Judge Kara DioGuardi. Credit: Jack Guy / FOX
Welcome to Season 8 of American Idol. I believe we are in for a good season! The touching montage in the beginning peaked my interest and made me want to spot the next Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, or Kelly Clarkson. The rumor is that this season has some changes in store for us, which is also very intriguing.
Obviously the new judge, Kara DioGaurdi, will make one of the most front-of-camera impacts. I really like her. She is fun and opinionated and a real expert in her field. Kara’s song writing/choice expertise will add to the show. I learned first hand how song choice could make or break you (“Where the Blacktop Ends” helped secure me a record deal). I just hope Kara is OK with answering to “the other judge” for the rest of her Idol career.
Hard core fans already know that Nigel Lythgoe, Idol’s co-executive producer has left the show to pursue other projects. Nigel had a huge impact on how Idol flowed and many have predicted that his absence would be detrimental to its existence. However, Ken Warwick, the other executive producer, proved himself a highly valuable commodity tonight. Only time will tell how Nigel’s absences will affect the show.
There were several auditions that stood out to me, but since it is only the first episode, we can assume that only one or two of those auditioning will make it to the finals. If I were to guess, I would give the edge to Emily Wynne-Hughes and Scott MacIntyre. Emily was the rocker girl who sang “Barracuda” at the very beginning of the show. Scott is the talented pianist/singer who has overcome a disability to do extraordinary things. The reason I would pick them is because they were given more face time on camera, thus endearing the audience to them a little more than the others.
Phoenix auditioner Lea Marie Golde. 16. Los Angeles, CA High School Student Credit: Michael Becker/FOX
On a side note this show reminded me of a Mr./Miss American Idol pageant. First, Miss Congeniality would be awarded to Lea Marie Golde, the young Kara fan who donned an entire pink matching costume, cowboy hat included. I felt she was a sweet girl who would find great success in a small town beauty pageant. I would give the Public Service/ Platform award to Arianna Afbar who was pushing the “adopt a grand-friend” program. Arianna also has a great voice and would do great in the talent competition! Of course, the bathing suit competition would go to Katrina Darrell, the only contestant to wear a bikini on the show. By the way, props to Katrina for finding a way to stand out, even if it does offend half the Idol viewing audience and makes parents rethink its family friendly label. Getting through those first rounds is all about luck unless you can pull (or take) off something like that…
A big congrats to Kentucky girl Deanna Brown for making it through to Hollywood. I thought she had a great voice and all four judges agreed. Hopefully, we’ll see much more of her in the weeks to come.
I want to take the opportunity to answer any questions you may have, so please feel free to email anything you may be curious about. Here is the first question:
Lexi from Pittsburg, PA writes, “What was your favorite thing about Idol and what do you miss the most?”
My favorite thing about Idol was becoming a public figure and being recognized as a good role model by people. What I miss the most are the friends I made while I was on the show. We have all stayed pretty busy, so we hardly ever get to see each other. But we do still keep in touch as often as we can.
If you have any questions about Idol, send them to me at staceypro@yahoo.com. Tomorrow night, I’ll get a little more behind the scenes of the Idol auditions.
