Poets on Twitter 3.0

MINI-AMERICAN IDOL RECAP - MIAMI: I was at Outwrite Bookstore last night for a reading by Jim Elledge from his Lambda Award-winning, book-length poem A History of My Tattoo with great support from Jessica Hand and Yolo Akili. That means I missed American Idol, but I've now caught the highlights via YouTube and other sources. I forgot to mention in Tuesday's recap that Paula showed up late to the audition (her plane was delayed...hmmm) and she seemed a little loopy, but not slipping under the table like last season. But last night at the Miami auditions, her big Coca-Cola cup must have been filled with Vicodin tea because she was a mess.

After Gahleb Emachah's so-so audition of some boring Marc Anthony song, Miss Pills was wandering around the room, humming to herself and looking like Brit Brit on a drug store run. Simon held up her cup and yelled, "I need someone to check this." Snap! I can't believe they let him go to Hollywood. That's him hugging (or possibly holding up) a dazed P in the pic at left.

Fat girls are beautiful, and often crazy, but Corliss Smith and Brittany Wescott were funny and could sing. They were flirting outrageously with Simon and Randy (one liked big teddy bears, the other liked skinny men) and I guess it was a good way to kill another 10 minutes. That's one of them shoving her ta-tas into Simon's face in the other pic after they both got sent to Hollywood.

Probably the best of the evening -- of the ones I watched -- was Syesha Mercado. She has a huge voice and was a little over the top with Aretha's Think, but if she tones it down a bit, she might make it far. As Randy often says, "you can blow." Doesn't that sound kind of nasty? Or maybe it's just me.

Paula back on pills is a welcome return, since Simon has turned into such a nice guy this season. Are the producers muzzling him, or is he just collecting a paycheck until his contract runs out in a couple of years? He better turn up the nasty comments when the competition gets under way or the show is really going to suck hard this season.