Bye Bye Baby, Baby Goodbye

TMZ is reporting that former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra is no longer pregnant. The site says it was given the information by a family member, though they would not confirm exactly what happened.

Sierra's pregnancy was revealed in December, while the former reality star was in jail.

Jessica can currently be seen on "Celebrity Rehab" on VH1 and in her sex tape, "Jessica Sierra Superstar," which was released last week.

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Tuesday night's Idol was also about saying goodbye. Only 50 of the 164 Hollywood Golden Ticket winners would be left after Hollywood Week ended. The rules were changed this year. No more group singing. Performers were allowed to play musical instruments on their first time singing, something that did not work to every instrumentalist's advantage.

If you were put through on your first song, you got a pass to relax the next couple of days. If the judges didn't like the first performance, you got a "second-chance performance." On the second-chance performance, you were lined up with 10 others and each sang a cappella. You either moved on or went home.

On the last day, each of the remaining contestants sang a song of their choice from a list of 200, accompanied by piano and backup singers. The judges narrowed the field to 50. Half will be eliminated tonight and we begin voting on the 12 female semifinalists on Tuesday, the 12 males on Wednesday, and eliminate two of each next Thursday for three weeks until we reach the 12 finalists.

We saw some great performances last night. We saw some performers fall apart. We saw performers we previously disliked all of a sudden sound great, i.e. Carly (Carol Hennessy) Smithson (mea culpa, we wanted to hate her), who Paula Abdul called "a force to be reckoned with," then turned to the other contestants still waiting to perform and pronounced, "All of you should be very scared of her," with Simon Cowell chiming in, "You should all hate her because she's very good." Smithson's version of "Alone" was amazing. We certainly understand why she previously had a major-label record contract. If she becomes the next Idol, will her next CD be as disastrous as her first?

The person we just couldn't stand, who made us cringe whenever he came on camera, was 18-year-old cry baby Josiah Leming, who always had an excuse -- and tears -- for a bad performance. Please, Josiah, crawl back into that sad excuse for a home you have -- your car -- and drive away ... fast!

Also needing elimination (though he, and Josiah, won't receive it until tonight) was Kyle Ensley, the 21-year-old who would someday like to be governor of Oklahoma. We broke out in hives during his horrible rendition of Edison Ligthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)." He somewhat redeemed himself with his second-chance audition of Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up," but do we really need another Kevin Covais to squirm through until he gets sent home?

And though we know he ultimately makes it through to the Top 24, we can't understand the judges' passion for fresh-faced 16-year-old singer David Archuleta. For some reason, the former "Star Search Junior" winner really rubs us the wrong way. We only hope he'll get eliminated during the semifinals, but we bet he doesn't.



Other annoying things:

• We're tired with the new "kinder" Simon Cowell, both during the audition shows and last night, when he apologized to Kyle Ensley after walking out during his initial Hollywood audition. Certainly the producers know we tune in to see snarky Simon not sympathetic Simon.


• We're tired of Simon saying "I know," whenever someone tells him "I love you."


• We're tired of him (or Randy) saying, "of course," when a contestant announces what song they'll be singing.


• We're tired of looking at a row of really icky green tongues (which we assume were throat lozenges to ease sore vocal cords)


• And we're tired of being reminded by Ryan Seacrest, about every 7 minutes over the course of the two-hour show, that this is the best field of auditioners they've ever had. Do they think if they say that often enough we'll actually believe and buy into it?

Yes, there are some singers we've seen with great potential. Some, though few, already seem memorable, such as rock 'n' roll nurse Amanda Overmyer, whose voice we can't get out of our head. She's certainly another force to be reckoned with. There was judge favorite David Hernandez of Glendale, Ariz. But will the voting public really choose a second Idol from Jordin Sparks' stomping ground two years in a row?

Also knocking our socks off was Asia'h Epperson, who lost her father on her way to the Miami auditions. She was so choked with emotion at her initial tryout it was hard to judge her voice. No longer. It's a great voice and great style, enhanced by her good looks.

We were less impressed with others we know will make the Top 24 tonight. Their voices were serviceable, if not memorable. Those include Colton Berry, who we saw for the first time and only for a scant few seconds; Michael (Lee) Johns, the overconfident good-looking Aussie rocker whom the girls will love (we've already dubbed him this year's Constantine Maroulis after he took on "Bohemian Rhapsody"), but who sings with a complete lack of passion. Singing with more passion, but at this point still leaving us a bit cold is David Cook, another rocker. Is this the Bo Bice/Constantine Maroulis male rocker battle for 2008? And how does rocker Robbie Carrico fit into the equation? Frankly, he's our favorite of the three at this point.

Then there was Kristy Lee Cook, who again depended on religion to get her through. She did a repeat performance of "Amazing Grace," her initial audition song, to survive the second-chance round. Also receiving spots, some more easily than others, were Danny Noriega, Ramiele Malubay, and certainly the litte engine who could, Syesha Mercado. The latter was almost eliminated because of voice difficulties, but came back like gangbusters with Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" on her second-chance try. Of course, Syesha sang the same song of ABC's 2006 reality series "The One: Making a Music Star" Check it out by clicking here. Syesha, who is not only pretty but has an incredible figure, reminds us a lot of Season 4's Nadia Turner in looks and singing style. We just hope she doesn't make the same poor song choices that Nadia did.

But still we wonder: Are any of the these four good enough to go the whole distance?



SPOILER ... SPOILER ... SPOILER ... SPOILER

Here is a repeat of the leaked list of 24 semifinalists. Will it be right again this year? Watch tonight and find out.

1. Alaina Whitaker
2. Alexandréa "Alex" Lushington
3. Amanda Overmyer
4. Amy Davis
5. Asia'h Epperson
6. Brooke White
7. Carol "Carly" Hennessy/Smithson
8. Joanne Borgella
9. Kady Malloy
10. Kristy Cook
11. Ramiele Malubay
12. Syesha Mercado

1. Chikezie Eze
2. Colton Berry
3. Danny Noriega
4. David Archuleta
5. David Cook
6. David Hernandez
7. Garrett Haley
8. Jason Castro
9. Jason Yeager
10. Luke Menard
11. Michael (Lee)/Johns
12. Rob "Robbie" Carrico

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