Yes, but he owned it: totally did it in his own way. AFAIK; unless someone knows diffrunt?
These auditions were held in late summer or early fall, so it’s too late to tone things down a little. And why should they? It makes more people watch so they can boo the judges.
I truly liked the back-up singer. She was very well spoken even though she was nervous, and you couldn’t hear her nerves when she sang. Hope she can come up with a strong stage presence, watching her grow into that would be interesting.
She was hands down my favorite by a mile. At first I thought it was a little unfair since she has professional gigs, but then I remembered so did Taylor, Chris,… I think her voice is as good as Fantasia’s and I like her so much more. Especially that she was down to earth and humble about it. And she will be able to put aside the nerves when she needs to perform.
I liked Sundance but his voice had the same tone throughout; not much variety or character to it.
Also forgot to mention a couple other things. Tits (in the black dress). Tits was rather astoundingly surreal. Those jugs were moving around like water balloons in a Radio Flyer being pulled along a gravel road. I won’t be surprised if the tightasses at the FCC at least clear their throats in a gruff tone.
And finally, Paula seemed less drunk than usual. At least on the first day.
(Oh, and Dio, please meet me at the Okay Corral.) 
What was with the guy fiddling around with his zipper and pulling out a hankerchief? That was just too weird. It would seem they would have called in security when he started to reach inside. That whole routine seemed more FCC material that Jugs.
I thought those were his drawers he pulled out of his pants. And I also think it was part of the montage, so he was less bound by the conventional audition. Either way, yeeesh.
What is this “producer line” you speak of?
Wow, Biggirl, you’re good. Got any lottery numbers for me? I think I’m just going to stop reading the American Idol threads.
While I agree that it’s unlikely that they would tone it down just to placate the audience (because frankly, most of the audience seems to eat this kind of stuff right up), creative editing can do a lot to make the judges sound more sympathetic or more harsh. For example, take New Dad: People have cited various things in this thread to back up the fact that he was taken by surprise and left for the hospital right afterwards, which goes a long way towards mitigating the fact that he was doing an AI audition instead of being at the hospital with his newborn. The editors could just have easily made the guy look like a total jackwad who didn’t give a crap about his kid. I take everything on this show with a grain of salt (except the singing, which you really can’t fake), because I assume that the producers are just carving it up to make a good story, rather than attempting to portray people as they actually are.
I have GOT to hear Castro guy again. I don’t think he’ll make it past Hollywood, but I was pretty blown away. That’s the kind of original song choice, and the kind of original voice, that I keep waiting and watching this show for. (I’m usually disappointed.) It’s just that tiny feeling of hope that tells me that someone really interesting could get a real opportunity out of this cheesy-ass show. Well, we’ll see.
I assume that there is a cadre of producers reviewing the entrants to see who is good enough or terribly bad enough to see the Three.
Oh, and Liberal, Tits is very proud of her confidentiality.
Oh, yeah! The line of the night, and I forgot all about it. Hillarious! 
Oh but this was much more cordial. Even the Pit thread is cordial. Unlike last year when there was so much draaaaaaammmaaaaaaaaaa.
Oh and speaking of Tits (we were speaking about here, right?) did Pauler (again, surprisingly sober. No like!) remind anyone else of speed dating scene in The 40-Year Old Virgin?
Also and on top of too— I think they edited out all the nastiness because of the State of the Union address. I can’t imagine Simon not saying anything snarky to or about that 6 foot tall, 400 lb woman they showed in the montage.
Since I don’t happen to have a shred of human decency, I missed the snark.
A.I. 1/24: Yes, it’s on again tonight for two hours. Are you still in?
Oh, lord, ain’t that the truth. Chris lovers versus Chris haters. That whole fiasco triggered a chain of events that led to my hissy fit and six month hiatus. Turned out to be just as well anyway, but still…
And let me state for the record: The returned you is much, MUCH better. Happy posting!
[…blushing…] It’s just all in the perspective. I went out and got some.
"Cawlin’ Glawria, Glawria…’
Wednesday:
It took seven minutes to even have somebody sing, all the buildup for some moron we know will suck ass. Snore. Utterly predictable that it would blow. What the hell was the point of a big buildup “he sucked and melted down on So You Think You Can Dance. Let’s see how he does here!”? Big Effing Deal.
Asking for his work visa? Oh my lord he’s the funniest one yet! Pawla Ahbdewl?
Also, those are the grossest-looking lips I’ve ever seen.