Troubled Hollywood

There are two breakups happening in Hollywood this week. Okay, one is just a confirmed breakup that we all figured anyway. It’s finally been made official by the reps of Kimberly Caldwell and David Cook that their romance has ended, according to People.com. He had originally asked her out on a date live on the red carpet at the finale just before he took the title. They’ve been dating since. They made a cute couple, so it’s definitely a shame, but from my conversation with Caldwell a year ago, she’s dated other Idols as well, so I’m guessing she’ll be back on the horse in no time.

Amanda Bynes rep told People.com that she and baseballer Doug Reinhardt have broken up. She was seen last week, visibly upset and telling people they’d broken up. Yet, this Tuesday, they were seen quite happy together and holding hands. Just one night later, they were quite happy separately, as Bynes was out with girlfriends and another man, and Reindhardt was seen dancing with many different ladies and even kissing one of them. People on his side said he’s been trying to break up with her, but she wouldn’t have it, while her side is saying she went to his house and demanded her stuff back. Maybe they could just do a switch with the ex-Idols, and Amanda could date David, and Doug could date Kim.

We also have two separate lawsuits being settled. Naomi Campbell has come to undisclosed terms with her ex-maid. From the sounds of it, they make it seem like it was a long-lasting employment, but in truth the maid, Gaby Gibson, only worked there from November 2005 to January 2006, according to Pop Eater. The maid accused Campbell of hitting her and calling her names. She has also stated that a theft charge was threatened after the model couldn’t find a pair of jeans and accused Gibson. Either Campbell is a terrible employer and Gibson was just trying to get as much as she could out of her, or else it really happened. Either way, both parties now are happy with the turnout.

Sharon Osbourne has also settled out of court on a lawsuit. Pop Eater says her lawsuit was against The Sun for the story the published saying she was overworking frail Ozzy and it was driving him to destruction. He lawyer called the allegations “extremely distressing, hurtful and damaging.” The Sun has now apologized and accepted that the story just wasn’t true. They are now paying Sharon’s legal costs as well as undisclosed damages. If Gaby is still looking for a job, maybe she could work for the Osbournes so that Ozzy wouldn’t have to work so hard.

Photo courtesy of rickey.org

I should have been thinking all night about how great the final three performances were last night on American Idol, but instead I was thinking about who they are and their current (past?) occupations. Ryan Seacrest started it by announcing the final three at the beginning as a high school student, an actress, and a bartender. There just doesn’t seem to be anything stunning about that to me, but he must have announced it for a reason.

Let’s break it all down.

David Archuleta is 17 and technically a high school student, but does he still go to school? I mean, I’m sure the guy is studying, and surely he’s had a tutor while on American Idol, but before that, was he walking in the doors of his neighborhood high school in Utah, or was the prior Star Search contestant always being tutored while he looked for his next big break? He just doesn’t seem like a kid to me. Then again, neither did Jordin Sparks. For a show that promised us at the beginning of the season that we’d get to know the contestants much better, we really didn’t. Who is he? What does he like to do? I’ve only seen the guy singing. Read more »

Getting to the top 10 of American Idol, it seems like we’re finally beginning to separate the pack from those that can and those that can’t. It’s the personalities that seem to really be coming in to play here, as let’s face it … everyone there has a good voice, or they wouldn’t have even made it to Hollywood to begin with, let alone to the final 24. Those that we just couldn’t connect with for one reason or another are gone, so now it comes down to personality, and if they have a personality to keep us excited every week, they’ll stick around for awhile.

While Ramiele Malubay has a pretty voice that she finally showed she can belt with, there’s no connection from her to us. Despite the show telling us before the season started that this time there would be more focus placed on getting to know the performers, I don’t really feel I know her. Trying to figure out songs for each to sing, I can’t begin to tell you what I think she should sing, as I don’t know really who she is. She sang Heart’s Alone, and while she was finally belting a song out to prove the voice she had, it still had me wondering what else she was going to do with it. Not to mention the fact that outfit with the shorts was horrible. It made her look even more short, as well as stumpy.

I kind of feel the same way with Syesha Mercado. Vocally, tonight, she was the best she has ever sounded, and I’m sure this is the performer the judges put through to the final 12 … finally. However, I’m wondering who the hell she really is as well. We need to find out some fun things about her, as without the personality, she’s just another good voice, and frankly, we’ve had too many females to have done well on the show with pretty voices. She needs to show us something along with that. Read more »

It really doesn’t need to be said any more at this point, that the Beatles were pioneers in their time. They were geniuses in rock, and managed to stay on top for several years, changing their sound here and there with the times. That said, they’ve never been my favorite music to listen to, as I’ll hear a few Beatles songs here and there and think, okay, I’m good. So twenty-three of their songs in the past two weeks are more than enough for me. The first twelve were plenty. And since American Idol switched to this second week of Beatles at the last moment, no one seemed to have as much time to prepare, and everyone had already sung their favorite, or what they felt would help them the most, or had taken a huge risk already with this music. So to choose another, it seemed to throw off the whole balance of the show.

Even Brooke White said as much in her comments to the judges. She came out and sang Here Comes the Sun, which was way too fluffy of a song after listening to her put everything she had into Let It Be last week. She seemed uncomfortable with it, trying to throw in some dancing to lighten it up, which only looked ridiculous! She ended up telling the judges she knew she couldn’t match the magic of Let It Be and even asked if she could repeat it, but was denied. She’d already reached her pinnacle with Beatles music, so she was never going to be able to beat that. Brooke would have been screwed no matter what she sang, sickeningly sweet performance or not.

David Artchuleta had actually done Beatles to perfection a few weeks ago as well, and knew he was never going to top Imagine. I don’t know if anyone this season will top that. Then last week, trying to move away from that, he did terrible, forgetting his lyrics. He could only go up from that, but knew he’d never top Imagine. He sang Long and Winding Road, and it was the perfect thing for the long drawn out ballads he seems to prefer, but he still needs to figure out how to master the up tempo songs and not screw up the words. Read more »

Hours after the scandal was outed, the fact that American Idol contestant David Hernandez was working for three years as a male stripper, it was for the most part ignored on the show, with most of the guys having a great night.

David Hernandez happened to have another great night. The guy has a fantastic voice. Although, I have to say despite the fact I watched the show, wrote a recap for Reality Shack, and have been talking in forums about it all night and morning, I can’t tell you what the guy sang. That doesn’t spell out long-term success, but I think it will keep him there for at least a few more weeks. No one mentioned the scandal at all, although one person with good hearing thought she heard Simon mumbling before the judges’ comments started, asking how he would strip to that. Knowing Simon as the King of Snark, it’s extremely possible. Oh yeah, David sang It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, just as the song title just did.

David Archuleta sang like a pro and performed the same, but as I predicted last week, there is no way he’ll be able to match last week’s Imagine. Again, can’t remember what he sang, not a good thing. There is grumbling from us fans about what is up with his lip-licking and breathing, which could have to do with his paralyzed vocal chord. But this is what happens when a performance doesn’t captivate us. Read more »