It's time for American Idol!

I've been a fan of American Idol since the first season. Last year I decided to keep an excruciatingly detailed blog, which I posted on another site. I started when there were 24 performers - 12 boys and 12 girls. This year they're saying they'll go to 36. Last year I wrote down what songs they sang and how I felt about their performances, as well as comments by Randy, Paula and Simon if they were worth preserving. I'm looking forward to doing the same thing this year.

Tuesday night I watched the Phoenix, AZ tryouts while playing Lexulous (formerly Scrabulous, essentially online Scrabble) on Facebook with my two sons. (I beat them both soundly.) I didn't write anything down, so I went to Michael Slezak's account on Entertainment Weekly's website to get names. I read his account after every American Idol night last year, but always waited until after I'd posted my own so I wouldn't be influenced by his opinions. Mine were usually the same anyway. Great minds and all that...

I'm finally getting a chance to go over the TiVos of the last two nights, and I'm going to revise my accounts slightly.

People I expect to see in the Top 36:

• Arianna Afsar. She's a bubbly, cute 16-year-old with a beautiful voice and lots of personality. She sang "Put your records on" by Corinne Bailey Rae.
  
• Emily Wynne-Hughes. She has pink-streaked hair and a zillion tattoos - this year's version of Carly Smithson's arms. Oh, and she can sing. Her mom is a professional singer, and she was raised in the music world. She sang "Barracuda" by Heart.
  
• Scott MacIntyre. He's been blind since birth (has some very limited vision), but manages to do more with his life than I ever could. He plays piano beautifully and sings well, too, plus he has the whole inspirational thing going for him. He's also cute - I never saw a blind guy with such beautiful eyes before. He sang "And so it goes" by Billy Joel.
  
• Alex Wagner-Trugman. He performed "Baby Come to Me" by James Ingram, a song I recognize, although I'm not sure why. He used to practice singing in his closet, so the judges started out by picking on him about coming out of the closet. He sings very well for somebody with no self-confidence. Simon didn't like him much. Randy says "Joe Cocker" and Simon responds "I would say Cocker Spaniel."
  

Honorable mention to Stevie Wright (a girl, named for Stevie Nicks), who sang "At Last" by Etta James, and Michael Sarver, the oil-rig dude, who sang "Thank You" by Boyz 2 Men. They may not make the finals, but they were good. And a Spirit Award to Brianna Quijada, who kept everybody energized during the waiting period. Her performance of "Let's Hear it for the Boy" was a little off-key, but Paula and Simon put her through to Hollywood (proving that when the vote's a tie, Simon's side wins).

A Dubious Creativity Award to the young horror-filmmaker, Cody Sheldon. He's adorable. I wasn't familiar with the song he chose, "Wonderful World" by James Morrison. Obviously not Jim Morrison from the Doors...I'm showing my age, aren't I? He's not Top 36 material, though.

Michael Slezak was enamored of Deanna Brown, a tall blonde with a Southern accent, but her voice was too husky for me. She sang "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay", the old Otis Redding song.

Now for the Most Horrendous Performances of the evening!

• Michael Gurr. "Gurr" pretty much sums up the way his voice sounded - a barely intelligible growl.
• Bikini Girl. Michael Slezak didn't record her name, and I don't blame him. (It's Katrina Darrell, according to YouTube.) This misguided young woman came to her audition dressed only in a bikini and very high heels. They put her through to Hollywood even though she picked a fight with new judge Kara DioGuardi. I really like Kara, by the way. She's got a lot of musical talent, both as a singer and as a songwriter.

• Aundre Caraway, who calls himself X-Ray. He's an entertainer, that's for sure, dressed in a kind of Cheeto-orange shirt and dragging along his guitar. He performed a song he wrote, Cactus Baby, and it was terrible. I just watched it again on YouTube, and he does a kind of spastic dance while he's making the most awful faces. He was incredulous when the judges told him "no", and he had to be escorted off by Security.
  

I'll sum up Wednesday night's performances in a separate post.