  Fine. I admit it. I'm an urlLink American Idol junkie. :p I saw their Hawaii auditions the other night. As with the show's previous season openers, this year's openers featured the judges' gruesome task of selecting who goes to Hollywood and who doesn't. Same old same old, I guess.
Last season there was this guy who did a rendition of Madonna's "Like A Virgin. " Totally gave me the creeps. This season there was this guy who...ehr...danced...(?)... [how does one describe it]...well lemme just say he did a very interesting gymnastic/acrobatic number that would surely earn him a spot in the traveling production Cirque du Grotesque . Well anyway. No more of that icky stuff.
Off they go to Hollywood for a battery of elimination rounds. There will be lots of tears again, I bet. They say they've raised the bar this year. The Hollywood picks would have to perform better than last year's Magic 12 to earn them a spot in the finals; and last year's finalist was an admirable batch! So that's a tall order. Last year I so wanted Trenyce to win.
She just exuded this diva vibe. She didn't go on to win, everyone now knows that, and I wonder where she is now. Maybe Ruben ate her? Heck he must have eaten everyone who got voted off each week. Going back much farther: Season One's Kelly Clarkson. I never really expected her to win.
The other finalist had more stage presence than her and whipped up audience support spectacularly. But when Clarkson sang the designated make-or-break song...oh God...her vibratto...her pitch...her diction...her timing and falsetto...everything was executed perfectly. Masterful. Wow. Her rendition still haunts me everytime I listen to it. If any of the finalists this Third Season can top that, I'd be truly truly amazed. 
