The Frame

American Idol: Top 24 Revealed

On February 14, 2007

Here it is. The end of the audition round. I’m ready. :)

Sanjaya Malakar – I really like him. From what I’ve heard, everyone likes him. And he’s in! Yay!

Anna Kearns – I thought I’d seen her in the rooms, but I wasn’t sure. And she’s not in. I’m not surprised. I was a little surprised that she got as far as the top 40.

Bernard Williams – And this is the guy that Paula said was totally off-key. And he’s not in. And there’s Philip Stacy, so he did make the top 40. I couldn’t tell.

Eric Davis and Tami Gosnell – Tami was someone Simon really liked. I don’t remember seeing Eric before. Both are no.

Melinda Doolittle – She better get through. Because she’s amazing. Yay! She’s in.

Brandan Rogers – Ah, so he is there. I didn’t notice him last night. And he’s in as well.

Gina Glockson – And she’s in! She was in my second tier, but I’m really glad she made it, after making it as far as the room round last year.

Jimmy McNeal – Aw, I really liked him. But he and Errick somebody or other are both out.

Haley Scarnato – Yay! She’s the one that Simon called “cabaret” and I decided that cabaret must be my favorite. And she’s in. Woot.

Phil Stacy – I’m not horribly impressed by him. I mean, I like him, but his voice is too nasally for me. But apparently not too nasally for the judges. He’s in.

Chris Sligh – I like his sense of humor. And his voice. If he doesn’t make it through, I’ll be very surprised. Yep, he’s in. :)

Blake Lewis – I’m not sure his voice is quite up with all the others, but he’s certainly a great performer, and I really like him. And he’s through. :)

Thomas Lowe – Not through.

Rudy Cardenas – He’s borderline for me. Could take him or leave him. I guess we’re taking him; he’s in.

Paul Kim – Okay, we really didn’t need to know about the underwear. Really. NO REALLY. And he’s in. Please tell me that this lucky underwear thing allows for washing.

Jordin Sparks – HA! She is there. Okay, yeah, I did see her in the rooms, I just didn’t recognize her with her hair up. Good! I’m glad she made it in.

Okay, a couple of people we don’t know plus Tatiana McConnico, not through.

A.J. Tabaldo – Five times trying? Wow. And he’s through. Nice.

Tiffany Edwards – I remember seeing her last night, but not before that. She’s good. And in.

Leslie Hunt – Are they all singing that song? I mean, I like the song (one of Kat’s best performances last year, BTW), but still. And she’s in as well.

Nick Pedro – PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I WANT HIM. Um, on the show I mean. Awesome! He’s in! Woot!

Hee. Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader. I might be amused, if I weren’t so embarrassed for the adults. Interestingly enough, when my mom or I forget something factual that we should know, we say “I knew it in fifth grade.”

Alaina Alexander – I liked her in the auditions…that Hollywood week performance wasn’t great, though. But it was good enough, apparently; she’s in. Simon was crushing on her in the auditions. Couldn’t’ve hurt. ;)

Chris Richardson – Yes! I thought I’d glimpsed him in the rooms. And he is IN! I like him, so that’s good.

Sabrina Sloane – First time we’ve seen her that I know of. And she’s in. I wonder how much time Simon spends thinking up all the ways to phrase the acceptance so it sounds like a denial. “We have decided not………to exclude you.”

Jerome Chisum, Joelle James, Matthew Buckstein (aka cowboy guy), Princess Johnson – most of whom we don’t know, all gone.

Lakisha Jones – She’s really really good. And the judges agree with me. Always nice when that happens. She’s in.

Nicole Tranquillo – I think I saw her several times last night, but not in the original auditions. In any case, she’s through.

Jared Cotter – Another new face, and he is in.

Amy Krebs – Yet another one not previously showcased, and yet another one in.

Antonella Barba and Marisa – I love me some Antonella, but I remember Marisa being really good, too. But please, Antonella, please. I hate when it’s down to two left. Oh, crap, Antonella, not lyric trouble. They HATE that. Whew. Antonella is through. I shouldn’t be surprised, though. They’ve really emphasized her throughout the audition process–apparently she’s one of the marketing darlings this year.

Tommy Daniels and Sundance Head – Both very good, though Sundance faltered a lot in Hollywood. I don’t remember seeing Thomas in Hollywood at all. I’m not sure I agree with putting Sundance through. I think they only did because he’s really different. But I guess that’s a fair reason, too.

So our top 24 are:

Alaina Alexander
Antonella Barba
Melinda Dolittle
Tiffany Edwards
Gina Glockson
Leslie Hunt
Lakisha Jones
Amy Krebs
Haley Scarnato
Sabrina Sloane
Jordin Sparks
Nicole Tranquillo

Rudy Cardenas
Jared Cotter
Sundance Head
Paul Kim
Blake Lewis
Sanjaya Malakar
Nick Pedro
Chris Richardson
Brandan Rogers
Chris Sligh
Phil Stacy
A.J. Tabaldo

And my prediction stats are 14/24, and 8 of the other 10 weren’t shown in the original auditions. Not bad.

edit to correct Amy’s last name 2/18/07

American Idol: Hollywood Week Round 1 (definite spoilers)

By Jandy

On February 13, 2007

In Music, Television

Hollywood, here we come. Yep, twice as many girls as guys…that’s about how the auditions we saw ratioed out. (See my picks for Top 24 two posts below this one.) Of the 48 successful auditions showcased, only 19 were guys.

Okay, Jory Steinberg. She’s one of my picks. Ooh, she and Paula are wardrobe twins. Not sure if that’s good or not… She sounded good to me. Just grabbing names for future reference: Geri Guyer, Kelly Caruso, Lisa Morrison, Christen Itam, Jeromishia Lemar. Haven’t seen any of them before. And they’re all gone. So I’m 0 for 24 so far…

Perla Meneses. She’s on my “won’t make it” list. Dude, that’s the same song she sung for the audition. Probably not a good move. Rachel Jenkins, the Reservist. I like her, but I don’t think she’s got enough. Perla’s through, Rachel’s not. I still predict Perla won’t make the final cut.

Baylie Brown. I think she’ll make it. Yep. Ashlyn Carr, Porcelana Patino, Sarah Burgess, all gone. I hoped Sarah would make the finals, but the other two don’t surprise me at all. Anyway, Sarah makes two of my picks gone. Crap. Nicole Turner–we haven’t seen her before, I don’t think.

Melinda Doolittle, Gina Glockson, Tatiana McConnico, Jamie Lynn Ward are all through. Melinda’s on my definite list, the other three on my second tier one.

Time for the guys. Four less boys than girls? Does that mean they’re picking 16 girls and 8 boys? Or did I completely mishear that?

Brian Miller. Several of them are resinging their original audition songs. Maybe that’s what they’re doing, then. My bad. I like his voice, but he just doesn’t seem all there to me. Jerrod Fowler. Navy guy! I like him. Matt Sato–not sure he’s got what it takes, either, although I have him pegged as a dark horse at this point. Oh, and there’s Chris Sligh. Ooh, Matt’s through and Jerrod’s not? Misguessed that one. But I knew Chris Sligh was going to make it through. Matt’s gotta quit with the crying, though. He’s like the male Klancie Keough (from Australian Idol).

Also through: Blake Lewis (cool!), Nick Pedro (awesome!), Phil Stacy and Sean Michel (I cut both of them for my lists).

Next up, group round. *shudder* Ooh, they have to pick their own groups? And it can be boy/girl, and different numbers of people? We’re going for maximum conflict here, apparently! Hey, one of the singing cowboys is back! My least favorite of the three! I’m abusing punctuation!! Amanda and Antonella bickering already. Great. And Baylie’s in their group, too. Three of my faves (especially Antonella)…if they can’t get it together, they’ll drag each other down. Grr. And the attack of the forgotten lyrics. Always a popular problem. Commercial teaser–one of the Amanda/Antonella/Baylie group is gone. Hope it’s Amanda. I’m sorry, was that mean? I just like the other two better.

House tonight is a patient who can’t feel pain. Didn’t Grey’s Anatomy do that like a month ago?

And they’re being really tough on lyrics. So there goes Matt. Oh, that’s Sanjaya Malakar, isn’t it? Wasn’t sure if he’d gotten through. Perla, what the hell was that? Hey, Marisa’s not bad. Yep, told you. Perla’s out. Oh, and Rudy Cardenas is through, too. Cool. Awesome group. Really uses Blake’s beatboxing to good effect. Very well done. THAT’S what group needs to do. And Sundance is still around. But not nearly as impressive as he was in auditions. But apparently impressive enough for Paula.

Ooh, Baylie, that’s some serious lyric forgetting. You’re totally screwed. But Antonella did really good, I thought. But as a group performance, it was really really weak and boring. So there goes Baylie. I thought they were going to stay friends, right? Or…not. Okay, Amanda is totally two-faced and I’m not at all happy with her. Antonella was the only one who came through that whole experience well, I think. There goes Sean Michel and Michelle Steingas. Are they going to reveal the final cut tonight? Last year they had a separate show for that. Or maybe that’s what they’ll do tomorrow? I don’t think there’s time tonight, anyway. Only eight minutes.

How in hell is Norbit the number one movie in the country? I do not understand American moviegoers. I swear, every time I see the trailer for it, my IQ drops a little, along with a few brain cells for good measure.

Now for the rooms. Room #1 includes, I believe: Gina Glockson, Haley Scarnato, Blake Lewis, Rudy Cardenas, Chris Sligh, Paul Kim, cowboy guy from last year. And they’re through. Room #2 has: Nick Pedro, Antonella Barba, Tami Gosnell, Thomas Daniels, maybe Chris Richardson, Sundance Head, Lakisha Jones, Sanjaya Malakar, Alaina Alexander. And they’re through. Good. Room #3 then, is not going through: Amanda Coluccio, Shyamali Malakar (*pout*), Jamie Lynn Ward, Brian Miller. Aw, Sanjaya’s so sweet. I love him. But I really, really, really wish Shyamali had made it through.

And Top 24 tomorrow revealed tomorrow. Here’s the list of original auditioners that went to Hollywood, chronologically by audition appearance. The bolded ones are in the final forty.

Denise Jackson – never saw during Hollywood rounds (if I say this, means I didn’t see them…could’ve been there and I missed them; could, in fact, be in that final forty, though I expect they would’ve shown them more prominently in that case)
Perla Meneses – cut during group round
Jerrod Fowler – cut during initial Hollywood round
Michelle Steingas – cut during group round
Matt Sato – cut during group round
Rachel Jenkins – cut during initial Hollywood round
Sarah Krueger – never saw during Hollywood rounds
Thomas Daniels – I believe he was in room #2, therefore, in the final forty
Blake Lewis – in the final forty
Shyamali Malakar – in room #3, cut in during last Hollywood round
Sanjaya Malakar – in the final forty
Rudy Cardenas – in the final forty, I believe
Anna Kearns? – not positive, but she may be in the room #1 and #2 reunion scene, in which case she’s in the final forty
Jordin Sparks – never saw during Hollywood rounds, but it’s quite possible I missed her–there were several people who looked sort of like her
Sundance Head – in the final forty
Danielle McCulloch – never saw during Hollywood rounds
Sean Michel – cut during group round
Melinda Doolittle – she definitely made it through the initial round, but I didn’t see her after that. Anyone? edit: Doing slo-mo on the rooms, I think she’s in room #1. Whew.
Philip Stacy – he also made it through the initial round, but I don’t remember him later.
Sarah Burgess – cut during initial round
Amanda Coluccio – in room #3, cut in the final round
Antonella Barba – in the final forty
Kia Thornton – don’t remember seeing in Hollywood
Jenry Bejarano – don’t remember seeing, which is disappointing, because he’s totally hot
Jory Steinberg – cut during initial round
Porcelana Patino – cut during initial round
Rachel Zavita – don’t remember seeing
Chris Richardson – I think he may have been in room #2, and thus in the final forty, but I wouldn’t swear to it, and I don’t remember seeing him in any of the earlier rounds
Nicholas Pedro – in the final forty
Katie Bernard – never saw her
Tatiana McConnico – she made it through the initial round, but I don’t think I saw her after that; she might be in room #2 and the final forty, but I’m by no means sure
Bernard Williams? – might possibly have been in room #1, and the final forty
Jamie Lynn Ward – in room #3, cut in the final round
Chris Sligh – in the final forty
Alaina Alexander – I was worried about her all night! But then she was in room #2, so she’s in the final forty
Brandon Rogers – don’t remember seeing him
Brian Miller – in room #3, cut from final round
Haley Scarnato – another of my early favorites, and she was in room #1, and thus in the final forty
Baylie Brown – cut from group round
Akron Watson – never saw him
Ashlyn Carr – cut from initial round
Jimmy McNeal – in the final forty
Tami Gosnell – in the final forty
Paul Kim – in the final forty
Gina Glockson – in the final forty
Ashley Cleland – never saw
Ebony Jointer – don’t remember seeing, though she was quite good and I hope I’m wrong
Lakisha Jones – I’m pretty sure she was in room #2 and therefore the final forty

American Idol Audition Recap (warning: many embedded videos)

By Jandy

On February 11, 2007

In Music, Television

Okay, I’ve rewatched all the (successful) auditions, and here are my picks for the Top 24. I’m not willing to make predictions any further than that, both because out of the 176 people put through to Hollywood, we only saw 48 full auditions, and also because it’s so difficult to tell from a 30-second a capella audition how they’re going to manage in the full-length performances. (And by full-length, I mean a minute and a half. So. Still not really full-length, but whatever.) And there’ll certainly be at least one or two people who DO make the Top 24 who didn’t get featured auditions. But that’s data I don’t have, so obviously, this is just based on the 48 auditions we do have.

The rest of my Top 24 after the jump. We’ll see how close I am! (Click here to play all the auditions I didn’t put in my Top 24.) And these are in no particular order. Oh, and they’re also the ones I would choose, not necessarily the ones I think will get chosen…so they’re more geared toward “what I personally like” than what the judges might end up with.

Class Registration Blues

By Jandy

On February 9, 2007

In School

So people are already turning in pre-registration slips for next fall, even though registration doesn’t technically begin until the middle of March, because of the trouble we had getting into classes this semester, because of the now-much-firmer 12-person-per-class cap. But I have no idea what to take. The list of course offerings are available, but not the specific focus of each course (i.e., I’m in Modern American Literature right now, with a focus of the Harlem Renaissance), because the professors haven’t all decided yet what the focus is going to be, because usually they wouldn’t have to narrow that down by JANUARY. It’s sort of a mess all around, but even just looking at the course offerings, I’m not terribly excited:

Old English Language – I heard horror stories about this class last semester, plus they’re averse to M.A. students taking it, as it’s geared for Ph.D.s

Bibliography and Research Methods – Already had it. Almost had a panic attack just seeing its name on the list.

Rhetoric and Composition – I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I’ve always hated classes that were about doing things rather than about content. On the other hand, if I want to improve my writing, which is one of the things I came back to school to do, this would be good. On the other, other hand, I’m completely unenamored of the academic writing style, and since that’s probably what they’re teaching to English grad students… (On the other, other, other hand, I need to get over my hatred of “doing things” classes if I’m going to do Library and Information Studies or anything techie-related, because they’re going to be about “doing things” rather than content…)

Seventeenth-Century British Literature – This one has a focus on Milton already announced. Now, the Donne/Herbert/etc class was 17th-century Brit lit, and we know how much I loved that class. /sarcasm. And I have a strong distaste for Milton from an undergrad survey course in which we read parts of Paradise Lost and I thought it was incredibly pretentious and overblown. I know, I know, Milton’s one of those people I should know, though. But, ugh.

Victorian Poetry – Poetry. Ugh. But somehow I’ve got to get good enough at this poetry stuff that I don’t hate it so much. Or something. And Victorian poetry is more palatable than some other forms. I mean, Browning and Barrett Browning and Tennyson, and stuff, right? I like them all right. Of course, I probably wouldn’t after having to analyze their stuff for a semester.

Nineteenth-Century American Literature – Focus of Transcendentalism. That’s like, Emerson, right? Meh.

Contemporary American Literature – Okay, this one I’m almost certainly going to try to take. Contemporary American lit doesn’t bother me as much as earlier American lit. Plus, I’ve heard good things about the professor.

And…that’s it. No 20th century British lit, nothing medieval, nothing on novels. I would love a class on the Gothic Novel or on 19th century novels, or on postmodern literature, or on pulp fiction, or even on theory. I’d love to take something on narratology, for instance. But no. I’m disappointed by the lack of variety. Variety is the very spice of life (a phrase which comes from William Cowper, incidentally…I never knew that). The undergrads get more variety than we do (they had a class last semester on Detective Stories, which would’ve been so much fun–Doyle, Poe, Christie, Chandler, Hammett–I’m assuming). What’s up with that?

Perhaps it comes back to grad school being about preparation for teaching–if I were going to teach, then yes, Milton would be important to know. But having pretty much decided against teaching, I’m now in this only for the content, and only for the content that interests me enough to want to study it intensely for a semester. Which is not poetry and not American lit prior to the 20th century. Which cuts out a lot that’s offered here. And I’m frustrated. And that’s all I really wanted to say.

Grey’s Anatomy 3×15 (spoilers) and Ugly Betty 1×15 (vague spoilers)

By Jandy

On February 8, 2007

In Television

GAAAAAHHHHHH! Okay, this watching the show when it’s really on therefore I can’t just go straight to the next episode is NOT working for me. AAAAAHHHHH!

Meredith can swim, right? The foreshadowy tub-thing wasn’t, you know, really foreshadowy, right? Of course, I guess if it is, Derek will save her. But. Still. I did really like Alex in this episode, though I’m not really having high hopes for the woman’s baby, based on Addison’s reaction. Oh, and Mark is still a jackass. Of course. I enjoyed Callie in this episode, though. Probably because that Sydney person is, like, the most annoying ever, and Callie mocking her was so satisfying.

On a different note, it probably means that I watch way too many doctor-type TV shows that when they first showed the accident scene, I was like, “that’s it?” Yeah. I mean, it’s bad, especially once you start seeing the individual cases and realize that there are more people still stuck various places, but the opening shot looks like they’ve got it all contained in about a 50-foot square, and that there are about three times as many EMTs and Search-and-Rescue people than there are injured people. Just not how I would’ve shot it.

In news related to Grey’s Anatomy only by ABC’s programming schedule, I’m caught up with Ugly Betty, too (figured I should, after it cleaned up at the Golden Globes), and so tonight was my first ever live Ugly Betty as well as my first ever live Grey’s Anatomy. It’s a good show, too. And they’re attracting some mighty talent…apparently Lucy Liu is going to be on next week. I want to smack Henry, though. Not that it’s really his fault, but some terrible timing going on right there.