Blogging 'American Idol' - Welcome to Hollywood

*These blog notes are typed as I watch the show and put up immediately following the east coast airing of 'American Idol.' Please ignore or, at the very least, forgive me for any typos, punctuation or otherwise errors. Thank you!

175 of the nation's top singers? Heh. I bet a lot of the real top singers never auditioned!
We open with Ryan explaining how the contestants chose one song from a list of 12. They'll have background singers and music. I see a lot of folks they never showed on the auditions.

Kellie Pickler, with the sob story about father in jail (blah, blah, blah), is being featured. She sings pretty well, but not perfect. Simon mentions her nerves. Kellie, a Hannah and some un-named girls make it to the next round.

Patrick Hall sounds good to me! Let's see if he makes it. The judges look happy. Randy wants him to work on his look. Simon says, "You're not Clay Aiken, but you're likable." He made the cut. Good. I think his voice is excellent. I personally don't find his image offputting at all.

Now they touring Hollywood, checking out the Hollywood Bowl.

Ronnie Norman, the Ego Waiter and the soldier guy who wooed Paula are going to be featured. Ohhh... I think Ronnie sounds hoarse. Neither made it. They don't take it well. Ronnie cries. Oh, well.

Lisa Tucker from the Denver auditions is on. I think decent. Onto the next round. Lots of Hopelessly Devoted contestants. "Some are more hopelessly devoted than others." -- from Ryan Seacrest. A cowboy sings it to Paula and makes the cut. He was good. Not sure American Idol with the way the audience votes good, but good.

Now the tour group is in downtown Hollywood.

Ashley Guademuz
Kymyata
Linella? -- all bad

Randy gives the contestants a pep talk.

Paris Bennet - excellent! Made it, naturally.

Now they're showing the trip to the beach in Santa Monica.

Taylor Hicks, the grey haired guy, is singing. I like his voice, but he is reminding me a bit of Joe Cocker. Simon says he's interesting. He made the cut!

Garet Johnson, the naive cowboy is being featured. Such a sweet innocent kid... seeing the ocean for the first time.

Into a bunch of turn downs with no names. Lots of tears.
Now the happy ones. End of Day 1, 40 made it through to the next round.

Whoa, despite the news releases, it looks like the Brittenum twins are indeed in Hollywood! I wonder what's going on with that!

Day Two - The ones who auditioned yesterday tour today and vice versa. Melissa Lucas is in Megan Zieger's segment as Megan has a sore throat and is worried. Yes, she's off key and hoarse. She can indeed sing... she tries again. She really tries. She's onto the next round.

Then excuses started. The tour group wants to know why Randy and Paula have a star on the Walk of Fame, but no Simon.

The Brittenum twins segment. They must go solo. Derrell is up. Simon doesn't think he's looking at the winner. Now Terrell. Could it be the other way around? They're identical twins with rhyming names. Ain't my fault. Hmmm... I like these two together, but singly I'm not thrilled. Paula mentions over the top. Both made it, so the news lies. Now they're dissing Carrie Underwood.

The promos keep showing Crazy Dave. If he makes the cut, I think I may have to go sit in my closet and sob.

(Sidenote, U2 is performing on the Grammy Awards now as AI is in commercial. Argh. I'm taping it.)

Gina Glockson, David Radford, Brett Ace Young, Kevin Covais all sining If I Ever Fall In Love again. All four make it through.

Joshua and Jarret Simmons, the Chicago twins are up singly. Paula is happy. Simon isn't thrilled with either. The cut? They didn't make it. Aw, they seemed like nice kids. Supposedly, the Brittenum twins will set them up with folks.

Back to the tour.

Back to the theater, thankfully. Now the Naive Cowboy Garet Johnson is about to go on stage. He's emotional. I liked him. He sang You Can't Fight the Moonlight. He makes the cut! He's thrilled to death. I like this kid!

What is this? The Brittenum Twins show? They're complaining about others who went on. Huh. Maybe they ought rate the contestants by criminal activities.

Near the end of Day Two... Chris Daughtry is doing well. He makes the cut. Mandisa Hundley is up, makes it. Katherine McPhee, wow! I think good! Makes it.

Crazy Dave Hoover is preparing to go on. Today, he's calm. His energy focused, he takes the stage. Honorable overlords, he calls the judges. He sings Bat Out of Hell. He's all over the stage including a leap at the judge's stand. They're laughing. He's gone, didn't make the cut.

66 hopefuls cut in two days. More tears.

99 are still in.The Group Song section will be next week. Hey, end this FOX! It's cutting into LOST! Make it go 'way for the night!

Jackie OUT!