Paula's 'Idol' Chatter
Mar 31st, 2004
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Paula's 'Idol' Chatter
March 31, 2004
What a difference a week makes! On last night's fun, high-energy edition of "American Idol", the remaining 10 finalists got a chance to sing some of Motown's finest grooves with the musicians who played for DIANA ROSS and THE SUPREMES, THE TEMPTATIONS and STEVIE WONDER in their heyday. Plus, two very special guest judges, producers and songwriters NICK ASHFORD and VALERIE SIMPSON, joined the panel.
"Motown night in the past has been the best," agreed our special correspondent PAULA ABDUL. "There's just nothing like the old Motown Classics -- the TEMPTATIONS and the FOUR TOPS."
Tonight on ET, Paula and Ashford & Simpson join us on our set to share their opinions about the final 10 and tell us what they heard through the grapevine about who might get the axe tonight at 8:30!
The husband-and-wife duo are best known for their top-10 hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "I'm Every Woman" and "Solid." With that kind of star caliber, it's no surprise that only one contestant (JASMINE TRIAS) was brave enough to attempt one of their songs onstage -- "You're All I Need to Get By."
As expected, this was also soul sister FANTASIA BARRINO's night to shine. Her rendition of "Heard it Through the Grapevine" landed a "superb" from fussy SIMON COWELL. New Orleans omelet chef GEORGE HUFF also scored with his mahogany-voiced cover of "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," and won an apology from Simon, who had called him worthy only of the "backline of the Temptations" several weeks before. Only poor JOHNNY "Red" STEVENS faltered with his lethargic version of "My Girl."
Lending excitement to the night were the legendary FUNK BROTHERS, who received two Grammys for their contributions to the 'Standing in the Shadows of Motown' movie soundtrack. Wearing bright red jackets, they kept the crowd clapping as the guest house band.
Courtesy of ETOnline.