Reality Rocks

  • Why is that all the Idol finalists sound so great on their own, but when they have to participate a group singalong, they instantly devolve to the level of a fourth-grade remedial school play? Egad. This is why I have never attended a concert on any American Idol tour. The elimination show-opening medleys are always tough to take, but tonight's was especially bad, as the final five continued their Neil Diamond-desecrating work from the previous night. Oh well. I guess I should just be happy that my man Neil is getting some attention. They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, and there's no better publicity than being on Idol, no matter what the context.

    So after a hot-April-mess performance of songs from Hot August Night and other classic Neil albums, Ryan paid a quick visit in the audience with "rockin'" AmIdol alums/Fox Reality Channel talking heads Constantine Maroulis and Gina Glocksen. (Ooh, hubba hubba--David Cook is fine and all, but my heart still belongs to Constantine.

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  • Many impressive mentors have excitingly guest-starred on AmIdol over the past seven seasons, but there was perhaps no mentor in Idol history that I was personally more excited about than tonight's special guest: the one, the only...Neil frickin' Diamond. I am a big old geeky Diamondhead: I've seen his flick The Jazz Singer enough times to quote from it, Rocky Horror-style. I've got a bootleg of the mockumentary Neil Diamond Parking Lot on an old VHS tape somewhere. I once attended Neil's taping for the now-defunct British music show Top Of The Pops, where I stood in the front row and sang along dorkily to his acoustic performance of "I'm A Believer." I've seen the Neil tribute band Super Diamond in concert. I've been known to sing "Sweet Caroline" at karaoke bars, on occasion. I have a friend who's held "Hot August Nights"-themed summer parties and "September Morn"-themed autumn brunches.

    Get the picture?

    Anyhoo, I was both hopeful and fearful about the top five singing Neil Diamond

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  • From Jason Castro's headscratching Cats song choice to Brooke White's false start, last night's American Idol episode was filled with drama--which I suppose was fitting for a show centered on musical theater legend Andrew Lloyd Webber.

    Well, tonight's elimination show was just as dramatical, to borrow an adjective from Reality Rocks fixture Flavor Flav.

    Of course, it wasn't particularly dramatic that the Davids, Cook and Archuleta, were summoned by Ryan Seacrest first and told they were safe. After all, no one expected either David to be in the bottom two. (Yes, that's right, the bottom two--no more bottom three at this stage in the game. One of those stools has been returned to the Fox prop closet.)

    But then Syesha Mercado and Brooke White were called--and Brooke looked so defeated, like her roller suitcase was already packed and waiting in the hallway a la America's Next Top Model. And the drama ensued.

    Believe it or not, despite Brooke's major misstep last night...she was safe.

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  • FYI, for those of you not keep track of this sort of stuff because you were watching the presidential debates or An Inconvenient Truth or Meet The Press or whatever: Asia, the winner of last year's Search For The Next Pussycat Doll, bizarrely ended up snubbing Scherzinger and company and decided to go solo instead. (Not sure this was such a hot idea--check out Asia's MySpace page for more on what she's been up to.)

    So in light of this, PCD's masterminds, Robyn Antin and Ron Fair, retooled and relaunched their CW Network talent search as Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious, a televised open call for members of a new, prefabulous, Antin-helmed girl group bearing a suspicious resemblance to..well, the Pussycat Dolls.

    (Hey, Robyn, don'tcha wish your new group was hot like PCD?)

    Oh, I kid, I kid. The idea was Girlicious wouldn't be exactly like the Pussycat Dolls. Because Girlicous would be a trio, not a quintet. That's how we'd be able to tell Girlicious and PCD apart. Got it?

    So anyway,

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  • Clay For Sale!

    By | Reality Rocks – Wed, Apr 23, 2008 3:53 PM EDT

    Some may call it a desperate act of attempted career resurrection. I call it an act of marketing genius. But whatever you call it, next Monday, April 28, Clay Aiken will hawk his fourth album, On My Way Here, on QVC--the shopping network so very popular among his core demographic of shut-ins, grandmas, and Hummel figurine enthusiasts.

    "Starting my career on national, live television, it seems fitting to be unveiling my new album live on QVC," Clay announced today in a statement. "To be able to connect with QVC's viewers and broadcast my performance to over 93 million households is an amazing opportunity."

    This is why Clay is still the third-best-selling Idol of all time, and the best-selling Idol runner-up.

    Yes, Clay is no dummy. People might scoff at the unhipness of performing on QVC, but since the day he entered the Idol audition chamber rocking those geek glasses and that toilet-brush hairdo, Clay has never concerned himself with being "hip." He knows his fanbase is not the hip

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  • As I mentioned in my previous blog about this season's mentors, I've had a lot of doubts about music theater impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber overseeing one of the show's theme nights. Yes, ALW was right at home on Grease: You're The One That I Want, NBC's 2007 search for a new Danny and Sandy...but that show was all about Broadway.

    However, on American Idol, one of the harsher critiques a finalist can face--almost as harsh as being likened to a karaoke/cruise ship/hotel lounge/pageant singer--is "You belong on Broadway." That is Simonspeak for saying, "Sure, you can sing...but there's nothing about you that's cool, hip, or relevant to the modern pop market."

    So I had to wonder how cool, hip, or relevant the remaining six Idol contestants would seem performing songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber--egad, the man behind Cats and Phantom Of The Opera! David Cook might've worked wonders with Lionel Richie's "Hello" once, but Broadway Week was going to be a major challenge even for him.

    As Ryan

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  • Much ado has been made (and sometimes made by me) about the American Idol producers' manipulative and sometimes downright cruel treatment of its contestants. And from duping Michael Johns into thinking he still had a shot during Idol Gives Back week to forcing David Archuleta to guess who was in the bottom three last week, this season has been no exception when it comes to such ratings-grabbing nastiness.

    Well, this week on Celebrity Fit Club, season 1 Idol co-host/footnote Brian Dunkleman claimed that it was precisely this harsh treatment of the finalists that made him quit the show. Yes, that's right--he says he quit, that he was not fired.

    Of course, the way Brian's former partner Ryan Seacrest psyched out Michael Johns recently is still nothing compared to how Celebrity Fit Club agitator Dustin Diamond tormented former Idol contestant (and rumored Harvey Walden IV gal pal) Kimberley Locke on Celebrity Fit Club last season. But if such treatment really is the reason why Brian

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  • As one astute reader posted on the message board for my previous Miss Rap Supreme blog, when already-established hip-hop artist Khia competed against unknown "Femme C's" on the show's season premiere last week, her supposedly spontaneously penned 16-bar rhyme sounded naggingly familiar.

    Guess it sounded familiar to the show's host, MC Serch, too. See, he did a little research, confirmed that Khia's rap was indeed lilfted from her previous recording "Respect Me"...and, well, he lost all respect for Khia right then and there. Serch immediately disqualified Khia.

    Click HERE to check out a clip of Serch telling Khia to pack her bags and get her neck, her back, and the rest of her body parts out of Miss Rap Supreme's Fembassy Hotel.

    In the words of MC Serch...STEP OFF!!

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  • The Rock Of Love 2 cast reunion special aired tonight on VH1, and it included a lovely tribute to rock dad Tom Moore (father of third-place bachelorette Destiney), who passed away from liver cancer two weeks before the reunion show was taped.

    Destiney watched the segment onstage with tears in her heavily masacar'd eyes, surrounded by her supportive fellow former finalists. It was a truly sweet moment. Who knew a show featuring buxom blonde metal groupies catfighting, binge drinking, and pole-dancing could be so dang touching?

    So in honor of tonight's reunion special, I decided to re-run this Tom Moore blog, which I originally published on April 6, the day that Rock Of Love 2's parental-visitation episode first aired.

    Anyone wishing to make a charitable contribution in Tom's memory can go to http://liverfoundation.org/donate or call 1-800-223-0179 x126.

    --------------------------------------

    This weekend, party girl and accused rock groupie Destiney Moore was cut from Rock Of Love 2

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  • THIS JUST IN: Clive Davis--the man largely responsible for launching, ruining, and almost ruining the careers of Carrie Underwood, Bo Bice, and Kelly Clarkson, respectively--has been dethroned as chairman and CEO of BMG.

    Here's the report, hot off the AP wire:

    ----------------------------------------------------

    Clive Davis replaced by Barry Weiss as BMG head

    04/17/2008 6:00 PM, AP

    Nekesa Mumbi Moody

    Legendary music executive Clive Davis has been replaced by Barry Weiss as chairman and chief executive officer of the BMG label group.

    Parent company Sony BMG announced the move Thursday. The 74-year-old Davis will become chief creative officer of Sony BMG. Two other BMG executives also departed in the label shakeup.

    The 49-year-old Weiss oversaw several labels as president and CEO of the Zomba Label Group. He helped grow Jive Records from a small imprint to a major force with such blockbuster acts as Britney Spears, Usher, the Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake and 'N Sync. Recent

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