American Idol Update – May 8

It is less than three weeks now till the final vote is revealed by Ryan Seacrest on who will be the next American Idol. Nine contestants have gone home and after Thursday only three will remain. My prediction is that Lauren or Scotty may be home this week, but after the Pia Toscano shocker, nobody is really safe this season.

Paula Abdul may not be part of American Idol, but Idol fans who follow her will be glad to know she will be a judge on Simon Cowell’s X-Factor this fall on the Fox network. She apparently left American Idol when she requested $10 million after learning Ryan Seacrest was being paid $15 million, but the producers refused to pay the $10 million so she walked. Now she will be sitting next to Simon Cowell again, which should help the ratings of the new show.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/08/x-factor-paula-abdul/

Adam Lambert has picked Haley Reinhart to be the next American Idol. He told the Hollywood Reporter “It’s incredible how  she makes it look so easy and effortless” and said “Plus she’s having fun up there.”

Lady Gaga will be the guest mentor on Wednesday’s show. Contestants might want to think twice before placing too much weight on her advice, since she likes to think out of the box, which might not go over well with the judges. Haley Reinhart, in particular needs to be careful with Lady Gaga as her mentor.

The contestants will be choosing music from the Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller catalog this week. Forty of their songs were in the Broadway musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe. This list at Amazon.com shows the titles and sound clips can be heard of each song. This list is not an inclusive list, but contains most of their better known hits.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013DC79A/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00137ZAUE&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0EVXQR80812THRJSZW7V

Taylor Hicks has re-opened a restaurant-bar that he performed in while learning the music business. The restaurant is located in Birmingham, Alabama. He is one of the partners who re-opened the restaurant. This article gives many more details on the restaurant, including the menu being offered.

http://blog.al.com/bob-carlton/2011/05/american_idol_taylor_hicks_of.html

Haley Reinhart Singing in 2008, 2010, Dancing at a Wedding

Haley Reinhart is one of four finalists on American Idol.

Haley Reinhart singing the Frank Sinatra classic Night and Day with the Wheeling High School Jazz Band in December of 2008.

HaleyReinhart singing  Like a  Star in October of 2008.

Haley Reinhart singing with the Harper Jazz Ensemble in May of 2010.

Haley singing with Haley and the Rastitudes.

Haley at the Milwaukee audition earlier this season, mentioning that she had not been chosen in the 2010 auditions.

Haley dancing to Michael Jackson music at a wedding.

After watching these videos, it is clear that Haley Reinhart has paid her dues to get where she is today. If she survives the next two weeks, she will be in the final two on May 25.

Haley was a slow starter this season staying in the bottom three for a good part of Season 10. She has been coming on strong lately and could be on the verge of being the next American Idol.

However, an even better singer Pia Toscano was sent home five weeks ago, so nobody is really safe until Ryan Seacrest names them the next American Idol later this month.

The best thing about Haley is that she sometimes sings music from the 40′s.

Whether Haley wins American Idol or not, we should be hearing her music for a long time through her recordings.