Pbmom's Blog

It works! It really works! I was worried that American Idol had lost its spark. The diva bit from last year got very old very quick (love Nicki and love Mariah, but you just don’t mix two chemicals together sometimes). I worried that after Harry Connick, Jr.’s mentoring last year, he would take the place of the long-winded Mariah. At least during the auditions, he was concise and humorous, playing well off of Keith’s quick-wit which we have come to love. Jennifer Lopez fills out the three-person judging team very well, slipping back into her old shoes like they were comfy slippers.

I’ll have to sum up much of what I saw since most of the contestant names I cannot say. The first person they put through in Boston I thought was off-key, but she got 3 yes votes. The club singer I thought would be a disaster was not. Some were just average.

And then, there she was….is that????? IT IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was going to have to remain silent about it, but apparently her name was already released in a newspaper. She is part of the Boston auditions–the person who SHOULD have gone through on The X-Factor, Ms. Jillian Jensen. (Chill out people; I’m not giving out spoilers). But does she make it? My lips are sealed. If she makes it through and if she makes it through Hollywood week, she will have a huge advantage. She has worked hard these past years obtaining 158,068 followers (as of this writing) on Twitter, which will translate into instant votes for her.

The Winker was a no for me (and Keith agreed with me on that one). Stage-Mom Boy was too breathy for me but he has the clean-cut Bieber look that the young girls will adore. The contestant with the initials M.D. also was a bit too breathy for me. The young lady who is 15 and performed her own song gave me goosebumps. On day 2 of the Boston auditions, K.L. took a popular song and made me like it more, which showed great musicianship. The young man who claims “not to practice anymore” and thinks he has “perfect pitch” is deluding himself. I was mildly impressed with the Houston contestant I’ll call Mr. Tackler, but when he hit his falsetto, he won me over. The cheerleader was okay; I expected her to do worse than she did.

Next up was day 1 of the Austin auditions. I might have to go buy Keith’s album for wearing a “Keep Austin Weird” t-shirt. It does not get off to a good start. There were a lot of no responses before getting to a few yes responses. The Tall Boy from Jasper sang an original song and I liked it. The person with the initials M.P. gave me goosebumps. I thoroughly loved the worship pastor. Based on the 2010 census, Mission, Texas has a population of 77,058. Is there room for more than one contestant from Mission? The young man from Sugar Land made me laugh. After a montage of contestants who could not remember Harry Connick, Jr.’s name (or that he was even a singer prior to his acting career), MZ from Sugar Land only had eyes for Harry. He goes to bed every night reading the Wikipedia of Harry’s life. But can he sing? Tune in to find out.

After Boston and the first day of Austin, 45 golden tickets were handed out. I think there is still life left in this old girl.

Don’t forget there is a screening of Wednesday’s episode tomorrow in select cities; click here for more details.   In addition, an interactive LIVE Q&A will appear in satellite venues, as well as streamed www.americanidol.com and www.livestream.com, beginning at 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT.

As always, I thank Fox Broadcasting and the Fox VIP program for the privilege of watching the screeners.  I’ll be live-tweeting the evenings of Idol.  Follow me at PBMom.