Hollywood auditions: brief encounter

When you saw the delight and expectation on the faces of those getting through to the Hollywood auditions of American Idol you, like they, probably expected someone to listen to a bit more than a couple of lines of a tune. But that's all we're led to believe the judges did have to decide with. One or two managed three or four lines but most seemed to get about 20 seconds max.

OK, behind the scenes Randy, Steve and Jennifer and no doubt a troupe of others will have watched videos of the usually two numbers performed at audition and seen a bit more of the many hopefuls there. And, who knows, maybe the 20 seconds was enough to move the printed photo from one sheet to another, do the two row thing and move on. A nice pair of legs would suit Steven anyway at this stage.

It was difficult in the rushed single programme to catch every name through as 300+ were whittled down to 150+ and we simply didn't see more than a glimpse of about 30. I don't know but my guess is that the producers, knowing who does get through to the live shows, are focussing on them and also keeping one or two surprises in store for us later. Being able to audition remotely via a MySpace upload has made quite a difference too. Those that took that route escaped the queues and nerves of performing in the initial rounds and probably mostly had plenty of time and enough talent to make a decent job of whatever file they eventually sent in.

So, from this very brief encounter, here's my take of those who seemed to help their cause, those who may be on our screens for longer but didn't impress me much and, lastly, the missing ones who I guess we'll see in the group section.

These did well:
Brett Loewenstein | Casey Abrams | Paris Tassin | Lauren Alaina | Chris Medina | Jaycee Badeaux | Chelsea Oaks | Jacqueline Dunford | Scott McCreery | Jerome Bell

These just did:
Rachel Zavita | Thia Megia | James Durbin | Robbie Rosen | Rob Bolin | Hollie Cavenaugh | Jackie Wilson | Tiffany Rios

Missing but known to be through
Stefano Langone | Ashley Sullivan | Clint Jun Gamboa | Julie Zorrilla | Naima Adedapo | Guitierez Bros | Molly DeWolf | 

Missing but presumed to be through
Tim Halperin | Tiwan Strong | Ashton Jones | Brittany Mazur | Eryn Kelly | Hailey Reinhard | Jessica Cunningham | Karen Rodriguez | Kendra Chantelle | Alex Ryan | Colton Dixon | DeAndre Brackensick | Jacob Lusk | John Wayne Schultz | Jordan Dorsey | Jovany Barreto | Paul McDonald | Keisha Renee | Lauren Turner | Pia Toscano | T Tynisa Wilson 

That still leaves a remarkable, and perhaps entirely unremarkable, unscreened 100! They must be feeling very pissed after all this time. Still, their photo and interviews can be seen here.