The steamroller that is American Idol has returned, beginning in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. And oh brother, was there some love for the show there! Did you see those shots of the people waiting outside? Omg, it was the entire population of a small country or maybe Rhode Island in one parking lot. I often wonder why there are so many people who aren't from the city in which they are auditioning - and not just a nearby city in the same state but another part of the country entirely. Amazing what lengths people will go to.There were some hilarious characters in the opening two hours. How about the guy with the cape whose chest hair was so offensive to Paula that she asked him to get rid of it (which we saw!! gross! It was like the scene with Steve Carell in "40 Year Old Virgin"!) and then he came back and sang one note and was gone.
There were 2 guys who made up their own songs: one was a creepy older social worker who sang about "No Sex Allowed" and the other was a creepy younger guy who sang to Paula rhyming everything with "stalker." The latter was very funny but I think Simon got fed up and didn't see the humor. Obviously the guy wasn't a stalker but maybe he didn't want to encourage people to do things like that.
As for the women, there was one young wedding band singer who has a young daughter with medical issues who is clearly the favorite in our household. HH and I are totally rooting for her and hope she will get the money she needs to help the little girl.
No one had a super freak-out yet but I'm sure there will be plenty in the very near future. That's what makes the show fun, right? Well, not for me and HH - we prefer people who sing badly but who acknowledge it and we prefer Simon's nasty comments when the people deserve them because he makes us pay attention that much more when he says something encouraging.
Ah, Idol...my old friend. You've brightened a dull unscripted season of television. And do not get me started on the unintentionally hilarious dialogue of The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I swear those scripts were written during the strike. They are laughably bad.
Your Hollywood connection,
Leigh
