American Idol 9 - Hollywood Week, Part 1

After a month of audition shows, the competition got under way Tuesday in Hollywood. Along with it, America’s favorite lesbian, Ellen DeGeneres, finally joined the judging panel.

Ellen explained her qualifications to be a judge: “I do know what it’s like to stand on stage and please a room full of people.”

Which means a Goldie from the Clairmont Lounge could be an “American Idol” judge. Hey…not a bad idea. I wouldn’t mind a little music followed by some beer cans being crushed by massive knockers on primetime TV.

While 181 wannabes made it to Hollywood week, you’d never know it watching Tuesday’s frenetic hour full of too many commercials. With groups of eight performing in sudden death rounds –either coming back for tomorrow night’s group rounds or going home—we never met most of the people being cut, so there was no emotional attachment to worry about.

Many of the contestants who sounded good in auditions—and some who should have never made it to Hollywood in the first place (I’m looking at you, SkiiBoSki)—were shown the door quickly.

Read the rest of the recap at Project Q Atlanta now!

Savannah Report

The trip down to Savannah for my reading at the Savannah College of Art & Design was quick, but fun. It was gloomy and rainy for the entire the three-and-half hour drive (I listened to Miles Davis the whole way -- good driving music). I stayed in a gorgeous new hotel in the historic district called Springhill Suites (it's a Marriott hotel) that I booked on Priceline. I'd never done the bit where you name a price, they pick a hotel and you don't find out which one until after they charge your credit card. I seriously lucked out.

The reading with poet John Valentine was organized by poet Mary Kim and held in SCAD's beautifully renovated Arnold Hall on Bull Street. The former school building has been totally renovated and the auditorium was striking. I think there were between 75 and 100 in the audience, most of them students. John read a selection from his chapbooks and then I read a chapter of Conquering Venus. We had a good Q&A afterwards and then a few students came up to talk personally and have their books signed. I nabbed one of the posters (pictured) SCAD had put up all over campus.

After the reading, Mary, John, his wife Dona and I went to dinner at the fancy 700 Drayton restaurant in The Mansion Hotel. The food was delicious (I had filet mignon) and so was the wine. We closed the place down, talking about poetry, movies and more. Mary and the Valentines were great company, and I'm already looking forward to going back down to Savannah to see them again.

Many, many thanks to Mary and SCAD for having me.

Off to Savannah

I'm reading tonight in Savannah at the Savannah College of Art & Design with John Valentine, 7 p.m. in Arnold Hall. You can see the details at this link. I'll have a report tonight or tomorrow with some photos.

American Idol 9 - Best of the Rest Auditions

After a month of often vomit-inducing audition shows, “American Idol” finally let us have a look at some of the contestants going on to the Hollywood round next week.

Miss Seacrest said that only 181 contestants out of the more than 100,000 auditioned made it to Hollywood. Next week, the process will begin to whittle that number down to 24 – meaning 12 boys and 12 girls.

A quick Google search will tell you who the Top 24 are – since those episodes were filmed weeks ago. The list may or may not change as the live shows approach in mid February, but I think it’s pretty accurate.

Who did we see tonight that made it to the Top 24? There are some potential spoilers ahead, so stop reading now if you don’t want to know.

Lacey Brown (pictured), who auditioned with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” is one of them. She made Top 50 last year and they chose Megan Joy instead. A huge mistake because Megan Joy was like Big Bird on crack and mostly squawked.

Lee Dewyze, who mostly hummed “Ain’t No Sunshine,” has also apparently made the Top 24, so he must get better in Hollywood. Or not.

Read the rest of the recap at Project Q Atlanta!

American Idol 9 - Denver Auditions

It’s the final week of audition episodes on “American Idol” before all those given golden tickets converge on Hollywood for selection of the Top 24 by the judges, including Ellen DeGeneres.

But before Cali, we had to make a stop over in Denver for another evening of auditions. While a montage was shown of all the great singers put through to Hollywood – 26 in all – we only got to see a few of them.

Victoria “Chicken Bone” Beckham was back as celebrity guest judge, looking like a dirty q-tip and offering very little in the way of actual judging, but quite animated when it came to what the contestants were wearing. Too bad this isn’t “Project Runway.”

Not without my daughter…errr…son: Mark Labriola was kidnapped by his mother when he was four and wasn’t reunited with his father until he was 10. While Simon made a joke of his back story, it turns out that Labridoodle can actually sing. Probably won’t make the Hollywood cut, but maybe he could be a Jack Black impersonator at parties.

That Wile E. Coyote Look: With a skeezy laugh and a deep scar in his forehead, Mario Galvan sang a flat version of “Jailhouse Rock” and looked like he’d been hit in the head with an Acme anvil. All that was missing was the Road Runner zipping by. Beep Beep!

Not broken. Yet. Danelle Hayes hosts karaoke nights at nightclubs and sings in a cover band at corporate parties. She had a big, belting voice and was put through to Hollywood. Simon said he believed “Idol” was Danelle’s savior and that she would finally be allowed to be herself. He was joking, right?

Read the rest of the recap at Project Q Atlanta now!

Buy More Books

If you're an author and your name isn't Dan Brown, Stephen King or Mary Oliver, then chances are your book needs a sales boost. Here are four titles that I can whole-heartedly recommend:

Sassing: Poems by Karen Head - WordTech Press has notified Karen that if her brilliant debut collection doesn't sell 250 copies by summer, it will go out of print. This cannot happen. If you want a collection full of smart, contemporary poetry then look no further. Buy a copy today at Amazon.

Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine: A Novel by Ben Tanzer - Orange Alert Press is holding a fire sale and you can purchase one of the last 60 copies of Tanzer's excellent novel for just $6! Visit this link to buy a copy and find out more.

Invisible Sisters: A Memoir by Jessica Handler - A moving tribute and exploration of grief by Jessica, who lost both her sisters to rare blood disorders. Buy it at Amazon.

Gorizia Notebook: Poems by Robert Wood - A witty and lovely travelogue of poems set in Italy. Soak up the Mediterranean light on these cold winter days. You can purchase it at Amazon.

And since I'm tooting their horns, might as well toot mine, too: Conquering Venus is available in print and as an e-book for all you folks with Kindles, Nooks and getting ready to buy an iPad. You can buy a copy at Amazon or visit the book's blog for a list of other retailers.

Vanessa Daou: Love Among the Shadowed Things

You simply must listen to (or download) Vanessa Daou's brilliant, Love Among the Shadowed Things, recorded for the Weird Tales for Winter show curated by Jonny Mugwump on UK radio station Resonance 104.4FM. Poetry, ghostly jazz, sinister choirs, footsteps, trains clacking on tracks, a needle endlessly circling the lead-out of a record and Vanessa's unmistakable voice -- it's like the soundtrack for a film David Lynch has yet to make. Brava!

The Next Invasion

My article, "The Next Invasion," about up-and-coming UK musicians -- including Hurts, Ellie Goulding and Delphic (above) -- is now up at Soldout. Delphic is already becoming an underground fave in the US and I expect Ellie will make a splash here, too.