Agreed. I was awestruck!!! And, she is definitely not bad on the eyes to me. Her demeanor was so mature to be 17. By far, she is the best that I've seen come through AI [all seasons]. And, even though AI may be considered a joke, I think it's good that she's trying to earn her way on her own merits and not depend on phone calls from her grandmother. You can tell that she has decent values and singing is not the only thing that has been inherited from her grandmother. Regardless of whether the public perceive her an an American Idol, I'm 99.9999999999999999999999999% sure she will do well in the industry.

Lisa Tucker [16 year old auditioned in Denver] was my 2nd favorite. I was very impressed with her also. Again, for 16-years old, she seemed very mature and well-grounded. An article said the following about her: Tucker isn't the typical teen contestant. She was a finalist on "Star Search" as a 14-year-old in 2003, appeared as "Young Nala" in the Los Angeles production of "The Lion King" when she was 11 and was tabbed by Variety Magazine as one of their Top Ten Kids to Watch.

I liked Kellie Pickler also. She seems to sing effortless and it flows. All 3 girls seem to possess a confident spirit; they don't seem arrogant or entitled. So far, these are my 3 favorites.

Ruben - you dont remember everyone going gaga over the 'cuddely teddy bear' and his shy smile?
Fantasisa - the most unique canidate during a SUPER bland season

And remember, since theres no more JUDGES CHOICE...any of the 'video people' could just miss the cut if 2 other people in thier week impress the audience

That definately gives them a push, but Kelly Clarkson didn't had video of her home life at this point. And Bo Bice wasn't shown at all until the Hollywood segment, and even then it was minimal coverage. So it is possible to overcome the lack of coverage with sheer talent.

As for Kellie Pickler, she was good...but she's also a clone of Carrie Underwood, which will work against her this season.

Some would say the heart tugging is a disadvantage, some of the VT's annoyed me on X factor Season 2 as they were edited a certain to manipulate people IMO. Andy the bin guy should of won IMO (or at least been runner up) in the final 12 and Brenda was also outstanding (her I Will Always Love You and Without You knocked my socks off). I also loved Chico for entertainment value - he couldn't sing that well, but man he was funny, was very likeable and he sure could work a stage and PERFORM.. :D

It was interesting to see more of how the audition process works. There was one scene where they were showing a guy on the stadium floor with a row of booths separated by black curtains behind him (8 or 10?) which is where I assume the first round of auditions take place.

And there was a point where Ryan Seacrest said something like "you obviously have something that the selectors liked".

Of course Simon, Paula, and Randy don't see 20,000 or 30,000 people in each city. What I wonder is, are the bad singers told during the earlier auditions that they sound great which is why they are being sent on? This would explain why some people who can't sing look shocked when told that by Simon, Paula, and Randy.

Did anybody catch what Paula said to that guy she danced with just before the vote? When she was going back to him right before Randy and Simon said "yes"? Something like "don't (something").

And these auditions took place in October. When did the Hollywood segment begin? I was just wondering how far into the process they are, how many are actually left in real life at this point.

I heard that there are two types of producers sitting in the first round auditions. One who is looking for people with talent and another who is looking for the bad singers who will make great tv. They don't tell the contestants if they're good or bad though. They just tell them if they make it through to the next round or not.

Although I agree with you 100%, if i remember correctly, America doesn't pick the top 12, the judges do. Regardless, she'll make it.

Is it just me or are the women (so far) owning this whole thing? Not one guy has really impressed me, but the women are doing great.

It'll come down to Paris and picklee (pickler?). Paris has the best voice and PIcklee has the story and looks (although I think Paris isn't ugly by any means). Should be interesting.

I can almost guarantee that at least one of the sisters who had that video made of them running through the cornfield maze won't make it through, probably neither. They barely made it through to Hollywood! I have to believe they film those things before they leave for Hollywood also.

As far as Paris goes... even if American Idol would be somewhat of a guarantee for stardom for the top two (I'd argue that top four is no guarantee, and even Guarini proves runner-up is no lock), isn't the AI deal very, very restrictive?

The judges pick the top 24 or 30 or whatever number they'll do this year, but the public votes to whittle it down to 12.

My mistake, i apologize.

Not even winning is guaranteed stardom.

That kid that did the Michael Jackson song was mildly retarded. The way he liked his lips and chewed his tongue gave it away. I noticed that last night and was ticked.

Then they started talking about it on the radio this morning and made me even more mad than I was.

... oh well, its water under the bridge. AI is going to have enough trouble with whole homophobic bit.

they let that one fat rosie odonnel guy in......

I was wondering the same thing because his hand was sort of curled up when he sang. BUT, right after the audition his words seemed more eloquent than from someone retarded. I really hope he was only tonedeaf.

I'm calling Paris the next idol right now. With her pipes and pedigree, she's alomst a ringer. I don't see how someone like that isn't already a star when people like Britney Spears are wasting plastic all over the globe.

Britney has the "it" factor that many stars lack. People seem to LOVE her and other seem to HATE her...which keeps her going. With all do respect...Britney made her own mark on our culture, and you can say she doesn't have the best voice, but you can't say she doesn't have talent (even though you didn't even say that), or deserve her fame. Yes yes...I'm an avid Britney fan, and it's just annoying that she's always the one singled out for "wasting music."

I really do like Paris, but so far, I like a lot of people, so maybe this will just be a great AI in general, no matter who wins.

Also....pretty much anyone that doesn't get a deal with AI doesn't make it. it's sad....but true. I really wish Vonzell would have become the star she deserved to be.

Yeah, it got to the point of being annoying. I mean, before EVERY damn commercial break they were hyping that skank, and her spiel wasn't entertaining the first time. I wan'ted them to show her just so I wouldn't have to see yet another ****in' promo for her. Even worse, her audition was just "average-bad", meaning it was bad but not so bad to be really memorable. They were really trying too hard to get (create) an "infamous" audition for this round.

On a side note... when they did the 'Fame' montage, I swear I saw a few singers that actually made it through to the next round. In other words, it wasn't just the bad singers.

:shrug:

I thought that Lisa Tucker from Colorado was considerably the best so far.








Unrelated question: How do they get the singers to sing the 'montage' song, such as Fame? It has been suggested by some that it is through trickery. Anybody have knowledge of this aspect of the show?

Sounds like a simple answer. They have everyone sing the entire song and they edit out parts of each singer and put it back together.

I realise that. The question is, do they ask all contestants to sing one particular song? Or do they only ask specific ones to sing, and if this is the case, do they trick them into doing it?

I thought they just take a popular song that many people use in their auditions and splice it together.

Don't they have a short list of songs that are cleared for the air?

But that firefighter guy, and some of the other ones... did they all sing Fame in their audition and it was just cut out? Or did they ask them to do it afterwards?

Also, if someone sings a song that they don't have the rights to air, do they just not show the audition? For instance, I thought that Clarkson only recently gave them the right to use her songs, but I remember her song being used at least once during the auditions. Would that have been edited out if they hadn't gotten permission?

A couple of seasons ago when Houston was a stop on the auditions -- those were held in mid-August. They aired in January as well.

Who knows? Why the need to trick them into singing Fame? Why wouldn't they if asked since there would be a good chance for getting air time?

The suggestion is, (not mine personally, by the way), the bad contestants are tricked into believing that singing another song will enhance their chances of making it since their first chosen song didn't do that well. The contestants are unaware as to how their second song will be used, in this case for comedic fodder.

Again, I don't know, which is why I posed the question.

I thought the girl, I think her name was Katherine, with the voice coach for a mom, was good at vocal gymnastics which impressed the judges, but I didn't like the tone of her voice, and it seemed to me that she pressed a little bit too hard because her voice just doesn't have that naturalness to it that I prefer.

By vocals alone, Lisa Tucker and Paris are both locks for the top 12. But the thing is, once they get to Hollywood, it's no longer just about vocals. You have to be able to perform on stage and charm the audience. That's a whole other ball game. It'll be interesting to see how Lisa and Paris, being so young, hold up under that kind of pressure.

Cute Asian girl.

Holy moly. When the guy w/ was doing the Michael Jackson thing came out and got hugs from his family, did anyone see the grill on the chick hugging him? Wow, those were summer teeth!

I was thinking the exact same thing!

I knew a girl that tried out a couple years ago. She said the selectors look at 3 or 4 at a time. You get 30 seconds and they will only pick one. She was miffed because, out of her group, they went with the goofball singer. Since she didn't make it past this round, she wasn't sure if there was another round before the Simon/Paula/Randy round.

You should have seen it in HD -- they got a close-up on her and my head actually whipped back! It scared me! -eek-

Surprised that no one has mentioned Katharine McPhee. She was the one with a mother who is a vocal teacher. I think her training shows in that she may have the widest vocal range of any of the contestants and just amazing control. However, there was something in her voice that was just SLIGHTLY off last night, though it may have just been the nerves. I think the high notes got a little too screechy for my tastes. But the judges didn't seem to notice. All 3 of them absolutely loved her. The potential for greatness is there, plus, she also has the looks to pull it off.

people on other forums are saying that definitely make it to the top 12.

Agreed. She's my favorite so far. Not as strong a vocalist as Paris (is anyone?), but the girl is hot. Reminds of Food Network's Rachel Ray, but taller and younger.

And JacksModernLife, you might want to spoiler-ize that.

i don't know how...but I didn't know that was that big of a spoiler...i can spoilerize it if someone tells me how

Just type [ spoiler ] before the text you want to hide, and then [ /spoiler ] afterwards. (Without the extra spaces in the brackets, of course.)

thanks!