The Idols are getting ready to head out on tour today. The city will hit forty-nine cities over the next seventy-two days. The tour opens up in Phoenix, Arizona, which is one of the cities American Idol will hold auditions at this year. No stop in Los Angeles, but for those in California, San Francisco is also a stop. Phoenix might be just a bit closer. Some of the other cities included as stops this year are San Juan, Puerto Rico and East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Some interesting choices this year. I don’t recall the judges leaving the continental United States to hold auditions before. This might lead to some new talent. I am excited to see what changes Fox and the producers make with the show. It is a still a hot ticket, but there are improvements that could be made. Shortening the airing of the audition process on television among them. For a full list of dates and cities to try out for American Idol, check after the jump.

(more…)

What do you think about American Idol? Do you like it how it is now or do you think some changes can be made? As a fan and view of the show, I think there is always room for improvement. My attention goes to the audition round which plays on our television screens for the first month of American Idol. Yes, I love a good bad audition scene as much as anyone, but four weeks of them always gets boring. Other series of this type of shortened their audition process on air. I really think it is time for American Idol.

However, I’m not sure if lowering the age requirement for the show is a good idea. Yes, there are some amazing younger singers, but if you go too young, they might not be able to handle the pressure of a full season of performing and being judged. David Archuleta, at 17, is one of the youngest to be on the series, and you could tell he was overwhelmed. Imagine if he had auditioned and made it onto the show earlier?

What do you think?

Last night, we saw the two finalists, David Archuleta and David Cook, spotlighted as they performed with the rest of this years contestants. We had appearances by such musical greats as Donna Summer, Bryan Adams and George Michael. They joined the Idol contestants as they all sang songs by the respective singers. The finale is two hours long, and at times this did feel too long, but the guest appearances made the finale worth watching.

When it was all said and done, we had David Cook announced this year’s American Idol. He won by a margin of twelve million votes. A total of over ninety-seven million votes were cast in the finale vote. This was a new record for voting for American Idol. It crushed the old number by twenty-three million.

American Idol will return next year with some changes in store. Fox is keeping quiet on these changes for now, but they have been taking a hard look at the series in recent weeks to make it even better for next year. They did this to regain the loss in viewers they had this year. A loss that doesn’t mean all that much because American Idol is still one of the top shows on television today.

This week Marissa Jaret Winokur was picked to go home. She has been a great asset to the series this season with her bubbly personality. She showed the American viewers that you don’t have to be skinny to dance and dance well. She just doesn’t have the skill to match up to the others still remaining in the competition at this point. Many are shocked she made it passed Mario and Shannon Elizabeth.

As for American Idol, this week the final three fought it out for the final two spots in next week’s finale. They each sang three songs each. One picked by the judges, one they picked themselves, and one picked for them by the producers. During their performances, it was easy to see who would be sent home this week just by the judge’s comments.

Syesha Mercado packed her bags this week, and this means we will see David Archuleta and David Cook in next week’s finale. This is something I have been predicting for weeks now. These two stand out the most, and it will be interesting to see just what they end up doing next week. Archuleta has been the one with most of the buzz surrounding him because of his father. He has been asked by the producers to not help his son with his song choices or performance preparations. Young David is all on his own.

Jason Castro had already said before this week’s performances that he was ready to go home, and his performances showed this lack of enthusiasm. He even messed up lyrics during one of his performances, and this caused judge Simon Cowell to tell him to pack his bags. Something he said he did last night when asked about him possibly going home. This attitude only proved to me that Jason should have gone home weeks before this. I’m not sure how he remained in the competition as long as he did. He let the fans that had kept voting for him the last few weeks down by his total lack of wanting to win when he had reached so far in the competition.

Now we are down to three, and we have no clear favorite among those three left. Fifty-one million votes were cast, and those in the top three were only one million apart. I still stand behind my belief that we will see David Cook and David Archuleta in the finale. Syesha is talented, but I see her heading to Broadway. She has those talents set for her, as we have seen in recent weeks. Ratings for American Idol are still on the slide, but it continues to win its time slot each week.

This led to a much talked about moment as Paula Abdul had a moment of confusion where she is talking about Jason Castro singing two songs. He had only performed once. Several excuses have been brought forth since the night the show aired. Everything from Paula having seen rehearsals to her just being confused. Each of the contestants did well this week, but one had to be sent home. This week the show ended for Brooke White. She has been a favorite of mine this season, and it was hard to see her go.

Each and every week I keep asking myself how Jason Castro is still in the competition. He can sing, but his style isn’t my taste. I thought for sure after his performances this week and the judge’s comments, we would see him go home. Once again, he was saved from elimination. I know I’m not the only one asking this question. He has stayed long after some eliminations that people thought would still be there now. With the contestants now left in the competiition, I do agree with Paula Abdul about David Cook. He is my pick for this year’s American Idol. Syesha will make it to Broadway someday soon. David Archuleta is great as well, and I foresee a finale between the two David’s this year.

As for American Idol, the producers are already looking ahead to next season, and they have gone to the fans to ask what they think. Rumor is we might lose the audition round, at least on television. The series might start next year with the Hollywood round, showing the audition process only in flashback. Now this is an idea. I have always thought the month long airing of the auditions was the weakest part of the show. I know we need auditions, but showing them for four weeks is just tedious. Cutting down the amount of auditions shown or getting rid of them altogether on television is an idea. I can see a week or two auditions, but four has always been stretching it in my mind. We’ll have to see what changes are made to American Idol next year.

Carly Smithson, an Irish native, was the one sent home on last night’s show after singing a song from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. It was one of her best performances in my opinion, and I was certainly shocked to see her exit the competition at this point. There were others that I feel should have been sent home in her place. Jason’s performance of Memory on this week’s show was criticized by all the judges, and I thought for sure it had earned him a trip into the bottom two. He was safe.

This is the second shocking elimination this season. Michael Johns was eliminated just a couple of weeks ago, and I’m sure no one saw that one coming. Things will only continue to heat up in the weeks ahead as we get closer to naming this year’s American Idol. Next week, the five remaining contestants will sing songs by Neil Diamond. Who will shine next week and who will be sent home? Will we have another shocker? We’ll have to wait and find out.

In other Fox news today, there are rumblings from TV Guide that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has indeed been renewed for a second season, but Fox is currently declining to comment. This could be rumor, but if it is true I am glad to see the series return for a second season. As a Terminator fan, I’m enjoying the series. It does twist the story a bit, ignoring the third movie in the trilogy, and instead using the events in the second as a basis for what occurs in the series. Brian Austin Green came in and put glue to what was a good series and turning it into a great one. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do next with the Terminator mythology. Of course, this is all based on what TV Guide saying today being true. Fox is known for pulling the plug on shows, even after saying they will return. Dark Angel is one such series that comes to mind. We’ll have to see what happens.

In other Fox news, the man behind the hit series Battlestar Galactica, Ronald D. Moore, has received the go ahead from Fox for a new series, Virtuality. The science fiction series will come from Universal, and it will follow the members on board Earth’s first star-ship as they use the ship’s virtual reality machines to pass the time they have on board. All goes well until they find a flaw in the system. Sounds like it could be interesting. Fox typically isn’t too good to series with science fiction though.

Firefly and Dark Angel both didn’t last long, and the fate of this year’s hit, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is still up in the air. Fox is generally just hard on shows period, especially on mid-season replacements. The news is looking good for The Sarah Connor Chronicles though. Word has it from the powers to be at Fox that the series is likely to return. They are already staffing people for filming. This is a good sign if its true. We’ll have to wait and see. I know I’d be glad to see the show return.

Kellie Pickler won three awards during the CMT 2008 Music Awards on Monday night. Amazingly, Kellie won all three of the CMT awards that she was nominated for, and those three CMT awards were the CMT Performance of the Year Music Award for I Wonder, the CMT Tearjerker Video of the Year Music Award, also for I Wonder, and the USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year, again for I Wonder.

As Kellie proudly accepted her awards, she said, “Oh, my gosh. This is the first time I’ve ever won anything in my life. I’m so excited. I don’t know what to say. Thank you, American Idol. You are the rocket that launched my career.”

Congratulations, Kellie! You certainly deserve the awards, and I’m sure there are many more awards in the future as you continue to move forward in your music career.

Photo credit: Flickr member, Minds-eye