Apparently, attending the American Idols Live! concert is a shameful thing, as evidenced by the looks and comments I got when I mentioned it to folks outside the EW walls this morning. Who knew? Not me! I’m honestly not embarrassed to admit that I caught the show at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. last night and thoroughly enjoyed myself. So without further ado, the best, worst, biggest, and most of last night’s super-fun festivities:
Worst Ensemble Song: Sadly it was the opener — a warbling, uncontrolled version of the Black Eyed Peas’ "Let’s Get it Started" — which launched the show on shaky ground. Obviously not a good pick for Hayley, Sanjaya… awww, hell, none of them could cut it.
Most Fun Cover: Hayley, LaKisha, and Gina’s vampy performance the Pink-Christina-Lil’ Kim-Mya version of "Lady Marmalade," while musically pretty awful, was probably the most fun had on stage. Shimmying! Feathers! Gina grunting like Lil’ Kim! Otherwise, all you need to imagine is LaKisha rising up out of the bottom of the stage sprawled on a white love seat.
Most Inappropriate Fist-Pumping Moment: During LaKisha’sshow-stopping rendition of Whitney Houston’s "I Will Always Love You,"the mom-jeaned-out mom in front of me — for reasons that areinexplicable to me — took to pumping her fists into the air, Rocky-style.The moment was rather powerful (you all remember LaKisha’s diva-liciouspipes), but I couldn’t help but burst out into giggles.
Worst Repetition: Little girls love to scream things like "Welove you Chris!" or "We love you Blake!" And occasionally, they’reactually loud enough so that the acts on stage hear. Well, Jordin(pictured) must have good hearing, or the girls were screaming louderwhen she finally stepped on stage, or something because for every "Welove you, Jordin!" she would breathily say, "I love you, too" into themicrophone. But like 15 times.
Most Ridiculous Moment: During a cover of "Proud Mary,"Sanjaya ripped the bottom half of Melinda’s floor-length dress off toreveal a miniskirt! Runner-up was Sanjaya’s half-baked take on MichaelJackson’s "The Way You Make Me Feel."
Best Battle: The beat-boxing showdown between Chris andBlake. Blake totally won, of course, but Chris put together a prettyconvincing redux of "SexyBack."
Biggest Awww Moment: For her show-ending set, Jordin wore areplica of her dad’s jersey — number 22 — from when Phillippi Sparksplayed for the New York Giants. (And how fitting, since Giants Stadiumis right next door to Continental Airlines Arena.)
Best Phil Stacey Being Phil Stacey Moment: He opened thesecond half of the concert with "God Bless America." While wearing asailor uniform. And a Dixie cup hat. Plus: A digital American flag flewbehind him. How very patriotic.
Worst Skit: Chris, Phil and Sanjaya’s half-hearted, wackyskit about what songs they’d been practicing together. They theyperformed Backstreet Boys’ "I Want It That Way." I had to wonder: Werethe children in the audience even alive when that song was out?
Best Promotional Tie-In: It’s the Pop Tarts American IdolsLive! tour. How perfect is that? Pop Tarts! American Idol! Pop music!Get it? I just got done crunching on the Pop Tart I got on the wayout…
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This should be filed under “I Saw It So You Don’t Have To.”
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic about enjoying the evening or not. Seemingly, it was sarcasm as you have not a single genuinely positive thing to say about it, but on the other hand…maybe you just really have a craving for kitsch. Yes, it sounds like I’d rather rent a room in hell’s bed and breakfast than attend an American Idol Live performance. Let me know when Blake is performing without the excess baggage.
Uh – Was there any musical?
sorry. that one got away from me. was there anything musical in this musical extravaganza? did they do solos? that really was a horrible entry.
Silly wabbits—asking if there was anything musical at an American Idol concert. I think you already know the answer to that question.
Although, I was hoping to read that Mindy Doo tore the roof off with her rendition of (fill in the blank). It doesn’t matter which song it was, I just figured she’d do it.
can you please do one of these for the SYTYCD tour? and next season do a behind the scenes recap like you do for Idol.
Mindy Doo did, indeed, tear the roof off with her rendition of “Natural Woman.”
I Want It That Way was listed as #10 in Rolling Stone and MTV’s Top 100 Pop Songs of all time. Other artists in the top ten include Michael Jackson, Madonna, the Beatles, Nirvana. Would you have questioned whether the “children” in the audience had ever heard any of THEIR songs? Your music snobbery is showing.
So that’s what I have to look forward to this Saturday. Beautiful. I wish someone had stopped me before I got tickets.
And I second what dancefan said. Can you do this for the SYTYCD tour?
I just finished plucking my nose hairs, and I think I had more fun than you did. I mean “Let’s get it started”? Seriously?
Ooohhh… sounds awful. And I actually enjoyed last season ! I agree with the “I saw it so you don’t have to” comment ! Fits right in.
So this is the future of music? I’m jumping without my parachute, thank you.
Maris, I actually think this blogger probably WOULD have questioned if any of the kids in the audience had ever heard a Beatles or Nirvana song, if the Idols had performed one. Given how many little kids love Idol, it’s a legitmate question for any song more than a few years old.
As for this show, I’m no Idol snob, but it sounds absolutely awful. There’s a reason why most Idols’ CDs don’t sell very well anymore: it becomes less about the music and more about the spectacle with every passing year.
That sounds like my worst nightmare put onto stage. I can assure you if I were there and saw any of those moments you mentioned, by eyes would have rolled into the back of my head never to return to their sockets.
blake was pretty awesome, tho, wasn’t he? i’ve seen the show a few times now (no apologies from me, i’m a huge blake fan) and i think he’s an absolute joy to watch.
I watched the entire season but remember only a handful of people mentioned in the article. Personally, I think this was (literally and figuratively) the most forgettable group of contestants so far.
I am imagining sexy Haley Scarnato, dressed as a Moulin Rouge dancer, singing the lyrics of “Lady Marmalade.” You know, the part the goes “Voulez-vous couchez …” For those of you who don’t understand French, the lyrics are “Do you want to go to bed with me this evening?” And Haley, you naughty thing you, the answer is “Oui Oui”
at 33 i still enjoy Idol and the concert it produces each year. there’s a war, the world sucks and i hate my job. when i go to this particular show i forget all that and enjoy 10 amateurs singing songs and getting reactions. basically i enjoy the bad pop music because it makes me forget my woes. that said, melinda and lakisha are darn good singers. sure 3 or 4 will be done after this, but why can’t these kids enjoy this time while they have it? it’s non-threatening fun, it doesn’t try to be anything else. and remember jordin is 17 years old, she’s just a kid learning how to be a “star”, no matter how short-lived it might be. i just take it for what it’s worth. a night away from my problems.
Ick. I had to endure this concert (and pay for it too.) Melinda was superb. Blake has presence I can’t deny. However, the costumes on those girls were an embarassment. Have they no say in how they’re presented? I had low expectations, and this group exceeded them. p.s. I never miss American Idol, so let’s keep it in perspective.
This was the worst AI Live show I have seen. And I’m sure I’m not alone, as, during the concert I attended, Haley’s performance resulted in a literal “smattering of applause.” As simon would say, that was hideous!