I really think they should have had a night off last night as the show was hardly worth watching. Twelve people got through tonights auditions? Blink and you'd miss it, I'm afraid.

The best for me (on a night where there weren't too many highlights but plenty of low ones) were the last two guys, Adam (the theatrical one) and Kai who looks after his mum.

Too much time was wasted on that Akira girl who had all her notes with her.. she was totally whacko, even Paula had to leave the building which was kind of strange... The same for the girl with the laugh that cinnamon mentioned, what was with her?

There was a lot shown of the squabbles between Kara and Simon which makes me think it's a bit of a set up for future shows. Does anyone else think that Randy seems totally bored by the whole show this season? Or maybe it's just that he can't get a word in with Kara, Paula and Simon taking the lead all the time, who knows?

Gatsby, thanks for the link Michael Slezak and Kristen Baldwin, it's very funny and you have me addicted already.

I'm still waiting for a "Michael Johns" or a "David Cook" to magically appear this year.. hope it happens soon. Roll on Hollywood, I'm sick of the auditions already!

I hope I don't come off sounding cold or compassion-less, but I'm getting a little tired of all the attention paid to the sob-stories... not that I don't care what some of these people have been through, but the point of American Idol is to showcase good singers and a few funny bad ones... not to spend half of the show giving me the life-story of a bunch of people, half of whom don't even make it to the next round. That's one thing I liked about David Cook, the heart-string-pulling story about his brother didn't really come out until the season was well under way last time, and even then it wasn't turned into such a big deal that we forgot about David himself, you know?

I have to agree with you, gg, and would also like to know something, because I missed the lead-in to it. What was with the guy and his 2 daughters with the 'We love Jesus' signs? From what I heard and saw, it appeared they allowed him through just because of that and not his talent. I didn't see him perform, so I have to ask if he did well enough, in anyone's opinion, to merit going on?

I did hear his audition. He was fine. Not stellar, but not bad either. They had been kind of on the fence about him, like didn't love him but there wasn't really anything wrong with him either.

Oh and Jesus was his name - wasn't like it was a religious bible bashing audition or anything

Ones like that one, and the ones that have to beg to get through .. what is the point? They won't get any further so why waste their time?

Only a couple stood out for me last night .. the bloke who had done lots of musical theatre? Loved him.

And the woman with the giggle that didn't stop. she gave the hound dog eyes when they were going to say "no". Oh man - I'll be muting whenever she comes on. She was terrible.

Kara - dont like her either.

AND I don't like the fact that I'm even watching the show!

! Where to begin re: Wednesday night? Maybe with the *I Swallowed The Jackson Five Whole ... AND Will Now Remind You That The Only Time Anybody Really Likes Sporty (?) Versions Of "Billie Jean" Is When David Cook Does Them* jumbo guy? Or the *Nerd Times Ten Who Ain't Smart Enough To Know That It's Questionable To Wrap Your Lips Around The Germy Refreshments Of Others (Unless You Know Them Very Well, That Is)* Tim Burton-ish reject? Honestly, if peculiar noises like that came out of someone sitting next to me on a city bus ('singing' or otherwise) I'd be on that emergency brake in a heartbeat . There was a weirdo named Aaron, too. We remember him, eh? The Terminator meets James Brown meets those Guards at the Witch's Castle in Oz? Yikes, indeed. What a side show.
But, then? Despite the gag factor of backstories that could make even the happiest viewer slightly suicidal, two notable ones emerged. Alexis, who not only is a struggling single Mom ... but her baby daddy is even in uniform, doing something probably patriotic beyond description in some humid dangerous location. She sang good, though. If she weren't enough Pasadena Norma Rae enough for us? How about the homeless woman (these heretofore homeless people dress like Diana Ross in concert, too, when American Idol shows up, don't they)? Truth be told, she had a pretty awesome voice and did the double (triple?) 'vote hustle' by singing her own original song, too. She was exceptional, and they once again saved the best for last in her case. I believe her name was Leneshe? My particular hero of the night was Matt, the 'dueling piano' guy from Kalamazoo, Michigan, though. Interesting voice and likely moldable vocal technique on him. A little bit different and very nice tones. Whereas Leneshe came in there full-barrel confidant that she was Aretha Franklin, Jr., the Michigan dude wasn't sure of himself at all and made that little extra effort to present himself as a possible loser - but tried like crazy, anyway. It was refreshing to see it, in a parade of losers with capital 'L's that thought they were one audition away from the Grammy Awards. It also helped that Simon compared him to my favorite from a few seasons back, too: Elliot Yamin .

And (sigh) ... the previews indicate that there are more auditions coming next week . Drat. I thought one week of 'em was way more than enough ...

Agree, of course, with everything you've said, Gats. (and not just in this thread either .. )

Quote:

---

How about the homeless woman (these heretofore homeless people dress like Diana Ross in concert, too, when American Idol shows up, don't they)? Truth be told, she had a pretty awesome voice and did the double (triple?) 'vote hustle' by singing her own original song, too. She was exceptional,

---

I loved her, really loved her .. and really loved her song .. I want to hear all of it and hope she gets to sing it at some stage. I'm putting her up with Lil and Danny as my favourites so far.

So more auditions next week. As an Idol newbie: how long does this go on for?? I may have to take smoking back up if they do it for much longer!

I guess another week of preliminary auditions, then the Hollywood round of auditions, then the getting down to the top 12 or whatever it is.

Talk about blowing something up for effects. The poor, little strange guy (two bad car wrecks and almost died 5 times) offered up a southern homily, of Y'all be careful. --As he explained, be careful in all you do.

To have interpreted that as a threat was a real stretch for me. Little bit of needless drama.

Quote:

---

So more auditions next week. As an Idol newbie: how long does this go on for??

---

Copago, I saw the ads here the other night and they said Wed and Thurs would be auditions and then a special "Hollywood" show on Friday night.. Yay

From the last show the standouts for me were Leneshe, Alexis, Joanna (who sang "We Belong") and I quite liked Brent who sang "Can't get enough of your love" by Bad Company.. even if Simon didn't like the song Pity we didn't get to see much of the others who made it through

Kara is taking the lead role at the moment, the focus is on establishing her presence that's for sure.

Thank heavens, choco_nut, for that announcement that these (godawful) auditions are nearly done with. Last night's seemed especially annoying to me ... I'm thinking they let almost anybody who showed up through . And the ones they didn't send to Hollywood had no business being anywhere near the "Idol" judges, or perhaps populated places in general. In fact, I've decided that the bulk of USA citizens might consider having their lips surgically sealed shut lest they embarrass themselves further in the future in such varying ways. A couple of comments, though. Of course . May she rest in peace, but I really didn't like that Minnie Ripperton song when Minnie did it. Many thought that outlandish high note was a lovely piece of work. Me? I only remember changing many shattered light bulbs once she stopped shrieking it on the radio back in the day. I really don't need to hear another Idol wannabe MISS the darned note! In fact, I'm not sure I'd want to hear one of them manage to successfuly "hit" it, now that I think about it. And what a [ahem] "fascinating" character that George was, eh? All he really wants in ten years, when asked, is a house with marble floors??? Not warm walls, fine art, cool cars in the garage, family members living there with him. Nope, none of that trifling nonsense. Bring on the marble floors, thanks? What an odd duck indeed (with a voice to match said odd duck-ishness). T.K. was likely one of the best of them last night (which is saying significantly little), but I wanted to throw something at the TV screen even when he was up there, too. Now, honestly. Is there ANY reason to "Timbaland" up John Lennon? I'm pretty sure that both Sir John AND Miss Minnie were in heaven last night, looking down and flatly deciding that they're going to come back to 'life', reincarnating as mute buttons. Or maybe Xanax. Thank goodness for Anne Marie, eh? She was tip-top, I thought ... even before they sent her out a second time to get some (huh?) "star power". She was better-than-fine the first time (a total bastion of hope, I thought). But she really nailed it that second trip.

One last thing. Was I hallucinating? A guy showing up to sing being PROUD of looking like/being compared to Justin Guarini? Yikes . Wasn't he one of the least successful Idol finalists (given all that hype back then, quickly misfired) in history? I kept thinking: What's next? Somebody coming in boasting about that they have the waistline, platinum records and pop idol status of Ruben Studdard? I tell ya ... very odd night.

Anybody else give it a watch?

I did, and I must say these audition shows aren't as entertaining for me as in the past. I could do with one, possibly two, shows highlighting the audtions and then on to Hollywood week.

Who wouldn't want to be compared to one of the stars of that cinematic juggernaut "Justin Loves Kelly?" I mean, really...just sayin'.

Note to future contestants: When this judging panel starts singing along with you? The audition is NOT going well.

How about the young lady who said she got her confidence from her Mom, so they call Mama into the room to more or less encourage her to discourage her kid.

I didn't see Paula flounce out of the room because she wasn't getting a turn to critique, but did find the fake kissing of Cara a bit disturbing.

I'm wondering if things were really so bad in Jacksonville only 9 people deserved golden tickets or they've realized too many of them have all ready been squandered on folks who don't have any shot at all in making the cut.

Sounds as if I missed absolutely nothing by having no satellite reception (too much snow coming down) so no television last night. I'm really glad I missed the J. Guarini 'clone'. He was too much for me the first time around!

I also missed last night. Sleep schedule is off, so I was napping before I had to go to work. Hopefully I'll catch some of tonight. Or maybe it's a good thing I missed last night from what I read...

Darn, I missed it too - maybe it's being repeated today.

If you were here you would get it repeated again and again and again, along with the "Friends" reruns and the rest of the aging sitcoms and failed police seriels. Arghhhhh!
I agree, there was nothing HUGE last night. Do people really think they can sing? I cant believe it of most of them.

The judges are getting so boring. They just all agree with whatever Simon says. Paula needs to go!

Drat. Well, maybe just a 'semi'-drat (since these audition shows aren't landing so well with me much this year). I slept right through Wednesday night prime time - and, unfortunately, they don't rerun the shows over here where I live. Well, let's make that a hit-and-miss usage of the term "unfortunately" . It might be the luckiest thing to happen to men (women and children, too) in Ohio that they only run 'em once, eh?

But I trust I missed the alleged *Osmond* who was threatened to be auditioning in Utah? I'm quite on the edge of my seat to know if he or she was a little bit country. Or maybe a little bit rock-n-roll? More importantly? How many teeth did they have, and exactly how large and white were they? Are such matters truly genetic? And so forth ...

Hopefully, somebody out there managed to watch and I'll get a fill-in on the excitement I snoozed through. And forgot to set my (now mostly obsolete) VCR to record, too . Sigh.

I'm not sure why I came onto this thread, but there was a similar one on the X-factor on the chats last year. I don't watch Idol, as I limit my fix to XF.

However, I am struck by the similarities. Among the 12 finalists on XF last year were:

Alexandra (who's mum is on renal dialysis). She's quite good really, don't take her rendition of Hallelujah as representative.

Daniel, whose wife died shortly after giving birth. He should have gone out first, but didn't even get to the sing off until the third live show. He sung "To Where You Are", causing a complete mascara meltdown and knocking out a much better performer.

Eoghan, cute 16 year old Irish lad.

Rachel - single mum, a couple of kids taken into care, ex heroin addict and prostitute.

JLS - personable boy band, one of their mums had an incurable illness.

Two fairly slutty looking girl bands, who disappeared in the first two weeks.

I would never, ever miss a show!

Daniel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOWdH4MuOzg

Rhydian (the previous year's runner up)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIxic0AbMtY - he's doing rather nicely now.

Not intending to hijack this thread, but just pointing out the similarities, and the strange voting habits of the British public!

"they don't rerun the shows over here where I live"

If you count the timeshift channels then it's shown four times in 24 hours

Loved Megan tonight.

More auditions tomorrow night. Pants on fire Choco Nut? Hollywood next week though - interested to see how it all works. In the shorts it looks like there is a few dummy spits which is always nice to see ....

Quote:

---

Thank heavens, choco_nut, for that announcement that these (godawful) auditions are nearly done with.

---

Sorry Gatsby and Copago, I got it wrong.. please forgive me for giving you false hope. Foxtel (our cable provider) put an ad on saying that Friday night would be Hollywood night and then tonight they changed their minds.. or did I wishfully dream that ad up in my mind?? It doesn't surprise me as some of the ads they show for the next auditon show have contestants that have already been on.. so go figure.. Aussie TV at it's best (or worst) as usual..

Tonights ad says that Friday night we have the displeasure of seeing more auditions and then nextweek on to Hollywood.. (Groans)

Gatsby, the Osmond boy was a mighty fine lookin boy.. with a great set of Osmondesque (not quite Osmond super size) teeth He had a good voice too, so it must be in the genes His father is Alan, the oldest of the Osmond brothers. He and his father both have MS and he has been in a wheelchair but is in remission at the moment.. Simon and co didn't give him an easy ride through, they did make him sweat a bit before giving the nod.

I have the feeling it is going to be a "girls" year this year. There seems to be a lot of girls going through to Hollywood. I kind of feel that the people that got through they are not showing will probably not make it past Hollywood. I'm still waiting for my prince to arrive but I'm slowly losing faith that it will ever happen this year.

Quote:

---

And what a [ahem] "fascinating" character that George was, eh? All he really wants in ten years, when asked, is a house with marble floors??? Not warm walls, fine art, cool cars in the garage, family members living there with him. Nope, none of that trifling nonsense. Bring on the marble floors, thanks? What an odd duck indeed (with a voice to match said odd duck-ishness).

---

By George! I don't think he got it Why, oh why, did he even audition? Beats me.

If you want to see the videos of Wednesday night's auditions (and any others) I found a great blog here but be warned there are some so called "Spoilers" in there as to who is rumored to be in the top 36 already ...