Sweeney Todd, Hairspray, Cera and Blonsky Among Broadcast Critics Award Nominees

The Broadcast Critics have come forward with their nominations for the best of 2007, and there are a few films and actors that made the cut who have not yet been honored with awards this season.

In addition to the usual suspects like Daniel Day Lewis and Julie Christie, Enchanted's Amy Adams scored a nod for Best Actress, while Into the Wild's Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener all deservedly scored nominations for that fantastic film. Michael Cera picked up two nominations in the Best Young Actor category, for Juno and Superbad, while Hairspray grabbed a total of five nominations, including one for star Nikki Blonsky as Best Younger Actress.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Best Picture
American Gangster
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

Best Actress
Amy Adams - Enchanted
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page - Juno

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Catherine Keener - Into the Wild
Vanessa Redgrave - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

Best Acting Ensemble
Hairspray
Juno
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
Gone Baby Gone
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Best Director
Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Sidney Lumet - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright - Atonement

Best Writer
Diablo Cody - Juno
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Aaron Sorkin - Charlie Wilson's War

Best Animated Feature
Bee Movie
Beowulf
Persepolis
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

Best Young Actor
Michael Cera - Juno
Michael Cera - Superbad
Freddie Highmore - August Rush
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada - The Kite Runner
Edward Sanders - Sweeney Todd

Best Young Actress
Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray
Dakota Blue Richards - The Golden Compass
AnnaSophia Robb - Bridge to Terabithia
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement

Best Comedy Movie
Dan in Real Life
Hairspray
Juno
Knocked Up
Superbad

Best Family Film
August Rush
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Hairspray
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Best Picture Made for Television
The Company
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Tin Man
The War

Best Song
"Come So Far", Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley - Hairspray
"Do You Feel Me", Anthony Hamilton - American Gangster
"Falling Slowly", Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Jesse L. Martin and Cast - Once
"Guaranteed", Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
"That's How You Know", Amy Adams - Enchanted

Click for more Movie News & Commentary

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

IDOL MADNESS (Seacrest Bracket) Rnd of 64: #3 Melinda Doolittle vs. #14 Amy Adams

Opinion Polls & Market Research

SEACREST BRACKET

1st round match-ups:

#1 Taylor Hicks vs. #16 Matthew Rogers
#2 Clay Aiken vs. #15 Jessica Sierra
#3 Melinda Doolittle vs. #14 Amy Adams
#4 Diana Degarmo vs. #13 Bucky Covington
#5 LaKisha Jones vs. #12 Ryan Starr
#6 Vonzell Solomon vs. #11 Kimberly Caldwell
#7 RJ Helton vs. #10 Sanjaya Malakar
#8 Trenyce vs. #9 Constantine Maroulis


IDOL MADNESS: THE GAME Main Page

Idol Thoughts' AMERICAN IDOL CENTRAL

American Idol Best-Of Lists

News, Recaps, Rankings and Commentary

News on Former Contestants

IDOL MADNESS: THE GAME

Ranking The Tenth Place Finishers

There's been a lot of carping that Season 6 is the weakest talent American Idol has ever had, and while I have a strong hunch that this may actually be true, the best way to figure that out for sure (or as close to "sure" as we can get) is by seeing how the eliminated contestants from each season stack up against each other. Thus, beginning this week, after each elimination I will rank each season's finishers, and see how they compare to each other. First up, of course, are the 10th Place Finishers, with the most recent eliminee topping the list.

Please note, rankings are determined on American Idol performances only, not on what they have accomplished since their time on the show.

1. Chris Sligh (Season 6)
Best Performance: "Trouble" (Semifinals)
Worst Performance: "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (Top 10)
Post-Idol: ?? To be determined



2. Lisa Tucker (Season 5)
Best Performance: "I Am Changing" (Semifinals)
Worst Performance: "Because of You" (Top 10)
Post-Idol: Appeared on "The OC"; supposedly featured in a duet on Paris Bennett's CD.



3. Amy Adams (Season 3)
Best Performance: "Sin Wagon" (Top 11)
Worst Performance: "You Make Me Feel Brand New" (Top 12)
Post-Idol: Had a baby; toured in stage production of "Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" as the narrator

4. EJ Day (Season 1)
Best Performance: "I'll Be" (Semifinals)
Worst Performance: his only other performance -- "My Girl" (Top 10) -- which actually wasn't that bad
Post-Idol: No clue -- I couldn't even find a picture of the guy online. Looks like he has faded into obscurity.



5. Jessica Sierra (Season 4)
Best Performance: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (Top 11)
Worst Performance: "Shop Around" (Top 12)
Post-Idol: Supposedly "recording an album." Haven't we heard that before?



6. Julia DeMato (Season 2)
Best Performance: There wasn't one, really, but if I have to choose, "Son of a Preacher Man" (Semifinals)
Worst Performance: "What a Feeling" (Top 11) -- the crimped hair? Ouch!
Post-Idol: Not a whole heckuva lot.

Ten Best Top 11 Performances of All Time

Last week, prior to the start of the Top 12, I came up with my list of the Ten Best First Finals Performances over the years. Aside from the fact that it's always fun to make an Idol-related list, I think it's interesting to see how this year's crop matches up against the best performances from the past. Now that the first week of this year's performances have been completed, I would probably include LaKisha and Melinda's debut Top 12 performances on this list.

So, I'm going to continue this exercise with a list of the Ten Best Top 11 Performances of all time. This is a slight change from last week's list, as I have left off Season 1 contenders (since there was only a Top 10 that year). Kelly C. and company will return to the list once we get into the Top 8.

(I should also note that while I consider myself a pretty solid Idol historian, I did have to do a bit of research to find out which songs were sung which week...I've only got so much room in my head!)

1. Carrie Underwood, "Alone"
She may be a country singer through and through, but there's got to be a little bit of 80's rocker lingering inside Carrie Underwood. If not, how to explain this transcendent performance of the great Heart song -- big hair, even bigger voice. Sure, she basically just stood in the middle of the stage and sang, but she sounded so fantastic (blending gorgeously with the very talented back-up singer) nobody would dare complain. This is one of my top 3 favorite Idol performances of all time.

2. Clay Aiken, "Somewhere Out There"
Yes, that last note was a little wonky, but Clay showing his sensitive side on this tune from the beloved film An American Tale only further endeared him to the growing minion of Claymates. This, I believe, was also the debut of Clay's trademarked batting of the eyes...as he crooned and gazed into the camera, you could almost hear 50-year old women across the country shrieking. A Clay classic.

3. Kimberley Locke, "Home"
Kimberley had fumbled big time in the Top 12 and found herself in the Bottom 3 the first week out, so she needed a strong performance to rebound and make herself a contender. And did she ever deliver with this fantastic performance of the Diana Ross song from the musical The Wiz, producing a rich and soulful sound (as well as showing off her newly straightened hair) and holding the final note for what seemed like an eternity. As much as I love Melinda, this, to me, is the definitive Idol version of "Home."


4. Paris Bennett, "Fever"
When we first saw Paris in her initial audition she showed off a preternaturally sophisticated performance style and an impossibly souful, old-school flavor. She brought that back in this spectactular, jazzy performance, effortlessly evoking Billie Holiday and Ella Fitgerald. Paris' strongest performance by a mile.

5. Fantasia, "You Were Always on my Mind"
At this point in the competition during Season 3 people were starting to wonder if Fantasia was a one-trick pony, but this performance shot that notion down right-quick. Feeling every moment of the Willie Nelson classic, this was the first glimpse of the "Summertime" that was soon to come.


6. Katharine McPhee, "Come Rain or Come Shine"
Now that her CD has been released and she is trying to establish herself as a current pop artist she seems to be modeling herself after, of all artists, the Pussycat Dolls, but as far as I'm concerned Katharine is never more of a star than when she is singing old school torch songs, like this Judy Garland gem. Looking sensational and sounding as good as she ever did, Katharine was truly glorious in this performance. Perhaps on her next CD she'll realize where her strengths lie and return to this kind of music.

7. Chris Daughtry, "Walk the Line"
How was Chris going to handle country? That was the question coming into Season 5's Top 11, but he tore into this Johnny Cash tune in a way that seemed modern, relevant, and, most importantly, authentic. Yes, it turns out he was using an arrangement previously recorded by the group Live, but in this performance Chris showed how a real rocker performs on American Idol and still holds on to their musical integrity.

8. Amy Adams, "Sin Wagon"
I had dismissed Amy Adams as a nonentity by the time she came out to close the show in Season 2's Top 11, but she brought the house down with a rousing version of the Dixie Chick's song. Playful and well-sung, I actually prefer Amy's version to the rendition Carrie gave in Season 4.

9. Elliott Yamin, "Teach Me Tonight"
We knew Elliott had a great voice coming into the Top 11 of Season 5, but he really connected with this little-know 60's song, jazzing up his performance style and really connecting with the audience for the first time. As the skillfullness of his vocal runs became abundantly clear, he announced himself as a real contender for the title.

10. Latoya London, "Ain't Going Down"
Josh Gracin had butchered this Garth Brook's mouthful of a song in Season 2, but Latoya redeemed it, giving a sassy and soulful spin to the country tune. At this point in the competition you had to wonder -- is there anything Latoya can't sing?

Ten Best First Finals Performances
Top Semifinal Performances Ever