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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 ....

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Ha ha.. love it Copago

Apologies

Thank you! for that link choco_nut ! I'm all caught up now (for better or worse, whichever the case may be).

I have to chime in a little on Mr. Osmond. "Bah!" to those judges - that was [in itself and especially in comparison to many others we've seen] a fine audition. And I'm pretty sure they knew that it'd be one, and he'd be through to Hollywood, before he ever opened his mouth. And flashed all those Mormon, perfect teeth of his . They probably felt compelled to give him a little resistance lest we viewers think he was a shoo-in. Heck, I'd think that most of us were just glad he wasn't wearing a bikini, giggling like a dying hyena or channeling Minnie Ripperton! Who cares what his last name is? I, personally, have a hunch his lineage name will be a hindrance if he makes the official stage on "Idol". I, for one, would hesitate (passionately) to vote for an Osmond for anything . OK, just kidding. But, really ... that irksome "Uncle" Donny has already announced that he's officially doing "Dancing With The Stars" this year (aren't we all exhaustingly relieved to hear that news, or what ). There's only so many Osmonds the functioning public will bother to call in and vote for, all in the span of one season and two networks, don't you think? Donny is a multi-generational variety of an Osmond, too - so I reckon he'll get the edge. In terms of quotas allowed?

On a more serious note, though: about the MS. It certainly shouldn't deter him in any way, but I'd think there could (maybe, possibly) be some troubles there as things progress - IF they progress after Hollywood week, for Mr. Osmond. It's a very unpredictable problem, and it seems no two cases are the same, but stressors can truly trigger all kinds of bad *stuff*. And I would think that a contest like this would be one stressor after the other - not to mention being physically grueling for the most strapping person. Again, it may not factor in at all. He looks in fine shape! My hope is that they downplay the MS as he goes (seems to me his vocals are good enough without any "drama" such a condition might take away from his [quite good] voice) - but these shows love to get ratings where they can. Whoops. I just remembered . We already have a blind guy, several dozen homeless people, a spattering of single mothers whose husbands are soldiers in faraway places, more than two who are caring for aging or ailing mothers/grandmothers and one dude who looks like he had some really problem acne at some point in his young life. MS? No problem, I guess. Bring it on and mix it up with all the other pervasive crises in place all over the screen, yes?! Thank goodness all that will (fingers crossed) truly matter, in a week or three, is how well anybody does on Gladys Knight and the Pips night (or whoever), heart-wrenching back stories aside. Whew.

The Osmond "lad" was pushing the show's outer age limits at 29. He definately had the family genetics looking more like a young Donnie, than young Alan. Alas, as stated he too came with the background story completed by violins. They do seem to be fond of the hardluck contestants this season. Since an Osmond isn't of the single parent with no financial future, his was the story of health. And I don't make light of it as no amount of fame or fortune can replace sound mind and body. I can say I might've expected a bit more from him in the audition and perhaps the judges did too.

Two women with such distinctive styles were Megan (hardluck single Mom story) and Rose (hardluck loss of parents story). It seems like the Horatio Alger up by the bootstraps year.

There was a close to 6 foot 16 year old girl who went through as well as the young woman somewhat resembling Amy Winehouse.

The President of my Senior Class young man was a bit too fervently perfect for my tastes. And when song choices are that far out of the "norm" (Raffi.. really??!!) I don't know how well he will cope with the reality of the competition and all the styles to be expected.

The judges all seemed rather well behaved last night. Probably a reflection of the mannered and polite contestants. And there was a marked difference in behavior in the Salt Lake City auditions.

Tonight looks like more of a free for all in ending this phase (thankfully) of the competition.

[*Insert a dance of joy here* ] Yay. Auditions done ... and, actually, last night's set wasn't too painful to watch. Almost entertaining in spots. The ridiculous highlight had to be the "Human Ipod" dude (or whatever he was up to). "Creative" was his self-description. More than a little psychotic-to-the-naked-eye would be more accurate. And I really can't believe that they sent that Norman Gentle weirdo through! They found him entertaining? What'd I miss? I was put immediately in mind of Richard Simmons (sans sweatin' to the [campy, no less] oldies) when he showed up. The rest were pretty good, I thought -- or at least the ones who were hoping to be taken seriously. The nudist girl (?) with a raw bluesy sound, the 16-year old with the *ain't he cute enough to give lil' Dakota Fanning a run for the money* brother (she actually sang pretty good, though, preadolescent hard sell from him aside), etc. There were two singers who looked exceptional that were only on screen for app. 1.4 seconds each (and that Ipod creature gets several minutes -- go figure). Their names were Kenny and Kendall, I think. Would've liked to have seen more of them -- hopefully they'll get some air time in H-wood. And I really liked the Puerto Rican guy early on in the show. What was up with that Kara, though (who I'm liking less each time I see her - I haven't got a clue, not even a bad one, what she hopes to 'get' from these youngsters)? Did she really criticize a Puerto Rican for sounding ... how dare he? ... Puerto Rican? What she seems to like is those who give her personal itch a scratch (she championed Mr. Gentle, after all -- and should not be soon forgiven for it, either). It's as if she's casting the entertainment for her next pool party, or something . Up until recently I thought she might be on board just in case Paula had a meltdown and left the judge's panel as the season travels. Now? I'm thinking she's a plant the producers put there specifically to make Miss Abdul appear more sensible. Not that expecting Kara to do that is what I'd call an easy job to get saddled with, for anybody, mind you ...

Oh ! And newsflash du jour! Donny Osmond has now officially decided NOT to dance with the stars, just to counter that earlier official announcement that he had his cha-cha shoes dusted and ready-to-go. Strategic move, I think. One less Osmond to confuse matters-in-general on the *try my heart out* TV landscape. Ergo, things are looking up for Idol's David Osmond, yes? But who knows? Maybe an Osmond (or two) will still show up on next season's Top Chef, fryin' up chicken parts with gusto? One can never get enough of those crazy Osmonds, eh? Just kidding - I'm actually kinda rooting for David. For naught, I'm pretty sure. But 'rooting', nonetheless.

"Did she really criticize a Puerto Rican for sounding ... how dare he? ... Puerto Rican? "

LOL - oh how that bit made me laugh and then Simon put her right in her place. I didn't expect to like Simon having heard about how rude he can be but I like him the best.

As soon as this show finished tonight we flipped over to the weather where they straight away mentioned how Melbourne was struggling with the heat and how there were lots of black-outs. My first thought was "God, I hope Choco Nut has got power" ...

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As soon as this show finished tonight we flipped over to the weather where they straight away mentioned how Melbourne was struggling with the heat and how there were lots of black-outs. My first thought was "God, I hope Choco Nut has got power" ...

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Awww, thanks for thinking of me Copago.. you made my day.. and yes we did have power.. very lucky

Sorry this is off topic.. Please forgive me for a moment.. Thousands of homes lost power in Melbourne over the past few days as we have had temperatures of over 40 degrees celcius. (Quite the opposite to Jordandog's freezing temperatures.) Today was 43 which in farenheit is almost 110 degrees! We have had bushfires too and there was one only five kilometres from our home today. Fortunately it didn't get close and everything is ok now the fire is contained.

Back to Idol..

*Joins Gatsby (and probably everyone else) in dance of joy*

At last.. it's over.. and on to the interesting stuff..

They saved the best for last, so they said.. Nine advanced from Puerto Rico and 26 from New York. We only saw about nine that got through so hopefully there will be some surprises in store. My prince didn't arrive but he could be one of the "hidden" ones, I will just have to wait until next week to find out.

I had a laugh at Alexis from last year coming back looking all sweet and demure and then gracefully giving the two finger salute (and a few bleeped words) again..

Hey ! Now that does it. I just read Michael Slezak's recap and that overpaid rascal stole my "Norman Gentle"/Richard Simmons comparison ! What gall indeed.

At first, I thought I might have stolen it from HIM (my short term memory is a casualty, most days)... but then checked the time on his article and mine came out first. So take that, Mr. "Has-his-own-office-where-he-interviews-Melinda Doolittle"! Now I reckon Mr. Simmons will be left no option other than to sue both of us for slander .

Slezak also (and I'm not kidding!) had some positive remarks for that Ipod guy from last night, too . Can you imagine?

IPod Dude was great - if the auditions were for Jackass replacements.

Not to worry about young Mr. Osmond. Marie made the "Dancing" finals by admitting she got at least a million votes each week from just family members...

Will be looking forward to Hollywood week in hopes of seeing some of the people with Golden Tickets who apparently have talent but no sad background story worthy of a film bit.

The 16-year old with the little brother, and another girl whose name I can't remember that they rejected didn't sound bad at all to me! Certainly better than some of the others I've seen them put through.

And found it a bit weird that when Simon said Alexis was worse than last year, Kara agreed with him. Sure, I guess she might have seen Alexis on tv, but she wasn't a judge last year so it seemed a bit out of place to me!

Actually Alexis was easy to remember. Even in having a totally new look as soon as she was on camera we remembered her. I doubt anyone would forget her. She was beyond "odd" and seemed closer to mentally ill.

I read an article and yes, the contestants are heavily screened. No way is the celebrity panel wading through the thousands of people at each stop. I've heard some people don't get past their first attempt which is simply singing for a panel in an assembly line arrangement where they aren't given but a very brief time to impress. Sounded like most are dismissed before they get more than a few bars out.

Oooh! Oooh! I just broke my promise to myself (which was inevitable, pretty much -- I have a lifetime of practice doing such promise breakage ) and took a peek at the *spoilers* in that blog link choco_nut offered. IF that is, in fact, the actual Top 36 as they land, this ought to be a crazy good season indeed ! I never exactly trust *leaks* (I can certainly imagine the "Idol" producers strategically planting a few), but even if it's close to accurate, the pickin's are interesting. And I'll just go ahead and blab [*insert another 'dance of joy' here*]: my early-on favorite (albeit doomed to likely not win, as my early-on picks never do so well ) Matt "The Dueling Piano Player Dude" made it through! Maybe? We'll only know for sure once it airs, I suppose, but that's good news .

And no Norman Gentle, much to the dismay of my bleary eyes. Is there no justice? Norman was, without question, chock full of potential, or so I thought. Well, chock full of something ...

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Oooh! Oooh! I just broke my promise to myself (which was inevitable, pretty much -- I have a lifetime of practice doing such promise breakage ) and took a peek at the *spoilers* in that blog link choco_nut offered. IF that is, in fact, the actual Top 36 as they land, this ought to be a crazy good season indeed !

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Shhhhh, it's supposed to be a secret, so I won't mention any names.. One who I thought would be a cert to get in is missing ... I think you will know who I mean Gatsby .. no clues

Who knows if they are for real but no one has really grabbed me this year. No wow factor, not yet anyway. I'm looking forward to Hollywood where they will begin to sort the chaff from the wheat

I love the Idolatry videos, I wish they would put more of them up! And yes, Slezak did "steal your story", he must be reading these forums.

As for Norman Gentle.. He reminded me of a cross between Rodney Dangerfield and Jerry Lewis on a bad day

All I have to say is "Bikini Girl" needs to go!!!! I didn't think she was any good at all. And why do these girls think they need to "bare it all" so to speak to get through. If they have vocal talent and some stage presence, that should be good enough.

I thought Bikini Girl was alright, not horrible, but shouldn't have moved on.

Nor should have Norman Gentle. Turning the show into a big joke.

Other than that, not too many real standouts.. they didn't show some of the people I liked from the original auditions like Frankie Jordan.

Yeah ... that certainly was a curious mix o' matters last night, wasn't it? I consistently (with no plans to change my mind) did not care for Bikini Girl and that [annoying, times ten] Mr. *Gentle* from the minute they showed up in their respective cities. Using such gimmicks never gets a person too far, it just ends up a waste of time. BUT, and it irked from here to Anaheim to notice it, too? Both of them, while presenting what I thought were less-than-neighborhood happy hour performances last night, showed glimmers (just glimmers, mind you) of actually decent voices underneath all of that sideshow showmanship . Which begs the question - who gets through on sporadic evidence of 'maybe' talent? And who doesn't? They all have proven potential (in some way or other) just to get as far as they got. What makes Barbie and Elmo so special? My opinion is that neither, especially Gentle, deserves the slightest encouragement. And that both should put their heads together and start a cable version of "Let's Make A Deal 2009". With Gentle as the new Monty Hall and Bikini Babe pointing at refrigerators fetchingly. And, darn it, I can't remember if either of 'em show up on that *spoiler* list of the Top 36. Honestly, I dare not even make a guess.

I kept many notes (I remember stuff badly, these notes keep my memory keen on generally where I even was last night and on what I was doing while I was there). Another one I didn't like a-plenty was Matt. That song he picked was dreadful and that highly unnecessary monologue, given just in time to hopefully save his butt from the busses? "It's on my skin!! It bursts out of me!" Pathetic. Throw HIM a fish, indeed. But I think they sent him through. Good riddance to Jesus - who actually had the gall to be peeved that he got the boot? What'd he expect? They probably sequestered his children in some green room far far away ... and they were the ones who got him there, after all, to begin with - NOT his Pavarotti-like pipes. Von Smith is, I can tell already, not going to be my cup o' tea, no matter what happens. His mouth is, anatomically speaking, simply too large for my comfort zone. Looks like one could park a U-Haul truck in there! And, good heavens, he's a bit on the loud-every-note side, too, isn't he? Blech to him.

I gotta mention Danny and Jamar, the "BFF"s. Yay! to Jamar! Bah (twice)! to Danny. Here's the truth on 'em, though, in my opinion. They both sang great. They both will fare well in the contest (given the chance). But, since 'back stories' seem to matter so bloody much this year? I insist on finding the widower dude mostly creepy - and I plan to do so from now until June. People who bring videos to TV show auditions of their deceased spouses rub me the wrong way. And I plan to stick to my guns on the matter. Lil's audution scared me (I thought it was a shrieky-y endeavor) - but thank God they sent her through. I'd call her (so far) definite Top Five stuff - but, the judges all seemed to like that Whitney Houston thing she sang - so my tin ear must have kicked in when she had her turn? But, for me? The best of the lot last night, anyway, was Jorge. Pronounced Hore-Hay. Or George. Depending on who says it. That guy is awesome. And in a season where camera time seems to be given more to the women and/or the clownish men, he tore the place up when he got his chance to. He's really really good. And, I believe, was the one who sounded (accd.g to Kara) "too Puerto Rican"? If he's too *anything*, I only hope he delivers many more weeks of it.

And that's my book for today . Sorry. I got all excited. It's so NICE, though, to finally be in Hollywood ...

Well, I'm glad you said that about Lill./ I didn't think it was going well then everyone stood and cheered afterwards .. oops, I was wrong obvioulsy.

My theory on Bikini girl is that the men are putting her through just to take the [censored] .. or the producers of the show are telling them to put her through so we all talk about her and will tune in next week to see if she gets sent home. To to rile Kara up .. and that's not a bad thing. I just don't like BG though - can't quite put my finger on what it is but I suspect it rhymes with glutty.

I'm going to disagree *gasp* with you, Gats, on Danny. I like him, I really like him. Okay, so taking the tape was a bit morbid but he didn't need the sob story to get him through. He's one of my favourites.

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The best of the lot last night, anyway, was Jorge. Pronounced Hore-Hay. Or George. Depending on who says it.

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*snort*

I agree that Bikini Girl needs to go. We do NOT need another Sanjaya (or Kellie Pickler, or Antonella Barba, or Haley Scarnato... or... etc). I'm still peeved that Sanjaya was voted through over Sundance. Grr.

I will disagree with Gats and agree with Copago re: Danny. LOVE him. Not so much his BFF. I like David Osmond as well, and I could see him in the top 12, but not really as the winner. Danny I could see winning.

I should keep notes, Gatsby is on to something there.

Decidedly odd goings-on this season. As if they are determined to keep some of the real talents as secret as possible.

They moved through a few mediocre auditions, like Lil, or "I'm doing it for my deceased parents" Rose,a couple of horrible ones, like the many colored hair Punk Rocker girl. I seem to remember before one of the commercial breaks Frankie being told her audition was too overdone so maybe they didn't want to show us another favorite screwing up their opportunity but getting the nod anyway.

Didn't show Castro kid 2 or the Osmond. And maybe it's my imagination but there just doesn't seem to much, well, actual singing going on yet. Admittedly, I'm more a fan of the competition than the tryout phase but I would like to hear more of the vocals and less of all the talk and repeating background bios.

Agreed, we should see more singing during singing auditions.

I liked Danny! Don't care for the tragic back story (I'm sorry his wife died, but this isn't really the place for it..) but I really enjoyed his audition this round.

And I'm going to say.. I don't really care for Lil. That's just personal taste though. She's good for sure, I would just rather girls with the rock-like voices (like Ryan Starr from first season) go through than Whitney Houston voices. So, good singer but if I were able to vote, I wouldn't vote for her.

I agree too about Lil. I felt she was shouting almost as loud as Von. I don’t think she deserved the standing ovation tonight. Von is going to be one of those contestants you love or hate but I do feel he has a good voice and could go far if he turns the tone down a few thousand decibels.

I think the surprise for me tonight was Stephen Fowler, who sang the Stevie Wonder song. I can’t remember seeing him in the auditions at all but he was very good last night. I also liked Danny (sorry Gatsby) and Anoop. Bikini girl and Norman Gentle are just there to amuse and annoy the judges.

I just don’t get Jackie Tohn at all, her voice sounds very gravelly and rough and the dance moves are a bit strange. Did anyone notice that she was the only one in her group shown last night? The guy standing next to her with the checked shirt on didn’t even get his name mentioned and he got through. Jessica (the girl who had the grandma with the crazy pills) didn’t get through and they didn’t even bother to show her performance, just a shot of her walking out and crying. Hmm, strange goings on indeed

I agree with Tredici and guitargoddess with us not seeing enough singing. I know they can’t show the whole 147 in a one hour show but I just wish they would stop wasting time with people who don’t get through (and all the back stories) and show us some of the talented contestants who made it instead. Hopefully we will see some tonight.

OK. You've all managed to "lighten me up" on Danny . I still think that video was in extremely poor taste -- but, heck, I suppose I really oughtn't blame the guy for resorting to using it. And maybe he wasn't using it, at all? It certainly was a timely aspect of his life. I'll try to get over it. Thing is (and I really did say so above, all things considered) the dude didn't NEED to try to stand out other than to open his mouth and sing like he does. He does that part very well indeed. Not that singing skill is a sure-fire way to get yourself noticed on "Idol", o' course . Hopefully, in the future, folks won't find that bringing video tapes of recently deceased family members a "good idea", though. In my opinion, such things land on the chillier side of cold-hearted, as a general rule? Especially so soon after the funerals of said loved persons.

And [yes] that Stevie Wonder singer was incredible. I'd forgotten to mention him. Originality like that is refreshing. And one other thing .... I had that name 'Anoop' written down in my notes. Upon looking at them this morning I thought I'd spelled something wrong ?! Where'd he come from? That's the sort of name one would remember having seen or heard before, good singing or not - and I didn't recall him at all. But I did write down *Excellent! Yay!* next to his name . Picture it in lights, if you will ... Kelly! Ruben! Fantasia! Taylor! Jordin! David! And Anoop ?! I'm not really making 'fun' of his name - but it is rather unusual, no denying it. I remember [however vaguely - I was still getting over Elmo and Barbie -- that'll stand as my excuse] that he really nailed it last night, though.

I don't have any favorites yet. There were a few that I liked but don't really pick one til about the top 12. Hopefully "BG" goes tonight. lol

Anoop was in one of the earlier cities. Randy annointed him AnoopDog.

Arrrggghhh.. tonight again with the endless parade of no sense contestants. At 20 minutes into the show, I was yelling at the TV - somebody SING something! By half past the hour I kind of gave up on seeing anything but needless and boring angst brought on by the self absorbed to silly to see past themselves at the opportunity in front of them.

But finally! Yeah! The acapella group was nearly worth the wait. I don't think I recognized either girl in there and don't know if both were real good or a little lucky in getting thrown in with a music teacher.

Thankful the bikini girl story is over. Shame too, since she was so real amid the "fakes".

And regardless of whatever the problem was with the trio, the right choice to leave was Nancy. We needed Mercy from the one stanza she sang. And someone needs to tell the poor girl just how awful those what the heck color of red locks look.

I think we are getting more glimpses of who is going to make the cut.