rider

I think this would have been the perfect time for Adam to whip out Mad World (from Donnie Darko) but in any case, I really liked this one. The arrangement was excellent and while I’m not the biggest fan of his rock wail, it wasn’t overused tonight – except maybe for the last part. But overall, very entertaining performance. Steppenwolf purists probably won’t like it, but what’s the point of doing covers if it’ll just sound like the original?

Matt Giraud – Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman by Brian Adams from Don Juan

Ooh, the second Brian Adams song tonight. But it wasn’t all that great – pitchy, a little off-key, plus Matt didn’t do enough to bring the song to life like he did last week. Not that he didn’t try, because I could see that he did – but maybe he was trying too hard. I think Matt may be in danger of leaving the show.

Danny Gokey – Endless Love by Diana Ross from Endless Love

At first, Danny’s performance looked promising – he wasn’t wearing glasses for once, and there was a harp onstage. Unfortunately that’s about as interesting as it got. He went off-key, he was treating the song too roughly, and it even looked like he was crying at some point.

Kris Allen – Falling Slowly by Glen Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from Once

Ooh I love this movie and this song was one of my favorites, and I was so happy that Kris did a real beautiful job with it. Delicate phrasing, sweet vocals, beautiful falsetto…I have never really been the biggest Kris Allen fan and I always thought he was kind of meh. But tonight I loved him. I absolutely loved him. Hands down the best performance of the evening!!!

Lil Rounds – The Rose by Bette Midler from The Rose

Oh dear, Lil hasn’t been improving much. Her performance was anti-climactic after that beautiful rendition by Kris. Very pitchy, and her runs were painful to listen to. I hate to have to admit it, but Lil Rounds just isn’t all that great anymore. I have a feeling she’ll end up on the bottom 3 along with Matt.

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Adam Lambert as a cute widdle baby!

Last night’s theme was songs from the year the Idol contestants were born, and there was the added treat of seeing everyone’s baby pictures! Best performances of the evening: Adam Lambert, Anoop Desai, and Allison Iraheta.

Danny Gokey – Stand By Me by Nickey Gilley

Danny did a slower version of the song, which is definitely something that’s never been done on the show before. He sounds a little jazzy and his voice is steady, if a bit raspy. But at least he’s not shouting or going off-key! Good performance overall.

Kris Allen – All She Wants to do is Dance by Don Henley

Kris came on with an electric guitar and while it seemed promising at first, I’m not a big fan of the arrangement. It sounds like his vocals were doing one thing and the band was playing another song. I agree with Randy’s comment about how the arrangement seemed self-indulgent.

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And just as I predicted in my recap of the iTunes Night, Megan Joy Corkrey has been eliminated. In the bottom three with her was Allison Iraheta and Anoop Desai, but I’m pretty sure they were only there for the added drama. Not only did the judges not use the save on her (which is really not a big surprise); they didn’t even evaluate her. And Megan’s last performance, though joyful, was definitely her worse. Watching that was pretty painful.

Also, worth mentioning was Lady Gaga’s appearance on the show! God I love her, she’s absolutely fantastic. Even friends who aren’t really a big fan of this season of American Idol tuned in just to see her performance.

Watch out for next week’s theme called “Songs from the Year You were Born.” Each contestant gets to choose a song from the year they were born, which means we’ll be hearing a lot of tunes from the early 80′s to the early 90′s. Kellie Pickler will also be performing her single on the Idol results show!

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