And Now For The Fun Part..

It's been a long time coming... but I know.. a change is gonna come.

By change I mean from mostly agonizing auditions and some good ones to simply pure talent. Hopefully. I mean, that was the goal here.

First of all I want to say Randy, Paula and Simon shame on you for cutting Bernard Williams and Tatiana McConnico. Shame.

Secondly, was it just me, but I don't remember seeing Jenry Benjarano anywhere during Hollywood week. I'm sure he was there, but I had the dude pegged as Top 24 for sure so to not see him at all was depressing. He's 16. He can come back next year with Baylie Brown. And where was Sarah Krueger?

So after all of that we have narrowed it down to the Top 24. Most I know. Some I don't. Hard to pass judgment on the newbies because I haven't actually seen them really perform, but I'll give it my best shot. I'm going to comment on the ones I know first and then hopefully come up with something to say about the others.

ALAINA ALEXANDER - I liked her throughout the audition process. She's not the best singer on the show from what I've seen anyways, but I would have put her in the Top 24. She's cute, bubbly and probably won't be the first voted out, but she hasn't shown me yet that she can win.

BLAKE LEWIS - My Blake! Granted, he likes to beat box and that isn't singing. No matter. He can sing too. And he's friends with Chris Sligh! You simply cannot get cooler than that. I mean, seriously. I heart Blake so very, very much. Almost as much as Chris, but that's another matter. Blake will make Top 12. I still don't know how to take his answer about the lucky charms in his pants though.

ANTONELLA BARBA - It's the friend that's not trained. Apparently training doesn't mean everything. Just ask the consumers who picked up Randy and Paula's learn to sing DVD. I'm sure Antonella is missing Tommy Daniels, but I am sure Tommy would want her to move on. "I'll never let go Tommy. I'll never let go." I always did like Antonella and she's pretty enough and can sing, but again, she has to prove to me she can win. And if she wins she'll thank God because God likes good people.

GINA GLOCKSEN - I mainly remembered Gina from last year because so many people were in an uproar that she didn't make it. Well, those people can bask in satisfaction because she is here now. I like Gina. I like her personality and that she's different in a good way. With the fan support she'll probably make Top 12.

BRANDON ROGERS - Mr. Backup is now Mr. Center Stage. I always did like Brandon. When you think about it though, to sing backup for someone like Christina Aguilera you have to be a good singer. You really do. Brandon could go fairly far I think.

CHRIS RICHARDSON - He's bringin' sexy back. The J. Timb comparison is either going to hurt Chris or help Chris. I tend to think as long as he can bring the charisma it is going to help him. I do like this kid a lot, but if it ever were to come down to him or the other Chris - I'm sorry but I have allegiances.

HALEY SCARNATO - Haley is the Clarkson/McPhee type "golden girl". She will get P I M P ed a lot. In the context of the show of course. I'm not calling her a hussie. :) She seems like a very nice girl and she definitely can sing, but as it goes with most of the other girls this year, she hasn't shown me she can win. Yet.

JORDIN SPARKS - This girl will definitely one up Lisa Tucker. I hope. Nah. She will. And she's a Larry Fitzgerald fan. Football. Just in case ya didn't know. Jordin is a definite Top 12er.

CHRIS SLIGH - Most. Awesome. AI. Contestant. Ever. Come on. He listed Gina Glocksen as one of his favorite female pop artists. How is that not cool? I love Chris because he's different and talented and if he's as popular with the fans as he is with the other contestants he may be unstoppable.

NICHOLAS PEDRO - As a former obsessed Survivor fan, I think its funny how much Nick reminds me of Boston Rob. Myabe they're related. I really do like him and will be curious to see how he comes out of the gates the first week.

MELINDA DOOLITTLE - Come on. Who didn't know she was makin' it? One of the most impressive ones throughout the auditions and probably one of the only girls at this point who I feel has the potential to win. She kind of reminds me of Jennifer Hudson. That's a huge compliment by the way.

PHIL STACEY - All I know is that Phil better make his time on Idol worth it. It's funny. In the initial audition I didn't feel really impressed with Phil. I think he sounded a lot better in Hollywood. He's going to be this year's Chris Daughtry, but without the rocker edge and oozing charisma. Sorry. I just love Daughtry.

RUDY CARDENAS - The third member of the SlighLewis juggernaut. I hate to call Rudy the third wheel because he is talented. I was hella impressed with him in the initial audition. BUT... he won't last as long as the other two.

SANJAYA MALAKAR - You knew from Day 1 he would make it farther than his sister. He's like an Indian Will Makar. The young girls will eat him up. Only bad thing is Will Makar didn't make Top 12. Can Sanjaya do him one better?

SUNDANCE HEAD - Picked as one of the early favorites. Hollywood wasn't kind to him apparently. Sundance can blow. There's no question about that. Hopefully he'll go back to what he did in Memphis and bring the house down.

And now for the people that I only really sorta kinda know.....

AJ TABALDO & JARED COTTER - If they are not amazing singers they will not last. The other ten guys got decent screen time and it will be hard enough for THEM to duke it out for the 6 spots.

AMY KREBS, LAKISHA JONES, LESLIE HUNT, NICOLE TRANQUILLO, SABRINA SLOAN, STEPHANIE EDWARDS - There are 6 spots in the Top 12. These 6 have the job of outshining the more well known girls in order to win one of those 6 spots. Good luck ladies. I'm sure at least a couple of you can do it. Jordin, Melinda and Gina pretty much have 3 of them locked.

Next week we'll see what the jury (America) thinks.

Hollywood Here We Come

Sorry ladies and gents, but I am just so ready for Hollywood that I only have the energy to share my comments on the five good people San Antonio managed to produce.

I am quite sure there were several more good people, but we were not allowed to see the goodness.

HALEY SCARNATO - This so did parallel Kelly Clarkson's first audition. Haley wasn't as good as Kelly I don't think. However, she still was good. Not particularly gripping, as Simon and Randy pointed out, but you can't ignore a good voice. Or a good fashion sense apparently.

BAYLIE BROWN - Gotta have that one pretty country girl. I appreciated the originality in going with a Faith Hill song that not many people may know. I thought she was really good. She's not Carrie Underwood yet, but still good. Knowing this show like I do she will definitely make Top 24.

AKRON WATSON - Awesome name. I frequent Akron, Ohio quite a bit in the summer. After his cousin's audition I seriously and truly thought this was going to be a bad audition. There was no doubt in my mind that Akron was going to be horrific until he opened his mouth. I actually liked the second song better. He does need to show a little more personality, but I like him.

ASHLYNN CARR - How mean of them to not consider passing her through because she makes weird facial expressions. Taylor used to look like he was constipated. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but he did. Ashlynn is very pretty and she has a pretty good voice. I wasn't blown away or anything, but she sounded nice.

JIMMY MCNEAL - I am very, very impressed with this boy. Ruben had a voice, but he didn't have the charisma. Jimmy has both. I'd really like to see him go far. I enjoyed it from top to bottom.

What I'd really enjoy though is the frickin' Hollywood rounds. Thankfully we will all be treated to this next week and finally find out who the Top 24 is. I know I have my picks but they always throw those ones in there we don't know about.

L.A. - Where Only 3 People Can Sing

I had high hopes for Los Angeles. New York had been my favorite audition city thus far, so L.A. should be equally good, right?

Hey - It's Olivia Newton John!

Well, the show kicked off with Martik aka "Eccentric". Apparently he is a panther. This immedially reminded me of FRIENDS when Joey was selling Sex Panther cologne. Eccentric is a man of many talents. That would be of course in his own mind. First he danced, or prowled, or something. He shed clothing in the process. He finally did sing. It was enough to cause the girl who hands out the golden tickets to crack up. I could see her back there. I wonder how you get that job.

Anyways.

Next was Sholandric Stallworth. He seemed to think we needed to bring the romance back into music. Funny enough he kind of reminded me a bit of a young Barry White. Unfortunately for him he couldn't sing like Barry White. Upon hearing that this young man would be singing 'If Ever Youre In My Arms Again', Paula remarked - "I love that song". Note to Paula: If you say that to contestants you may regret it after the audition.

Angela Mo made me say Eek!

Grace Pugal was riding a cow. And singing badly.

Sophat Peau wore a banana costume. If he was gonna do that he should have sang B - A - N - A - N - A - S.

It was Marianna Riccio's turn. Her mom apparently sang with Dean Martin. These types of stories either turn out wonderfully or badly. In Marianna's case it was not good. She wasn't a horrific singer, but she wasn't that great either. And here came the begging. The girl even dragged her mother in to see the judges because she knew Simon would think she was hot. Yeah - that'll convince 'em.

Then we're treated to a montage of others who ain't too proud to beg.

Ah - finally! It was Alaina Alexander who melted the judges icy hearts. I was a little worried at first but once she let loose she was much better. Simon really, really liked her. She was definitely good enough for Hollywood, but I don't know about Top 24 just yet.

Next we had Phuong. Simon called her Pong. She liked Taylor Hicks a whole lot. This may have been her downfall. This is a girl - and feel free to kick me - who if she could keep her voice and herself in general under control, she wouldn't be a horrific singer. It was all the flailing around and theatrics that made it so bad. And shame on her mother for telling her she isn't pretty enough. She actually was pretty, just not the best singer.

Brandon Rogers was a professional. While so many try and imitate X-Tina, he has actually sung for her. Just based on this I figured he'd have to be good and he was. He sang Always On My Mind. Great song and great voice. Thumbs up.

Immediately following was someone who had experience in the American Idol Hollywood round - Brian Miller. I'll have to side with Simon. I don't remember him either. He really does have a good voice but he didn't show me any star quality. He didn't stand out. Which is probably why he didn't make Top 24 before.

Next was a very sad story. When I first saw Sherman Pore in previews I rolled my eyes. When I found out why he was there it brought tears to my eyes. His push to be on American Idol gave his wife some peace before she passed away and now Sherman can have some peace too. Very sad.

Cavett and Darold brought us back to Idol hilarity. Ahhhh young people in love. Apparently the love didn't run that deep though as Cavett was flirting with Simon to snatch a golden ticket. Darold didn't care though. They both couldn't sing, but the judges loved them. For once I actually thought they were pretty funny too.

Anthony Adams sang 'You Light Up My Life' and butchered it and then agreed that he butchered it.

Lastly was Eric Mueller. Eric trained very hard to be on American Idol. As we later found out he even used Randy and Paula's DVD. Simon delighted in this. Sad thing is that I honestly think Eric took this whole thing seriously. It sure made Simon happy though.

On the next episode Idol makes its last stop in San Antonio. After that - on to Hollywood baby!