american idol - omaha

A pretty decent night for hopeful pop stars and hangers-on. There was a lot more talent in the midwest than in some of the larger cities we've seen so far - REPRESENT! Part of me was glad to see Paula return in her huge, I'm-trying-to-hide-my-hangover-eyes sunglasses and then embarrass herself several times during the auditions for which she was actually present. (Her flight was delayed or something... yeah right. Binging!) Seriously - she was hiccupping, laying all over the table with her ass in Randy's face, and jumping up in the air shouting "TOUCHDOWN!" I thought she had cleaned up her act for a while there, but now I'm not so sure.

AI: Omaha (1/29/08)

• Chris - He was kind of adorable save for the fact that he was obsessed with Kelly Clarkson more than should be socially allowed. He definitely couldn't sing, but bless his heart - he made his dream come true by auditioning, and he even showered the judges with gifts. He asked to audition for the red carpet at the finale, and Simon told him to call his Fox affiliate and say that Simon Cowell wants to see him there. I have no idea if Simon has any kind of pull over that, but if he does - awesome for Chris! NO PASS.
  
  
• Jason - The guy who forgot the words to "When You Say Nothing At All"... and for several minutes, he really did say nothing at all. Every time he sang the first line, I liked him a little bit more, and I'm really glad the judges let him retry his song four times. His voice was kind of sexy in a raspy way. PASS.
  
  
• Rachel - I really liked this girl's voice. She sang a Le Ann Womack song and did that annoying country yodel-y thing that I hate (and Randy pointed out), but her voice was beautiful. She was an arm-wrestling champ, and wanted to wrestle the judges. Paula's the only one who took her up on it, but the cameras quickly cut away from their contest, probably because hungover Paula couldn't control her noodle arm. PASS.
  
  
• Sarah - Apparently this chick was a professional wrestler? I forget the name she said she used, but wowwie wow wow... fuh-ree-kee. That laugh scared the bejeesus out of me. I was too busy rocking back and forth in the fetal position after she was done singing, and I only heard half the votes... did Paula actually say "yes"?! All I heard was Simon say "Two nos, one yes..." NO PASS.
  
  
• Samantha - This poor girl got caught up in the middle of the little fued between the judges and Ryan. Ryan wanted to know what it would be like to do absolutely nothing and get paid for it, so he and Paula switched roles. I liked Samantha's rendition of "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones - she had a low, jazzy voice. Those are my favorite kinds of contestants... unfortunately, they don't seem to be able to stay in the competition very long. PASS.
  
  
• Elizabeth - They only showed a couple seconds of Elizabeth, but I wish they would have showed more. She sang "Heard It Through the Grapevine," and she was kickin'. PASS.
  
  
• Michael - Again, just a few seconds of this guy, but he was blonde and looked like an Abercrombie poster boy. He had a fantastic voice, though - what they let us hear, anyway. PASS.
  
  
• Angelica - They showed us her backstory about how she left home because of her overbearing father, and then she played some song for him over the phone and he paid for her to audition for Idol. Yeah - I was confused, too. Angelica sang Celine Dion's "The Power of Love," which just annoys me... I hate when people audition with Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, etc. Angelica sounded like a Celine clone, though... she really did have a great voice. And I got a little teary when Ryan called her dad on speakerphone to tell him she made it to Hollywood, and he said "She's always been my American idol." Awh! PASS.
  
  
• David - I LOVE BON JOVI. David sang "Living on a Prayer," and I was absolutely swooning. If I had a ton of expendable income, I'd pay him to follow me around all day, every day, and sing for me on command. Really fantastic voice. PASS.
  
  
• Johnny - The shiny coat guy who sang "Shout." I'm not even going to comment. NO PASS.
  
  
• Leo - Made the judges laugh with his joke about being his town's homecoming queen. Right away, I liked Leo - he seemed like an honest and unassuming guy. He sang "A Song for You," and he had a wonderful voice. I loved it. I think he'll make it really far in this competition. PASS.
  

Tonight's auditions are in Miami - I hope there's someone awesome to be found in Florida. And I hope Paula gets her act together for the last round of auditions. I love the audition shows, but I'm starting to get anxious for the real competition!

SEACREST, OUT!