Idol Exposed

Say it ain't so!  Everything we see with the audition rounds aren't completely accurate?!  Shocker (he said sarcastically)!  Richard Rushfield from the Daily Beast, exposes a number of "secret rituals".  Perhaps the most interesting fact (that I have heard from local Idol wannabes) is that Simon, Randy, and Kara see just a small number of contestants since the large number of folks shown at the beginning of the audition rounds have to go through a series of auditions to simply get the attention of the three judges.

Moving to the Orlando auditions, genius judge Kristin Chenoweth ("magic doors, they just open for me")  only sat in for one day of auditions after she couldn't figure out how to open the "magic doors" when the power went out.

As for those passed onto Hollywood, there were a number that I didn't feel were quality enough for the next round. 

The judges loved Seth Rollins, however outside of his tearjerker story,  he doesn't have the charisma, look, and over powerful voice needed to move past Hollywood. 

Taking a page from "Glee" where everyone is (rightfully) treated equally, the judges also liked partially paralyzed Shelby Dressel; while happy to see her pushed through, she too doesn't have the vocal chops for the top 24.  In order to go to Hollywood and/or be a singer this year, do you have to come with some sort of ailment or illness in your family?

The judges passed Cornelius Edwards onto Hollywood after cracking the judges up with his pant-splitting performance or as Seacrest calls it: "easy access".

And to add insult to injury, "Jersey Shore" rejects Bernadette and Amanda Desimone were passed off so that America could potentially laugh at more refuse from the state of NJ.

Of those that stood out tonight in my mind, Jermaine Purifoy lives up to his name by having one of the most pure voices this season.  And while a repeat of Blake Lewis, I actually liked Jay Stone who got through only after Randy was convinced by Paula Kara.  While he doesn't seem destined for the top 24 according to the leaked list of top 24 contenders, Matthew Lawrence brought his country soul along to make it onto Hollywood.

As for tonight's time wasters, a special thank you to Idol for wasting five minutes of my time with the black Ryan Seacrest, Theo Glinton.  Cut out from tonight's episode was Seacrest saying, "I haven't seen something as tight as his pants since Gerard Butler's abs in "300"."


Finally, props do go out to Simon for cracking the great and perfectly sarcastic, "yes or no?" after wretched soul Jarrod Norrell was escorted out in handcuffs.