American Idol - Top 36 (Wild Card)

We will get our final 3. My money's on Anoop, Megan, and Matt. There are rumors of a Top 13 but I'll stick to picking 3.

Jesse Langseth - "Tell Me Something Good" - I don't think the judges will be telling her...something...uh...you know the rest. Kara and Paula said that it was sexy but I think it looked more like she was having sex than being sexy. I kinda wanted them to pixelate her at points. A little skeevy. Probably not a Wild Card choice.

Matt Giraud - "Who's Lovin' You" - It started off really good and then he "riffed" way too much. At times it was amazing and other times it was overkill. He really wanted it and he sang his butt off. He showed every note he can hit (or almost hit). That's all you can ask after the Coldplay debacle. Simon said he reminded him of Taylor Hicks. I saw a little Ray Charles myself. He should got one of the spots.

Megan Corkrey - "Black Horse And a Cherry Tree" - I dropped the joy from her name because she dropped the joy tonight. It was not good but I just like her so much! I want to squeeze her until her tattoo comes off. The song choice was right but she is limited vocally. However, she got the Simon endorsement so she might be back. In fact, I'm going to be positive. Spiggles will be back! Who doesn't want to see that dance again? Girl's got guilty feet (comment if you get the reference).

Von Smith - "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" - The beginning is rough but he'll belt it out to make it better. He's like Anwar from Season 4. Rough until the big notes. The judges thought it was too serious, even dark. His face during the judgment showed that he knew he blew it. Maybe he's better off shouting. He could make tons on a subway platform. Those trains are loud.

Jasmine Murray - "Reflection" - She didn't go with Rihanna. I would have put money on that. She was really good and controlled. I liked it a lot and I'm now worried about my 3 prelim picks. Simon thinks she could be in. I have to agree. Side note: If she doesn't make the Top 12, she can always be the "After" photo if Mo'Nique gets an endorsement from Jenny Craig and she doesn't feel like putting in the effort.

Thanks, Jenny Craig!

Ricky Braddy - "Superstition" - Bring it, tight pants! Skinny Jeans never stood a chance tonight. I actually thought he was good but you could tell the judges wanted nothing to do with him. I guess I'll skip to the next singer just like the judges did.

Tatiana Del Toro - "Saving All My Love For You" - Didn't she sing this last time? I love that it's awful. I love it. I love love love it. I love that I love that I love it. Kiss me, awful singing. Kiss me. When she reached towards the screen on the last note, I thought she was going to come through the screen and kill me a la The Ring. Also, she picked up an accent because she noticed it worked for Jorge Nunez. Psycho. She's crazy crazy. Like carve "American Idol 4 Eva" into her chest and then use the ink from a Bic pen to fill it in crazy. The farce needs to end now.

Anoop Desai - "My Prerogative" - Oh, Anoop. I actually did not like this at all but the judges did which I think is awesome. I like Anoop and feel he can come into his own as the contest continues. I really hope this doesn't come off as racist but he seems like a combination of every character Kal Penn has ever played. He's got the suaveness of Kumar. He's got the heart of Kutner. He's got the he-could-go-into-a-crazy-rant-at-any-time twinkle in his eye of Taj. Plus, I loved when he wasn't sure what Randy meant by Anoop Brown Dawg. He'll get a spot.

And the Wild Cards go to...

Jasmine Murray (Gastric Bypass Mo'Nique deserved it)

Megan Corkrey (Spiggles!)

Matt Giraud (Now that he's in and can use half of his dueling pianos, he can be a force)

Anoop Desai (Lucky 13)

That's it for me this week. I can't wait for this competition to really start so we can think things like "How did we let that person in?" or "I remember her singing a lot better" or "Why did they do 13? There's barely 5 good ones" and the like.

American Idol Top 36 (Week 1)

I'm a huge American Idol fan. I don't know why people feel the need to be embarrassed by watching it. It's awesome. Embrace it. So, here are my thoughts:

Jackie Tohn - "A Little Less Conversation" - I want to say this was good because she seems quite likable but it wasn't. She brought back spandex, however. (We all know how i feel about spandex. The answer's good if you didn't know.) Flailing around the stage like she was on fire, she "entertained" but not in the way I think she was going for. But she had fun which is all that matters when she looks back on this as she heads home.

Ricky Braddy - "A Song For You" - There's always one person that gets no screen time during the audition period and Hollywood Week. That's Ricky Braddy. He really rocked this song. Not Elliot Yamin rocked but still, rocked. He doesn't make the top 3 for the week but there is no way he's not in the talks for a wild card.

Alexis Grace - "I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You" - She apparently got dirty by dying her hair pink. She's Kelly Clarkson dirty at best but she has a long way to go to the Christina Aguilera or Nicole Scherzinger level of dirty, also known as the Pig-Pen Class of female pop stardom. Still, she's really good and deserved the first spot in the Top 12.

Casey Carlson - "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" - She is really pretty and now she can go be pretty with common folk.

Anoop Desai - "Angel of Mine" - How is Anoop going home? I know he wasn't great like he has been but he should be in the Top 12. Sadly, we now have two wild cards given out in the first week leaving one for the next two weeks. Doesn't look good for both Anoop and Ricky.

Brent Keith - "Hick Town" - He seems like a good guy but if he couldn't win Nashville Star, a show totally in his element, how could he win a contest that really doesn't care for country stars. (Yes, I know Carrie Underwood won but she was an awesome singer and won singing pop songs.)

Michael Sarver - "I Don't Wanna Be" - This was not very good. When Ryan asked him what his roughneck coworkers would think, I fast forwarded because my wife gets very angry when we watch any more Idol content than necessary. Still, I like to think his roughneck friends would be saying, "Where the hell is he? He's been out of work for months! No good bum! These giant wrenches don't turn themselves!" Welcome to the Top 12, second-best feel-good story.

Ann Marie Boskovich - "Natural Woman" - She got the words right. That's something.

Stevie Wright - "You Belong With Me" - She younged herself up by singing Taylor Swift. I don't know a lot about Taylor Swift but she apparently can't sing her own songs very well. Maybe that's why Stevie tried it. This is one of those song choices where you might be able to be better than the original. Nice thought. Regardless, she failed miserably but she's young and she'll be back in Season 9 (unless you aren't allowed to come back if you make the Top 36).

Stephen Fowler - "Rock With You" - Seriously, he deserved to go home just for picking this song. This is what he does with his second chance? Really? REALLY? Why not sing a medley of Stevie Wonder, Queen, and Whitney Houston? That could work.

Tatiana Del Toro - "Saving All My Love For You" - I was just saying something about Whitney Houston, I think. Anyway, Tatiana is the scariest person to ever grace the stage of American Idol. More like Tatiana Del Loco. Am I Right? High five. She had the last few weeks to see that she was depicted as a psychopath but here's the thing: the camera never lies. She's guano crazy. I loved her controlled, "I'm not really like that" attitude this week. She held it in just enough to snap. I wouldn't be surprised if she is eventually charged with the murders of all four judges. Police will find her in her basement singing to the decapitated heads of Simon, Paula, Randy, and Kara that she will have impaled on sticks so they seem like they are paying attention. Beware all involved in American idol especially that crew member she thanked during Hollywood week. You're on her radar. Yikes and good riddance.

Danny Gokey - "Hero" - He's not going home, probably ever. His singing was good but he's sounded better. He's still my favorite and I like that Simon tried to keep him grounded. Simon always says the right thing to each person. Sometimes he talks too long and gets excessively mean but what he says is always the thing that needs to be said to that contestant at that moment. It's amazing. Simon likes Danny and wants him to stay around and I do too.

Bonus thought:

Michael Johns and Carly Smithson - "The Letter" - Can we vote them off again? This was rough.