American Idol Auditions - Georgia

After the first episode, I was looking forward to the 2nd episode from GA.

Night 2 of the auditions was definitely interesting and entertaining. Mary J. Blige was a good guest judge although she laughed a bit too much at some of the contestants and didn't get a few others. Still, not bad for a guest judge.

Here are my thoughts on some of the contestants from GA:

Keia Johnson had a very good personality and voice, was happy to see her going to Hollywood.

We got 3 glimpses of good contestants that made it to Hollywood. Wish we would've seen more of them.

I really liked Jermaine Sellers, he was the best we've seen so far. Seemed like a real nice guy too!

I really liked country girl Vanessa Wolfe - she was real and sweet but like Simon, I wonder if she's ready to leave the small town for the fast pace of Hollywood week?

Guitar girl Holly Harden reminded me of Kellie Pickler and I didn't think she would be good but she had a real good voice and didn't need the gimmick at all.

Mallory Haley had a real good voice and look and would make a great country singer.

Then there was Skiiboski. What a personality! He was another one that actually had a good voice and didn't need all that gimmicky stuff but he definitely was memorable for it!

When I saw the best friends Lauren Sanders and Carmen Turner, I just knew one would make it and one wouldn't. Isn't it always that way? I felt bad for Lauren and I hope that their friendship doesn't suffer from any jealousies because of it. Lauren seemed supportive so hopefully that's a good sign.

Cop Bryan Walker had a real good soulful voice but I don't know if his image will wind up holding him back with viewers. Wish it wouldn't be that way but that's the way it is sometimes when its more about image than talent.

Then came Lamar Royal - they showed him pre-audition complimenting Mary J. Blige and saying it was an honor to sing for her, called her a real Idol and also said that he would take any critique constructively. Then he went in and did the exact opposite. When he saw that his audition didn't go over well he began lashing out at the judges even though they were trying to give him good advice and were telling him that he had a good voice but went about the audition all wrong. Instead of listening and learning, he kept talking back to the point that Randy just kept telling him that he really had a listening problem. When he went outside, he berated all the judges and really went off on Mary J. Blige who had been raving about only moments before. Bad attitude will never get you anywhere.

General Larry Platt ended the show with what I agree with Simon could and should be a hit song with his Pants on the Floor song. Great stuff and I'm glad they stopped him before he hurt himself! LOL! 62 year olds aren't used to busting out those kind of moves! LOL!

Next week is Chi-town, should be good!

New season of American Idol! :)

A new season of American Idol! Always a big family time event in our home to sit and watch and vote!

I predict that this season's final 12 are going to be the most talented ever and that the winner will be one of the most successful Idol winners ever.

Good first show! It was more substance than fluff, we got to see a lot more of the better singers than the trainwrecks. Of course there were trainwrecks to be sure! LOL!

I like that they are planning on focusing more on the contestants and their individual stories this season, as it should be.

I liked Victoria Beckham as a guest judge. She was fair and sympathized with the contestants. I also have really grown to like Kara, she tells it like it is and has no problem putting an unruly or disrespectful wannabe in their place. More on that in a bit.

Made some notes on the contestants:
Boston really brought it! Lots of NY contestants made it which is great since auditions in NY have been pretty bare in bearing talent in the past. Good to see that a lot of the NYers that made the drive really showed their drive and talent.

I really liked 16 year old Maddie Curtis - very sweet girl with a good voice.
I liked Amadeo Diricco's friendliness and getting to know him but I just wasn't feeling his voice. I felt that the song he chose to audition with didn't show off his voice all that well.
We got just a brief glimpse of Luke Shaffer who seemed to have a real nice voice. Also got a brief glimpse of Benjamin Bright, although I thought his voice was just ok.
Then came Andrew Fenlon... first he was brewing all day about having to wait and then when he got his opportunity, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go in! Then he gets in there and right off the bat gives off this arrogant, sarcastic attitude that overwhlemed anything he was going to do vocally. He acted innocent to his antics but I wasn't buying it and neither was Kara who really let him have it. Good for her! I hate that they give people like him airtime but its good to show that there should be a certain etiquette and respect shown to the judges.
After the drama that was Fenlon, it was great to see and hear Ashley Rodriguez! Really liked her voice!
I found Tyler Grady's voice ok but I liked his 70s style look.
I really liked Katie Stevens! Very nice girl who loves her grandma! That struck a nerve with me for obvious reasons. She also had a very good voice to top it off! I hope she goes far.
I really liked nice guy Joshua Blaylock. Nothing wrong with being a nice guy! ;)
I liked Justin Williams story more than his voice but I think his story and looks are what got him to Hollywood. I expect to see him pushed.
I really liked Bosa Mora, he had a nice story and looks like a real good kid. I really liked his voice too!
Last but certainly not least was Leah Laurenti. I always find it sad to hear when a singer is not allowed to sing by their family. Its like telling a bird to not sing, its just not right and very sad. She's so good but had no confidence in her talent because of all the years she was held back. I'm glad that she finally has spread her wings and let her song sing, she has a wonderful voice and I'm so rooting for her! I hope she goes far.

He's back home!

My stepdad came out of the hospital today. Relieved and happy to have him home.

Hmm, 2009 wants to hold on a bit longer!

So, it looks as if last year's luck wants to hold on a bit longer.

My stepdad (my mom's husband) fell in his home and hurt himself pretty bad on Wednesday. Hurt his ribs, back and got stitches on his arms. Then this morning at 4am I got a call from his medic alert that they were sending an ambulance to him because he was having an asthma attack.

My brother kept me updated and it turns out that he just made it to the hospital in time. Was put in ICU in critical condition because he was hypoxic by the time he reached the hospital. Now we wait.... and pray.

It's a New Year!

I am happy to see 2009 go! My mom's sickness and passing totally consumed my emotions and thoughts all year and I must say that I was not looking forward to the holidays at all. It was a rough year for my family but thankfully the holidays went better than expected as I tried and for the most part succeeded in looking at the holidays through the eyes of my children. When the clock struck midnight on New Year's though, all the emotions and thoughts of 2009 rushed back at me. Thankfully, they were feelings and emotions that I had already dealt with so that made it easier to deal with.

As 2010 begins, I look to it as a new beginning. I have 2 albums planned for this year - a new latin solo album and an english rock album with my as yet to be formed band. I know that my angel mom is by me and supporting me now in my endeavors more than ever and that gives me inspiration, confidence and motivation. I'm looking forward to 2010. :)

Long live the King! Thanks Michael

Hi everyone,

I watched the Michael Jackson Memorial as most of the world watched yesterday. It was a beautiful memorial for a wonderful music artist that brought a lot of happiness and light into the world with his music.

For me, it was so much more than that though. You see, the past few years for me have been very rough with personal problems 2 years ago and just when I began healing from those wounds and scars, I began dealing with my mother's health last year. Then that continued to this year where I lost my mom in March and as you can imagine, its been a personal hell the past 2 years or so. With all that happening in my personal life, it should come as no surprise that I began slowly losing myself and what I am passionate about. My music and everything having to do with that aspect of myself began taking more and more of a backseat to all the other problems and issues I was dealing with. I must say that I have been a broken and lost man these past 2 years. Broken from all life had thrown at me and lost as to what I should do about my music. I am a very optimistic person by nature but all the negativity life had thrown at me and feeling let down by life and some of those around me led me down a very introspective path. I am a very giving person and I felt and learned that some of those that relied on me could not be relied on. By the same token, some that I barely knew became ones that I could rely on and that helped balance out my anger and frustration. It was very sobering and made me sad too. So I was broken, lost and sad. Not a good combination of feelings to have. My mother's death was the final straw that sent all the feelings crashing in a downward spiral of introspection but it also helped me to begin finding myself. Like I said, I am an optimistic person and had to find a positive from within all the bad happening in my life. I had many regrets over my mom not seeing me become the success I had wanted to be. BUT, I know she IS looking down at me and will see what I will do. She is the one that introduced me to music as a child as she always liked to listen to all types of music and never pushed any one style of music on me. When the time came that I wanted to do music, she not only supported me but also became my manager and pushed me until I took the reins and ran with it. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had to go back to what I had set out to do with my music - I owed that to her. However, with so long not doing music - it becomes daunting to get yourself back into the mindset of an artist. All the doubts, insecurities and other things that come with being an artist can work a number on you, especially when you've faced so much adversity. I had friends that told me to use my music to work out my sadness and emotions but for a singer/songwriter like me that uses so much emotion in his lyrics and sings that way as well, drawing on these emotions that are still raw is very hard. Its very hard to revisit that pain. I slowly worked my thoughts back to that of an artist but was still finding it hard to make that final push. However, I was finding that peace within myself that I had long been missing.

Then Michael Jackson died. I have always been a fan of MJ's music. He has written and sung some of the greatest music of all time. I always felt a connection to him as an artist in that I knew how it felt to be shy and misunderstood and I can understand how he turned into MJ the performer once he hit the stage. It is something we share in common. MJ was an "old soul" which is why he was able to sing songs well beyond his years even as a child. I always felt that connection as well.

His death and all the recent stories of what he accomplished in music, not only in music but what he was able to do with his music combined with the introspection of my mom's passing made me more introspective as to what I set out to do and haven't done with my music. For those of you that have followed me for years (or have just read my bio ), you know that I had a rock band named Vogue's Rogues and a lot of our music dealt with societal and environmental issues. This is something I had planned to continue to a higher level with my new rock band Society's Soul but all that took a backseat as I explained above. Hearing songs that MJ wrote such as "Heal the World', "We are the World", "Human nature", Black or white" reminded me of the message laden songs I had wanted to write. Also, hearing of all his charitable works. Of course, I am not nor will ever be in MJ's class of what he accomplished but it made me sad and frustrated to see where I was at and all those emotions I had been dealing with but at the same time it started awakening something within me.

Watching the MJ Memorial yesterday and hearing all the stories and accomplishments as well as all the love he had from his fans helped me find myself. Yes I was sad watching it and was moved many times to tears by the outpouring of love and respect BUT it also helped me remember that I have my own story to write and its time to getting back to that story and write some new chapters. 2 vastly different people - my mom and MJ helped me to find something I had been missing for so long. Its said that God works in mysterious ways and as long as you believe and are open to the signs, he will provide and I can attest that he has for me. I am ready to get back to where my passion lays, to doing music. That is why I say thanks to Michael, because in death he continues to inspire. Not only MJ but all the positive messages spoken at the Memorial of what he tried to accomplish with his music inspired me to get back to where my passion is. As for Long live the King - I not only am referring to the King of Pop who will live forever with his musical legacy and what he has given to charities but I also mean it for the King of Kings who worked in mysterious ways to help bring me back from the purgatory of the past few years to showing me that in going through this he was also helping me to find myself.

I'm back! Ready to get to doing and performing new music and working with artists and meeting all my great fans who have stuck by me and support my music.

R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett / R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Yesterday's double bad news of the passing of Farrah and Michael really saddened me as it did a lot of other people around the world. The passing of Farrah really affected me because it reminded me of my mom in how she fought so hard to get better and also her age of 62 which was the same as my mom when she passed 3 months ago. So I already was sad yesterday before the Michael news. Both are American Icons and will be remembered. Micheal's music will live on for generations and along with Elvis, I don't think we will ever see music stars like those 2 again. Having gone through a loss recently, I know the pain and send my deepest prayers to Farrah and Michael's families, loved ones, friends and fans.

Healing has been slow but almost back

My long delayed pre-production on my new album which will be titled 'El Camino Espiritual' (The Spiritual Walk) has obviously been delayed once again as I have gone through and struggled through all the personal issues that accompany the loss of a loved one but I am finally beginning to feel like myself. Have had a hard time since February (which was when my mom began getting ready to come home) with anxiety and its been rough but the bad moments are getting less and so is the anxiety. Hopefully I will be able to get back to my music soon. I would also like to take a moment to thank all of you who have shown me support because it really has helped and meant a lot for me to get and feel all those positive vibes and support. It's been so appreciated and I love hearing from you all!

Thank you to all for all your kind words of sympathy

It has indeed been a rough time for myself, my daughters, my stepdad, brother and my wife but we are supporting and helping each other through this as a family should.

We had her remains cremated and had a wonderful memorial service for her this past Monday.

Have my good days and have my bad moments but I take comfort in that she is no longer suffering after having suffered through so much the past 8 months. I also take great comfort and satisfaction in that I did everything I could for her from taking care of her bills to making sure that everyone was attending to her and her needs at the nursing home and hospital all the way until the day that I brought her back to her home. She fought hard to make it back home and although she only did wind up being home for a little over a week when she made it home that one final time, she did make it home and I helped make that happen for her and I take great comfort and satisfaction in that. I know that she went off to a better life knowing that I was taking care of everything and would continue to take care of my stepdad and brother which I am doing and will continue to do as those would be her wishes."

Sad news regarding my mother

My mom finally returned home on Tuesday 3/3 after being in and out of the hospital and nursing home and not home since Sept. '08. She was rushed back to the hospital Friday afternoon 3/13. We lost my mom Monday morning 3/16 for 10 minutes but thank God that the doctors were able to bring her back to life. She was in ICU in critical condition but unfortunately never regained consciousness and passed away this Saturday morning. She was 62. Rest in peace mom. I'll always love and miss you.

Thank you to everyone who sent their support, love, prayers and warm thoughts all these past months and recently. It helped so much through some rough and dark times. I'll always appreciate it from the depths of my heart. Thank you.

When it rains it pours...

As I had posted before, my mom finally returned home on Tuesday 3/3 after being in and out of the hospital and nursing home and not home since Sept. '08. She was rushed back to the hospital Friday afternoon. I was feeling very sick with a bad flu that I've been fighting all week, almost was hospitalized myself last weekend, and with yesterday's news I really felt worse. Am very stressed and depressed now, on top of feeling sick. Please say a prayer for me and my family.

Como yo escribi antes, mi mama por fin regreso a su casa en Martes 3/3 despues de estar en el hospital y centro de terapia y no en su casa desde Sept. '08. Ayer por la tarde fue llevada de emergencia al hospital otra vez. Yo me sentia muy enfermo batallando una mal influenza toda la semana, yo casi fui hospitalizado esta fin de semana que paso, y con las noticias me senti mucho mas mal. Estoy muy deprimido y con estres, encima de sentirme enfermo con esta influenza. Por favor de decir una oracion para mi y mi familia.

Jorge and Jasmine go home! Kelly sings!

The show started with the new Judges Save rule designed to save an artist that the judges think is wrongly being voted off on AI by America's votes. They can only use it once before teh Top 5 is set and then the next week, 2 will get voted off. I like it. Adds a twist to the show that probably would've saved Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson.

So, I was almost right about who was going home - the real shocker was Jasmine being voted off. I didn't think that she was ready to go home yet. I don't expect for the judges to use their save until much later in the season so I didn't expect them to save her. She was lucky to make it in as a wild card and I wish her the best. She's learned a lot during this process and I hope to see more of her. I like that Ryan was speaking to her after she was eliminated and giving her brotherly words of support. I've always liked that about Ryan and that while he's trying to get a good cry out of them for the TV cameras as he's told, he's there for them as well. That says a lot about him as a person.

Jorge looked so sad, he knew his time was coming to an end. He didn't even enjoy the very good Kelly Clarkson performance. She looked and sounded great. I wasn't crazy about her outfit but its Kelly so she still looked great! Sorry to see Jorge go but not surprising. Hopefully he'll go onto big things too. He seems like a very nice guy.

American Idol Season 8 - Michael Jackson night!

Good 1st night of singing. No one was bad and a lot of the performances were very good to excellent. The judges upped the ante right off the bat by saying that 2 would be voted off today. I knew that this would be inevitable since American Idol is only signed for so many weeks to be on FOX, I just didn't expect it right out of the box.

Simon was in his typical brutal form, Paula seemed in mid-season over the top and tipsy form, Randy was on point as usual with his advice and Kara was kind of in between all of them. Still undecided how I feel about her as a judge.

Lil Rounds opened the show with a very good performance of "The way you make me feel".

I really liked Scott MacIntyre's performance of "Keep the faith". I thought he really shined behind the piano. I felt that Simon had somewhat of a point of picking a song that wasn't one of Michael's huge hits to do but at the same time, Michael is not Scott's style of music and his interpretation of the song was very good. Simon's comment that American Idol isn't about being artistic had to be one of the most stupidest comments I've ever heard on a music show. That feeds right into what critics have wrongly said about the show. What a dolt to say that.

Danny Gokey got the crowd on its feet with an interesting performance that showed off his excellent vocals and interpretation of "PYT".

Michael Sarver's version of "You're not alone" was very good. Nice, solid performance.

Jasmine Murray finally lived up to what I want to see from her with her performance of "I'll be there". Nice vocals and she looked great too.

Kris Allen's performance of "Remember the time" while playing on the guitar reminded me of Jason Mraz. Of course, Randy mentioned that as well. Good performance and the female audience really loved him.

Allison Iraheta was up next and wow, am I fan of her voice. Love the flaming red hair too! Allison is the 1st rocker girl on AI that has it all. I think she's top 3 at least.

Anoop Desai's song choice of one of Michael's biggest hits "Beat it" was a poor song choice. You stay away from the monster hits because you risk sounding inferior if its not beyond superior. Anoop is definitely in danger tonight.

Jorge Nunez' performance wasn't bad but it wasn't a standout performance either. Jorge is in danger tonight as well. Simon's comments to him were uncalled for.

Megan Joy Corkrey's performance of "Rockin' Robin" was cute. I really like her and think she has a lot of potential but she's really in over her head on AI, never having done anything more than school choir.

Adam Lambert's over the top performance of "Black and White" was very good in some parts but way over the top in other parts. I don't know what was up with Paula practically crying over his performance but at least Adam came across as humble and modest this week. I hadn't gotten that sense from him before. Nice to see.

Matt Giraud's performance of "Human Nature" was good.

Alexis Grace' performance of "Dirty Diana" was good but trying too hard.

So, who goes home tonight? Hmm, I definitely think that Anoop and Jorge are in big danger tonight - as well as Alexis, Megan and maybe even Michael Sarver. I like this all the singer's in this year's group but I think that Anoop and Megan go home. :(

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American Idol Season 8 - Night 4 of the semi-finalists (Wild card night!)

Interesting show to say the least!

I was pretty happy with the judges picks although it sucked to not see Norman Gentle get one more chance to entertain America in only the way that he can!

So we got 3 singers from Night 1 - Ricky Braddy, Anoop Desai and Tatiana.
4 singers from Night 2 - Jasmine Murray, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy Corkrey and Jesse Langseth.
Only 1 singer from Night 3 - Von Smith.

I didn't think that any of tonight's performances were especially good.
They were all rather solid but uninspired.

Matt got picked based on his bluesy performance but I found Matt's singing not relevant to what would sell today so I don't know why they picked him since they are always talking about the singers doing things that are current and relevant. Matt can sing, no doubt - I just don't know how well the audience will relate to him if he continues in that style. They didn't like his more contemporary style either so Matt's got a lot of figuring to do.

I did not like Megan's performance or singing of KT Tunstall's song tonight either. She has a good look and this is a TV show after all so I think she got in on that, she also has a lot of work to do!

Jasmine Murray did much better than her disappointing 1st performance but she still has to put it all together and make it consistent. She certainly has the looks of a pop/r&b star!

I was disappointed to see that Anoop didn't make the Top 12 but was shocked when they announced that they were making it a Top 13! Very cool! He deserves to be there and he was my happiest choice of the night.

American Idol Season 8 - Night 3 of the semi-finalists

Tonight's show was kind of karoake-ish. Not too many very good performances until the end of the show.

Von Smith opened up the show with a good performance but something about this Jesse McCartney look-a-like doesn't do much for me. He is talented and is passionate about music but there's just something missing that I can't place my finger on.

Taylor Vaifanua shouldn't have done an Alicia Keys song. It wasn't the right song for her.

Alex Wagner-Trugman - I like this kid but the judges were all over him for trying too hard. I liked his performance and thought the growling vocals were good and fun.

Arianna Afsar picked a really bad song to do. I felt bad for her as the judges were telling her how bad she did. She seems like a really nice girl.

I really liked Ju'Not Joyner's interpretation of "Hey there Delilah".

Kristen McNamara was good as well, although she should've picked a more uptempo song rather than make a slower song fast.

Nathaniel Marshall's choice of a Meatloaf song was rather strange. Not a fan of his though. I found him as irritating as Tatiana.

Felicia Barton got her 2nd chance to do her thing and again, picking an Alicia Keys song is a tough act to follow. Not a good choice although she didn't do it half bad.

I'm a big fan of Scott MacIntyre. He's very talented and with his combination of talent, overcoming adversity and being a genuine nice guy - he will go very far!

Kendall Beard had the unlucky task of following Scott but did pretty well with her version of a Martina McBride song.

Jorge Nunez was very good! I was very happy for him and found it cute when the judges were talking to him and he couldn't translate fast enough in his head the words he wanted to express. Paula and Kara seemed to love that!

Lil Rounds was the performance I wanted to see out of the all the performers tonight and she didn't disappoint! Great performance!

I think that Lil Rounds easily wins the top female vote, while Scott takes the top male vote. I would like to see Jorge win the 3rd spot but I think that Ju'Not and Von have a good chance to get in as the 3rd performer.

My mom is finally home! :)

Man, I wish Blogger had some smileys I could use in here! Maybe if someone else knows how I can get some smileys on here, you could let me know! ;)

Anyway, after not being home since September of last year with hospital and physical rehab stays - my mom is finally home today!!!!

What a relief to say the least! Not that I am not stressing her health anymore (far from it since she is still not and will never be 100% healthy) but its just a nice feeling to know that she's finally back where she belongs. This has been such a long journey for my family that it almost doesn't seem real but I'm sure glad it is!

I just want to say thanks to everyone for all their thoughts, prayers and warm wishes for my mother. myself and my family. Thank you for all your support. It will forever be appreciated. :)

Stress and snowstorms

Sounds like a potential song title ;)

Well, stress has gotten the better of me. The stress of coordinating everything for my mom's discharge today and other things I've been working on has really affected me hard the past weeks and has run me down into the ground. Have needed a few days to recharge from 2 weeks of stress-related insomnia (not helped by early morning calls dealing with everything). Its even made driving hard to do and I love to drive! Am trying to take things easy but stress is a bitch! LOL!

My mom's discharge will have to wait one more day as NYC just got hit by a major snowstorm. We're expecting 14 inches by the time its all said and done tonight. Its for the best as the roads, sidewalks and stairs are all too dangerous and slippery today. A fall because of that combined with the dangerous cold would be very bad so better to postpone it one day and be safe rather than sorry. In the meantime, I'll take it easy and rest up for tomorrow.

American Idol Season 8 - Night 2 of the semi-finalists

Well, Night 1 results went as I pretty much expected so I'm off to a good prediction start! :)

My thoughts for Night 2:

Jasmine Murray - This girl has it all - looks and talent so that made it soooo disappointing to hear how she sounded and the song she picked. I think she made a big mistake with her song choice.

Matt Giraud - This guy can sing but also picked a bad song for his voice. Not a good start to night 2.

Jeanine Vailes - Don't remember her from any of the opening week shows but she didn't impress me and I wasn't and am not a fan of wearing shorts for performances.

Norman Gentle!!! Big fan of this guy! Honestly, he CAN carry a tune and his entertainment value is off the charts. I was hoping for Norman to show up and not Nick. Was very happy to see Norman posing at the top of the steps to begin the song. Loved the way out there performance!! Would love to see him on the show because he would add life and personality to a show that takes itself a little too seriously at times. I would much rather watch Norman with one of his off the wall performances than hear Simon making crude remarks to Ryan or the dumb question and answer with the fans that doesn't really do much to add to the show.

Allison Iraheta! Wow, can that girl sing!! She has such a mature sound to her vocals at such a young age and her phrasing and vocalizing is way beyond her years. This girl is for real and she served notice to everyone that she is a real threat to everyone. I don't agree with Kara that she doesn't know how good she is - I think she does and she hasn't shown Kara everything she can do yet.

Kris Allen picked the perfect Michael Jackson song that you can do something with. He sounded really good.

Megan Joy Corkrey was very good vocally and the camera really loved her. She looked great. Her performance was a little awkward but at the same time it was cute as the little rocker chick tried to dance, that will get better with time though.

Matt Breitzke was good but I agree with Randy that if he was going to do a rock song then it needed the edge a rock song should get. I agreed with Simon that his performance was good but boring.

Jesse Langseth was good and she's really pretty but her schmoozy attitude put me off a bit to her.

Kai Kalama disappointed me as he picked a very safe song that seemed easy for him to sing.

Mishavonna Henson suffered the same problem as Matt Breitzke.

Adam Lambert will have to show me more to win me over. His over the top performance of a Stones song would've been laughed off on Rock Star. Its hard to tell whether he wants to be a rocker, emo or Joe Jonas wannabe! He hasn't convinced me of any of the above but he definitely has the Broadway star down and that's not a compliment when being on a show such as AI.

My thoughts are that Allison easily gets the most votes as Top Female. Unfortunately, I do think that Adam will get in and I hope to see Norman make it, if its even just to piss off Simon. LOL!

American Idol Season 8 - Night 1 of the semi-finalists

Season 8 of AI is underway and as you already know, that's time for my family to get some quality couch potato time in front of the TV!

Some thoughts on the auditions and Hollywood week. The whole bikini girl thing was ridiculous, from Kara's catty exchange with her to Simon and Randy putting her through. What drama during Hollywood week!! Wow! It was good to see how passionate some are and were about their music and big shot at making it. I so felt for Rose and Lineesha, I would've liked to see them both go through. I'm a big fan of Danny Gokey and I totally admire the friendship and support that his friend showed throughout the whole process. I'm not one that has a lot of close friends so I always admire true shows of friendship such as he showed to Danny. I'm also a big fan of Norman Gentle. The shoutout to Ryan while doing his song was priceless! LOL!

Last night was the 1st round of the semi-finals and I like that they've brought back the old way of voting people in with the highest vote getting male and female voted in along with the 2nd highest vote getter of the night. I also like that they have brought back the wild card round because that is how Clay Aiken and Jennifer Hudson got a 2nd shot at getting in and deservedly so.

Well, here are my thoughts on the 1st round semi-finalists:
Jackie Tohn was pretty good but I'm not too fond of her. Seems to try too hard to be a rocker chick and last night was no different. That outfit was horrible too! She looked like Olivia Newton John at the end of Grease!

Ricky Braddy was very good.

Alexis Grace was also very good and I loved her look. Love the pink highlights! Very cool.

Brent Keith was good and will make a good country artist. I like that he played straight for his intended audience and didn't make apologies for it.

Stevie Wright sounded overwhelmed by her moment to sing. I felt for her and didn't like Simon being so harsh with her. Shocker I know. By the time the judges critique had gotten to Simon, she got the point and didn't need him piling on. I'm glad Kara called him out on it.

Anoop Desai was very good.

Casey Carlson picking a Police song to do was a bad idea before I even heard her sing. The song was WAY too big for her. I agreed with the judges criticism and Simon seemed to learn from his bashing on Stevie Wright and at least gave some helpful criticism. Now that's not too hard, right Simon?

Michael Sarver was good but I had wanted him to be very good.

Ann Marie Boskovich was good.

Stephen Fowler was disappointing. I really wanted him to do well but doing a Michael Jackson song? What was he thinking? Anything Michael sings works for Michael and pretty much Michael only. Stephen has a lot of potential, he's just dropped the ball twice already in showing it.

Tatiana Del Toro... the audition and Hollywood week drama queen. Honestly, I didn't want her to make it because of all the dramatics and over exposure on her antics but I must say that she can sing. Sing she did last night, I must say that I thought she was the best female singer of the night. I see she toned it way down last night. It seems that she saw how she came across and was portrayed during the auditions and Hollywood week and if indeed it wasn't her as she mentioned last night, then I can see how she would be embarrassed by how she came across. As much as she loves attention and boy does she, I think she's also smart enough to see that she needs to tone it down and not come across as so whiny and annoying if she wants America's votes.

Big, big fan of Danny Gokey. Honestly, I predict him as this season's winner already. This guys sings with heart and emotion and gets into the heart and soul of a song's lyrics, reminds me of me in a lot of ways. Of course, his story is one of deep despair and amazing triumph in the face of adversity so who can't love that? I agree with Simon that his performance wasn't his best but it was very good.

Danny easily is the top male vote getter and Tatiana should be the top female vote getter but if there's a voter backlash against her then I see Alexis Grace being the top female vote getter for the night. The second highest vote getter also going in IMO will be either Anoop or the roughneck Michael Sarver. Should be an interesting night.