I'm Going to Hollywood

I have been holed up for the past three weeks watching hours and hours of Idol audition footage and I am actually really hopeful for Season 8. The producers made a great choice in cutting out a good amount of the really unfortunate auditions, making this part of the season a little more bearable. I am looking forward to two whole weeks of Hollywood and seeing which of my favorites succeed and which fail. But before we can get to Hollywood, here is a recap of The Good, The Bad and The Scary from the 2009 auditioning season.

The Good:

Beginning Montage From Episode One: Montages really are the way to my heart and when you include Claudette Yamin (Elliott's mother) in that montage then you can expect me to shed some tears. What a great way to pump the audience up!

Emily Wynne-Hughes: She chose a really difficult song with Heart's Beracuda and she sang it really well. I will put money on the fact that we will see her in the latter rounds, if for no other reason than to see her awkwardly tell her band that all her dreams are coming true, while their dreams come to a crashing end. It's just good T.V. people. Update on Emily: Ms. Hughes will apparently be wearing a SCRAM ankle bracelet during Hollywood week after a November arrest for a DUI. Only time will tell if that will be enough to get her booted fro

m the show.

Deanna Brown: Loved her rendition of Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay. She has a great smokey tone and to top it off, she actually has the look too. I predict that we will see much more of her.

The Castro Brothers: If Whitney Port can get a show, these two should

definitely get their own reality show on MTV. They can call it High Times. I just love these guys. They don't try even a little bit, but it seems to work out just fine for them. I hope if Jason becomes a surgeon, Michael doesn't employ the same logic of "if J can do it, I can do it." All I know is that I would like to have a little bit of whatever they are smoking.

Anoop Desai: A little eyebrow waxing and a wardrobe makeover and we may just have our very first Indian (dots, not feathers) Idol. 

Adam Lambert: Simon said Adam's rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody was theatrical, but I just didn't see that. I think his mistake was telling the producers that he was a stage actor. As long as the judges don't continue to ride the theatrical train, I think he has a great chance of breaking into the Top 12.

Brent Keith Smith: Good singer + good looking = great chance at winning, right? No, just ask Ace Young.

Matt Giraud: The dueling piano players rendition of I Don't Wanna Be was one of my favorite throughout the entire audition process. I am almost guaranteeing an appearance in the Top 12. He is my new Elliott.

LeNeshe Young: I could have done without the sob story about her homeless family that, based on the pictures, is comprised of 20 children, but I thought she was great. The homelessness and the fact that her original song was really well written makes her audition reminiscent of Josiah Lemming's audition, which means, it won't end well for LeNeshe.

Utah: Utah actually gave us some great talent. The night started with David Osmond, who had a pretty good voice, but I think his back story was better. He is an underdog, but there is something about him that I like and I kind of root for him. I really enjoyed Frankie Jordan and her Amy Whinehouse-esque vocals. However, she did seem a little bit over-confident for this stage in the game. I have a feeling she will get some wind knocked out of her sails in Hollywood. A little less confident was Megan Corkrey who had a very interesting voice. Time will tell on how far that quirky voice will take her. I am not sure yet if her voice will translate well into the pop genre, but she definitely deserves a shot in Hollywood.

The Bad:

New judge Kara DioGuardi: I am most definitely not a fan of the new judge. First of all, I never thought adding a new judge was necessary or a good idea. If the producers wanted to add new life to the show, start with getting rid of the old fashioned theme nights or washed up mentors. Don't add a judge who is full of herself and who is going to take away all of my precious Randy time. I just don't handle change well 

so this is my petition for Idol to go back to the way things were. PLEASE.

Bikini Girl: On one hand, ew, on the other hand, Bikini Girl gave me the opportunity to see what it is I don't like in the new judge. I really didn't care for Kara's attitude with her. Look, I don't love bikini girl, but the judges are not there to out-sing the contestants. That said, I don't understand this girl. She actually had a decent voice and she most likely would have gone through to Hollywood if she was fully clothed. However, to her credit, she got people talking. What I definitely could have done without? Her awkwardly making out with Seacrest.

High Five: Speaking of Seacrest. Just when you thought he won the award for most awkward moment with BG, he decides to top it. After Scott Macintyre got through to Hollywood on an okay version of And So It Goes, Ryan goes to give him a high five. However, Scott is blind and so obviously he unintentionally leaves Ryan hanging. Not embarrassing at all Seacrest, not embarrassing at all. Side Note: I do predict that we will see much more of Scott. And I will note it here that my dear friend Patrick has chosen him as the winner already. Let's see if that pans out.

New York and Puerto Rico: The last episode of the audition process and you give us shitty leftovers? Damn you, Idol. There was not a single person on this episode that we will see again, guaranteed. 

The Scary:

Michael Gurr: He is the reason why I don't particularly enjoy this portion of the audition process (I guess it's just the Paula in me). I mean, poor kid is only 17 and now he has to go back to high school knowing that all of his friends have seen it. And what's worse than a horrible audition for all to see? Passing out afterwords.

Kara's Number One Fan: Lea Marie Golde, I dislike you for so many reasons. First, who is seriously Kara's fan? Who even knew who she was four months ago? The fact that this girl is her fan just proves to me what a loser Kara is. Did I mention that I don't like the new judge?

Von Smith: REALLY? This guy is going to Hollywood? From his stupid hat, to his horrific shouting of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, this guy needs to be as far away from Hollywood as possible. And he actually looked so proud of himself when he was done singing. Oh Von.

Tatiana Del Toro: The girl from Puerrrrrrrto Rrrrico who is an actor, model, assistant director, singer - basically she is a slashy and a raving lunatic. I am actually afraid of her and what scares me more is that she is going to be in Hollywood. I am begging the producers to never show her laughing again.

I am glad this portion of the Idol season is behind us and we can move forward to seeing who will be a part of the Top 12. There was definitely some great talent that was shown and I am sure there is a lot more that wasn't shown (26 people got through in New York and they maybe showed five - all of which shouldn't have gone through). I am really excited to see what is next and that is more than I can usually say at this stage of the game. I will be back next week recapping the first week of Hollywood, but if you need something to hold you over, Allen will be playing the Cavs Sunday on ABC at 11:30 am.