:) Yeppers a new season has emerged of American Idol and I for one am looking forward to it however I must say although the audition process is wildly appreciated by many I hate this part of it. Why you ask, well amidst numerous commercials, seeing lousy talent and the bickering between the judges at times it gets quite old in my book.
Our season begins with a few scenes of last season's finale when Kris Allen took the title. We then get to see how sweet Paula Abdul will no longer be on the show and the arrays of guest judges who will take her place with Ellen DeGeneres coming on permanently during the Hollywood rounds. I sure miss Paula!
Ryan says the show gets bigger and better, well that might be an area to argue about as we watch tons of up-coming previews, lots of people telling us their occupations and saying they are the next American Idol.
So our first stop is in Boston, Mass. which is drenched in rain. 9000 eager beavers brave the weather to audition. Ryan Seacrest says Kara (DioGuardi) is pumped, Randy (Jackson) is ready and poor Simon (Cowell) gets lost. Next is our intro to this week's guest judge which is none other than "Posh" of Spice Girls fame. In reality Victoria Beckham has now got her pinkies in lots of pies which include fashion, being an entrepeneur, etc., etc, etc, etc. Frankly speaking I thought she looked terrible with that ton of make-up on her eyes and her drab looking face but oh well, who am I.
Okay on to the actual auditions:
Our first contestant in the form of Janet McNamara is already to go by telling herself she is awesome. She jumps around like she is a prize fighter and we hear how she practiced getting good at singing by playing the American Idol video game. This girl is certainly delusional as she is awful and really does not think the judges know what they are talking about when they tell her so. She keeps calling Kara Paula and comes out of the audition room cussing when she is ousted.
Next up is one of the few contestants I saw on tonight's show that I think can really sing. She is 16 year old Maddy Curtis who comes from a big family with 4 of her brothers having Down Syndrome. We see scenes of the great connection this family has with one another. Doing a wonderful job singing the song "Hallelujah" she gets 4 yeses and gets the gold. I liked her alot.
Another babe in the woods is 17 year old Pat Ford who thinks he is great by doing a horrible job singing "Womanizer". He tries hard to get that ticket but it is 4 no's even though he gets a hug from Kara.
We then hear that so far only ladies have gotten the tickets. We see Jennifer Hirsh, Claire Fuller and Jess Wolfe. I was not impressed with any of them.
Then walks in 28 year old Amadeo DiRicco who comes from a huge Italian family. He has great energy and a huge powerful voice. I thought he was fair to good and with a little work I think could be quite good. Needless to say the judges loved him and with his golden ticket in hand he practically gets strangled by his boisterous clan waiting outside the audition room.
Holy cow, some people really think they have it which truly amazes me when the next contestant in the form of spiritual Derek (bad complexion) Hilton sings the song "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" in a variety of cartoon voices. It's a no across the board on this one.
We then see 7 girls and 2 guys who also did not make it and watch as the tears flow from all. More upcoming previews as we go to another commercial.
Back from commercial we get to see Mere Doyle who likes Japanese animation and makes kimonos. Good grief she slaughters Janis Joplin's song "Piece of My Heart" and then argues for several minutes when the judges tell her how awful it was. It ends with her telling the judges "How Dare You".
Next we see a couple of guys who actually sound good as a duet and then we see them solo in front of the judges. Luke Shaffer and Benjamin Bright sounded better I thought in the duet than they did solo but each gets the gold.
Next is Andrew Fenlon who we have seen various times up until now as he is tired from all the waiting to audition. He has been there since 8 am and it is now 6pm. He tells Ryan the waiting was driving him nuts and before he enters the room we hear he is single. Upon finally arriving in front of the judges, Simon asks him why he is there and his answer done in a sarcastic manner was "obviously I'm auditioning for American Idol". This sulky attitude is not setting well with the judges however he proceeds to sing "House of The Rising Sun" in a decent voice. Have I mentioned lately that I can not stand Kara? Well, her remark is a no with her coming out and telling this lad she does not like him. Much is said about his attitude although he did apologize a couple of times. Randy and Posh are not interested either however Simon tells him he would have said yes which brings alot more bitchiness out of Kara. Guess you know by now he did not go to Hollywood. My personal opinion is I doubt he would have survived the Hollywood rounds as you could tell he did not have the proper attitude to please the judges regardless of his talent.
Next up for the Kris Allen fans is him in a commercial taking about how great the Ford Fushion Hybrid is.
Now back to Boston where we hear about several people who have degrees from universities. Bill Bloom and Michael Ryan evidently did not study well as they sing badly and are rejected.
Then comes in Berkeley student Ashley Rodriguez who sings "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys. I thought her singing was not bad as did the judges but mostly they talked about how she had the look. Give me a break judges.
Last of Day 1 is drummer Tyler Grady who had a bad fall out of a tree and shattered both wrists which are in bandages. He has the look as Posh gushes and sings "Let's Get It On". His voice is not bad but I was not overly impressed but he does get the gold. I will add though that he seems like a really nice guy.
18 get the gold on this first day.
Day 2 is upon us and I was glad that this hour seemed to move faster than the first one. We get a farce-like introduction to the history of Boston since both Randy and Simon are late for the rehearsals.
Finally settled in to their spots, our first contestant of the day is waitress Lisa Olivero who attempts to sing Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love". It's a no however the judges were all impressed with her sexy walk out the door.
Ryan Keane is the first of several we see who can barely talk right little alone sing good. None make it of this group.
In walks Mike Davis who is a guy who seems like he would be alot of fun to be around. He drives a speed boat called "Cogzilla" and wants to give all the judges a ride. He does a nice rendition of "Yesterday" by The Beatles and three of the judges like him with Randy being the only no vote. Naturally he is off to Hollywood.
Now we are getting to some sad stories as our next girl has a grandmother who suffers from Alsheimer's. This 16 year old girl who comes from Portugal descent is very close with her grandmother and hopes to make it through before her grandma forgets who she is. Katie Stevens does a wonderful job singing "At Last" and the judges are all yeses.
Next up is polite and nice Joshua Blaylock who does a good job singing "God Bless The Broken Road". Simon thinks he is forgettable however the others do not agreed. A long period follows with the other judges telling Joshua to be more assertive and Randy convinces him to tell Simon to "shut up". This brings smiles all around and 28 year old Josh gets the gold.
Two more bad singers in the forms of a cowboy and an oriental guy plus others who freeze up during the audition period are next and it's a no to them.
A very cute Justin Williams walks in who is now 27 years old however at age 20 came down with Cancer. Lots of treatments which humbled him followed and now he is Cancer free. I loved this guy's smile and story not to mention he did a nice job singing "Feeling Good". Four yeses get him to Hollywood.
A very strange looking Norberto Guerrero comes in looking like a 3 year old girl, dressing like LaToya Jackson and beard to quote Simon. He croaks out the song "Everytime We Touch" which is terrible and of course it is a no all around.
Some yakking comes about Simon's rolling eyes after the next contestant. First up we hear Bosa Mora who has a nice voice but Simon finds him boring. Posh wonders why Simon rolls his eyes as he does but Simon acts like he does not know what she is talking about. Regardless of this senseless jibber Bosa does make it to Hollywood.
Our final contestant of the day is Leah Laurenti who appears nervous. She is from a strict Christian family and wants to prove not only to them but herself that she can make it as a singer. I honestly think she could as she does a nice job singing "Blue Skies" with a sort of jazzy twist. I liked her and so did the judges.
Our first show is now over and in my opinion of the ones we saw I was really only interested in a couple. However, it appears 31 others got their tickets so guess we will get to know them in Hollywood. Tomorrow's show finds us in Atlanta and I will be back to give you my re-cap. Until then toodles and have a great day!
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Subject: Season 9 Begins - 1/12/10 
Wed Jan 13, 2010 1:35 am
