Idol Gossip: New Yawk

Emotions ran high during American Idol's New York auditions and the tears flowed freely. Tears of sadness, anger, disappointment, desperation--and, yes, joy...the joy experienced by the thrity five people who got their Golden Ticket to Hollywood. Those who didn't make it seemed to want to make the judges understand just how much being on Idol meant to them, as if that would change the verdict, but even the soft hearted Paula Abdul was unmoved by such pleading.

There were no tears from Ian Benardo, however, and it seems unlikely that we've seen the last of him, even though this is the second reality show, after So You Think You Can Dance?, that he's crapped out on. There's still Last Comic Standing, after all, where he actually might have a shot. In his stubborn conviction, despite all evidence, that he is a great talent, he sort of reminds me of the character of Jack from Will & Grace.

Of those who made it, the best bet for making the Top 12 is Kia Thornton. She was a surprise to me. To put in Idol terms, I wasn't expecting the big Mandisa type voice from her tiny Paris Bennett body.

Antonella Barba, who auditioned with and far outshone her best friend Amanda, and Jory Steinberg are two others who have a good shot at making the finals. Christoper Richardson may, as Simon predicted, surprise the judges in the next round and make it the first round of live voting, but he most likely will be gone before the Top 12 are decided. Nicholas Pedro's second shot at Hollywood will probably end like his first one last season, despite his protestations that he has changed. I can see Jenry Bejarno making it out of Hollywood, but fading early and failing to make the finals.

Well, that's still a couple of weeks off, and next Tuesday, it's the Birmingham, Alabama auditions.