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As the New York Yankees great catcher Yogi Berra used to say:  "It's deja vu all over again."   Tonight, America's viewing public went hook, line and sinker for mainstream appeal over true artistry and voted Lee DeWyze as this year's American Idol winner, leaving a much more talented artist, Crystal Bowersox, as runnerup in this year's finale, which also was Idol judge Simon Cowell's swan song. The end result was similar to last year when vocal dynamo Adam Lambert lost to an affable but... Read Full Story

Tonight we got to see which American Idol judges deserve to keep their jobs.  Unfortunately, the only one who does, is the one who will be leaving at the end of this season.  Simon Cowell did Lee DeWyze a great favor by picking Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah" for Lee to sing.  Meanwhile, Ellen DeGeneres had good intentions in selecting "Baby, I'm Amazed" for Crystal Bowersox, but the end result wasn't all that good.  And shame on Randy Jackson and Kara Dio Guardi for sticking Casey James... Read Full Story

And then there were three.  American Idol fans for once got it right and voted Casey James, Lee DeWyze and Crystal Bowersox into the final three, while sending home soul singer Big Mike Lynche, who sang an uninspired version of Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There?" from the movie "Free Willy," during Tuesday night's movie theme song competition. The night opened with season No. 3 winner Fantasia singing her new single "Bittersweet" from her first album in three years, followed later in the... Read Full Story

It may have been Movie Theme night on American Idol, but both the show's producers and its remaining four contestants clearly missed the "big picture" as the "Final Four" delivered some mediocre and ho-hum performances trying to interpret songs from classic and famous movies.  One more example of how Idol's contrived "theme nights" don't work well for either the contestants or the show's massive audience. The highlight of the night was Crystal Bowersox who burned up the stage on Kenny Loggins... Read Full Story

Aaron Kelly, at 17, the youngest of American Idol's "Final Five," got sent home tonight by fans' votes. But there was not only great tonality and feel in his farewell rendition of Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon," there was power, grit and a sense of determination in his voice that suggest we haven't heard the last of this talented young man. Here in The A& R Room, we feel that by finishing in Idol's 2010 Top Five, enough intellingent industry folks and fans have heard and recognized Kelly's... Read Full Story

American Idol or "AI" again tonight showed it is fast-becoming even more "Absolutely Irrelevant" to today's music scene - by forcing its final five contestants to sing Frank Sinatra standards that the young singers could neither relate to or sing. Lee DeWyze fared the best of the five, turning in a vocally growlly and stylistically somewhat relevant version of the Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon classic "That's Life."  Meanwhile, young Aaron Kelly opened the show with a solid "Fly Me to the Moon... Read Full Story

Just as we predicted after her unsettling Tuesday night performance, Siobhan Magnus' rendition of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine," proved to be her swan song, as she was voted off American Idol's competition last night. Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze and Aaron Kelly were the only contestants judged "safe" by voters, while Casey James and Big Mike Lynche joined Siobhan in the bottom three, before she eventually got the boot. Crystal was lucky not to finish in the bottom three, after a... Read Full Story

Casey James tonight regained credibility and momentum as a real contender to win this season's American Idol competition, with a fresh and highly stylized interpretation of Shania Twain's "Don't," while 17-year-old Aaron Kelly showed off his sensitivity and Country chops with Twain's "You've Got a Way," while delivering the second-strongest of the evening's six performances. Lee DeWyze showed his smarts by picking the best song in Twain's entire catalogue, with an interesting, if pitchy alt... Read Full Story

Crystal Bowersox left the comfort of her six-string to deliver an emotional "People Get Ready" tonight to showcase why she is the odd's-on favorite to win this year's American Idol, as she sparkled in competition featuring Idol's final seven contestants. On a night on which contestants were asked to perform inspirational songs, and the young contestants were mentored by R&B superstar Alicia Keys, only Bowersox and young Aaron Kelly showed wisdom in song selection and delivered anything close... Read Full Story

Editor’s Note:   This tutorial is designed for songwriters interested in not only creating great songs, but in making money from them.    This is not a “how to” for people focused on creating royalty free songs or royalty free music. So you want to write a hit song?   Where do you start?   What happens “in the middle,” during the writing process itself?   How do you finish it?   How do you know if your “song in progress” has hit potential or is just an exercise in mediocrity and self... Read Full Story