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Hello there and happy February! 

Tonight's American Idol audition round took us to Cleveland Ohio, and Orlando Florida.  We were once again treated to a few good singers, a few colorful personalities, some awful auditions, and an extra-compassionate guest judge.

Here are the top five points of tonight's show:

1) I want to start with one of the best auditions of the series thusfar: dayglo wearin, karate kickin', Aretha singin' Vonzell Solomon.

Vonzell sang a nice version of Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools."  Good voice, pretty, shapely, and probably athletic, I really like Vonzell's chances to proceed far into the competition.

2) Anthony Fedorov came to the audition complete with boyish good looks, a fantastic voice, and a sob-story to get us emotionally attached.  (Apparently a tracheotomy as a child may have jeopardized his singing voice.)

Anthony sang a song called "Angel."  He did a fantastic job.  I liked his audition a lot.  I predict that he will corner the "girl-vote" if he makes it out of Hollywood.  (I'd give him a better than 50:50 chance to make the final 24.)

3) Blue-haired Briana Davis made it through to the next round singing opera.  With the unusual outfit choice, and the choice of singing opera, she was "playing with fire."  Making that much of a statement might have influenced the judges to pigeonhole her.  (Maybe she was wise to contrast her style of clothes with her style of music.)

Briana seems like a fun lady to hang out with.  Her "humanness" really shone through in the audition.  I liked Briana.

4) "Farm Boy" Patrick Norman came in with overalls.  (I wonder where his straw hat and corncob pipe were?  Maybe he thought he was auditioning for "Hee-Haw.")  He sang a Nat King Cole song named "Smile."

Patrick sang well enough to make it through to Hollywood.  We'll see how he does.  I am not quite sure whether America will fall in love with his gimmick.

5) Most interesting of the night goes to Scott Savol.  If you remember, Scott was that sort of odd-looking fellow who sang a great version of "Superstar."

I really don't know how this guy will do in the long run.  He seems very humble, he has a fantastic voice, but he looks really odd.  (Think Spaz's friend Larry from the movie "Meatballs," then take away the hair.)  My wife and I debated how he would best go about changing his look to make himself more appealing to the public.

My wife thought that he would look better with a Simon Cowell sort of haircut, rather than the buzzcut that he sports now.  I am more of the school of thought that he should grow out the hair, grow a soul patch, and possibly wear some glasses.  (Kind of like the guy from Blues Traveler, or maybe even like Jerry Garcia.)

I sketched it out:

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Other notables of the evening:

* First singer Jaclyn Crum came out looking really shy and mousey.  She didn't look like she belonged there, but she sang well enough.  If she gets more practice before Hollywood, she may show enough improvement to advance.

* Simon Cowell had the unenviable task of mentioning that karaoke box owner Sarah Sue Kelley has an image problem.  I am sure that she would have been much better received if she had a makeover before the audition.  Her singing was interesting.

* There was a mime on the show.  Her name was Jennifer Paige.  I thought that the judges should have thrown coins at her after she was done "singing." 

*  The Jackson sisters' mom looks like someone famous.  (A character actress from the 1970s and 1980s.)  I can't put my finger on who...

* Marissa Ganz belted out a version of the song "White Boys."  Marissa was a cool, attractive woman.  I wasn't much of a fan of her choice of dress.  It looks like she was on her way to a cocktail party.

* Final audition of the show went to "Dancing Man" Dezmond Meeks.  Simon and Randy didn't vote him through.  Paula threw a fit until Randy let him through to Hollywood.  Dezmond Meeks wasn't as bad as Simon and Randy made him out to be.  I am a bit skeptical that he's as good as Paula thinks.  For Dezmond's sake, let's hope that Paula is right.

Best line of the night came when Simon asked Paula after her fit: "So Paula: Yes, or No?"  Her reaction was really funny!

That's it for tonight's show.  Until tomorrow, See you!