Idol Worship - A Baker's Dozen!

Hello and welcome to Season 8 of American Idol! It's been roughly 10 months since the Battle of the Davids crowned Cook the winner of Season 7. Since that time, many wannabe Idols have auditioned in front of the Idol judges, survived Hollywood Week, were split into three groups of 12 contestants, and then sang for your votes and a spot in the final 12--which, for the first time in Idol history is now a final 13...ergo the clever title of this blog.

Before meeting the final 13, let's address a few of the unique twists and turns that Season 8 has offered so far.

First of all Randy, Paula, and Simon have company on the judges panel. Joining the trio is singer/songwriter Kara DioGuardi. Kara was brought on board to balance the XX/XY ratio and a fresh perspective on what makes an Idol. Unfortunately, Operation Kara has yielded little thus far beyond her wondering aloud what it would be like to go shopping with a contestant who could sing, but had little personality.

The rest of the judges are pretty much the same: Randy's vocabulary hasn't improved...EVER! Paula has taken to calling contestants "relevant" even though few have shown any unique qualities such as good song selection. And Simon has been...well, he's been Simon--wearing the same wardrobe as in season's past and skewering just about everyone save a couple of obvious favorites.

As for how we arrived at a top 13, let's take a brief trip back in time...a time when auditions were held in a number of music-rich cities across the U.S. including New York, San Francisco, Kansas City, Louisville, and one U.S. territory--San Juan, Puerto Rico. Many talented unknowns waited for hours and sometimes days just for a chance to sing for the judges--a chance that usually ended with Simon telling them to give up on their dreams of ever becoming a singer. But for the lucky few who got 3 or 4 yeses from the judges, they were rewarded with a golden ticket and a trip to Hollywood for what is arguably the most difficult thing most of these kids will ever encounter.

As usual, Hollywood week was filled with catfights, poor behavior, and forgotten lyrics. But in the end the judges selected their top 36 to move on to the next round. Those 36 contestants were divided into groups of 12 who sang for your votes over the past three weeks with only three singers being voted into the final 12. If you're good with math, you figured out that three groups of three only make nine and at the start I told you there were actually 13 who made it into the finals.

To get to the final tally, the Idol judges invited eight of the previous contestants to sing in a Wild Card round where the judges would round out the final cast.

So who are these Final 13 singers?

1. Alexis - a 21-year-old single mother who isn't much bigger than a minute, but has a powerful voice and who Simon believes could be a dark horse in the contest
2. Mike - an oil rig worker who looks like he'd be more comfortable tossing people out of a nightclub than singing in one, but with good song selection will garner praise from the judges and votes from America
3. Danny - a church choir director who lost his young wife four-weeks before auditioning for the show and who is an early favorite to win it all
4. Allison - one of the youngest contestants at 16 years of age, she sings much older than her years, the question will be how she will deal with the pressure
5. Kris - a very non-descript Finalist about whom I can't remember a single interesting thing...if he makes it past tomorrow night, I'll do a little research on him
6. Adam - Hollywood native with a musical theatre background--and a penchant for inappropriate self-manipulation...awkward! He's talented, so in spite of his moves, he could go far
7. Lil Rounds - a powerhouse singer with attitude and moxie who will challenge Danny for the title if she makes good song choices
8. Scott MacIntyre - born nearly blind, mad piano skills, and a decent voice, Scott has a chance to capture America's heart and votes...plus the judges LOVE him--including Simon!
9. Jorge Nunez - Puerto Rico native who sings with passion and a Spanish accent--which initially Kara, the new judge, thought might hold him back...apparently she's never heard of Ricky Martin!
10. Jasmine - a very young and talented singer from Mississipi who made it to the Finals via the Wild Card round. Jasmine won't win, but she will impress
11. Megan - sporting a tatoo "sleeve", Megan is cut from the same mold as some of the current female singers who aren't necessarily blessed with a great voice, but who draw you into their world. Megan was one of the contestants that Paula called "releveant"--and Simon agreed with her
12. Matt - a dueling piano entertainer from Michigan with a fabulous blues and R&B voice who reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Idol finalists, Elliott Yamin
13. Anoop Desai - referring to himself as "Anoop Dogg"--for Randy's sake, of course, Anoop was the Lucky 13th member of the Finals cast

So that's what you've missed so far on Idol. Tune in tomorrow to watch the Final 13 sing their first song, vie for your votes, and try to make it to next week. In case you can't--or rather WON'T watch, I'm always there...

Watching TV so you don't have to...

Peace.