Backstage Pass

Hey, “American Idol” had a good finale!

Both Candice Glover and Kree Harrison performed well and the choice is in the “Idol” voters’ hands now. (And the judges didn’t get to talk much, so it was even more enjoyable than usual.)

Who will win? Well, if this was purely a singing competition, it would be Candice, who was both bolder with her vocal choices and a stronger singer overall. But...

This is what “American Idol” does best.

Most of the show’s problems faded away last night, as the focus shifted away from the comments from outsiders and the judges’ odd bickering back to the contestants for Hometown Visit Week. When (is “if” actually possible?) producers retool “Idol” in the off-season to try to reverse its ratings collapse, they should remember this show and go back to the...

The wheels are officially coming off the “American Idol” bus.

Pretty much everyone looked bewildered during last night’s show, from the Final Four contestants to the feuding judges to even normally unflappable host Ryan Seacrest.

It was a mess. Just in time for the first show of the May ratings book! And for its first head-to-head battle of the year with “The Voice”! (“The Voice” aired...

Sometimes, the “American Idol” contestants do their best to prove the judges right.

Last night, more than usual, song choice actually became more important than the performances themselves. Nicki Minaj likes to go on about how the Final Four are all “superheroes” with their vocals. While that’s not exactly true, Candice Glover and Kree Harrison clearly have a greater mastery of singing than...

Candice Glover really belonged on a different show last night.

Her jazzy interpretation of The Cure’s “Lovesong” was both emotionally and technically stunning, showing off a connection to the lyrics during “Songs I Wish I Wrote Week” that didn’t just make it seem like she wrote the British new wavers’ hit, it seemed like she lived it. Her risky, well-executed version (man, that controlled...

“Rock Week” has never been quite so boring on “American Idol.”

And it seems like Nicki Minaj was the only judge who noticed.

When the “edgiest” choice of the night is Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life,” something is clearly wrong. Has “Idol” decided that the finalists can really only choose from an extraordinarily short list of previously cleared songs or are these finalists (aside from...

Let’s be honest. “Motor City Night” was one big car crash for “American Idol.”

Yes, we should start with the most glaring problem – when Lazaro Arbos, Burnell Taylor and Devin Velez stumbled through “I Can’t Help Myself.” Arbos missed a cue and stopped singing, leaving Taylor and Velez singing harmonies to a non-existent lead vocal. They were all shaken after that and Arbos missed another...

It’s funny when “American Idol” gets caught up in which contestants are being “real” and “natural,” when so much of the show is wrapped up in behind-the-scenes fakery.

So let’s start with the most important bit of realness from “Lennon and McCartney Week”: The contestants don’t get to choose from the entire Beatles catalog. They only get to choose from a handful of songs, most of which have...

Let the “Idol” weirdness begin. Or, as Mariah Carey would say, “Hashtag Pow!”

Can we start with the true craziness that Nicki Minaj was so late that they actually started the live show without her? She tweeted “Stuck in traffic *sighs*” after the show began, blaming it on a backup on the roads from her Malibu home. Um, what? Never mind that the on-air folks for a live network TV show generally...

So much for it being a girl's year.

The “American Idol” Powers That Be have been talking up the huge pool of female talent this season, trying to crown an “Idol” queen for the first time since Jordin Sparks in 2007. See, the female “Idols” -- Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, especially -- have been far more successful than the male ones and, let's be honest, “Idol” really does need...