American Idol Season 7

American Idol is always like a ray of sunshine, brightening up the dull post-holiday doldrums with crazy audition hilarity. This year the return of AI was even more welcome due to the neverending writer's strike and the lack of any fresh scripted TV. My husband and I have watched the open auditions with glee, laughing, singing (and thanks to Asia'h Epperson) crying right along with the judges. Now with Hollywood week behind us and the top 24 installed it's time to get down to the voting.

I thought Hollywood week was a bit lacking in drama. In the past few seasons they have paired up teams or groups of contestants and forced them to rehearse and perform together, leading to a lot of squabbling and a few hangovers. This year there were no group performances and no contestants that seemed determined to make trouble, as in seasons past.

The audition format was a bit different this time around. The contestants gave an initial audition after which the judges said "yes" or "no". If "yes" then the contestant would have to sing again in a second round of auditions.

Some people, like Amanda Overmyer and David Archuleta, sailed right through. Others, like Syesha Mercado who was battling laryngitis, and Kristy Lee Cook managed to redeem themselves with that second chance a cappella audition.

During the second round of auditions the judges cut several large groups of contestants right off of the stage. Then whoever was left gave a final audition with the band and backup singers. Finally, with the final performance of the week came some of the drama that we AI fanatics are used to during Hollywood week.

Josiah Leming seemed like a front runner in the competition because the producers had told the story of how this young guy lived in his car, driving from gig to gig trying to break into the music biz. He's a cute young guy and he had an unusual sound that the judges seemed to like. He actually sounds British when he sings and has probably listened to a little too much Coldplay for his own good. I thought he was crap but even Simon liked him and they sent him through. So they recapped his whole situation again during Hollywood week, basically shoving him down our throats. So it was a little shocking when he blew it on the final day.

The contestants had to pick a song out of about 200 options, rehearse it with the band and then sing with backup singers the following day. Apparently Josiah had trouble picking the song and at 3:30 in the morning he still hadn't rehearsed. Then we see the voice coach scolding Josiah a bit because the rehearsal had gone bad, due to the fact that he wasn't working well with the band.

Cut to the next day, Josiah is the final contestant, he goes on stage and asks the band to leave. He sings "Stand by Me" with no accompaniment. And he tanked it. It was awful and the judges were no happy. Simon ripped him a new one, and deservedly so. It seemed like maybe he thought his charm would get him through, but it came off as rude. The whole point of the audition was to see how the contestants worked with the band and singers and in his arrogance he took over the audition and did it his own way. And in the end he paid for it.

On the final day the judges whittle the contestants down fro 50 to the top 24. One by one the contestants ride up that elevator to face Simon, Randy and Paula and learn their fate. Josiah, even as he was riding up that elevator said that he felt he had made it through. He was shocked when the judges told him he was done. Then he cried and hugged everyone and made quite a little scene in the waiting area. Oh well, boo hoo hoo. I was glad to see him go, I didn't know why he even made it to Hollywood.

So, after some torturous yea's and nay's (can Paula ever just say YES or NO? It's like a disorder with her), the final 24 were notified and we were left to compare notes ponder next week's show.

MSNBC's Craig Berman conjectures that the judges sent Josiah packing in an effort to avoid a repeat of last season, when the worse than mediocre Sanjaya Malakar became an audience favorite and stayed on the show weeks longer than he should have.

Simon, Randy and Paula must realize that they shared some of the blame in the whole Sanjaya situation just because they put him through to the voting when he really didn't have the same level of talent as most of the other season 6 contestants. Letting go of Josiah ensures that a fan favorite won't take votes away from the more talented contestants, and also answers some of the critics who say that Sanjaya ruined American Idol. The judges seem to really be going for singing over novelty (does Blake Lewis ring any bells?) this season.

Thanks to the producers who showcase certain contestants and ignore others during the auditions, I have some picks for favorites.

• My absolute favorite so far is Michael Johns, the soulful hottie from Australia. I loved his San Diego audition and he blew me away with Bohemian Rhapsody during Hollywood week.
• Chikezie Eze got asolutely no airtime during Hollywood week, but I loved his first audition. He has a beautiful voice with kind a Luther Vandross vibe, and I think he will definitely make it to the top 12.
• Asia'h Epperson is the contestant whose father died 2 days before she auditioned in Atlanta. She seems really talented and hopefully will get the votes to make the top 12.
• I think Amanda Overmyer is great, but it remains to be seen if she can sing anything other than classic rock.
• Carly Smithson will absolutely make the top 12. She is one of the ones to beat.
• At first I didn't care for David Cook, but he has grown on me. I hope he makes it through.

Who the heck are these people? I have never seen them at all during the auditions, but suddenly they are in the top 24. We'll see how they stack up...

• Garrett Haley
• Luke Menard
• Katy Malloy
• Robbie Carrico
• Alexandrea Lushington

Well, it's shaping up to be a great season of Idol. I can't wait for the top 12 so we can draw for our annual pool. Last year I had Blake Lewis and almost went all the way. Can't wait to see how things go this year, there don't seem to be any clunkers in the bunch (although you know I could be wrong). It will be interesting to see who rises to the top and who falls apart.

Look for my comments weekly at Jen's American Idol Season 7 Weekly Recap.