At this point, we’ve pretty much stopped caring about this season of Idol. Obviously, it’s not about talent, but about “unique” personalities. News flash, America: “Unique” does not mean “good.”
 
Anyway, we should probably retract the claws at least long enough to finish writing a review.
 
The show opens with a medley of 70s music. The songs are better than last week, the performance is more natural, and overall it’s enjoyable… despite being more than a little cheesy.

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Part two of 70s week. Here’s hoping tonight goes better for the girls than last week did!
 
First up is Carly Smithson, singing “Crazy On You.” She’s more into it that she was last week, but we’re still not terribly impressed. She’s just not original enough for our taste. There’s really nothing about her that stands out- she’s just another good singer. Our rating: 7/10

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’70s week. Are we sensing a trend? Could next week be… ’80s week? We hope not. But anyway, getting back to the review at hand…
 
Michael Johns opens the show tonight, which is predictable since he closed it last week. He sings “You Can Go Your Own Way”… and unfortunately, there’s nothing original about his performance at all. Last week he was great, but this week, he’s just kind of there. He’s not terribly on-key through most of the song, and the overall performance is boring. Our rating: 7/10

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We hate elimination night.
 
Tonight’s episode begins with a cool video featuring Daughtry’s “What About Now.” It includes footage from the top 24’s photo shoot. For filler, it’s pretty good. After the video, there’s a group performance- a medley of ’60s songs. There’s nothing terribly outstanding about it, but we do enjoy the outfits, suits and ties for the guys and ’60s-style dresses for the girls.

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Tonight is the first performance for the top 12 girls, and after the great opener from the guys last night, the bar is set high. Unfortunately, overall, the girls did not meet our expectations.
 
First up is Kristy Lee Cook, who was one of our early favorites. She sings “Rescue Me,” which turns out to be an unfortunate choice for her. She seems confident at first, but the performance is cheesy, and the song is not a vocal challenge at all. In fact, it seems as though she’s singing the same three or four notes throughout the entire performance. It’s too bad that she’s sick, but the fact that it’s mentioned several times right after she sings makes it seem as though she’s making excuses. This does her no favors whatsoever. Our rating: 6/10

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Finally, the competition begins! Tonight is the first performance for the top 12 guys.
 
David Hernandez kicks off the evening with “Midnight Hour.” He has a great voice, but he could use a bit of a boost with his performance. He could also stand to loosen up a bit, which Simon points out. Our rating: 8/10
 
Next is Chikezie, in his burnt orange suit. He sings “I Love You More Today Than Yesterday,” but it’s such a weird arrangement that we don’t even recognize the song until he gets to the chorus. Besides that, he’s also very obviously nervous, his voice is shaky, and just overall not very impressive. Apparently he’s also incapable of accepting criticism, because he rants for a good five minutes when Simon disapproves of his performance. Our rating: 5/10

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The night of final judgement has arrived… finally! The show opens with a cheesy promotion for Jumper, featuring Ryan Seacrest and Hayden Christensen. It even comes complete with a shot of Hayden drinking a Coke. Shameless plug, much? Moving right along.
 
The day begins at 7:30 AM with the top 50 having breakfast together. Seacrest informs us that this year, we have the strongest talent ever. We’ll see. By the end of today, more than half of that talent will be cut from the competition for good.

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This year’s Hollywood week is different from any we’ve seen in the past, and much more dramatic. Day one begins with 164 people, but by the end of the week, about 2/3 of them will be sent home. One major change of note this year- the contestants are allowed to play instruments during their first Hollywood audition!
 
Brooke White’s audition is the first we see tonight. She says her greatest obstacle is her lack of confidence. She plays the keyboard during her audition, and is sent through to the final day of cuts.

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Tonight is finally the last night of auditions. Bring on the Hollywood round!
 
The first person we meet this evening is Luke Reeder, who sings/screams “Faith” while wearing a stupid hat. So much for HIS dreams of being the next American Idol. Victor Villegas follows him. His goatlike voice fails to impress the judges.
 
Amy Davis grew up in a poor family with six children. She wants to make it on Idol as a way of paying her mother back for everything she’s done for her and her siblings. She sings “Blue Bayou” and has a nice voice, but the song is a bit boring, and it doesn’t seem as though she’s terribly interested in what she’s singing. Nevertheless, she makes it to Hollywood.

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The last stop on the audition tour takes us to Atlanta, where 12,000 people await as. Among them are Ryan Seacrest’s parents, who have a brief cameo at the beginning of the show.
 
Josh Jones is the first person we meet on tonight’s episode. He works with glass, and while he says he’s happy doing so, he also says he would be happy to give it up. We like him during his first interview, but we’re unsure as to whether he’ll actually be a good singer. He sings “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and we’re not tremendously impressed. After he makes it to Hollywood, he exits the audition room and removes his number to reveal the four-leaf clovers he stuck to the back of it. Probably not a bad idea, considering.

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