TV News & Notes/American Idol Recap

Hope for Haiti Telethon
From TVGuide.com: “Bruce Springsteen, Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Keith Urban, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys are among the heavy hitters participating in Friday's 'Hope for Haiti' telethon. Performances from the telethon, which will be broadcast from New York, Los Angeles, London and Haiti, will also be available on iTunes for 99 cents each starting Saturday, and all proceeds will go to Haitian relief. The two-hour, commercial-free special — starting at 8/7c on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT — will be headlined by George Clooney in Los Angeles, Wyclef Jean in New York and Anderson Cooper in Haiti.


Neil Patrick Harris to Guest Star on Glee
Also from TVGuide.com: “Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog director, Joss Whedon, and Neil Patrick Harris may be making sweet music together yet again. The How I Met Your Mother Star is nearing a deal to appear in the May sweeps episode of Glee that will be directed by Whedon, Entertainment Weekly reports. Ryan Murphy, creator of the Golden Globe-winning freshman series, would create a role especially for Harris, which would entail a fair share of singing and dancing. Zachary Woodlee, who choreographed the musical number in HIMYM's 100th episode, would also take part.”


The Latest on the NBC Late Night Saga
From tvbythenumbers.com: “The decision to let O’Brien walk apparently came down to who was cheaper to let go. Leno has an ironclad, 'brilliantly written' agreement that guarantees his production company a staggering $150 million if NBC Universal axes his flailing primetime show, an insider said.”

ALSO, "FX Networks president John Landgraf said he would jump at the chance to get Conan O’Brien to host a late night show for FX “in a heartbeat” if Conan made himself available to basic cable."

While Conan would definitely be able to get more money and (initial) exposure on a major network like Fox, I personally believe that a move to a cable network like FX could prove to be more beneficial in the long run. He could get back to being himself and within ten years, I think there will be some cable channels that will be regularly bringing in higher ratings that the traditional networks (i.e. NBC). No matter where Coco goes, he's going to lose to Jay (and maybe even Dave) for the first couple of years if he airs at 11:35 p.m. His team has to ride it out and think long term. Cable may not be the worst place to do it.


American Idol Recap
Sorry I wasn't able to post the recap from Tuesday night's show yesterday. The Chicago auditions didn't do too much for me (maybe I'm just still stuck on all the talent from Atlanta), although I did enjoy Shania Twain as the guest judge.

Only three really stood out - in a good way - from ChiTown:

1. Katelyn Epperly - she led off the night and was there despite going through some family problems. I'm naturally drawn to people that have a unique, original vibe and it seems like Katelyn certainly does. Can't wait to see her if she can stand out in the Hollywood setting.

2. Paige Dechausse - Simon didn't care for her as much as the other judges, and I do agree she does need to turn down the self-indulgence in her singing. If she does, she could do well.

3. Charity Vance - Her parents run a hair salon from their home and Charity sings for the customers. I could easily see her getting swallowed up by Hollywood, but she was definitely good enough to make it to the next round

We got a lot more of the same last night in Orlando:

1. Jermaine Purifoy - put a fresh twist on Tony Bennett's classic standard "Smile"

2. Matthew Lawrence - he was the one who spent "four birthdays" in prison but Idol is a great place for redemption stories.

3. Shelby Dressel - she was the girl that has the underdeveloped cranial nerve that causes a slight facial deformity. I was actually really impressed with the tone of her voice despite her obvious nervousness which led to her forgetting the words of Norah Jones' "Turn Me On".

4. Jarrold Norrell - because any good audition should end with you getting escorted out of the building in handcuffs.

Who were your favorites over the past couple nights? Did I miss anyone? Let me know below!