Last night's American Idol opened the competition's not-quite-semifinal, not-quite-final round, with the 13 singers who were selected as this year's spotlighted contestants making their way through the songs of Michael Jackson. While Paula Abdul was only interested in seemingly tipping the producers...

Last night's American Idol showcased the varying talents of eight singers who the judges liked but who for whatever reason (demographics, tattoos, outright lousy performances) weren't embraced by the calling and texting public. Only three of them were supposed to make it into this year's group of Id...

In addition to sending Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, and Jorge Nunez through to the Top 12, last night's peppy-for-an-elimination-episode edition of American Idol set the field for tonight's Wild Card round. And... well, it's more than a little disappointing. People who completely botched their initi...

So, tomorrow night is American Idol 's Wild Card round, in which the judges bring back their favorite singers who didn't make the cut over the last few weeks, then grant three of them passes to the Top 12, whose finals begin in a mere six days. There are going to be eight or nine contestants—t...

A performance of "Hey There Delilah" being my favorite of the night. Von Smith not being annoying. An 18-year-old with a neck tattoo. Last night's American Idol , in which the last third of the Top 36 competed for America's phoned-in affections, was full of odd things, and made me wonder just how th...

Last night's American Idol served as yet another testament to the completely broken nature of this ridiculous 36-semifinalist setup. Most of the performances were, unfortunately, pretty bad—so lousy, in fact, that I felt for even the most off-pitch contestants, since this was pretty much their...

Posted by Ellen W. Horowitz for JewishIsrael "Do not bow down to their gods and do not serve them. Do not follow their practices. You must tear them down and you must utterly shatter their monuments." ( Parashat Mishpatim 23:24) The above was from last week’s Torah portion. G-d with His infinite s...

American Idol insider blog Joesplace has a list of rumored song choices for tonight's episode of American Idol , in which 12 more semifinalists put themselves up to be loved by the nation while Paula Abdul quietly stews about the four-judge format and Simon Cowell tries to stay awake. Is the oh-so-t...

Is Danny Gokey the most talented competitor on season 8 of American Idol, or a so-so sentimentalist who's enjoying the fruits of producer pimping? Nice guy who's suffered a terrible tragedy, or contestant who's exploiting said tragedy to win viewer......

[A glossary and analysis by Hoffman  follows this article]  The Key To Becoming A Talmid Chacham 5Towns Jewish Times | Feb. 19, 2009 Kindly take a moment to study Mishnas Chayim in the merit of Esther Devorah bas Chayim, a’h, a fellow Jew who passed away with no relatives to arrange Torah study ...