As any regular reader of these on-the-scene American Idol recaps knows, there is quite often a big ole difference between what a performance sounds like when it’s blasted through the juiced-up speakers in the Idoldome, and the subtle pitchy imperfections that can trickle through your TV speakers. The same is certainly true for the semi-finals’ Idolcupola, and the judges have said as much these past three weeks. Until last night, though, I hadn’t realized that there’s another disconnect between what y’all see on the HD plasma and what we see live and in person when it comes to the semi-finals — namely, the living person. Exhibit A: Michael Lynche.

I know he looks big on your TV, and I know his nickname is “Big” Mike. But, really and truly, as I discovered sitting in on my second night of EW’s exclusive look inside the Idol semi-finals, the dude is BIG. As in, he has presence on that stage, and as Ryan pointed out, he knows how to use his size to deliver a song. But the camera can do a funny thing; it can make the very big (Big Mike) and the very small (Teeny Aaron) seem somehow more average, more normal, especially when they’re performing alone without a point of comparison standing right next to them.

This is all a wordy preamble to this pretty simple point: In that room, Big Mike’s “This Woman’s Work” killed with a capital K, and that has as much to do with the sheer size and force of the man himself as the impeccable vocals of his performance. READ FULL STORY »

Hello, Idoloonies! Normally, I would be coming to you live from inside the American Idol studio in a week’s time, when the Top 12 contestants enter the gaping maw that is the Idoldome and my colleague-in-snark Whitney Pastorek and I soak in the behind-the-scenery for your unceasing bemusement. And we still plan to do that, along with our newest Idol correspondent, the intrepid Mr. John Young. But this year, EW is getting an exclusive chance to sit in on the final week of the Idol semis, when the stage is much smaller, the audience sits in the round, and Cory the Warm Up Comic delivers an opening routine that is exactly the same as every single other opening routine he’s ever done on the show since at least I started covering it four years ago.

Another difference: Unlike the Top 12 shows, I am not technically sitting in the audience — those precious seats are reserved strictly for family, friends, and squealing co-eds. So instead I’m sitting in a backstage phalanx of seats roughly 20 feet to the left of the judges’ table, reserved for guests who don’t want to be on camera and staff who work on the show. From my vantage point, I could clearly see all four judges and about 75 percent of the stage, as well as the general to-and-fro of the crew and the backstage stairs leading up to the Coke Room of Ryan’s Awkward Interviews. I could not, however, see the Top 8 guys at all, nor the Coke Balcony of Contestants’ Awkward Standing itself.

I did, though, give the stage a good inspection about 45 minutes before the show was due to start.  READ FULL STORY »