American Idol, Season 8!

I'm obsessed with American Idol.  Ever since Season 1, when I called that Kelly Clarkson was going to be in the final (granted -- I thought it would be against Tamyra Gray, not Justin Guarini -- but who's keeping track?), I've been on a rampage.  I've posted to chat rooms, I've read recaps, and yes, I've even voted (just once -- and you won't be able to guess for whom).

I'm not crazy about the audition rounds.  At this point, I feel like the crappy singers are doing it just to get on TV.  At least in the first few seasons, there were some genuinely deluded singers -- and it was especially fun to see the audience not know what to do with itself with them (see Jim Verraros and William Hung).  But now, like, Sanjaya's and Bikini Girls and Picklers are getting famous for no good reason.  Well, anyway, that's why I'm saving the blogging until now.

Hollywood Week eps 1 and 2 have now aired.  Reason #1 I love this part?  It's the only part where Paula actually takes her job seriously.  She tells people when they're bad, and she tells people when they're actually good, and not just pretty.  It's a week where the judges aren't playing for the camera, and you finally get to see why they are judges.

Reason #2?  The group day!  The.  Best.  Drama.  Ever.  So many self-righteous people who TOTALLY throw stones from deep within their glass houses show just how ugly their souls are.  It's awesome.  

Reason #3?  This is where you start to separate the wheat from the chaff.  I'm totally digging Kris Allen this season.  I like Danny Gokey and his bromance with what's his name, but I'm thinking they're peaking too early.  Those singers almost never win (see Tamyra, David Archuleta, Melinda Doolittle).  The winners are almost always ones who grow somehow over the course of the season.  A bunch of the really memorable girls (i.e., the ones with tattoos and piercings) got cut.

Yeah, I could write about this stuff forever.  I can't wait for the rest of the season.