Michael Giltz: American Idol Week Three: Omaha http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-we_b_83962.html[4/5/2009 8:12:50 PM] APRIL 5, 2009 HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY 23/6 VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE Make HuffPost Your HomePage Get Email Alerts Twitter: Follow Us BIG NEWS : Angelina Jolie | Madonna | Chris Brown & Rihanna | Paul McCartney | More...</p><p> LOG IN | SIGN UP Michael Giltz BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Similar Bloggers Email Print Be the First to Submit This Story to Digg American Idol Week Three: Omaha Posted January 29, 2008 | 11:58 PM (EST) Read More: American Idol , Gay , Paula Abdul , Pop Culture, Pop Music , Randy Jackson , Reality TV, Record Industry, Ryan Seacrest , Simon Cowell , Singing , TV Shows , Breaking Entertainment News After last week's barrage of "no's," the latest audition round is bursting with video of contestants who are actually going to Hollywood.</p><p> We saw 12 full or partial auditions and 9 of them got thethumbs up.</p><p> It's easy to criticize the show -- crafting an entertaining one-hour episode with dramaand comedy and enjoyable singing out of countless hours of footage isn't easy.</p><p> But this is the wayto do it.</p><p> Don't get caught up in the stories.</p><p> Give us a look at people who might actually make it tothe final 12 and let us start picking our favorites.</p><p> They should always make certain we see theauditions every week of the contestants the judges think were the best.</p><p> I'm not always certain theydo.</p><p> So here's a suggestion: why not post EVERY winning audition in full at the American Idol website? Group them by city and/or alphabetically.</p><p> Nineteen people went through in Omaha and I for onewould gladly watch them all. (As far as I can tell, they don't do this currently.) Only so many actscan get airtime, so this is the best way to give everyone a chance to find a favorite AND second-guess the judges.</p><p> Plus, it would only build interest in the Hollywood round.</p><p> Imagine onlinecommunities urging their friends to check out a particular audition and how that would give peoplea rooting interest in what are now just faces glimpsed briefly in a montage.</p><p> Thank me later, Idol.On to the auditions.</p><p> Chris Bernheisel -- this is where Idol walks a really tricky tightrope between toying with people's dreamsand celebrating them.</p><p> Chris is super-enthusiasticabout the show, brings gifts, is totally exuberant andcan't sing worth a lick.</p><p> Smartly, Idol knows it would be like kicking a puppy if they made fun of him, so they don't.</p><p> The judges instinctively know the same and treat him sweetly and insist that he shouldwork the red carpet for his local FOX affiliate for the finale. (An easy enough promise that coststhem nothing.) Chris is over the moon and the show is off to a nice start.</p><p> Popular Stories on HuffPost Fashion Face-Off! 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In fact, I was wrong.</p><p> You shouldn't mess with a winning formula too much, Paula became more comfortable criticizing the singers (thousands of awful auditions will do that) and the hosting job isvery technically demanding and one that Ryan prepared for his entire career.</p><p> Still, it was a goodidea and for a moment I got to see it come true.</p><p> Samantha Sidley -- she sings the Norah Jones standard "Don't Know Why" (penned by Jesse Harris) and she's okay but so tentative and breathy it's hard to believe she could sing in any othertempo or deliver a pop song.</p><p> Ryan is mocked for criticizing her presentation (Samantha keepsrotating her body while singing) but in fact Paula and the others say her "showmanship" needswork.</p><p> Uh, what's the difference between that and her presentation? Another "yes," but it seemshighly unlikely she'll go far unless Hollywood boosts her esteem like steroids.</p><p> Simon pricks mybubble by joking, "It actually would be horrible doing this with Ryan." Then we get three shortened auditions, hearing 30 seconds or less of three different singers who get a golden ticket, including Elizabeth Eckert (seemed pretty good), Denise Jackson (solid pipesand confidence to spare) and Michael Sanfilippo (whose shaggy hair and decent looks guaranteesome modest pinup appeal).</p><p> The funniest moment is watching a girl with a golden ticket headeddown the escalators and insisting proudly to the camera that she is "America's next top model!"before dissolving into laughter over her reality show mistake.</p><p> Angelica Puente -- this is the girl who has been fighting with her father and actually lives with her grandmother.</p><p> Idol mends broken families! Simon mangles her last name -- I know he doesn't like Bob Dylan but doesn't he at least recognize the surname of Tito Puente? I don't have an ounce of rhythm in me but even I can pronounce that one.</p><p> She belts out Celine Dion's "The Power Of Love" with an emphasis on "belts." She gets a "yes" but seems so overwhelmed she'll need lots of confidence-building to get ahead in Hollywood.</p><p> David Cook -- a rocker of sorts, though rather shy about it.</p><p> He sings "Living On A Prayer" in a raspy, very sloooow version but is pretty good.</p><p> His worst attribute is an awful, rooster-like haircut with some dyed red streaks.</p><p> Would he be willing to cut it off for Hollywood? If so, he could go far.</p><p> Johnny Escamilla -- he sings "Shout" in a glittery, foolish shirt.</p><p> Sometimes you know someone won't get through before they've sung a note.</p><p> He doesn't.Then there's a montage of people singing "Stuck In The Middle With You." (Appropriate since it was used brilliantly in Reservoir Dogs and I'm sure at times the judges would love to cut their own ears off).</p><p> I often wonder how these bits are done.</p><p> Do they ask the people to sing this song afterthey've done their official auditions and been rejected? Do they provide the lyrics? Leo Marlowe -- finally it comes down to the last audition of the day.</p><p> It's usually a good sign if Style On CBS' "Washington Unplugged" Arianna was on CBS' "Washington...</p><p> Huff TV Arianna Appears on ABC's "This Week" Roundtable With George Stephanopoulos(VIDEO) Arianna was a guest this morning on... "BRUNO" TRAILER!Calamity, African Babies, Chase Scenes And More (NSFW VIDEO) IT'S HERE! 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RICHARD POPLAWSKI,Pittsburgh Gunman, Kills 3Police Officers Dr.</p><p> Rachel Ehrenfeld: DoesIran Harbor Osama binLaden? Comments 1 Pending Comments 0 SNL: Madonna And Angelina In Weekend Update...</p><p> Reality Star Jade Goody Buried In Lavish...</p><p> Robert De Niro Nanny Sues For $40,000 "HGTV's $250,000 Challenge": Families Vie For Mortgage... you're last; your chances of getting through are greatly improved, though not a given.</p><p> Leo is a sweetie who was either joking about how popular he is or happily outing himself when he told the judges, "My mom always says she raised the perfect homecoming queen -- too bad it wasn't one of her daughters." I hope he was outing himself since he seems gay and Idol is overdue for an out contestant. (It would be a huge advantage if you were gay and open, Leo.</p><p> Just saying.) He did a solid job on "A Song For You," though he pushed it a bit.</p><p> If he took the time before Hollywood to lose a little weight and tone up (Hey, I need to lose a LOT of weight Leo, so I'm not throwing stones) then we'll know he's serious about this and not just having fun.</p><p> So who were the stand-outs for you? And if they were available, would you go to the American Idol website and look at the auditions of winners that didn't air? Comments for this post are now closed Email Print More in Entertainment...</p><p> HuffPost Stories Surging Right Now Ads by Google Watch Idol Performances Watch The Idol Performances Free! It's Easy w/the Free Videos Toolbar Videos.alottoolbars.com Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to View Comments: Newest First Expand All LoRiseAntlers See Profile I'm a Fan of LoRiseAntlers permalink Um....okay.</p><p> Computers India Barack Obama Michelle Obama Sports Olympics Housing Crisis Fox News Cars MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » Books by this author A cabin of one's own: New England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine) by Michael Giltz Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein.</p><p> In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine) by Michael Giltz American Idol GayPaula AbdulPop CulturePop MusicRandy JacksonReality TVRecord IndustryRyan SeacrestSimon Cowellchemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of...</p><p> HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES Bloggers Index Read All Posts by Michael Giltz Related Tags Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 12:11 PM on 01/30/2008This Blogger's Books from Michael Giltz: American Idol Week Three: Omaha http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/american-idol-we_b_83962.html[4/5/2009 8:12:50 PM] HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING GREEN STYLE WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY FUNDRACE ARCHIVE Advertise | Login | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Jobs | FAQ: Comments & Moderation | FAQ: Huffpost Accounts | Contact Us Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | Archive | User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type Comments are closed for this entry You must be logged in to reply to this comment.</p><p> Log in or Ads by Google Watch Idol Performances Watch The Idol Performances Free! 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