American Idol Season 9!

This is the time of year when I pretend that I'm a real entertainment reporter, blogging on American Idol. I tell myself that it doesn't make any difference that nobody sees it but me - I just have so much fun doing it. But it'd be even more fun if a few other American Idol fans were reading it.

Anyway, the serious blogging will start with the Top 24, which I think is in two weeks. But I want to give a heads up - a few of my favorites, performers I'm sure will end up in the top 24. Or at least, who ought to be there, assuming they don't forget the words or totally screw up in some other way.

My early favorite is Crystal Bowersox. She's a dreadlocked single mom who was outstanding on "(You make me feel like) a natural woman" Tuesday night. Her performance was so infectious that her competitors who were sitting in the audience spontaneously started singing backup. I can't wait to hear more from her.

I remember liking Andrew Garcia's audition, so I was glad when he gave an even better showing, performing an acoustic version of Paula Abdul's pop hit from the 80s, "Straight Up". When I heard what he was planning to do, I winced; it was hard to imagine it would be good. But it was amazing.

Michael Lynche watched his wife give birth on his iPhone last night. Okay, that's not why he's a memorable performer, but it's kind of cool anyway. His solo performance was John Mayer's "Waiting on the world to change", not one of my favorite songs, but he did it well. And he was awesome in his group performance last night, too, even though he obviously had a few other things on his mind, like his new baby daughter.

Lilly Scott came out in peacock-feather earrings (three eyes on each side!) and did "Lullaby of Birdland". I hate her hair, which is probably supposed to be platinum blonde but appears white on camera, but I liked her singing. Kara called her "refreshing".

Then there's our favorite stripper, Casey James - he's the contestant who took off his shirt when Kara and guest-judge-of-the-day (was it Victoria Beckham?) requested him to. He's eye candy, one of the best-looking guys on the show this year. He's also got some talent, although I'm not sure he's top-24 material. I'd like him to go on a little further just so I can keep looking at him. His solo performance was, according to Michael Slezak on EW, John Mayer's "I Don't Need No Doctor". He did well in his group performance, too.

Haeley Vaughn is a 16-year-old black singer who auditioned with a Carrie Underwood song. She's being marketed as a kind of country-pop singer, music more traditionally associated with white girls. I think she's adorable and fun to watch. Her solo was a Taylor Swift song, "Change", and even though her notes weren't all true she was entertaining.

Didi Benami performed a Kara DioGuardi piece as her solo, "Terrified". She wasn't 100% accurate, but overall, she was a compelling performer, and she deserves credit for having the guts to do it in front of Kara.

That's it for now. I'm going to go ahead and publish this.