Opposite Day

I almost feel like I'm in an alternate universe today. Because I'm about to do something I don't do very often ... completely disagree with Tee.

(Well, I DO agree that Hollywood week is WAY better than the 15,000 audition weeks.)

Though I was skeptical at first, I'm thrilled about Ellen as a judge. She was absolutely hysterical! The whole "step back, step to the left, step up, you're all through" bit, though crappy for the contestants I'm sure, made for good TV from my end. And when she impersonated Paula's seal-clap I about died laughing. I'm going to like her (and I hope she doesn't make me eat my words).

I really like Andy Garcia. His *sob* story isn't really sob worthy, in my opinion. But I think AI requires all contestants to come up with some sort of sad backstory, and that's all he could come up with. (And I appreciate that, because I've repeatedly said that I could never be on reality TV because I'm just too normal.) He actually reminds me of Kris Allen - the way he tweaked the song to fit his style. (Although, I wanted to kick Kara when she compared him to Adam instead - because Adam is the ONLY AI contestant ever to change a song to make it his own, you know.) I'm pulling for him.

I also loved Big Mike. His voice doesn't really fit the package, in my opinion, but it's fantastic. And I also like that he doesn't have a real *sob* story. He's missing the birth of his 1st child, which will probalby turn out to be his sob story, but he's NORMAL, too. I like normal. (Plus, I think he's kinda hot.)

I don't like the guy who sang the David Cook song and couldn't figure out why the judges were all over him. I can't stand the guy who took off his shirt, and I don't even know why he got through. I guess the "rocker" girl was okay, but she'll never win.

Okay, in all fairness, I also agree with Tee on a few of the other contestants:

Crystal is awesome. She reminds me of my hippy sister and I LOVE her voice.
Lilly is also awesome (and she's from my hometown - Littleton, CO - so I'm pulling for her extra hard).
And the 16 year old "country pop" singer WAS screechy and awful.

On to Group Week ... my other least favorite time of AI. :(