Well, comics fans, you may have caught a brief glimpse or two of the famed San Diego Convention Center, but the cattle call was held across the street at the San Diego Padres’ home field, with the judges’ auditions somewhere a few blocks off at a golf course/hotel/resort I don’t recognize. Anyone know?

12,000 people showed up; 30 went to Hollywood. Your odds of being the next American Idol, Joe Blow, are fairly low.

Another phrase I’d like to ban: “That’s what I’m talkin’ bout!” I’m sorry; were you talking about something before you said that? No? Then what the hell are you talking about, exactly?

Thankfully, the show was only an hour last night and only an hour tonight. I can deal with that. Week four will be difficult to put up with, though.

The judges are still much nicer this season. Maybe after seven seasons, they feel like they’ve seen it all and now are going to delight in the insanity of the whole thing?

I loved the Mime/Mariachi combination. The mime needed work, but the high concept was bold!

Perrie Cataldo is a single father. In case you missed that, he’s a single father. They mentioned that he was a single father multiple times. When asked what happened to the mother of his small child (they never said “wife” that I remember), he said something about bad decisions, wrong place, wrong time, etc. etc. I’m sure someone in SoCal will have an article in the paper this morning with this guy’s back story.

His son shares his father’s love of unfortunately long hair tied into a pony tail, but definitely has his mother’s face.

Perrie made it to Hollywood. He sang Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love To You” in that bit of overdone warbly style that boy bands were once known for.

Michael Johns is the white soul singer. He made it through to Hollywood, where I hope he opens his eyes when he sings once in a while.

Valerie Reyes is the ultimate Idol fangirl, but she’s also sure she sings like Mariah Carey. Simon said the only thing she had in common with Mariah would be one of Mariah’s CDs left out in the sun for a year. Even Paula had to admit that it was a good description, because she stunk. On ice.

“Now I’m going to be on the rejects. So not cool,” she said, consigned to her fate as an Idol speed bump.

Samantha Musa loves Simon, and even got a group hug with her sister, who helped audition her. I thought Samantha’s audition — from what we saw — was a bit overdone and too stylized, but the panel loved her and she went through. I’m keeping in mind that we only see a small portion of the typical audition. I’m sure the judges hear more, because lots of these contestants audition on camera with nothing but a power note or three. They display no musicality or ability to carry a tune, but the judges shower them with praise and let them through. I’m HOPING those other qualities come out in another song we just don’t get to see. . .

Oh, look, the Idol staff uses Mac Power Books to check in the hopefuls. . .

Blake Boshnack is back, from NY to San Diego now. This is his umpteenth time auditioning, though he’s best known for showing up dressed as the Statue of Liberty and getting kicked out by Simon immediately back in Season 5.

Quick quiz — which Idol auditioned with a prop? I can’t think of any. Seriously, has there every been a Top 12 contestant who initially showed up dressed in costume?

And didja know that Mandisa has had a couple of hits on Contemporary Christian Radio in the last year? I just heard that over the weekend.

There was a guy singing a song, “Leave Me Alone,” that showed the most musicality of the night in his ability to keep a rhythm by snapping his fingers to every syllable. Impressive!

Alberto Hurtado is this week’s contestant most likely to get IDOL picketed by GLAAD or some immigrants rights coalition for being picked on too much. He’s all peace, love, and accent. Plus, he doesn’t clip his nails. Those puppies were loooong.

And Carly Smithson is making it to Hollywood this time. Her papers are clear. She’s good to go. This year’s American Idol might have a thick Irish brogue.

I can type no more. Tomorrow — South Carolina! It’s destined to be this year’s Seattle, judging from the previews. They’ll complain that the state is untalented, but then the winner will come from those auditions. Watch.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 7:43 am and is filed under American Idol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.