Subject: Paula Abdul

• The College Football Preview, Week Ten: Reality TV Bites

  November 2, 2007

• Houstonian Kady Malloy = Early American Idol Front-runner

  January 17, 2008

• A Day in the Life of Cable Sports Programming

  January 31, 2008

• Why Don’t I Love Madonna?

  May 16, 2008

• American Idol Returns Tonight... Yawn

  Come back Kelly Clarkson, all is forgiven... If you've been lucky enough to spend the past several months in a media-deprivation tank - or maybe you just don't read the Houston Chronicle - then you no doubt know Fox's shrill-singing flagship series American Idol returns tonight at 7 p.m. (As opposed to its torture-sanctioning flagship series 24, which returned Sunday.) Rocks Off realizes many readers will greet this occasion by turning off their cell phones and instructing family members

  January 13, 2009

• ,,, And Don't Talk to Barkley

  November 28, 1996

• Idol Beat, Part 1: More Hollywood Week

  Photos courtesy FoxYou thought the funeral was over? You thought all those tears were dried up? You were wrong, my friends - so very, very wrong. Aye, verily, the bloodletting continued unabated as Hollywood Week wound down. Hey, Ryan Seacrest warned us at the outset: "The stakes are as high as they've ever been, and the pressure is even higher. This... is American Idol!" DAY 4 Seacrest: "It's Day 4 of a long and grinding Hell week." Indeed, but with all due respect to the nervous, s

  February 12, 2009

• Idol Beat: The Final 36, Group 2

  Michael Becker/ Fox Adam LambertThere were a few seconds during the Rolling Stones' 2006 Super Bowl halftime performance where formaldehyded guitarist Keith Richards let his inner demon peek out. I can't remember for the life of me which song the band was playing, but Richards let loose with a bit of gnarly fret nastiness where he could've played it straight; it was a quick, effective display of virtuosity, a reminder that dude could've run away with the entire mini-set if he'd so chose.

  February 26, 2009

• Static

  October 15, 1998

• Idol Beat: Wild Card Wildout

  Frank Micelotta/ Fox Lucky 13: the American Idol season 8 finalistsFirst off, I'd like to extend a hearty Idol Beat way-to-go to the Fox minion or technological gremlin responsible for causing last night's episode of American Idol to cut out while Simon Cowell and Tatiana Del Toro were quibbling over the latter's decision to re-visit a particular Whitney Houston song. (Personally, I'm of the opinion that singing any given song more than once on this show shouldn't be allowed, but come on

  March 6, 2009

• Idol Beat: The Final 13 Results

  Ray Mickshaw/ Fox Nunez out: Don't let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you, Jorge (middle).A new wrinkle in the elimination curve! The return of a prodigal Idol winner! A performance from a self-important pop-rap blowhard! Two more contestants falling under the proverbial sword! The first of the dreaded Ford-sponsored videos-cum-advertisements! Gratuitous decolletage courtesy of Paula Abdul! This...is American Idol! * Get this: the judges can perform one 11th-hour stay-of-exec

  March 12, 2009

• Idol Beat: The Top Seven

  Michael Becker/ Fox Somehow Still Hanging Around: The bloom is off Lil Rounds' "Rose."Perhaps delusionally, I nursed a desperate hope that this week's American Idol theme would be "songs used in Quentin Tarantino movies." Seriously, I even worked up a sort of dream list of songs I thought the seven remaining contestants would choose from brilliantly soundtracked flicks like Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs, and Death Proof. Alas. I was mistaken, of course: this is "Music from Films" week, an

  April 15, 2009

• Royal Flush

  February 15, 2007

• Your Government at Work

  November 24, 2005

• Get Inside. It's Summertime!

  Your guide to the season's hottest films (and the other ones, too)

  June 14, 2007

• Gong Hits

  Test-screen your video art at the Aurora Picture Show

  July 22, 2004

• O.J. All Over Again

  Charm trumps evidence with accused pedophile R. Kelly

  October 23, 2003

• Dream River

  March 27, 2003

• Combat Rock

  Near-brawls, bribery allegations and personal insults -- welcome to battle-of-the-bands land

  December 12, 2002

• Idol Beat: The Top Five

  That Jamie Foxx, right? A Rennaisance man if there ever was one: the guy's a comedic genius (see In Living Color; tons of flicks), a big-screen leading man, credible action star, R&B champion - plus, as it turns out, he's a natural at mentoring American Idol hopefuls. I wouldn't have figured on him doling out advice to contestants during "Rat Pack Week," yet there he was. (I smell a Foxx-as-Sammy-Davis-Jr. in an as-yet-unconceived Rat Pack biopic, don't you?) Let's consider our Top Five from

  April 29, 2009

• Idol Beat: The One

  Mea culpa: Yi. I typed this entire post - then accidentally closed the Mozilla Firefox window and lost everything. Let this be a lesson to every blogger out there: compose in Word. For real.Photos by Ray Mickshaw/ FoxAmerican Idol winner Kris Allen practices his "Who, me?" showbiz face. Let's not belabor this: Kris Allen won. It is not, in fact, gay folks' time. I'm not especially surprised, but I am disappointed. What can you do, though? Adam Lambert will drop an amazing album someday. Kris wil

  May 21, 2009

• Burnin' for You

  June 25, 2009

• Maybe Miley Would Be Better Off Dead Like Selena, Kurt and These Others...

  In case you missed it - and if you value your immortal soul, we're sure you did - Hannah Montana star/future tell-all memoir author Miley Cyrus unveiled a newer, more "mature" look last weekend at the only venue appropriate for such things: the Teen Choice Awards. Nothing says "successful transition from 'tween idol to grown-up entertainer" like booty shorts and pole dancing, and we here at Rocks Off hope the 16-year old is prepared for the coming decades, which will likely be spent drinking ma

  August 13, 2009

• For Rosh Hashanah: Musical Mystery Jews

  There are sure to be many Rosh Hashanah celebrations this weekend, but here at Rocks Off, we'd like to suggest you "think outside the box," as the kids say, and shake up your holiday musical selection by considering a few acts that you might not have realized were composed (in some part, anywway) of the Chosen People. Megadeth As we all know from listening to David Cross, if your mother is Jewish, it's pretty much out of your hands. That takes care of Dave Mustaine, so be sure to have a list

  September 18, 2009

• Dancing With the Stars: Dazzle Me Steamy

  ​"Tonight is Latin night, and things are about to get steamy," Tom Bergeron intoned over the opening montage of last night's Dancing With the Stars. Half of that statement is true. This is week three, when the contestants sack up and start showing some real fire, or in the case of Tom "Dazzle Me Dreamy" DeLay, the creepy vibe you get off that old guy that shouldn't be at the bar hitting on your friends. Lady Co-Host looked different. Like, a whole new person. Could this be possible? I co

  October 6, 2009

• Dancing With the Stars: Dazzle Me Steamy

  ​"Tonight is Latin night, and things are about to get steamy," Tom Bergeron intoned over the opening montage of last night's Dancing With the Stars. Half of that statement is true. This is week three, when the contestants sack up and start showing some real fire, or in the case of Tom "Dazzle Me Dreamy" DeLay, the creepy vibe you get off that old guy that shouldn't be at the bar hitting on your friends. Lady Co-Host looked different. Like, a whole new person. Could this be possible? I co

  October 6, 2009