After a rocky start to the semifinals, we take a look back at this stage of the competition last year.
By Eric Ditzian

Anoop Desai performs on season eight of “American Idol”

Photo: Michael Becker/Getty Images/ Fox

After two nights of middling top 24 “American Idol” performances — from Tim Urban’s bleated butchering of OneRepublic to Lacey Brown’s drearily clichéd “Landslide” — a consensus seems to be forming that this year’s talent pales in comparison to that of last season. But are the season-nine crooners really that much worse at this stage in the competition than contestants that came before them?

We took a look back at the first live shows of season eight — when the show featured a top 36 rather than a top 24 — to reacquaint ourselves with past performances and provide a little context as the new season pushes forward.

In February 2009, we hammered Anoop Desai for croaking his way through Monica’s “Angel of Mine,” and he was actually sent packing — until the judges rescued him with one of their wild cards. ‘Noop Dog went on to show off some admirable R&B skills and finished sixth in the competition. That first live show didn’t represent who he truly was as a singer.

Conversely, Alexis Grace delivered a soaring take on Aretha Franklin’s “Never Loved a Man,” earning comparisons to Kelly Clarkson and making us think she was a serious contender; she didn’t even make the top 10. The point is, the first live show is not the most accurate indicator of performances to come.

That being said, there’s no denying this week’s “Idol” offered up some wicked stinkers and very few breath-takers. When he wasn’t being ogled by Kara DioGuardi, Casey James sauntered through a fine acoustic version of Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” and Lilly Scott surprised us with a reworked take on the Beatles’ “Fixing a Hole.” Yet with the possible exception of Andrew Garcia (who made an odd song choice with Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Going Down” but is nonetheless a front-runner), this season has given us nothing like the breakout talents from season eight.

Back in ‘09, Danny Gokey blew the audience away with Mariah Carey’s “Hero.” Allison Iraheta immediately called to mind a gruffer, more authentic and more talented incarnation of Avril Lavigne. And after Adam Lambert’s glammed-up take on the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” it became clear he was unlike anyone the show had ever seen. All these top 36 contestants went on to sign major-label deals.

And this season? We’ve got some hopefuls, but no one who wowed us.

Does that mean we won’t be wowed at all this season? Will the contestants step up their game in the weeks to come? Let us know what you think!

Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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Jamie Foxx, cast of ‘Jersey Shore’ and more stars will chat with Leno during his first few weeks back hosting ‘The Tonight Show.’
By Jocelyn Vena

Kristen Stewart

Photo: Stephen Lovekin/ Getty Images

“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” is set to make its return on March 1 and some of the biggest stars in Hollywood will be stopping by as Leno begins his second tenure as the host of the late-night program.

	‘Tonight Show’ Guest List

Jamie Foxx, Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn and Brad Paisley will be the show’s first guests on Monday. Sarah Palin, Olympic gold medal snowboarder Shaun White, the cast of “Jersey Shore,” Chelsea Handler, Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, Avril Lavigne, Matthew McConaughey, Jason Reitman, Morgan Freeman and Meredith Vieira round out the guest list for Leno’s first week back.

Week two sees everyone from Simon Cowell to Kristen Stewart stopping by to chat, with other second-week guests including “Inglourious Basterds” star Christoph Waltz, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Kim Kardashian, Colbie Caillat, Dakota Fanning and Judd Apatow.

After the cancelation of his 10 p.m. show, Leno took the “Tonight Show” seat back from Conan O’Brien in a move that had many fans and celebrities speaking out against NBC, including Sarah Silverman and “Southland” star Ben McKenzie.

“I had a show; my show got canceled,” Leno told Oprah Winfrey on her show last month. “They weren’t happy with the other guy’s show. They said, ‘We want you to go back.’ I said, ‘OK.’ And this seemed to make a lot of people really upset. And I go, ‘Well, who wouldn’t take that job, though? Who wouldn’t do that?’ And it was really agonizing. And I would spend a lot of time just thinking about it, going, ‘I think I’m a good guy. Am I not a good guy?’ Maybe I’m just one of those guys who thinks I see everything with the rose-color glasses and the world is falling around you.”

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NAME: Marnie Stern
PROGRESS REPORT: Waiting for the release of her third full-length album, recorded at Retrofit Recording in Sacramento, CA. Knitting.

Marnie Stern’s knitting is an important part of the progress report, because right now she really can’t think of much else to do. The followup to the excellent This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That was completed in December and is ready for mixing. And it feels too soon to start a new record, yet her next one still has a few months (August or September, she thinks) before it’ll be released. Stern says she doesn’t like to go for walks in the city. She hates the cold, and only goes out about once a month “for like five drinks then I pass out in a cab.” Her boyfriend lives in Calgary. She’s not very internet savvy. So for now she stays inside, knits, plays guitar, and hangs out with her dog. “My mom calls us Grey Gardens! We’re just in the bed all day long,” she says.

Continue reading Progress Report: Marnie Stern…

With this cover of “The End Of The World,” Bay Area janglers Girls nearly make beloved country-pop songstress Skeeter Davis a trending topic. Their Skeeter spin is the second of its kind from a high profile act of late, the other logged in the tracklist of She & Him’s forthcoming Vol. 2 (that’d be “Gonna Get Along Without You’”). Girls chose the very best (or at least, the most notable) Skeeter song for their purposes, here, and there’s no surprise that takiing on Skeeter’s vulnerable, world-weary vocal suits Chris just fine.

Continue reading Girls - “The End Of The World” (Skeeter Davis Cover)…

Burt Bacharach is both one of the most accomplished and beloved songwriters in pop music and this guy. This April, O’Rourke will release a far more dignified tribute to Bacharach titled All Kinds of People (via 24Bit). O’Rourke played many instruments (guitar, keyboards bass) on and produced the covers album, while Wilco’s Glenn Kotche handled drums. Thurston Moore and Boredom’s Yoshimi are among the artists who contributed. The covers span Bacharach’s long career, with songs that were originally recorded by the Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, and Burt himself. O’Rourke will perform selections from the album alongside some of its other artists a week before release. Both of those shows will take place in Japan, where O’Rourke’s been living, working, and recording Joanna Newsom records. The full tracklist and guestlist:

Continue reading Jim O’Rourke Preps Bacharach Tribute Album…

Brooklyn’s the Hundred In The Hands have been around for a minute — guitarist Jason Friedman was in the the Boggs, singer Eleanore Everdell did guest vocals for “Lover’s Day” from TV On The Radio’s Dear Science. Together the duo make tight, danceable post-punk, as on “Dressed In Dresden.” The “Dresden” single was originally out in 2009, but Warp just signed the Hundred In The Hands and commissioned a series of remixes for an upcoming EP. This one, from Maxime, uncoils the song a little, softens up the drums, and matches some bubbly synth to Everdell’s airy vocals. It’s not as pounding as the original — maybe Maxime sensed that there was more room to play around with the song if there was a bit more space to breathe.

Continue reading The Hundred In The Hands - “Dressed In Dresden (Maxime 2600 In My Hands Remix)”…

So you’ve heard “Little Secrets” quite a bit, probably. Passion Pit released a video for the single late last year, but debuted a joyous, higher quality one for the song today. The clip was directed by hotshot Partizan director Tim Saccenti, who’s previously directed videos for Animal Collective, Chairlift, and Jamie Lidell. He’s also responsible for Battles’ “Atlas” video. Saccenti is also a fine art photographer, and you can see his amazing eye for color on “Little Secrets” — every slow-motion confetti burst feels like a mini-epic. Watch it at MTV.

Manners is out now via French Kiss.

Jannis Noy Makrigiannis’s Choir Of Young Believers landed here last summer with the billowing, widescreen orchestral pomp of Next Summer,” and extend the lifecycle of their This Is For The White In Your Eyes LP with a three-track release of “Claustrophobia.” It comes packing the album track alongside its remix by the Antlers’ Peter Silberman, and Sian Alice Group’s take on another album track, “Winter Love.” For COYB, Jannis’s tenor is a selling point as much as it is a point of reference (see: Robin Pecknold), and the Antlers’ redo of “Claustrophobia” preserves it wholesale save some minor outro manipulations, modifying the spacious original only to reflect its titular intent, clouding the air with warping synths and glitched beats. Makes sense.

Continue reading Choir Of Young Believers - “Claustrophobia (The Antlers Remix)”…

The Golden Archipelago, which has already birthed two downloadable previews in the soaring “Castaways” and its wind-blown counterpart “Black Eyes,” sees its first official video treatment today at the hands of director Alma Har’el. Jonathan Meiburg is in full costumer for “Hidden Lakes”‘ 3/4 piano reverie by way of Talk Talk, dirty and destitute, crawling across a barren land before running into an evil looking Thor Harris (guessing it’s Thor by that earring, tough to say for sure without seeing his bare chest and hammer dulcimer). At which point they make a meaningful exchange of soulful looking puppies. Totally normal.

Continue reading Shearwater - “Hidden Lakes” Video…

The Colossus seems like RJD2 putting his sample-based work alongside his more recent singer-songwriter-y tendencies. The two Colossus flavors so far demonstrate this: “Let There Be Horns” connected back to Deadringer, “Games You Can’t Win” worked the middle ground, but “The Glow” shows where his interests have been lately. RJD2 sings and plays drums over this quietly sarcastic track about the “glow” of money, fake tans, and weekends spend in The Poconos. (Do rich people go to The Poconos?). The doll-filled video stars a Ken Doll yuppie who drives around in a convertible and steals food. Like a yuppie Yogi Bear.

Continue reading RJD2 - “The Glow” Video (Stereogum Premiere)…