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Judges Britney Spears, Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato and L.A. Reid during the Season Two premiere event of 'The X Factor.' September 12, 2012 11:35 AM ET

When The X Factor launched last season with a Hollywood premiere, complete with red carpet, it felt grandiose and innovative. Last night, Simon Cowell's show again took over a Hollywood movie palace, the iconic Grauman's Chinese Theater, to celebrate the new season.

There was no shortage of pomp and circumstance, thanks in large part to the star power of new judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, who attracted legions of screaming fans on Hollywood Boulevard and inside the theater.

To underscore what a big event this was, the night started with a handprint ceremony, in which the four judges had their hands immortalized in cement alongside legends such as Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra.

There was no shortage of hyperbole: the show was introduced as "the most powerful 84 minutes of television this season." Audience members sang Spears and Lovato songs to keep the crowd entertained while waiting for the judges.

Cowell was the only judge to speak prior to the screening of the premiere (which airs tonight on Fox), introducing some of the changes to this season. "We're so proud of this," Cowell said, calling Spears "the new Queen of Mean, as you're about to see."

Among the biggest changes are the lack of a host and voiceover, and contestants being recorded as they wait for their auditions. The second season starts with a "rivalry" between a 22-year-old singer named Kaci Newton and our heroine, 21-year-old mom Paige Thomas. Newton is so unlikable it gave the whole opening the effect of watching a Christopher Guest spoof of singing shows (and where is that, please?).

And then it was Britney time. The show remains Cowell's, but he's smart enough to know that it is Spears who can jump-start last year's disappointing ratings. After she ripped one horrible contestant, she was featured in a lengthy montage telling people "no" in various ways. "You sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks," she says to one contestant.

During the Q&A that followed, Spears pointed out that it wasn't just her being mean, but Lovato too. Lovato turned to Cowell and said she knew he would include footage of that in later episodes. The banter between Cowell and Lovato was played up continuously; at one point she joked that Reid told her, "Simon is so much uglier in person. Try not to laugh when you meet him." Cowell responded with a story about how when he first met Lovato she was drooling, and he had to point it out to her.

Cowell addressed the witty repartee, saying, "I'm obviously comfortable with both girls, because they can give as good as they get."

The Q&A lasted 20-30 minutes, with many of the questions being directed at Cowell. Coming from a variety of sources – Twitter, Facebook, the crowd and Fox – the questions covered a wide range of topics, including which One Direction member would make the best judge.

Spears was asked what she looks for most as a judge. "Someone who genuinely enjoys what they do," she replied. "I can totally relate to contestants – I know what it's like to have a dream and a passion," she added.

More importantly for Cowell and Fox, judging by the continuous screams, it seemed that fans can still relate to her.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

'American Idol' Recap: Still in Hollywood Hell

3:24 AM

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Contestant Imani Handy is helped up after fainting during her performance on 'American Idol.'

Welcome back to American Idol. I know you've been popping Xanax all week due to the overwhelming anxiety of not knowing what happened to the Betties and all the other groups struggling to survive the Idol plague. What? You don't remember the Betties? The girl group who stayed up fighting and/or barfing all night, desperate to go through to the next round of Idol? You don't remember the Big Cliffhanger?

Don't worry. Idol knows we have the attention span of a caffeinated flea, and they replay almost the entire episode before we are reminded that the Betties are one of the 42 groups competing today. They are singing first, and the Idol Ebola is not doing them any favors. Jennifer Malsch and Cari Quoyser make it through, while the rest are sent to die in the comfort of their own homes. Cherie Tucker, who has to see the medic three times and throws up right after the performance, feels like she was robbed, but I don't think you can sue a flu bug in court. Not yet, anyway.

Next to face the judges is a group starring Reed Grimm (a.k.a. Mr. Boop boop dee doop), Creighton Frakes, Jen Hirsch and Aaron Marcellus, the music instructor from Georgia who sets J. Lo's heart aflutter. By the middle of the song the audience is standing, and then the judges are on their feet, and everyone is super-excited over harmonies and background singing and boop boop dee dooping. Obviously they are all through to the next round.

The next group on stage is headed by Brielle Von Hugel, whose mother has been adamantly not stage momming – not even when she is telling Brielle to take charge and pointing out that Kyle Crews can't sing, but Joshua Ledet can. Shannon Magrane's performance was dubbed show-off-y by J. Lo, but in a good-natured way, and everyone is safe except for Kyle, despite having been told just weeks before that he was one of the best male singers the judges had seen. Kyle claims that the song was in the wrong key, but we all know Brielle's mom voodoo-dolled him even though she is pretending to be nice to him in front of the cameras. Luckily, the Idol editors are there to remind us that she is a dirty, dirty liar.

Then, tragedy: the Idol Ebola hits again, and Patient Zero Amy Brumfield's group mate Jackie Cera faints and almost can't perform. Then she does perform, when Ryan Seacrest lets her touch the hem of his blazer. Unfortunately, the group's performance is terrible, and only Methenee Treco goes through. That means Amy Brumfield has to leave the roof over her head and return to her tent in the woods in Tennessee.

Seacrest comes on to assure us that multiple contestants who forget the words to their songs is completely normal and not a symptom. Move along, folks, nothing to see here. Alisha Bernhardt, the lonely cop from last week, and Christian the Puker and their entire group are all cut for delivering a performance that is the aural equivalent of Ambien. As they walk off stage, Alisha makes a plea to the judges to be on their personal security details, which you can either blame on the economy or her bunny-boiler tendencies.

David Leathers Jr. and Eben Franckewitz deliver a perky performance with their group, managing to wake up the judges. They move the singers to the next round quickly so we can get on to the Big Drama they have been teasing all night. As Johnny Keyser and his group rehearse, Imani Handy goes down. Everyone prays, and then she is up and ready to perform, despite being wrapped in a hobo blanket and not looking good. They all head out on stage and get half way through the song when Imani collapses again, causing Ryan to swear on national television as he and Imani's mom run onto the stage, followed by medics. Local hero Keyser bravely keeps singing despite the pandemonium on stage, until Randy Jackson puts him out of his misery. The judges all mutter was it nerves, was it nerves? As if that is some deficiency on her part and not the actions of a brave young woman willing to sacrifice her health for her dream. Imani cries and swears she will never collapse on stage again, but that's not enough for the judges. They send her home for her own good, obviously.

You know who's also going home? The chucklehead who quit his job to pursue his dream while his wife was seven months pregnant.

The last group to perform features Heejun Han, Phillip Phillips and a talking Cowboy Hat who keeps going on about democracy and America. They all make it anyway, and Heejun has to apologize to the Cowboy Hat and his parents for saying bad things about him on national television.

Oh shit, this show is two hours!

The next day is Solo Day, and there are 99 contestants still in the running to be America's Next Idol. Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler warm up the band and the singers with a rousing rendition of "Walk This Way," because based on his performance of the national anthem, it's the only song Steven actually knows.

What follows are a series of impeccable performances by Joshua Ledet, Colton Dixon (with the world's stupidest haircut), Creighton Frakes, Phillip Phillips and his guitar and gitchy legs and Jen Hirsch delivering a full torc- song rendition of "Georgia on My Mind" as J. Lo and Randy nod along and Steven smiles to himself. The judges are on their feet to applaud her effort. Ryan returns to deliver the latest drama: rain! Also thunder.

Apparently some of the contestants have been raised in HabiTrails that don't have weather, because their performances are thrown off by thunder. Reed Grimm delivers a solo performance while accompanying himself on the drums, earning a remark that he sounds like Casey Abrams, lucky him. Then Shannon Magrane startles the judges with an outstanding, mature performance that surprises the heck out of Jennifer and gets Steven salivating.

Followed by Skyler Laine, who shows those candy-asses who were felled by the flu how it's done. After spending hours in the hospital and getting pumped full of fluid, she wails out a song that earns accolades from Steven. Rachelle Lamb isn't comforted by J. Lo's assurance that "there's no reason to be nervous," as she screws up, and Adam Brock (a.k.a. the self-proclaimed America's White Chocolate) gets Steven begging for more.

The judges make their decisions while the contestants are shuttled into four rooms, where they are not even given chairs, because they don't deserve chairs. Two rooms are filled with people we have been following since the beginning, people who have gotten lots of camera time. The other two rooms have a bunch of people we barely remember or have never seen before. Wonder who is going home? The judges deliver the good news to cheers and the bad news to the tune of Gary Jules' "Mad World" cover, which immediately dissolves the tension into deep, deep depression. Come back tomorrow for unprecedented performances and unparalleled drama, new and improved by a move to Las Vegas!

Last episode: Hollywood Hell Week

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

'American Idol' Recap: Hollywood Hell Week

5:41 PM

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Contestants console eachother during the Hollywood stage of 'American Idol.'

Welcome back to American Idol. I know you didn't sleep a wink last night because you were so worried about poor little Symone Black, who was so overcome by nerves or illness or clumsiness that she fell off the stage creating the first-ever Idol cliffhanger. Yes, for the first time in Idol history someone's life – and not their recording contract – hung in the balance. Spoiler alert: Symone's not dead.

In fact, approximately two seconds into tonight's episode, they show Symone walking with her dad to a date with the hospital. Yes the much-touted drama goes out with a whimper. In the words of late pitchman Billy Mays: "But wait, there's more!" Now that Symone is up and seemingly head trauma-free, Idol has to manufacture some more thrills and chills to keep us on the edge of our seats. First round of terror comes in the results for Lauren Mink, who we already determined is probably going home because she thought her special needs adults would miss her, and Ethan Jones whose dad is in rehab, and Jeremy Rosado with the yellow tongue and the access to infectious diseases. Instead of building tension, Idol quickly dispatches Lauren and Ethan, but keeps Jeremy around to spread whatever Def Con 1 illness he has to the other contestants. Where's the drama, Idol?

Luckily, this is Idol's self-proclaimed Hell Week, which I assume they write on poster board with dripping red tempura paints and post in the quad. Ryan Seacrest's disembodied voice reminds us that after the sudden death elimination rounds that we saw yesterday, now it's the infamous (in Idol's own mind, at least) group performance night. The remaining 185 contestants have just one night to form into groups Voltron-style, choose a song, choreograph a routine, and then aim for perfection. It's a two-for-one combo pack of hazing and cramming for finals and just another reason why Idol has a mid-20s age limit. According to the teasers, not everyone survives.

The show's producer causes some consternation among the contestants by informing them that they must form groups of 4 or 5 singers, but there's a twist! Each group must have with a mix of contestants from Day 1 and Day 2. This twist causes a huge uproar among people who didn't watch last year's show because everybody already made their new best Facebook friends and doesn't want to make any others. Cue many many shots of people gasping and looking wide-eyed in fear at having to make new temporary BFFs. Most stricken by this choice is Alicia Bernhart, a St. Louis police officer who declares she is a St. Louis police officer to all comers. She also insists on singing the wretched, aria-free "Joy to the World" – better known as the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" song – and won't team up with anyone who won't commit to singing that song. Amy Brumfield, who you may recall lives in a tent in the woods, also finds herself, in Idol's always classy vernacular, homeless. Adding to Amy's woes is that she has the flu, or more likely, Jeremy's mystery yellow tongue ailment. To improve her situation, she sits in the corner and cries while telling herself that she can't give up.

Outside Amy's sad little corner of the world, "The theater has erupted in CHAOS," Ryan says. The auditorium is crammed with contestants milling about, bumping into each other, squealing, grimacing. It's like The Walking Dead except whinier. Eventually Amy and Alicia find each other, and then they find three more people, but when no one wants to sing Alicia's bullfrog song in favor of the equally gag-inducing "More Than A Feeling," she quits the group and returns to milling around demanding to know if people like cops. I wonder what would happen to Alicia if she never found a group. Would she be forced to compete Running Man style? Would Seacrest feed her to Randy Jackson? We never find out, because Alicia eventually finds one person whose father is a cop, so she relents to join that group. She is really good at not making friends and alienating people.

We are more than halfway through the show when I notice nothing is happening. There's no singing, there's no judging. It's simply watching teenagers manufacture dramam – kind of like My Super Sweet Sixteen, but without the giant cake payoff. Heejun Han and Phillip Phillips have formed a group together with some kid in a hat and another kid in a plus-sized cowboy hat. Their head-butting creates much of the drama for the evening. For some reason, the cowboy hat's insistence on music theory and box step choreography is ruining Heejun's ideas of looking cool on national television. Phillip can't get his back, because he is busy in his hotel room passing a kidney stone. Strangely the cameras aren't tracking that action closely, which is obviously a missed opportunity for drama. Instead we have to settle for Heejun worrying about looking like a dork in front of his friends.

In the hallway of the convention center, Brielle Von Hugel, who made it to Hollywood and through the group auditions last year alongside Idol finalist Pia Toscano, is using this impressive resume to put herself in charge. She's teamed with Kyle Crews, the frat bro from San Diego and Shannon Magrane, the seven-foot tall pitcher's daughter. Brielle's stage mom stands on the sideline muscles tensed, ever-ready to leap forward and throw someone under the bus if they step into her daughter's spotlight.

45 minutes into the show and still no singing. I doublecheck the listing to see if the show is two hours long, which could explain the filler, but no. It's an hour. And 45 minutes of the hour have been people muttering and shuffling and arguing in a convention center hallway. It's Comic Con minus the cos play, or the Lutheran Elementary School Tournament minus the drama.

Well, there is some drama: A mysterious ailment is felling people left and right. The more stalwart and committed contestants practice between puking. The contestants with commitment issues retire wanly to their hotel rooms to barf far from the cameras. Some of them eventually return to the practice rooms, where they are greeted with full-bodied hugs and cheers by idiots who don't understand how germs are transmitted. Amy Brumfield is still sick, but she's "not letting the devil play" with her like that. She has Jesus and Thera Flu on her side.

Finally, morning has come and we are ready to see some group performances. As the first group takes the stage …the camera cuts. Come back next week when we get to see the judges in HazMat suits and the CDC shuts down the whole production.

Last episode: Life and Death in Hollywood

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Monday, February 13, 2012

'American Idol' Recap: Life and Death in Hollywood

2:59 AM

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Ryan Seacrest with the Hollywood contestants.

It's Hollywood week – when the teeming throngs of wannabe superstars have been winnowed down to a single teeming throng of wannabe superstars. There are 309 contestants still in the running to be the next American Idol, and the only thing standing between them and their dreams are Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson and 308 other contestants.

To kick things off, Steven gives the horde a rousing word of encouragement, "What makes the hottentot so hot? Who put the ape in apricot? What have they got? Courage!" I've had more coherent fortune cookies, Steven. Ryan Seacrest calls this a pep talk; I call it dementia.

Ryan explains that for the inaugural day of Hollywood Week, the singers will divide into groups of 10. Everyone will sing a few verses, and then the judges decide who will stay and who will go. Half of the contestants go home today. It would be really dramatic if we actually recognized any of these people.

Ruining my whole point in the last paragraph, up first is someone we actually do recognize: Johnny Keyser from Pompano Beach, Florida via the St. Louis auditions. The white boy with the soul of a soulful white guy with a soul patch once again impresses the judges. To celebrate her return to civilized people (sorry St. Louis), J. Lo is wearing a leather blouse complete with a floppy leather bow. It's very sado-maso-librarian. Next to sing is Heejun Han, the wiggliest guy in all of New York. He wiggles almost as much as he did during his initial audition in Pittsburgh and talks about his mother's disappointment. He notes that everyone competing in Hollywood Week is so tall and so pretty, which I'm pretty sure we can thank Steven Tyler for. He does a pretty good Michael Bolton impression and while he claims a lack of confidence, he blows J.Lo a kiss in the middle of the song and nails it. Guess who's tall and pretty now?

What follows are several women we need to develop some real feelings for stat: Elise Testone with a biker's face and an angel's voice, Baylie Brown from Texas who has both the voice and the face of an angel, Baltimore's Hallie Day (remember the suicidal waitress? Yeah, love her), Lauren Gray from Arkansas, and Jen Hirsch, a girl who opted to wear a tie-dyed tent on national television.

It wouldn't be Idol if they only showed the good performers, so we are then treated to a montage of all the reasonably good singers who completely miff their big shots and will be talking about this moment in therapy sessions for the next 10 years. Many of them beg. It's not pretty.

Hey remember Phillip Phillips who wowed with his "Thriller" cover? Barelyyyy, but he's through to the next round of competition. Then, stage lifer Reed Grimm opts for a gimmicky song choice and bebops his way through "I Got a Golden Ticket" from Willy Wonka and once again he sings it like it's mashed up with the Frasier theme song. Bippity boppity booooooooo! The judges are still charmed by his quirks. I, however, am not. But for every dream come true, others must end. Travis Orlando must return to nothing, despite being better than either Reed or Phillip, earless Ramiro Garcia (what, that's how you remember him too) and Wolf Hamlin the mechanic with the most rocking name ever, all fail to make the cut.

New dad Adam Brock sings "Walkin' in Memphis," because J.Lo asked him to, and he performs well enough to get through to the next day. Next up is Jane Carrey, a.k.a. Jim Carrey's daughter, who is not nearly as good as she thinks she is. In fact, she is so resoundingly mediocre that she's out. Even with her famous father, she is still out. Kinda proud of you Idol.

David Leathers, Jr., is 17 years old, so no jokes about that being his porn name for at least six months. He sings Celine Dion and gets a standing ovation from the audience, a.k.a. his competitors. Even Randy can't help but woot in the middle of his performance. Following in his talented footsteps is Jessica Phillips the walking sob story with the boyfriend who had a stroke. During her performance Steven is smiling so wide that he looks like he's going to fall over. She's in, because the universe doesn't suck that much yet. Also in is Shannon Magrane – the 17-year old daughter of the major league pitcher who got hit on by Steven in front of her dad – and Creighton Fraker, despite singing like he's about to drop a deuce on stage. That can be trained out of him, right? Aaron Marcellus from Georgia got Randy all riled up in a good way, and J. Lo looked ready to toss over whatever backup dancer she's dating to get with him.

Lauren Mink, who works at a center for adults with developmental disabilities, prepares us for her return to Kentucky by saying that her charges would miss her if she succeeded. Her pointless key change in the middle of "Alone" doesn't help, either. Jeremy Rosado who works in an infectious diseases clinic and despite his claim that he's a germaphobe who sanitizes all the time, obviously has caught something fatal, because his tongue is bright yellow. Like sucking a Crayola yellow. Their fates are TBD, though, because something very dramatic interrupts the proceedings. 16-year old Symone Black does an admirable job covering Otis Redding, but her performance was not nearly as dramatic as when she fell off the stage while talking to the judges. Not one to waste a cliffhanger, Idol ends and all we know is that Symone fell, they called a medic, and her father rushed from the balcony. You want outcomes? Come back tomorrow. If you really can't wait to see if she lives or dies, watch this video.

Last episode: Meet Me in St. Louis

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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Paul McCartney Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

6:48 PM

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Sir Paul McCartney already has a few honors to his name (if the "Sir" wasn't indication enough), but he will claim one more today when he becomes the final Beatle to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The rock icon, 69, will meet with fans and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce CEO Leron Gubler outside the Capitol Records building this afternoon to receive the star, for which he was first nominated in 1993. His plaque will join those of bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – as well as one for the Beatles as a whole – on the legendary sidewalk.

This week is a historic one for McCartney in other ways: it marks the anniversary of the Beatles' famous 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which kicked off Beatlemania and the British Invasion, as well as the release of his album of standards, Kisses on the Bottom. He will also perform during the Grammy Awards this Sunday.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here