And Then There Were 40 ...

Well, just as we suspected, Idol is following the script so far. From who and what we were shown, no one on the leaked list of the 24 semi-finalists was eliminated Tuesday night, though we must admit we were tense waiting to see how everything played out.

The guys had a much better shot at making the Top 40 than the ladies. Of the 172 Golden Ticket to Hollywood holders, 114 were girls and only 58 were guys. So a bit more than a third of the guys, or roughly 34 percent percent were going to make the Top 40, while only about 19 percent of the girls would get there.

And after seeing the behavior in Hollywood, we weren't that upset at seeing a lot of the women leave. Although they did nothing in particular wrong on the Hollywood segment, we still applauded as we saw Porcelana Patino and Jamie Lynn Ward get the bad news. We had already heard too much of their sob stories. And then there was Sarah Burgess, who cried so much at her New York audition, we thought the city was going to run out of Kleenex. Fortunately, we only had to suffer through sniffles here.

The night started out rather brutally, with the first six girls eliminated in a blink -- 30 seconds each of singing and the whole line was dismissed by Simon with disdain. This included Jory Steinberg, the transplanted Canadian who was impressive in the New York edition and sounded good to us again in Hollywood, but we guess not good enough. The show tended to concentrate on the Golden Ticket winners the audience had already seen in the audition shows, so alas, many of the 172 who made it to Hollywood will never be seen by the national audience, though local girl Lisa Morrison, 26, of Selden, who we hadn't seen or heard about before, had a fleeting 5 seconds of fame before she was eliminated with the rest of the first line.

(We also saw about 5 seconds of Coram's JL Cotter during his group sing rehearsal. He had partnered with professional back-up singer Brandon Rogers and two females. It appears that both Cotter and Rogers made it through to the Top 40.)

Familiar faces who never made it beyond Hollywood Round 1 were Army Reservist Rachel Jenkins and blonde Michelle Steingas, who both were sent to Hollywood from Minnesota (though after the group round, the ground would be littered by other rejected Minnesotan candidates we had previously seen, including sailor Jarrod Fowler, annoying Colombian-born flirt Perla Meneses and sad sack Matt Sato, whose parents accompanied him neither to his initial audition nor to Hollywood. His relationship with them played out through a series of cell-phone calls).

And we won't have to worry about Ashlyn Carr's funny faces or criminal status any longer, because she, too, was eliminated in the first round.


In one of the show's more annoying moments, Nicole Turner, against her better judgement, decided to sing "Ain't No Way," for her mother and aunt, rather than what she wanted to sing. She was eliminated, and after a weep session with her mother outside the auditorium, her mother insisted on talking to the judges to tell them it was her fault, not Nicole's. Nicole joined in, telling the judges it was the song, at which point she got into a screaming match with Simon, who kept yelling, "It's NOT the song." This went on way too long for someone who would be going home anyway. As the two left, Simon and Paula got into a tiff over his "rudeness," while Randy asked everyone in the auditorium to give Nicole a hand. Shut up Randy, just shut up. Don't encourage bad behavior by losers.

Best group of the night honors went to the foursome of beatbox guy Blake Lewis, funny guy Chris Sligh, British boy-band guy Tom Lowe and smooth-singing guy Rudy Cardenas , whose routine and harmony was so polished, it received a standing ovation from Paula Abdul , as well as appreciative looks from Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. All four made it through to the Top 40.

And as reported here on Tuesday morning, we did see "My Grammy Moment" talent search winner Robyn Troup on the show, but she lasted only as long as the group sing, in spite of the fact that she and another girl partnered with Sundance Head, who, by his own admission, had bad solo and group sessions but somehow managed to land in one of the Top 40 candidates' rooms in the end. Although when Paula put Sundance through in the group round, Simon leaned over to her and told her she was generous as Sundance messed up two days in a row.

Also falling in the group round was Fidel Castro-Jesus Christ look-alike Sean Michel -- who had pulled back his hair and appeared to have squared off the bottom of his beard by the time he was eliminated -- as well as rolling-skating carhop Ebony Jointer.

But we cheered loudly when Amanda Coluccio finally got her comeuppance, not only because of her unbearable arrogance, but because she probably caused Baylie Brown to be eliminated in the group sing round. We suspect that the 16-year-old Texan is the contestant that Nigel Lythgoe referred to as his favorite during a conference call with the press last week. He also said she had already been eliminated because she couldn't remember the words in the group sing.

The contestants were allowed to form their own groups this year, and Baylie unfortunately joined up with "best friends" Coluccio and Antonella Barba. We can only imagine that a lack of self esteem led someone such as Barba, who appears to be a relatively nice person, to wind up with a best friend such as Coluccio, a woman so full of herself, she could explode with the next breath. You may recall that when the women auditioned in New York, Barba always deferred to Coluccio as the better singer because she had training. The judges felt otherwise and only reluctantly let Coluccio through to Hollywood.

Well, the two best friends couldn't agree on a song for the group performance and while other trios and foursomes were already practicing and preparing, Baylie helplessly sat and rolled her eyes as the friends bickered over song selection. It was pretty late by the time they started rehearsing and the more they rehearsed, the more Baylie forgot the lyrics to their song, "This Old Heart of Mine." Both Baylie and Antonella wanted to continue rehearsing, but after a while Amanda decided she was tired of rehearsing and went off on a hunt for male contestants to flirt with.

At their performance the next day, Barba did fine, but Baylie totally blew the lyrics, barely remembering a word. Coluccio remembered most of her part and, unfortunately, the judges put her through to the next round one more time. Poor Baylie was distraught, knowing she had worked harder than the other two, but Coluccio shrugged her off with a "whatever." But what really pissed us off was when Coluccio turned to the camera afterwards and said, "You know why [I've succeeded so far]? Because God likes good people." Guess God got her number the next day, because she wound up in that last lethal roomful of contestants being sent home.

So, unless our eyes were playing tricks on us, we can tell you these people definitely are in the Top 40, because we spotted them in one of the two rooms of contestants that were told they were going forward to the next Hollywood round:


AJ Tabaldo - Santa Maria, CA





Blake Lewis - Seattle, WA





Brandon Rogers - Los Angeles, CA





Chris Sligh - Greenville, SC





Jared "JL" Cotter - Coram, NY





Jason "Sundance" Head - Porter, TX





Matthew Buckstein - Denver, CO





Nicholas "Nick" Pedro - Taunton, MA





Paul Kim - San Jose, CA





Rudolpho "Rudy" Cardenas - Hollywood, CA





Sanjaya Malakar - Federal Way, WA





Thomas "Tom" Lowe - Boston, Mass.





Philip "Phil" Joel Stacey - Jacksonville, FL





Antonella Barba - Point Pleasant, NJ





Gina Glocksen - Naperville, IL





Jordin Sparks - Glendale, AZ





Leslie Hunt - Chicago, IL (?)





Melinda Doolittle - Brentwood, TN




And although we didn't spot these contestants in either of the rooms that went forward, according to our leaked information, they also made the Top 40 cut:


Anna Kearns (Audition City: Seattle)





Tami Gosnell





Bernard Williams II (Audition City: Birmingham)





Marisa Rhodes (Audition City: East Rutherford)





Tatiana McConnico (Audition City: Birmingham)





Thomas Daniels (Audition City: Seattle)





Christopher "Chris" Richardson - Chesapeake, VA




Alaina Alexander - West Hollywood, CA





Sabrina Scherff-Sloan





Stephanie Edwards




Justin Davis (Audition Cities: Birmingham & Memphis) (no photo)

OTHER IDOL NEWS

Fame is a bitch. People magazine reports that Season 5 finalist and country singer Bucky Covington and his wife Crystal, a nurse, have separated after seven years of marriage. In a statement issued through his record label, Covington said, "This is a difficult time for both of us and I would ask that everyone respect our privacy." The couple have no children. Covington released his first single, "A Different World," in January and his debut album drops on April 17.

AmericanIdol.com reports that Covington recently shot his first video for his debut single “A Different World" in Los Angeles. Shooting his debut video for his first single proved to be a new and exciting experience and Bucky feels it is a perfect depiction of the lyrics and “really shows what the song is all about.”

The video portrays not only the song’s message, but also reveals a glimpse of Bucky’s life before “American Idol.” Bucky, a huge NASCAR fan who most recently worked at painting cars in his father’s auto body shop, is shown throughout the video in a sunlit barn surrounded by vintage cars. Fans can tune into CMT's Top 20 Countdown on February 15 for the premiere of the video.

OH, ENOUGH ALREADY!

First it was Courtney Love. Now, according to Celebrity Spider former Go-Gos singer Belinda Carlisle says she, too, was asked to replace Paula Abdul, albeit a few years ago.

She says, "As far as 'American Idol' goes, I was actually approached a couple of years ago about possibly replacing Paula Abdul.

"But to answer your question [would she be a judge on the show], I really don't know. To be perfectly honest, it's just not my thing. I'd rather listen to music that comes from a more organic place. But you know, I just ... don't know if I would or not."

Er, thanks. Is every washed-up female singer in the country trying to hop a ride on the I Was Asked to Replace Paula Abdul Train?

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© 2007

Porcelana Patino: Pay Attention to Me!

Maybe she didn't like being known as the girl from New York whose name was the same as a face cream that fades dark spots on your skin. Or maybe she didn't like that Jamie Lynn Ward was getting the Idol Season 6 sympathy vote a la Season 5's Kellie Pickler. Or maybe she just wanted more attention.

Porcelana Patino managed to grab another few seconds in her 15 minutes of fame after some New York tabloids received calls on Friday Feb. 2, informing them that Patino's father had been injured in a hit-and-run accident and that she, an "American Idol" contestant, was at his bedside at Elmhurst Hospital. But called in by who? You see, this was not a breaking news story. It turns out that Mario Alfonso Astudillo, Patino's father, who suffered four broken ribs, a broken shoulder and a broken leg in the incident, was actually hospitalized either on Wednesday Jan. 24 (the night his daughter's New York Idol audition aired on Fox/5), or on Monday Jan. 29, depending on whose version of the events you want to believe.

As Elmhurst resident Patino, 27, delicately expressed it to the New York Post, "The day everybody in the world sees the freaking show, I was here. I got a taped copy. I'm on the ICU floor with my dad, and everybody's like 'I just saw you on 'American Idol.' Is that you?' I have no makeup on and I'm bawling."

Patino told the Post on Friday Feb. 2 that her father had just awoken the day before for the first time since the accident. "My dad just woke up," she said. "My father's response was 'I'm going to miss the show, the show, I'm going to miss the show.' All he is interested in is watching his daughter on the freaking show. Can you believe that?" Er, yeah.

But somehow this report doesn't make sense. The Feb. 3 New York Post article first states Patino was at her father's bedside hours after he was injured, and that a "hit-and-run driver mowed down her father the very night Fox aired the episode [which was Wednesday Jan. 24]..."

Later, the article said that "Astudillo was struck at around 5 a.m. Monday [which would have been Jan. 29] in Elmhurst as he headed to work as a maintenance man for LSG Sky Chefs."

Another newspaper account is even more vague, stating Astudillo was the victim of a hit-and-run accident in Queens last month, and that hours (not days) later in Elmhurst Hospital Center Patino's father had only one thing on his mind: To watch his daughter's quest to become the next American Idol. But according to Patino's version in the New York Post, her father was unconscious until Thursday Feb. 2. So who's zooming who here? In the words of our idol, Judge Judy: "When you tell the truth you don't have to remember your lies."

And we think Patino, who reportedly sings in the choir at St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church in Jackson Heights, maybe should start praying there as well; praying that she doesn't get caught in any more of her publicity-seeking stunts.

JAMIE LYNN WARD'S FAMILY RESPONDS

In an interview with the The Eden Daily News, Beverly Emory Ward, Idol contestant Jamie Lynn Ward's stepmommy, says she has trouble remembering much of Feb. 25, 2006 or who called the police that night. She's also not sure what made her husband, James Woodrow Ward, so angry that he shot her three times in the back and left arm with a 9-mm handgun, resulting in numerous surgeries and the loss of use of that arm.

But she said, "I remember seeing blue lights. I remember looking back at my husband, and I remember him looking at me like I was somebody he didn't know. I remember him saying, 'God forgive me for what I'm about to do.' I remember him pointing the gun at me, and I remember him shooting me three times."

But she never dreamed that stepdaughter Jamie Lynn would tell a national audience the story, so she said she had told relatives to watch the Idol Birmingham show. After Jamie's audition aired, Ward's her phone started ringing with relatives asking if she knew of Jamie's comments beforehand.

"Emotionally, it just about destroyed me," Beverly said. "She was on 'American Idol.' She should have been talking about herself and not dragging this back up." She also said Jamie Lynn's story wasn't accurate and that she wasn't cheating on James and wasn't caught in the act. "There wasn't anyone else in the house," she said.

"He had been drinking and had taken a Valium," Beverly said. "When he wasn't drinking, he was very kind. Ordinarily, he's a kind and generous person, but sometimes when he started drinking, he would think things that really wasn't so."

Beverly said she didn't press charges because she didn't think the person who shot her was the same person she had married. "That was just not my husband," she said. "That was just something I would have never expected him to do. If he hadn't been drinking, and hadn't taken that Valium, it wouldn't have happened."

Beverly said she didn't talk to James, who was paralyzed from the shooting, for six months after the incident. "He apologized," she said. "I really felt like my husband was sorry for what he had done. ... I know it does sound kinda weird," she said. "But I can't hate him for what he done. I might not understand why he did it, but I love my husband."

Since their June 2006 reconnection, Beverly has been helping to take care of James, but says that despite what Jamie Lynn told the Reidsville Review on Thursday, she has no plans to move back in with James. "My husband and I are not living together," Beverly said. "We haven't made any definite plans because I'm still in therapy, trying to get my medications right."

Sue Ward, Jamie Lynn's grandmother and James' mother, said that the family wasn't made aware of Jamie's comments on "American Idol" until they aired. "I don't know what possessed [Jamie] to say that," she said. "I don't know if it was her nerves or if they just pressed her for her story."

Since the show aired Sue Ward said she's been wary of speaking to the press because of the way words are edited and taken out of context. "It seems like everything you say is just twisted around," she said. She also doesn't like the way the story is focusing on James instead of Jamie. "I don't want publicity for Jamie because of James," she said, adding that she hopes Jamie's singing talents, not her background story, will make her successful.

... In case you haven't heard, "Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe says that he never called Courtney Love, and there are "no plans to add to or replace" Paula, Randy, or Simon. Lythgoe says he's "afraid someone may have misrepresented me." Meanwhile, in a post on her Web site, Love said she "woul dnever [sic] ever do that" and "i couldnt even get ON that show nor would I wantt o" and the Us magazine story "misrepresented and misquoted" her. Perhaps she just needs a good typing school.

... Remember Memphis contestant Sundance Head, whose dad, Roy Head, had a 1965 hit called "Treat Her Right"? Idol only showed you a teeny snippet of Roy. So, for those of you too young to remember him and his hit, check out this YouTube video of good-looking (well, the helmet-head look could use a restyle) Roy and his elastic legs on TV's "Shindig."


IDOL ALUMNI NEWS

In a nasty little bitch slap, TMZ.com says that since appearing on Idol three years ago, now 19-year-old Season 3 runner-up Diana DeGarmo has turned her look into that of a 42-year-old soccer mom. TMZ says "DeGarmo arrived at a book signing in New York this week, looking twice her age in a mid-90s menopause red 'Rachel' bob and enough pancake [makeup] to smother her entire 'Hairspray' cast. Unless DeGarmo is interested in reporting the news on Telemundo, she might want to ease up on the RuPaul rouge. Work it, mija!"

Personally, we prefer how she looked right after Idol, when she released her first album, the look shown here. Judge for yourself.

You can sample Elliott Yamin's single "Movin' On" right now on YouTube.com. Available digitally on Feb. 13, it's jazzy R&B sound is the kind Elliott performed best on Idol. With the right marketing, he could very well have a hit, especially with his "hot" new look.

Idol Chartwatch reports that in album sales:

• Pretty Ricky and the Shins’ "Late Night Special" bounced "Daughtry" down to #3 despite sales of over 80,000 albums, a 23 percent increase over last week’s sales. Daughtry was #2 on the Digital Sales chart, #2 on the Rock chart, and #7 on the Internet Album Sales chart.
• Carrie Underwood’s "Some Hearts" dropped to #14 on the Billboard 200. It remained #1 on the Country chart.
• Taylor Hicks was down to #63 on the Billboard 200.
• Fantasia was #75 on the Billboard 200 and #17 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
  
• Kellie Pickler’s Small Town Girl was #56 on the Billboard 200 and #9 on the Country chart.
• Ruben Studdard’s "The Return" was #58 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
• Kelly Clarkson’s "Breakaway" was #38 on the Pop Catalog chart.
  

Idols on the Singles Charts this week:

• Chris Daughtry’s “It’s Not Over” was #4 on the Hot 100, #21 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #4 on the Pop 100, #10 on the Pop 100 Airplay chart, #2 on Hot Digital Tracks, #2 on Hot Digital Sales, and #8 on the Adult Top 40 listing.
• Bucky Covington’s “A Different World” was #45 on the Country chart.
• Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” was #35 on the Hot 100, #41 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #45 on the Pop 100, #29 on Hot Digital Tracks, #35 on Hot Digital Sales, and #26 on the Adult Top 40. Her latest single, “Wasted,” continues to climb the Country chart where it was #21 this week. It also showed up on the Bubbling Under (Hot 100) chart at #8.
• Kimberley Locke’s “Change” was #23 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
• Clay Aiken’s “A Thousand Days” was #30 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
• Fantasia’s “Hood Boy” was #31 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart, #31 on the R&B Airplay chart, and was #34 on the Adult R&B list.
• Ruben Studdard’s single “Change Me” was #22 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles, #224 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart, and #2 on the R&B Adult airplay list. It was #73 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
• Jennifer Hudson’s “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” was #79 on the Hot 100, #74 on the Pop 100, # 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart, #23 on the R&B Airplay chart, and #15 on the R&B Adult airplay list. The dance remix of the song was #38 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.
• Kellie Pickler’s “Red High Heels” was #67 on the Hot 100, #71 on the Pop 100, #18 on the Country chart, and #72 on the Host Digital Songs listing.
• Josh Gracin’s “I Keep Coming Back” was #30 on the Country chart.
• Katharine McPhee’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” / “My Destiny,” was #5 on the Single Sales chart this week and Taylor Hicks' “Do I Make You Proud” / “Takin’ it to the Streets” was #20.

Upcoming Idol Releases:
Hits Daily Double is predicting that Katharine McPhee’s album will sell around 100,000 copies in its first week.

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© 2007