Tuesday Night's Season Premiere Episode Recap

I admit, I did clear tonight's family calendar for the Idol opener. Didn't make the kids cook their own dinner (yet) but did shush everybody a number of times and put a hold on on family calls and emergencies. And wasn't disappointed!

The Idol franchise opened Season 8 with 4 and a half minutes of very powerful television. For those who missed it, 'twas a montage of winners, losers, and also-rans (And Elliot's mom, love her), but my favorites were the Winning Moments of all 7 previous Idol winners.....each had their own story, but the message was clear: this show changes lives and makes dreams come true. Powerful stuff! Grand Canyon!

This show's auditions were from Phoenix AZ, home to 106 degree temps and Jordin Sparks. Since it's 3 degrees here as I write, that doesn't sound so bad :) but I know it was hot. The new judge, Kara, was impressive...her bio was amazing, and I actually liked her. They didn't really show much of her commenting, so I wonder if it's like the first week of camp where everyone is friends, until people really get to know each other.....but I reserve judgement. Bikini Girl brought out a little venom which was fun, more on her later....but Kara can stay, IMO.

I don't want to give too much "press" to the bad people cause there is no point, but for recap's sake we'll just mention the Micheal Jackson wanna-be Twan; the "tremensely" untalented "Drama Queen" Randy; X-Ray ("Cactus, or whatever your name is"as Simon put it); Kara's Biggest Fan, complete with pink cowboy hat; and Sexual Chocolate. Okay, enough said.

Who impressed me? Well, we have a couple of folks who did simply because they didn't look anything like they sounded. This includes the Oil Driller Guy from Day 2, Micheal Sarver, AKA the Complete Opposite of Ryan Seacrest. Sure, he's a family man who happens to be employed in the 5th most dangerous occupation in the world, but dude can also carry a sweet tune. I found myself hearing a soulful Elliot Yamin in his voice...and wondering....is this sensitive roughneck going any farther than Hollywood? Dare I get attached?

You also had to be a bit taken back by the fright film teen, who's eyelashes were longer than my Malibu Barbie and was almost as pretty...he actually could sing, and with the right hair and make-up....teen sensation! Move over, one of the Jonas Bros! I was also very surprised by Alex "out of the closet" Tugman (forgive me if I've not got the names exactly right). He looked NOTHING like he sounded, and all I can say is, he must have spent lots of time in that closet listening to Clay Aiken records.

Who impressed in a good way? The same contestants who impressed you, I would guess: first of all, Stevie Wright, AKA Ms. Born With It, who's "At Last" prompted Paula to comment that she has Kelly Clarkson strength...I would imagine being named after one of rock/pop's greatest vocalists carried some pressure, but Stevie seems to have done okay. I also enjoyed J.B., who reminded me of David Archuleta a bit, but didn't get much backstory (we only know that his family is 'struggling'). The bright 16yo Arianna Afsar, when she's not befriending senior citizens, must be practicing her vocal chops cuz she was enjoyable (and Simon provided one of the funniest vocal quips of the night when suggesting that if Paula ever comes to AZ, Arianna could help her out...LOL). Even though she made it through, I won't comment on Bikini Girl cause I just don't have the energy, but will give mention to Brianna "I love you!" who was so cute but likely won't last long, to Lonely Girl Deanna, who had a Nora Jones vibe but no one to celebrate with when she got her Golden Ticket, and to Scott, who's rendition of "And So It Goes" was like no other I've heard....we'll see what happens with you!

LOVED the montage to Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive"....I'm a sucker for cheesy stuff like that, and isn't this why we love American Idol? I've decided that the next job I want is to be in film editing so I can splice together stuff like this. What fun, eh? What, you say, sitting through days and hours and weeks and months of auditions just to get 3 seconds of funny/good/memorable/heartbreaking footage? Sure :)

So, there you have your American Idol Season 8 opener! Would love to hear what YOU thought of it!