First of all, let me say thanks so much to Denise who has been a huge help to me in getting this blog set up. I’m really excited about taking you all behind the scenes throughout this coming year, but first…
Welcome to Season 8 of American Idol! I believe we are in for a good season! The touching montage in the beginning piqued my interest and made me want to spot the next Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, or Kelly Clarkson. The rumor is that this season has some changes in store for us, which is also very intriguing.
Obviously the new judge, Kara DioGuardi, will make one of the most front-of-camera impacts. I really like her. She is fun and opinionated and a real expert in her field. Kara’s song writing/choice expertise will add to the show. I learned first hand how song choice could make or break you (“Where the Blacktop Ends” helped secure me a record deal). I just hope Kara is OK with answering to “the other judge” for the rest of her Idol career.
Hard core fans already know that Nigel Lythgoe, Idol’s co-executive producer has left the show to pursue other projects. Nigel had a huge impact on how Idol flowed and many have predicted that his absence would be detrimental to its existence. However, Ken Warwick, the other executive producer, proved himself a highly valuable commodity tonight. Only time will tell how Nigel’s absences will affect the show.
There were several auditions that stood out to me, but since it is only the first episode, we can assume that only one or two of those auditioning will make it to the finals. If I were to guess, I would give the edge to Emily Wynne-Hughes and Scott MacIntyre. Emily was the rocker girl who sang “Barracuda” at the very beginning of the show. Scott is the talented pianist/singer who has overcome a disability to do extraordinary things. The reason I would pick them is because they were given more face time on camera, thus endearing the audience to them a little more than the others.
On a side note this show reminded me of a Mr./Miss American Idol pageant. First, Miss Congeniality would be awarded to Lea Marie Golde, the young Kara fan who donned an entire pink matching costume, cowboy hat included. I felt she was a sweet girl who would find great success in a small town beauty pageant. I would give the Public Service/ Platform award to Arianna Afbar who was pushing the “adopt a grand-friend” program. Arianna also has a great voice and would do great in the talent competition! Of course, the bathing suit competition would go to Katrina Darrell, the only contestant to wear a bikini on the show. By the way, props to Katrina for finding a way to stand out, even if it does offend half the Idol viewing audience and makes parents rethink its family friendly label. Getting through those first rounds is all about luck unless you can pull (or take) off something like that…
I want to take the opportunity to answer any questions you may have, so please feel free to email anything you may be curious about. Here is the first question:
Lexi from Pittsburg, PA writes, “What was your favorite thing about Idol and what do you miss the most?”
My favorite thing about Idol was becoming a public figure and being recognized as a good role model by people. What I miss the most are the friends I made while I was on the show. We have all stayed pretty busy, so we hardly ever get to see each other. But we do still keep in touch as often as we can.
If you have any questions about Idol, send them to me at staceypro@yahoo.com. Tomorrow night, I’ll get a little more behind the scenes of the Idol auditions.
6 Comments
Hey, Phil — great recap. Glad to see you are a talented writer as well as a talented singer. Can’t wait to keep reading.
Hey Phil, we’ve missed you. Welcome back. Great pic, btw. Hope after your writing gig you can come sing for us in ICT.
Hey Wichita-
Thought I would come by and say hi! I can’t believe Idol has started again! Feels like I blinked and am gearing up to potty train our ldol baby- McKayla!
Welcome home, Phil. It is nice to have a professonal to guide us through the season this year, but Denise was wonderful so we will miss her opinions too as she left none unexpressed!
It was nice to see Paula unmedicated and serious looking. The new judge seems great but I hope they don’t lose Paula.
I wish they would focus more on the performers they actually send through to Hollywood and less on the obviously untalented. Some, I’m sure are there just to be on tv but some, having made it to see the judges, probably do think they are talented and unless they are smart-alecks I don’t enjoy seeing them crushed. The one who impressed me last night was the contestant named Stevie. Bikini Katrina is a joke and I cannot believe they let her through. I suspect (hope) she crashes and burns in Hollywood. The Barricuda girl seemed interesting too but she might turn out to be a screamer. I’m looking forward to hearing more from Scott as well.
Last nights episode was wierd! The poor guy who I think was singing a Carrie Underwood song…what on earth was that sound that came out of his mouth? And X-Ray..or Cactus…whatever his name is…wow..interesting. And the half naked girl can just go away! That was not appropriate! So far I like the oil rig guy, the adopt a grandparent girl, the blind guy and the barracuda girl. Sorry I don’t remember names…I haven’t “bonded” with any of them yet. lol
Glad to be back on the blogs with you guys! I’ll miss Denise and her creative criticism! But Phil…we are excited about you being here and we’re relying on you buddy! Do us proud!
Letting the Bikini chick through was just embarrassing! I feel bad for all the serious performers that have a great voice but didnt get through just because they didnt have “it”. I think the judges ought to think long and hard about that one if they expect to be taken seriously and treated with respect.