The American Idol auditions are interesting this year. It seems like the judges are a little more forgiving, giving passes to some that may not have made it through in past seasons. I wonder if they’ll raise the bar in Hollywood. As for tonight’s Season 8 San Francisco Auditions, here’s a short review:

San Francisco Passes

• Adam Lambert makes it through to the next round with four “yes” votes despite his slightly theatrical vibe.
• Kai Kalama also receives four yeses along with my vote for favorite performance of the night. He seems like a sweet guy, too.
• Tatiana Del Toro makes it through, which is a bit surprising. The judges didn’t think her vocals were up to par, but apparently they saw something there. That micro-mini was pretty short, but please, we already have a Britney. This is a family show.
• Jesus Valenzula is through to the next round thanks in part to his two adorable kids. The judges, Simon excluded, just couldn’t look into those cute little faces and disappoint.
• John Twiford, Allison Iraheta, and Raquel Houghton get a golden ticket along with five others at the San Francisco auditions for a total of 12 passes to Hollywood.

The Most Noteworthy Cut

Dean-Anthony Bradford gets cut due to ugly coat? I think that thing was made from the scraps of my parents’ discarded 1979-era sofa. Ah, nostalgia.

American Idol is finally back with a whole new round of hopefuls to admire, hopeless to howl at, and a new judge, Kara DioGuardi, kicking off Season 8 in Phoenix and Kansas City. America must love listening to the tone-deaf attempts at a cappella since these all-but blooper reels are drawn out over so many hours. Personally, all I can say is thank goodness for the DVR – at least until the real performances start.

So far I haven’t been “blown away” by any of the auditions, like I’ve been in past seasons. Thinking back to the Phoenix and Kansas City shows a few days later, I can’t remember the names of any of the contestants I liked. Hopefully they’ll be more memorable in the next round.

Chris Sligh did his obligatory “voted-off interview” this morning and actually said “I never came into this wanting to win it.” Umm, hello – why waste everyone’s time then. Why do something half-assed? Why did he say this? “I come from an indie, alternative-rock kind of background. For me, I think winning American Idol would hurt what I was really going for” said Sligh. So what you’re saying is participating in the competition wouldn’t hurt your indie-rock style but winning it will? That just makes no sense. If the competition is good enough for you to participate in without hurting your reputation then it should be good enough for you to win it. Trust me – indie rockers across the United States have already discounted you for participating, it doesn’t matter whether you were the ultimate winner or not.

What this sounds like to me is a 10 year-old who isn’t picked for the little league team he wanted and says “Well I didn’t want it anyway.” I’d have loved to see Sligh’s facial expression while he gave the interview – was he pouting? At one point in his interview he says, in reference to his band Half-Past Forever, “I think a door should open up for us… that would be great.” That’s not a surprise; America knows why you did it especially given the success of Daughtry. I don’t see much in the way of record-sales coming from Sligh and his band; it will be interesting to look back in a year’s time to see how this has all panned out.

If you look back to the Birmingham, AL auditions you will remember a very funny standout in contestant Chris Sligh. He won America’s heart by poking fun at David Hasselhoff. Paula Abdul was quite entertained by Sligh’s performance of Seal’s “Kiss from a Rose” doing a little girly-dance in her seat and giving him a standing ovation. Something has changed about Sligh’s humor though; I find it to be a bit arrogant and cocky. There can sometimes be a fine line between confidence and cockiness and I think Sligh has crossed over to the latter.

On Tuesday night’s show he performed “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” and was warned by Gwen Stefani to pay attention to his tempo. Well he must have either forget it, wasn’t able to do it, or took the advice and filed it away for future use but one thing he didn’t do was pay attention to his tempo. The performance was a wreck. When he was questioned about it for a minute there I thought he was actually going to say it was fine but thankfully the smart Sligh came out and he agreed that his tempo was off and quickly making an excuse. At this stage in the game there are no excuses. Even aside from the tempo issues Simon Cowell felt that the performance was a train-wreck and I have to agree. If I had to guess it would be either Sligh of Phil Stacy who goes home tonight.

I must say that I was completely shocked to not only see that Stephanie Edwards received the lowest number of votes but Chris Richardson was right there next to her in the bottom two. Seriously, is America not watching the same show that I am? Granted Stephanie Edwards’ performance was a little lackluster but vocally she is definitely one of the strongest in this *singing* competition. Chris Richardson’s performance on Tuesday night was touted as his best yet and I have to agree. Yes the song was a little boring but again vocally it was a very strong performance. I think the tweens of America have united and ensured that the likes of Sanjaya Malakar (who I think is a nice kid) remain in this competition for the long haul.

When you think about it, this is really a bad season for American Idol. They have some of the best vocalists ever but the mockery that is public voting is really doing harm to American Idol. Heck there is even a person on a hunger strike until Sanjaya Malakar is voted out. J, a girl who could stand to lose a few pounds, has taken a vow to hunger strike until Malakar makes his exit. She even has a MySpace page up! This often-watched and often-ridiculed talent competition is going to have to do a lot of work to get past this season. It has been rifled with scandal and its only getting worse.

It’s that time again; American Idol night! I swear I’m like a junkie; the time between Thursday night’s result show to tonight’s performance has seemed to just drag on. I can’t wait to see the train wreck that is Sanjaya Malakar perform. Remember I like the guy and thought he did great in his initial audition and in what they showed from Hollywood but egad has he been a train wreck since. I really don’t know if he can be saved at this point even though he is adorable. It will be refreshing for him to come out and perform like he did in the auditions though, maybe being in the top twelve will be enough of a kick in the butt for him to get it in gear!

I’m also curious how the battle of the divas is going to go. Unlike Simon Cowell I don’t put Stephanie Edwards in the same category as Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha Jones. Out of the past three shows the score is Doolittle 2 and Jones 1. I am wondering if Jones recognizes that Doolittle took it above and beyond last week and plans on a big belter song for tonight. I certainly hope so!

It’s Tuesday and that means tonight the remaining eight males will perform hoping to continue on to the top twelve overall. So what can we expect from tonight? Let’s start with Sanjaya Malakar – he was instructed to do something more youthful and stop channeling his old soul. I predict that he will actually take the judges suggestion and act on them picking a song that is more youthful as well as one that suits his soft voice. Please Sanjaya, do me a favor, do a fantastic job tonight! I loved you in the audition and Hollywood rounds but quite frankly since them I’ve been embarrassed to admit I’m a fan. Prove me wrong tonight baby!

Next up – Sundance Head; Sundance needs to bring out a performance that is even better than his “Mustang Sally” rendition from last week. Like Simon said, Sundance can do better. It was good enough to keep him in but right now I’d guess that he’s on the bubble and really needs to pick the perfect song and give a perfect performance.

How about Brandon Rogers? I thought Brandon Rogers was in trouble last week but I was wrong. His voice is good but not as strong as I have heard in the past. He really needs a better song choice and needs to execute on that. I think that song choice is going to make or break him this week as he’s probably on the bubble as well.

Well there you have it, my not so professional opinion on what to expect tonight. Let’s see if I’m right or wrong, check back tonight after the show and I’ll have a follow-up written.

There is a lot of conversation going on about the success of Chris Daughtry versus the success of season five winner Taylor Hicks. Daughtry’s self-titled debut album has been a hit on Billboard’s Top 200 currently back up to number two from number nine last week. The album was number one at one point even. Hicks’, on the other hand, is nowhere in the top 100 (sorry but I’m not paying to see 101 to 200 to find out exactly where he is). Heck, even Katharine McPhee’s album is in the top 50 although it’s falling fast; down to 39 this week from 29 last week. So did America get it wrong and pick the wrong American Idol?

My answer is no. Not because I enjoyed Taylor from the first time that I saw him but the America that votes for the American Idol contestants and the America that ultimately goes out and buys the albums can be two completely different crowds. Daughtry’s album turned out to appeal to more of an audience than Hicks’ did so it sold more, it’s really that simple. Rock music is very popular these days and everyone knew that although Taylor Hicks’ has a great voice it would be hard to get him a mainstream hit.

The same goes for contestants this season. Sundance Head is going to appeal to a completely different crowd than Jordin Sparks. They both may go on to release albums but the sales will vary depending on the type of album they make and will not be a direct result of how they did on American Idol. American Idol is a launching point at this stage in the game, a great one at that.

According to Extra TV, Nigel Lythgoe is reporting that Antonella Barba will not be removed from the show and that her fate is in the voter’s hands. If this is, indeed, the case then I’m crying foul! Frenchie Davis was booted for topless photographs published on an adult website. Even if the alleged pictures of Antonella Barba engaged in a sex act turn out to not be her but a look-alike, there are still the photos of her prancing about in a very tight, very wet, very white t-shirt and thong in the fountains at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

This whole debacle could blow up in American Idol’s face if the site Vote for the Worst has any say in the matter; they are currently encouraging fans to vote for Barba as well as Sundance Head. Could you imagine if Little Ms. Show Off Your Tits actually won the entire competition with her half-assed voice? Wait; don’t imagine that, the thought could be rather frightening. Seriously though, how would they spin this if she did win over the likes of Lakisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle? “Well, it was America’s choice.” Yes it was, and they did this to make a mockery of American Idol.

Of course this could all be moot if she sucks ass again this week (likely) and actually gets booted like she should have last week. Fingers crossed the men of America that actually take the time to vote think with the head on their shoulders. *laughs*

After last night’s lackluster performance by the guys, the girls have really got to shine tonight. This is season six; I don’t recall a worse start to a season than the one from last night. I was so disappointed in Sundance Head and Sanjaya Malakar – two of my ultimate favorites from the audition rounds. I really hope they make it through this week; I’m guessing Sanjaya will because he’s endearing but not sure Sundance is going to get the votes needed. Part of why Sundance disappointed me so much is that the song he sang is one of my all-time favorites. No, I’m not that old, but that is my parent’s ‘song’ and I grew up listening to it. It brings back fond memories of mom and dad stopping what they were doing to dance with each other. Ahhh, true love.

Now on to tonight – I am confident that Lakisha Jones, Sabrina Sloan, and Jordin Sparks will be fantastic. They have to, or I’ll cry! Yes, that’s it, I’ll cry! Seriously though, those three gals are absolutely wonderful performers and have flawless voices. They all have experience on stage and in front of crowds so I don’t think the nerves will get to them. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we have some amazing performances tonight – American Idol fans across the country deserve it!