American Idol, The Musical Journey Is Coming To An End

Fear not, Elise Testone fans. She may have finally reached the end of her American Idol journey, but you'll be able to catch her again on the Idols Live tour, which kicks off July 6 at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.
　　
Elise was part of an all-female Bottom Three Thursday that also included Hollie Cavanagh and Skylar Laine, making only her second trip there.

The four safe Idols have surrounded Hollie and Elise, the two in danger of elimination. But Ryan sends them back to the couches. Hollie and Elise have to face the music by themselves.
　　
After 58 million votes and several trips to the Bottom Three, Elise Testone finally reaches the end of her American Idoljourney. She says goodbye with a reprise of the song that probably kept her in the show a few extra weeks: Led Zeppelin'sWhole Lotta Love.
　　
Elise Testone seems much more comfortable in the classic rock iteration of Idol than she has in recent weeks and the judges love her version of "I Want it All." Elise admits Idol has helped her realize that rock is her milieu, so I guess she'll give up singing in the barbershop quartet now.
　　
Phillip Phillips is singing "Fat Bottomed Girls," but when he mouths the titular lyrics he looks more than slightly embarrassed about so publicly declaring his love for the big-arsed ladies. Maybe that's why the vein in his forehead looks extra poppy. Regardless of his humiliation, his guitar-free Southern rock version of the song is well done. Steven Tyler says that he likes watching Phil-Phil run out of breath, which is a weird thing to say, but for the fact that it's Steven who said it.
　　
There is no excuse for the wardrobe department's decision to dress Hollie like a mini-me Celine Dion doing a turn on a holiday telethon, and yet there she is in a red satin pant suit with oversized estate jewelry. Also, Hollie singing "Save Me" sounds like a desperate and craven plea for votes. The judges don't even bother critiquing her, because she is critic-proof, like a bad restaurant that is always crowded. Not that she's bad, she's just so darn boring. Jennifer begs her to have a good time on stage, because people are watching and OH GOD SMILE ALREADY.
　　
Buy a round for the house, because Fox still has a gaping hole in their prime-time programming and needs to kill time, so we get another round of songs by the Idol finalists. Yay?
　　
Jessica curries some votes by saying that her father is a soldier and is about to be deployed to Singapore, but that doesn't matter. He's a soldier, he fought for his country, and she deserves your votes. She dedicates "Dance With My Father" to her father, because it never hurts to be as literal as possible on this show. Luther Vandross was J.Lo's personal friend, but Jennifer thinks Jessica's version is the best she's ever heard.
　　
Skylar picks up a guitar, finds some extra twang under the couch and sings a song about drag-racing pickup trucks that I do not recognize, but the Internet tells me is called "Tattoos on This Town."
　　
Josh Ledet may have a messy room, according to Hollie, but his performance of "Ready for Love" is downright neat. The judges are on their feet, and Steven even turns around to encourage the crowd to cheer. Randy claims that he doesn't even know what to say anymore that Joshua's performance has rendered him speechless, yet he still manages to ramble on for a solid five minutes.
　　
Between performances the Idol contestants all talk about each other. Well, mostly Skylar and Hollie talk about the other contestants. It's all good clean fun, until the slightly mean-spirited critique of Elise Testone, who has probably had it up to HERE with these whippersnappers. The judges think Elise screwed up by choosing a slightly obscure Jimi Hendrix song called "Bold as Love" and she probably did.
　　
Giggling, the girls all admit that Phillip Phillip is cute, until he opens his mouth to sing and starts twitching and writhing. Phil-Phil doesn't care what they say – he storms on stage to sing a Dave Matthews song flanked by two women, one with a sax and one a fiddle. It's a strangely compelling performance for being Dave Matthews run through a Dave Matthews soundalike. While Steven thinks it was very entertaining, very off the wall – very Phillip Phillips – J.Lo thinks he was too outré and artsy for Idol and wishes he would perform some normal songs, goddammit.
　　
Ryan must be looped out on cold medicine, because he notes that his girlfriend, Julianna Hough, is backstage, and she thought Phil-Phil was yummy. Ryan then publicly warns her that they are going to have a serious talk after the show.
　　
Hollie finally appears on stage dressed in something vaguely age-appropriate (if Gossip Girl chic is appropriate for a 16-year-old from Texas) for her performance of "The Climb." The judges give her a standing ovation because she is confident, holds her tone, and for once doesn't looks like she is actively dying. This song was strong enough to keep her here another week.
　　
Tonight's Ford music video: a version of the B.o.B. hit Magic. Afterwards, the Idols visit the offices of TMZ. They've done their research: Turns out there's a male strip club in New York called Mantasia, much to Joshua Ledet's embarrassment. And Jessica Sanchez left a few really silly YouTube videos online.
　　
Ryan's calling people down in pairs tonight. First up: Jessica and Elise.Jimmy Iovine says Jessica singing Bohemian Rhapsody was "a plain ol' mistake." On the other hand, her version of Dance With My Father was "magnificent." She understood the words and the audience, which should have given her double the vote, he says.
　　
As for Elise, "I believe she picked the wrong Queen song," a monotone stadium anthem that came off clubby. And Bold as Love was "a double-down on bad choice for the night Elise has a problem: She's a great singer, makes bad choices."
　　
Jessica says she's scared for the both of them. Ryan tells her it's not looking good for the other five contestants. She's safe; Elise is back in the Bottom Three.

Tom Hardy Calls Bane "No Joke" In "Dark Knight Rises"

When a movie has a villain as iconic as Heather Ledger's Joker was for "The Dark Knight," the next act can be an impossible one to pull off. He played such an essential role in the phenomenon the movie became that it's no wonder such a fuss was made over Tom Hardy, Bane and that voice of his.

How could anyone top the Joker? The simple answer is: you can't. So Christopher Nolan and Hardy did the wise thing and took the character in an entirely different direction. As Hardy told Entertainment Weekly as part of their Summer Movie Preview, Bane is an entirely different animal.

"The Joker didn't care — he just wanted to see the world burn, and he was a master of chaos and destruction, unscrupulous and crazy. Bane is not that guy," Hardy said. "There is a very meticulous and calculated way about Bane. There is a huge orchestration of organization to his ambition. He is also a physical threat to Batman. There is nothing vague about Bane. No joke. He's a very clean, clear villain."

From the way Hardy describes his character, the Joker may have been the dog chasing the car with no idea of what to do with it, but Bane is the guy who's going to blow up the road. He knows exactly what he wants to do, and for fans, that should be a welcome change.

A change that didn't earn much praise was the much-maligned voice Hardy used for Bane. The EW article describes the creative choice as one that harkens back to "the comic character's brains and heritage, albeit in an elliptical way. He wanted a sound that conveyed both malevolence and old-soul wisdom."

The voice, to Hardy at least, was a simple choice between what was expected and what was interesting. "There were two doors we could walk through. We could play a very straightforward villain or we could go through this very quirky door, which is totally justified by the text, but may seem very, very stupid," Hardy told EW. "It's a risk, because we could be laughed at — or it could be very fresh and exciting."

What really stands out in Hardy's interview about Bane is how well-conceived the character appears to be. There is an ideal driving him. The Joker's lack of an ideal drove him and made him a classic character because of it, but when it's Bane's role to follow that, the polar opposite could do what seemed impossible. Bane, in his "absolute evil" way, may be an appropriate next step for the series and its villains.

And if you're still worried about the voice, Hardy has two words for you: Chill out. "The audience musn't be too concerned about the mumbly voice," he said. "As the film progresses, I think you'll be able to tune to its setting."

"American Idol": Contestants Dish On Jennifer Lopez's Divorce

American Idol went heavy on the same old romance rumors on Wednesday night's performance show, but was it all to take attention away from judge Jennifer Lopez?

The A.I. contestants may be the closest people to Jennifer right now, so what did they have to say about the divorce news and their impression of Jen's new guy Casper Smart? Plus, what were Colton Dixon and Phillip Phillips' thoughts on Jimmy Iovine pitting them against each other in a so-called competition for female fans? We got the stars to dish after the show!

Tinseltown hadn't stopped talking about Marc Anthony officially filing for divorce from Jennifer after seven years of marriage, putting her under the magnifying glass. While she was all smiles, donning a sparkling cocktail ring where her wedding band once called home, she showed no sign of distress.

When we caught up with the contestants after the show they gave us their take on how Jennifer is handling the news.

"I'm sure Jennifer is handling things fine, Skylar Laine told us. "She's Jennifer Lopez, she can do what she wants!"

When we asked Colton how she was holding up, he was surprised to hear about the official divorce filing, but had nothing but positive things to say about her attitude on set.

"I didn't know that," he said. "Yikes. Jennifer is a superstar. I never would have known from her attitude that news [on her divorce] was released today. She's such a class act. We all love Jennifer. She's so genuine, she's a very independent woman and she knows how to handle herself that way."

A probable cause for Jennifer's impeccable composure is the distraction of her hot new romance with dancer Casper Smart. While it isn't breaking news that the pair are one of Hollywood's hottest hookups of 2012, the contestants weren't shy to talk about his presence at Idol and their thoughts on the two as a couple.

"They're cute together," Jessica Sanchez told us.

"We've seen Casper," Skylar added. "I've never met him, but I've seen him. He wears sunglasses a lot. It's whatever she wants. I'm sure he's a nice guy. She looks taller than him which is kind of funny. Maybe it's her heels."

After last week's sneak peek of Jennifer's new video for "Dance Again," Elise Testone revealed it made her feel like she got a little too close to Jen and Casper's relationship, but admits anyone as hot as Jennifer has every right to flaunt it!

"I felt a little like I was invading their personal space," she told us. "But she's so beautiful, and I really do look up to her. I think she was rocking what she's got, and that's all you can do while you're here on Earth. If I looked like J.Lo, I would do that all the time!"

"The video was mmm-mmm-good! I wasn't complaining," Phillip laughed!

Jennifer's almost-too-hot-for-TV video may have been pleasing to Phillip, but Jimmy Iovine's attempt at pitting him and Colton against each other as rivals for female attention rubbed him in all the wrong ways.

"[Colton and I] talked about that after our mentoring session last week and we were really upset about it," he told us. "We are two completely different artists and really close friends, so there is nothing to compare. If you like Colton better, you like his style better. If you like me better, then you like my style better."

Colton couldn't agree more and got a little heated talking about it.

"I hate it," he said. "I know Phillip would say the same thing. We're two completely different people. The majority of people that vote are little girls, that's just the reality of it. But we're best friends too, you know we love hanging out with each other. I definitely bit my tongue when he said that in the session."

Yikes! Looks like Jimmy better watch it!

Justin Bieber, Taylor Lauther All Slimed At 2012 Kid's Choice Awards

At the 25th annual Kids' Choice Awards, the slime runneth over.Host Will Smith opened the 25th annual Kids' Choice Awards promising a record amount of the show's trademark green gunk. Though some 20 awards are presented at the KCAs, the real suspense isn't who will take home a "Blimp" (the show's Oscar), it's when and on whom the slime will spill.

It's like a baptism into kid-dome that can come at any moment: from a hidden bucket, dumped from the rafters or exploded from little orange blimps.

"No one is safe from the slime!" screamed Smith. "You have to earn the slime! It's an honor."

Halle Berry was the first to be covered, but she was far from alone. She was joined by "Twilight" star Taylor Lautner (who won favorite "buttkicker"), "Glee" star Chris Colfer and male singer winner Justin Bieber, who was utterly drenched along with Smith at the end of the show.

The KCAs are Nickelodeon's annual celebration for kids, and it's often the most-watched children's program of the year. They draw a considerable roster of stars looking to thank their smallest fans and cater to their youngest demographics.

"This is, like, the coolest award show ever," said "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart, accepting the award for favorite movie actress.

Smith, himself a 10-time Blimp winner, started the show with an elaborate, digitally-animated skydive from Nickelodeon's trademark blimp. Smith was then hoisted from the rafters to the stage of the Galen Center at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where thousands of glow-stick waving fans cheered him — including first lady Michelle Obama.

Obama later presented "the big help" award for charity work to Taylor Swift. Upon receiving the award, the pop star said, "I am freaking out."

Nickelodeon introduces many kid-friendly quirks to the usual award show festivities. It rolls out an orange carpet, rather than a red one, and envelopes are the last way winners are announced. Saturday night's choices came by way of a sword eater, a statue impersonator and giant heads held aloft from the crowd.

Winners are chosen from voting online. Selena Gomez won for both favorite TV actress and female singer. Adam Sandler took home the award for favorite movie actor. And Katy Perry, shortly after performing, was given the award for favorite voice in an animated movie for "Smurfs."

"The only reason why I'm still here today — and remember this — is because I've never grown up!" Perry told the young audience.

More than 7.3 million watched last year's awards. This year, Nickelodeon badly needs the KCAs to continue such a success. In March, for the first time, the Disney Channel beat out Nickelodeon in average total daily viewers — a title Nickelodeon had held every month since 1995.

Nickelodeon's own series "Victorious" won best TV show. Jake Short, star of the Disney Channel's "A.N.T. Farm," won best TV actor.

But the most ceremonious moment of the KCAs is the slimey finale. The honor — which Smith said had been chosen by online votes — went to Bieber, who made a surprise appearance late in the show. Smith clutched Bieber as fountains of slime poured out across the stage, while Obama — splattered by a few drops — danced in the seats.