American Idol 13: Top 13 Results Show

Kristen O'Connor. Nailed it! This is a girl who should be very proud of where she finished. Kristen somehow managed to make the final round of the competition after delivering a couple of decent vocal performances, but not one iota of creativity. Now, was she awful yesterday? Not really, but she was forgettable and that is a sin worse than murder on this program. Listen, I’m not torn up about this because I couldn’t envision her winning this program. Heck, I'm still baffled that they let chose her as a Wildcard instead of Briana Oakley, or yes, Spencer Lloyd.

Results after the jump!

American Idol 13: Top 13

The Finals have always been the bread and butter of the competition where the contestants are all given the same tools to try and win the competition. It changes your strategy when you’re trying to beat out only one person each week instead of half of them. So, how did they do for their first week on the big stage?

Some rose and some fell. That’s to be expected. One thing I specifically loved about tonight: SONG CHOICES! Most of them haven't been performed on American Idol before (shocking!), and there was a nice diversity of genres. Also a big improvement? The judging panel! I'm shocked by how the judges have been critical with everyone - well, almost. Jennifer Lopez, in particular, was terrific. I guess, she adapted to the intelligence level of the panel this year no?

Oh, and just to put it out there, Randy Jackson needs to go away! Although I love how the crowd kept on drowning out Randy's useless opinions. Haha.

Without further ado, the rankings!

Movie Review: Starting Over Again

It has been terribly easy to become jaded about local romantic films in general as they usually go for cliches rather than realism, but somehow Starting Over Again managed to incorporate some sense of truth and honesty to the story, which was quite refreshing. Yes, the script was a bit clunky at times, which almost threatened the whole film to fall apart, but they kept it together long enough to make it work. The structure of the film was pretty interesting, the scoring was decent, and the film was more than competently acted. Toni Gonzaga has a relatable charm to her, Piolo Pascual was pretty believable, but it was Iza Calzado's wonderfully understated performance that stole the show. There were weaknesses to Starting All Over Again, but the film mostly worked due to how refreshingly earnest it can be at times - despite some of the schmaltz. 7.5

The Voice 6: Blind Auditions Part 2

Truth be told, I SERIOUSLY love the chemistry between the four coaches, but sadly, this episode was lackluster at best. It was like I was watching Battle Round fodders have their separate episode. There were slight moments of greatness in some of them, but I honestly didn't see anyone who's worthy of winning this whole enchilada. I'm hoping that things will pick up next week.

On with the show!

American Idol 13: Ranking the Top 13

Every year I like to take a moment a few days before the Finals begin and really dig deep into some of these contestants. Talent, vocal ability, personality, and other artistic qualities that make a contestant a contender shed light onto where exactly we - as an addicted audience - stand currently at this point in the competition. Now, I'd like to emphasize the word current as contestants placement will no doubt start fluctuating as early as this week.

American Idol 10: Ranking the Top 13
American Idol 11: Ranking the Top 13
American Idol 12: Ranking the Top 10

Let's get on with it. As I usually say, we are about to embark on a ten-week sprint to the finish line!

The Voice 6: Blind Auditions Part 1

They're back already?! I'm not really complaining as I somehow prefer this panel than that with Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green, but I hope they just rest for a while. That said, the coaches all seem so much more animated and energized compared to Season 4.

Oh, and like every other season, Adam got some of the best contestants again. The problem with being on Team Adam is that he always gets these awesome singers and when the Battle Rounds are about to begin, it would be WAY difficult to survive. Also, poor Shakira! She's more feisty this season, but contestants still don't choose her. Haha.

On with the show!

DAM NATION: February 2014 Playlist

Sorry for the late post of the playlist. It's been a pretty rough busy week, but here it is! Another list of 15 songs that I (personally) fancy, that are already doing good on it's own and maybe some new singles from different artists that will probably - or maybe not - be hits in the next coming weeks in whatever format. Oh, and a couple of them are carry overs from last year, but I digress.

So, there! Enjoy!

1 All Too Well Taylor Swift

2 Doll House Melanie Martinez

3 Mmm Yeah Austine Mahone (ft. Pitbull)

4 What Is Love? Lea Michele

5 Lydia Jessica Bassett

6 Sweater Weather The Neighbourhood

7 Same Kinda Man Candice Glover

8 Radioactive Imagine Dragons (ft. Kendrick Lamar)

9 Same Girl Jennifer Lopez

10 XO Beyoncé

11 Best Day Of My Life American Authors

12 Find You Zedd (ft. Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant)

13 Neon Lights Demi Lovato

14 Young Girls Bruno Mars

15 You're Mine (Eternal) Mariah Carey (ft. Trey Songz)

DAM NATION

Password: Who ranked first in the American Idol 13: Top 10 Girls (Rush Week) Review?

American Idol 13: Top 20 Results Show

The results extravaganza flew by and we were left with thirteen dazed, confused, and excited finalists sitting in the increasingly uncomfortable metal stools from hell. Some of them sailed through based on their performances earlier in the week, while three of them were given a chance at redemption. I didn't particularly agree with most of the wildcard picks other than one, but I digress. They'll be eliminated anytime soon anyway.

Oh, and the guys who made it based on votes were ALL white guys!! Haha. 

Results after the jump!

American Idol 13: Top 10 Boys (Rush Week)

How did the boys do tonight? Actually, I thought this was a decent first live show for the guys. Yes, there were some missteps here and there, but we finally had a chance to see which contestants were smart and which ones believed their own hype. Remember: nothing is written in stone. I went into tonight KNOWING who was going to make it to the finals, but I'm not so sure anymore after tonight.

Oh, and one more thing I didn't mention yesterday, I thought the stage and the judges looked amazing; probably the best it has ever looked. The design crew deserves a serious raise for making this studio look brand new year after year. In fact, everything looked really sharp and new, clearly there is a concentrated effort afoot to make the show seem fresher.

On with the show!

American Idol 13: Top 10 Girls (Rush Week)

It’s that time of the year again! It was the girl's turn to take the stage first and, in my opinion, they were mostly decent with a couple of people capable of standing in the Kodak Theatre and attempting to make the Hasselhoff break down in tears. Haha.

How about these judges? They're pretty good this season. Jennifer, Keith, and Harry were dead on lately! Almost everything they've said to the Top 10 ladies I completely agreed with - with a few exceptions. It’s nice to know that after 12 years of competition, the judges are finally being useful.

As for the eliminated contestants, I was mostly irked about Kenzie Hall and Austin Wolfe, but I hope they can audition again next year.

Anyway, let’s get to the ladies!

Movie Review: The Lego Movie

Everything was awesome! Ok, not really, but as a kid who grew up playing with Lego, this film was just full of life and nostalgia. The story didn't strike me as something fresh, especially for an animated film, but it somehow managed to develop an entertaining and charming film and turned a creative piece of work into a colorful cinematic experience. The writing was good given the simple premise, it was filled with interesting action set pieces, and the film was a visual spectacle. Plus, the appearance of Will Ferrell gave the film an interesting dimension, which I didn't expect. By its grand scale and references, The Lego Movie was glorious and an absolute nostalgic delight. 8

American Idol 13: Top 30 Finalists Revealed (Part 2)

This is it! The dreadful Hollywood week is over and we now have this year's strong Top 30. There were a couple of cuts that was quite infuriating - David Oliver Willis, Savion Wright, and Sarina Joie Crowe to name a few - given that they put through mediocre singers - Emmanuel Zidor, Jordan Brisbane, Ethan Harris - into the mix. But I digress. All in all, this was a solid Top 30.

That said, the new twist of cutting 5 people for each gender before they even perform for America's votes is downright cruel! Why not just get a Top 20 instead? Why keep their hopes up for absolutely NOTHING? For drama? Ugh.

Here we go!

American Idol 13: Top 30 Finalists Revealed (Part 1)

I had to hand it to the producers for finally showing us several performances of every contestant that has entered the Top 30. It actually feels like we'll be going into next week with very few cannon fodder contestants. That will, of course, make the eliminations a bit of a blood bath, but I guess, we’ll get through it! I’m going to spend the rest of this article briefly commenting on the contestants we saw making it to the Top 30.

On to the Top 30! (or sort of)

American Idol 13: Top 30 Spoiler!!

Hooray! Semifinals will air next week and I got some spoilers as to who managed to crack the Top 30 this year. Yes, they changed the format again this season. Instead of the usual cut to 24 - or like last year of 40 - we get 30 semifinalists. The catch? Not all of them will sing!

Anyway, read at your own risk!! I warned you. If you want to be spoiled.. read on! If not.. go away!