The auditions will be held in...

San Diego, CA: Monday, July 30 at Qualcomm Stadium
Dallas, TX: Monday, Aug. 6 at Texas Stadium
Omaha, NE: Friday, Aug. 10 at Qwest Center
Atlanta, GA : Tuesday, Aug. 14 at TBA
Charleston, SC: Saturday, Aug. 18 at North Charleston Coliseum
Miami, FL: Wednesday, Aug. 22 at AmericanAirlines Arena

...and finally...

Philadelphia, PA : Monday, Aug. 27 at Wachovia Center

Memo to Falconpride: This is your now.

Oh that made me laugh!

I do occasionally come up with a fabulous bon mot on my very own.

If I am still not employed at that point, or if I am and able to take off, I have plans to attend the auditions with my friend Stacy. Fingers crossed, peoples .

Do they still have an age requirement?

Yes they do Sir Eddie. I believe it's still 28.

And for Falcon's inspiration...

There was a time I packed my dreams away.
Living in a shell, hiding from myself.

There was a time when I was so afraid.
I thought I'd reached the end,
But baby that was then
I am made of more than my yesterdays.

This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around
I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.

I have to decide,
Was I gonna to play it safe.
Or look somewhere deep in side,
Try to turn the tide,
And find the strength to take that step of faith.

This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around
I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.

And I have the courage like never before, yeah.
I've settled for less now I'm ready for more,
Ready for more.

This is my now, and I am breathing in the moment.
As I look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.

I'm living in the moment
I look around I can't believe the love I see.
My fears behind me, gone are the shadows and doubt
That was then, this is my now.
This is my now.

Maddog, truly inspirational. I didn't watch much of this season, but I liked Jordin's rendition immensely. Who knows; you may see me in Philly....

Sabrina Sloan and Sundance Head are recording an album of duets for Motown (or Universal Motown, as it's now called after myriad corporate mergers). With auditions for Season 7 under way, the ghosts of season 6 haunt us.

Falconpride may be better off having missed his chance to audition. From the bombardment of articles in the local papers about the auditions here, here's a rundown of the audition process that took place here.

On Monday, you first got to sing in front of some lower-level producers. If you weren't dismissed after a few seconds (as some people bitterly complained) you then got to audition for the executive producers at an undisclosed location a couple of days later. Then and only then, if you still weren't sent packing, you got to sing for Randy, Paula and Simon -- starting today at a downtown hotel.

It also turns out that Philadelphia is the first city where the Terrible Trio showed up for work this season -- meaning people who auditoned in other cities and made it through the first two steps still haven't gotten to see the judges yet. So if they traveled to one of those particular cities either they'd have to stay there, or they'd have to go home and then return.

Reading about this, having watched it last year, clearly the show really distorts the auditions even beyond focusing on a few freaks.

From Phila. CityPaper:





Anyway, regarding this weekend, Simon isn't impressed so far.

Season 7 debuts in about 2 weeks. I guess I have to watch at least the Philadelphia auditions. I don't know if I'll sit through the rest of it, though. Is there any demand for the return of the Simon Cowell of Outsports?

Thank GOD we finally have 2 decent TV's. His lordship can watch American Idol to his hearts content, and I can watch something else. Or maybe I should say ANYTHING else!!

The ratings for this season are, unfortunately, likely to be higher than ever. The other networks will be airing mostly reruns due to the ongoing writer's strike.

Paula may perform at the Super Bowl? Paula and Randy have...recorded a duet!?!



The Philadelphia auditions lead off the season on Tuesday.

MY EYES! MY EYES!!! OH MY GOD! I CAN'T SEE!!! A HAIRY FAT GUY IN A PRINCESS LEIA JABBA'S SLAVE OUTFIT!!!

I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND!

This is like looking into the face of Medusa. Good God! Where are the writers? Please come back so I don't have to watch this!

I'm with you there CC. What are some of these auditioners thinking? Seriously ... But I'll continue to watch. It's like a train wreak.

Miraculously, one singer actually impressed me. Last year, not a single one of them did.



Idol is unaffected by the writers' strike. Reality show writers are not members of the union. That's one of the strike issues.

Yes, yes, I know that. My comment was meant to have the writers come back so there'd be other stuff to watch besides Idol. With the WGA on strike, there are slim picking these days.

BTW, I didn't know the season 7 thread existed. I searched and didn't find anything recent. Who would've known it was started last summer?

I knew I didn't like Kristy Lee Cook the moment I saw her, and now I know why. (By the way, she's the blonde, Carrie Underwood wannabe who kickboxes and loves horses.) It turns out that she was "discovered" by Britney Spears a few years ago and signed to the Superstar Spears Production Company and got a record contract with Arista Nashville. Performing under the name Kristy Lee, she recorded an album called "Devoted," a few years back. And... despite the fact that Fox and American Idol wanted to portray her as a log cabin-living horse lover from Oregon, her record company bio says she moved from Oregon to Texas several years ago in an effort to jump-start her record career.

What a joke.

Is this the beginning of the end?

This sucks big time. I love the original concept of the show. Give the person from Littletown, USA who can sing very well the opportunity of a lifetime that they otherwise would never have the chance of getting.

Now it's just full of people with connections and that is wrong, they veered very far off course of what their original intentions were and it just makes to show look dumb now.

And JIP, last year no one impressed you? What about Haley Scarnato shaking her tits?

Speaking of Haley Scarnato's tits, did anyone else see the TMZ episode where Haley was at a club holding hands and snuggling with Blake Lewis? I guess Haley's hot fiancee got the boot.

Please send Chad (angela's husband) to Hollywood. OMG !!!









Thanks for the correction Chill. He looked like a Matt.

OK, now why do I find that country bumpkin farmer Drew rather cute?

Must be the hairy arms.

If you mean the blond woman who's husband is a model, his hunky name is Chad LOL

They got 33 million viewers. The Pats-Jaguars game Saturday got 31 million.

I found him very fake. Cute, but fake. It was like he was cast in a bad porn role of a country bumpkin. I've gotta give him credit though. He had the moves down and those interviews on the farm were done to perfection with some excellent acting by the couple cast as the parents sitting on their rocking chairs on the porch. Drew even accurately inserted the toothpick in his mouth just at the right moment when talking about how he reckoned that "daddy always says a cowpoke's gotta leave the farm sometams if eee wantsta be a star."

I liked the girl who did the spot on impersonation of Britney, then sang "Before He Cheats" just like Carrie Underwood. Then when Simon interupted her and said he wants to hear HER, she sang great!

Edit - God I love YouTube! LOL Kady Malloy

And I agree with Simon....this is going to be a huge hit

I Am Your Brother!

William Hung, LOOK OUT!

Kady Malloy ... another supposed fresh face who already has a record deal and whose self-titled debut album is available for download now online if you look hard enough.

Ugh.

I wonder if any members of the Top 12 haven't already released an album.

For AUSMUSFan

Now that I think about it the farmer dude did seem to come from porn fantasy central casting- I'm sure Ryan will keep an eye on his butt.

The recap on Entertainment Weekly's website said they let a lot of mediocre talent go to Hollywood. While I think they do that anyway the ones they let go through last night were particularly mediocre.

Meanwhile, two of the nutjobs from Tuesday -- the stalker song guy and the "No Sex Allowed" guy -- are actually comedians.

And just to note, Philadelphia sent 29 to Hollywood. Dallas sent 24. Once again, Dallas sucks.

I'm making a big ol' prediction......

Renaldo Lapuz and William Hung will do a duet on the Finale.

Wouldn't that be a hoot!

I loved both country cuties- Drew and the cutie who sang "Boondocks"

I don't care. I still found him cute. I'd do him.




I think a lot of television shows have seen a drop in viewership due to the writers' strike. Sure, shows like Idol and reality shows aren't affected by the WGA strike. However, if my friends and relatives are any indication, overall TV viewership has declined. Call it viewer disgust or simple apathy, but I wonder if this is, in fact, a reason.

Lots of semi-professionals getting into the Idol act. This makes some good points. Even if these people don't have record contracts now, they once did, and got a lot of support and training and such. And look what happened with their other show, the Next Great (ha!) American Band: "...two acts had previous major label deals: Sixwire, who released their debut on Warner Bros. in 2002, and the Clark Brothers, who, in their prior incarnation as the Clark Family Experience, were signed to Curb Records and worked with Tim McGraw on their first and only album (two of the three brothers had also played in Carrie Underwood's band). Guess what? Sixwire came in second, and the Clark Brothers (who happen to be awesome) won the whole shebang. Just saying..."

So the two bands who had previous deals finished first and second. I assume people voted for the winners on this show the same way they vote on Idol. My guess is that since it involved bands instead of solo performers, and because it was a ratings flop, you didn't get the type of campaigns that Idol gets for people like Sanjaya. That allowed the "ringers," if you will, to get through. Still, it doesn't seem right. It seems to me that they know that if they didn't allow people who already have worked in the industry to audition, the talent level would really be pathetic.

I'm suffering from a bit of Idol fatigue as well. I used to get a real kick out of the bad auditions, the more gruesome, the more hilarious. But this season I just can't get into them. Maybe the bad auditioners are just too pathetic, or maybe I finally caught on to the rather mean spirit behind showing such awfulness. Who knows. But thank goodness for the super-fast-forward on the Tivo! On Tuesday's show I LOVED the tall, skinny 17-year-old (forget his name, he was from Delaware, and they just showed his 30 seconds of singing and the yes from the judges), and I liked the horse whisperer/cage fighter. On Wednesday's show, I loved the impersonator girl for her talent and the farmboy for all the wrong reasons.

Was the farmboy acting fake (yuppers, straight out of ChiChi LaRue's central casting) on his own, or was he put up to it by the producers? I can just see the camera crew telling him, "OK now, say this, and then say that, and make sure you stick that blade of grass in your mouth when you turn to the side." The one moment of genuineness he showed was when he walked out the door with his golden ticket, and it was very endearing. But fake or not, that boy is scorching hot. I love the looks, the bod, and most of all, his speaking voice. His speaking voice has the perfect combination of country twang and manly resonance. When I heard it, I just f*ckin' melted.

As for the semi-pros, I have no problem with it. True, they have a big advantage over other auditioners, but there's no way that Idol can create a totally level playing field. If you eliminate the semi-pros, do you then have to eliminate Katherine McPhee because her mother is a professional voice coach? Do you eliminate all prospective auditioners with wealthy parents? And yeah, the talent pool would be way too weak without the semi-pros. There just aren't nearly enough Elliot Yamin's in this country to maintain the AI talent level.

Gotta get my 2 cents in on The Next Great American Band (even though nobody else watched that show). Sixwire was pretty good, but come on, they were just like a zillion other bands in Nashville. Would I pay the $10 cover to see them at a neighborhood bar? You bet! Would I buy their CDs and pay big bucks to see them in an arena concert? Uh, sorry, but no. The Clark Brothers, on the other hand, were something really special. I was downright mesmerized by some of their performances (in particular, "Gimme Shelter" and "You're In My Heart"). I can't wait for their CD to come out, and I'm keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that they play in Vegas one day.

But Rudy, that takes away from what the show is supposed to be, what it was started as. As far as Katharine McPhee, with her mother being a coach, that's fine. It's the same as other contestants who have taken singing lessons. But if you have already been signed and have released a CD, I'm sorry, there's no reason for you to be on the show. The show wasn't formed for people who have already been given a chance, failed at it, and then given another chance by being on the show.

Where's Ducky? We need the Cha Cha!!!!!

Hey Chill, I am here. I stopped watching the audition round in season 5. I dont want any background on any of the singers until the final round when the voting starts and the whole bad singers schtick doesnt interest me anymore. Actually, I have not decided if I want to watch the entire season this year. I said that last year but that damn Melinda got me interested with "My Funny Valentine" and when Blake sang Keane, I was hooked.

And sorry, but I probably wont write any more cha cha reports on a regular basis due to time restraints, unable to access this site from work, and indifference to the show.

Speaking of Blake, go out & buy his cd. Its cha cha cha-liciuos!

Why, is he naked on it?

I have to completely agree- I absolutely love the Blake Lewis "Audio Day Dream" album- my favorite just behind Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway". Just a great 80s throwback with a contemporary edge. I am an 80s child- so it is perfect for me.

I am going to skip all the primary auditions except the fast-forward through Tivo where I skip all the bad ones.

Mariner- you might want to hold out a bit on watching this year- they are going to be playing instruments from what I have read (as has been done in Aussie Idol)

I agree! The CD is terrific - love it!

The professional singers on Idol this season just keep on coming....

Also having made it to Hollywood are Jermaine Paul and Carly Hennessy. Paul has toured and sung with Alicia Keys, and even was nominated for a Grammy for his duet with Keys called "If This World Were Mine," which was released on a Luther Vandross tribute CD in 2006. Wow... so now we have Grammy-nominated singers trying to make it big on American Idol? Paul is signed to Shaquille O'Neal's label, Twisim Records.

And Carly Hennessy is an MCA Records-signed singer who has toured with Bryan Adams and released a solo album called Ultimate High.

I was actually joking in an earlier post when I asked if there was going to be a singer in the Top 12 who hadn't recorded a CD and already been signed to a label. Looks like this may very well be the case now. That's very disappointing and I agree that the original concept of the show has been ruined.

Someone who was nominated for a Grammy has no business being on the show. None whatsoever.

Missed the first show, but it doesn't matter so much to me that semi-pros are butting in more now.

But I do mind that there won't be another Chris Richardson. There were times when I too wanted to "freeze the moment" when he came on.

As for Lewis, I just couldn't get into the spitting beat-box routine. Yeah go ahead. Slay me. I guess I'm just an old fart. My niece already thinks so.

I'm so glad they let Jason(?) through to Hollywood. He was the one that forgot the words, a few times before he completed his audition. He was a cutie. I want to see more of him, possibly in sleeveless shirts or less a shirt or more. LOL

here's cutie jason rich's myspace..... lots of pics....

http://www.myspace.com/jasonallenrich

he's a hottie and got a nice voice.

"Jason Rich keeps faith in God, looks to 'American Idol' for fame"

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs...T/80128044/1046

figures that on a gay discussion board, the only contestant from last night's AI that we're talking about is Jason Rich. First of all, I am kinda shocked that Simon voted to send Jason through. The guy whiffed twice (thrice?) before finally doing a somewhat rushed version of the song, a country classic at that (maybe Simon was thinking of the Ronan Keating version). When the hell did Simon get so generous??

OK, so far we've got the Porn Central Casting farmer guy (forget his name, but surely you know the guy I'm talking about) and Jason Rich. I don't see Porn Farmer getting through to the semifinals, but Jason (despite his lyrical mishaps) just might.

I have a feeling that if Jason didn't look the way he does, he wouldn't have been given that many chances. But I have to say i liked his voice. And hearing it produced on tracks on his myspace, he has a nice sound.

I also think it was very cool that the last guy, Leo Marlowe was put through, and that Simon said he appreciated him being open and not defensive concerning his sexuality. I thought the homecoming queen remark was cute. And I thought his take on "A Song for You" was almost comparable to Elliott Yamin's. He seems to have a good personality. It would be great to finally see an openly gay finalist on the show. I hope he makes it through to that level.

I also liked the fact they put that Leo the homecoming queen through. I didn't expect him to have a great voice but I liked it.

Jason Rich. Yum. Those eyes! The religious god-fearing aspect of him will probably wear thin for me, but there has been a real lack of cute guys going to Hollywood so far, so this one is nice. But... looking at the titles of his songs on his myspace page, they're rather annoying. "Soliders of the Cross." "A Million Angels." "A Thousand Candles." "Church of Love." He's guaranteed to stay around awhile if he makes it to the Top 24 because a certain element loves that crap.

It's kind of cool that they went to different places like Omaha rather than the usual choices of cities. The judges have been much nicer this season than in previous years. And poor Paula. That was not one of her better days, poor thing.