It’s now just past 9 a.m. Everybody is inside the Dome — except Ryan Seacrest. They need him to do the “establishing” shot where he announced Atlanta auditions with thousands behind him. Without him, the auditions can’t start. He’s running a bit late.
The publicist said 15,000 people are inside. We got in early and checked out the scene. I counted the number of seats in each section and there are 14 sections filled, from one endzone til the middle of the other one. Each section holds about 870 people, so that comes out to roughly 12,000. So it’s fair to say 12,000 to 15,000 are inside and at least 8,000 of them are there to try out. There is plenty of food for sale, including nuts, bananas, apples and lemonade. No beer that I can ascertain. There were long lines for the women’s bathrooms since at least 2/3 of the contestants are female. Some women are getting their hair done, courtesy of new sponsor Garnier, which also has a karaoke stage set up where a guy was singing “Living on a Prayer” as we walked by.
We watched an “Idol” organizer explain the process, which is pretty much what we already know: there are 13 tables lined up from endzone to ednzone. People go down by sections, line up in fours and each get to sing for 15 to 30 seconds. The few folks who get the yellow ticket to the next round go to the left. The rest get their wristbands snipped and go to the right and their journey is over. Cut in line, the guy said, and you are out. And don’t argue with the producers if you don’t get through. “The producer’s word is final,” he said. “There’s no begging, no arguing.”
It seems like alot for 15-30 seconds. But I guess somebody has to make it through to the next round. It just disappoints me to see that they the auditions are this streneous and then when you get to the top 24, you have people like Haley and Sanjaya that manage to get through. Not saying Haley is that bad, but she definitely didn't have star quality.
I just hope that if a top 10 contender comes out of the Atlanta auditions that they are actually from the Atlanta area or at least the South.
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 9:55AM EST
Morning All!
I agree Shay....I hope they learned from last year and make better choices of contestants this year. They especially need to take the crack away from Paula or just not count her vote on who gets thru to the next round. Good job Rodney! Thanks for all the cool info. And Mike S., good to hear from you:)
I'll bet those 15-30 seconds seem like an eternity once you make it that far, tho'!
shay i 10000% agree with your comment about some of the people that get through for "entertainment value" only, certainly not for TALENT!
Rodney, you're a trooper and a STAR! We need to all chip in and send you out to dinner somewhere REALLY nice one of these days!!! Or some such suitable 'reward' for performance above and beyond the call of duty!!!
D, how's the pup today? We've got a batch of 4-week old kittens ... they're just beginning to move around and boy are they cute!!! It's really something to see my hulk (280+) of a son sitting on the floor with 4 little teeeeensy kitties crawling over him. 2 orange, 1 buff-colored, and one that will be a "flame point" (mother orange tabby, father siamese -- points will be orange!) hope i can find homes for 2 of them quickly, may keep 2 (note to self: get bigger litter box and bigger bag of litter)
Overall, with the exception of Melinda, I was kinda disappointed with the top 12. Jordin was o.k. but I wasn't even all that impressed with her either. Blake, Justin Timberfake, Chris, Lakisha, etc just didn't compare to season 5's top 12. Paris, Chris Daughtry, The Rainbow Chick, Taylor, Pickles, etc entertained us alot more. They didn't necessarily have better voices, but they entertained us more.
Puleeese let this next season come stronger than last year. Overall, I rated last season a C+
How's the pup? Let's just put it this way. It's a good thing she's so cute! She's sleeping right now and ,so far, her naps are the ONLY thing she has done right! LOL! I can't get a picture of her when she's awake because she's a perpetual motion machine and I won't take a picture when she's sleeping for fear of waking her up! Your new kittens sound adorable!
I'm hoping that this year focuses on talent rather than comedy. I'm sick to death of watching people who should have been cut during the first round, standing in front of our 'esteemed' judges just to get a laugh.
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 10:06AM EST
Well, you're way more generous than I am Shay, I would've given last year a solid D. I never did get a "Wow!" moment. The closest thing to it was Blake's rendition of "You Give Love a Bad Name," and the rest I would just say "meh!"
Melinda give me a few wow performances but they weren't ballads. Moving on in the season, she started to get too mechanical to me. One perfect performance after another. And yes, we do want the best, but it had gotten to the point where I didn't feel like I had to be in front of the t.v. to see her performances because I knew she was going to well! Does that sound crazy?
After this past season, Nigel said he felt that they had focused too much on the guest mentors rather than the singers. This is absolutely true. However, I think a big problem last year involved the effort to make us laugh during the auditions instead of finding the best singers. Last year seemed worse to me than it ever had been before culminating with the horrible mocking of two perfectly nice developmentally challenged people. I still think Idol ought to be ashamed for that no matter how those two boys may or may not have benefited from it.
How could I have forgotten that one, D? Other than that, the rest was crap, IMO. I just remember waiting and waiting and being disappointed and disappointed. If it's not better this year I'll just hit the 'ol "off" button.
shay, I agree about Melinda. She peaked too early...it didn't seem to matter to people that she stayed at that peak! She was a fantastic performer but she never created any drama.
If Melinda had progressed through the season like Jordin did, she may have won. She peaked on her first two songs and there was no room to progress. Jordin didn't start out as strong IMO! I didn't even pick her to be in the top 5 at first. I thought initially that Stephanie and Sabrina would go further than she did. I just thought she was a cute kid with curley hair and a nice voice.
I would give last season a c- and it would have been worse if not for Melinda. Trouble With A Woman was the highlight song of the season with her rendition of Nutbush City Limits being second imo.
LOL, Carla...if 6 months can be defined as almost... We'll probably be getting quite a bit of info between now and next Feb....the Idol machine is rolling again! YEA!!!
KPH....those two were my favorite Melinda moments as well. She made Trouble With a Woman soar!
I don't see where she will sell music. The kids that are making it in the R&B/Pop genres can't sing half as good as Jordin, but they have been marketed more as models and video girls. Unless Jordin loses a hellava lot of weight and be willing to show some skin, she won't do that well. Kat is milking it right now showing off her goods, and I think she realizes that this is what she has to do to get her name out there. In fact, I can't think of one artist to compare Jordin to. Not one!
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 10:26AM EST
Hey Carla & KP!
I agree on the Melinda assesment. It was like listening to a Celine Dion cd to me. You know every song will be good but they all sound alike and start to bore...IMO
A woman unhappy with the crack cocaine she purchased was arrested after she called local police to help "get her money back."
Police reports say that Juanita Marie Jones, 53, called Rochelle police late Thursday night after she purchased what she thought was a $20 piece of crack cocaine.
She told officers she broke the rock into three pieces and smoked one, only to discover the drugs were "fake."
She took Officer Joel Quinn and Deputy John Shedd of the Wilcox County Sheriff's Office into her kitchen and showed them the drugs.
She was promptly arrested on charges of possession of cocaine
If the drugs were fake, why was she arrested for possession of fake cocaine? Can I be arrested for almost committing a crime?
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 10:37AM EST
You could be right, Shay. Carrie has done so well and is a cash machine for them it might just happen. I'm not a big country fan either but as long as there are really good performances and not any 'gimmicks' on there, I'll watch. Just don't insult me again, AI w/another Sanjaya & sobbing girl in the crowd. BLECH!
I don't think we will have too many R&B singers in the top 32 this go round.
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 10:46AM EST
I wish we would Shay. I always have my staples in my car: Brian McKnight, Maxwell, Mary J., Anita Baker, Prince, well ok, Prince isn't really R&B but, hey, he's Prince!...
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 10:48AM EST
Mattel is recalling more toys....one of the toys that is being recalled is the Barbie w/her dog that poops. That toy should've been recalled before now for obvious reasons.
A beautiful woman loved growing tomatoes, but couldn't seem to get her tomatoes to turn red. One day while taking a stroll, she came upon a gentlemen neighbor who had the most beautiful garden full of huge red tomatoes.
The woman asked the gentlemen, "What do you do to get your tomatoes red?"
The gentlemen responded, "Well, twice a day I stand in front of my tomato garden and expose myself, and my tomatoes turn red from blushing so much.."
The woman was so impressed; she decided to try doing the same thing to her tomato garden to see if it would work. So twice a day for two weeks she exposed herself to her garden hoping for the best.
One day the gentlemen was passing by and asked the woman, "By the way, how did you make out? Did your tomatoes turn red?"
"No...she replied..... "but my cucumbers are enormous!"
A woman is in bed with her lover, who also happens to be her husband's best friend. They make love for hours. Afterwards, they're just lying there, each savoring the greatness of the other. The telephone rings and, because it is the woman's house, she reaches over and picks up the receiver. Her lover looks over at her and listens, only hearing her side of the conversation ... She is speaking in a cheery voice, "Hello? Oh, hi. So glad you >called. Really? That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you. Sounds terrific. Great. Thanks and y'all have a good time. Okay? See ya when you get back in a couple of days. Love you, bye." She hangs up the telephone and her lover asks, "Who was that?"? She replies, "That was my husband telling me what a wonderful time he's having on his fishing trip with you."
I hope this year's Idol gives us something fresh and original whether they are R&B, Country, Pop, Jazz, Blues, whatever just no more beatboxing and copycat singers. Say what you want about Fantasia but she was the first and last original Idol singer. She NEVER sounded like anyone else. I really thought Sundance was that new voice last year during the audition stage and then he made Top 24 and was such a disappointment.
Yeah, Sundance disappointed quite a few of us. I think his nerves got the best of him. He was red all over his face after each performance.
KPH, that was funny!
Posted by: on August 14, 2007 11:17AM EST
Happy Birthday Idollvr!!!!!!!!!!!Hope it's a good one:)
Posted by: 1CHOCL8T on August 14, 2007 11:18AM EST
Goooood merntin'!!!! I've been in a mtg this morning and unable to attend to my blogging responsibilities. I apologize for what seems to be neglect... ( :
I'm so sorry E-V-E!! I thought i listed everyone. O.k. here is your personal shout out.
Where in the hell is E-V-E. She know dayum well we had an idol audition this morning, me, her, Jex and Choc. And Choc, with her two faced arse, thought that her meeting was more important than singing but it's all good, when we make it big, there won't be any profit sharing. Tell ya meeting buddies to break you off!
Posted by: Rodney Ho on August 14, 2007 11:25AM EST
A blog entry with photos forthcoming. I don't know when the video of me trying to interview Constantine and Ryan will be up but it should be sufficiently embarrassing enough to ensure my future won't be in that field! :)
shay, you've never invited me to be one of your friends. I think I invited you but you never accepted!
Eve, I'm working for my birthday and it kinda sucks. The other option was to sit at home and contemplate how old I'm getting... It's funny, I feel like I'm still 25!!!
Did you guys hear about JaQuita Williams an anchor with WSBTV having breast cancer. How sad/scary is that. She will be blogging about her progress just like Robin Roberts of Good Morning America.
Yeah, Eve. Probably should have but really didn't want to use my vacation to do so since I'm trying to save up for my Disney Cruise with my daughter next June...
Yeah, we're doing 4 days at Disney and 3 days on the Cruise to Nassau and Castaway Cay. And it is expensive that's why I booked it in April and won't be going until next year... I'm making payments on it until then. Fortunately, it is interest free...
Posted by: 1CHOCL8T on August 14, 2007 11:43AM EST
I'm a faker and Shay's a HATER...it all makes sense now!! LOL
