Reality Ravings

American Idol - Season 7 hit the Australian TV screens through Fox 8 apparently only five and half hours behind the screening in the US. I cannot figure out the time zone so I will just have to believe them.

Also with the time frame does this mean Australian's vote this year? Somehow I doubt it but with the technology these days it cannot be far off where there will be some international voting for some reality TV show.

After last years poor showing the American Idol series should be expected to rate highly this year because there are no other shows on TV due to the continuing writers strike in the US.

The Idol juggernaut went to seven cities, and over 100,000 people auditioned with the hope taking out the title or maybe just to get their face on TV.

Anyway first up was Philadelphia where the biggest crowd ever showed up. Isn't there anything better to do in this city maybe they need to build more skate board ramps or something.

The show started with Simon Cowell looking bored, Paula Abdul flashing her white bra through a sheer top (couldn't wardrobe afford a camisole?) , Randy continued to laugh at contestants he thought were bad, and Ryan Seacrest trying to look interested when he was interviewing the wannabe hopefuls.

Always on Idol the contestants have got to have a story - so first up contestant Joey Cattalone story was he had lost over 200lbs. Randy had sympathy for him as he also has had a huge weight loss though this season it looks like it has plateaued. With a ok singing voice he got the golden ticket through to Hollywood.

One of the things that does frustrate me with Idol is the Producers putting through to the judges auditionees with clear mental health issues. One of these contestants called Al was clearly nuts and there he was having Simon roll his eyes at him and Randy and Paula snickering.

Another person who was given this treatment was James Lewis a guy who sang in a low gravelly tone flat voice - who was bewildered to have Paula laughing at him. Is it really necessary to inflict national humiliation of a vulnerable person like this?

Website A Typical Girl also raises this issue./

I am not a wowser some of the bad auditions are hilarious but some are just sad.

American Idol this year were also showing the good singers that were getting through to Hollywood.

Melanie Nyema a back up singer, Jenot Joiner, and Johnathan Baines were examples of this.

Temptress Brown a black sixteen year old footballer was in Philly to audition for her sick mother. Her mother had come to the audition in a wheelchair. She was huge and her body was clearly the sign of her physical ailments. Why wasn't she hospitalised to lose weight? Or is that not paid for on the public health system in the US? If not it should be. She has clearly eaten herself to death.

Temptress had huge expectations and you really wanted her to be good, but she was hopeless singing a Jennifer Hudson number. Simon for once put her down gently - and then she started sobbing. Paula was hugging her and the judges walked her out of the room to meet the family.

Has Simon found a heart I thought? But was reassured later in the show that he hadn't when he said to Randy that American's are weird that when a friend gets good news they celebrate it.

Randy looked gobsmacked - especially when Simon continued by saying " I could not do it". Does he have any friends and if so don't bother ringing him to tell him you got a promotion, won the lottery, or are getting married as obviously he cannot give a rats. Also maybe it is why his girlfriend Teri Seymour always looks so miserable in photographs.

A weird Paul Materano came into do a love song for Paula Abdul - It was called the stalkers song it had lines in it like "If I were Columbo, I'd Peter Falk her." and other innuendos. I was surprised it did not have a line that said "If I were a pig, I'd pork her".

Anyway was this guy a creep or a set up? Well it has been revealed on Idolater that this guy does it for a living? So are the producers now paying people to perform at the audition shows. It made sense as Paula did not seem overly creeped out by it or maybe with all her botox and her face is having difficulty showing any expression.

Another contestant who I thought may have been a plant or just producers using a nutter was Alexis Cohen some sort of glitter dyke who lived with her mother in a bed sit. A fulltime student at 24 always screams mental health issues to me.

Simon thought she was a bit possessed and reminded him of Willem Dafoe in the Batman movie.

I thought the judges had put her down gently, but when she got out of the room she had a mega meltdown swearing and raving on, added to the fact that they had a shot of her living space I thought is this real or set up?

Then were the heart string stories of Angela Martin 26 with a daughter with Rhetts diesease who deservedly got the golden ticket.

Also there was Kirsty Lee Cook from Oregon who apparently had to sell one of her horses to get to Philly to audtion. But again the show did not reveal that she has previously had a contract with Arista Records. Popwatch Blog has more details

This was apparently the same for pure nanny Brooke White who has never seen a R rated movie - they did not mention she was in a band and has a full on my space page. I don't have a problem with professionals applying but don't portray them as amateurs and expect the google loving public to fall for it.

One person I did feel sorry for not getting the golden ticket was Christin Talisano - the Princess Leia fan who even dressed like her. I thought she was hilarious.

So come on American Idol a bit more transparency please.