We're goin' to Hollywood, baby! And I couldn't be happier. Last night's episode — a "Best of the Rest" highlight reel of previously unaired footage from this season's seven audition cities — was the perfect appetizer for Hollywood week, offering glimpses of at least four, maybe five legitimate top-24 contenders, as well as some truly woeful performances that were presented with a tenderness-to-humiliation ratio that didn't leave me feeling as if my laughter would be punishable by an extended stay in purgatory.
But let's start with the good or, more accurately, the totally frickin' awesome. I know we only got to hear a little snippet of Tami Gosnell's "Whipping Post," but she delivered it with the ferocity and fearlessness of a woman who's spent her life on an uphill climb, which may actually be the case, considering that Tami earns a living as a pedicab driver. Simon was right that the 29-year-old came off like "someone who'd have been a big star in the '60s." With her stringy hair, makeup-free complexion, pierced lip, and earth-goddess curves, Tami's probably the closest Idol will ever come to a modern-day Janis Joplin. Let's hope she can adapt to the sometimes deadly group sing-alongs of hell week so we can get a chance to see if she's as good as her first impression.
If Tami is Idol's answer to Janis, then the show may have found its season-6 Aretha in the form of 26-year-old Lakisha Jones. The diva delivered a rousing take on the Queen of Soul's "Think" that even Simon had to describe in superlatives. Better still, Lakisha appeared to possess that rare brand of confidence that doesn't border on arrogance; she'd have to be deaf not to know she has "it," and yet she's self-aware enough to realize that having "it"' is only a start.
Paul Kim, meanwhile, is one singer who could prove harder to compare to iconic vocalists of yore, mainly because — as he noted himself — there simply haven't been many Asian-American artists who've topped the pop charts. All I could do was nod in agreement when Paul zeroed in beautifully on the trouble with Idol's one-joke pony William Hung. How is it that there's room for a lazy, "Asian accents are funny!" mentality in the record business, but not for a legitimate Asian-American artist? I did think Paul did well and sounded great during a lovely rendition of "If I Ever Fall in Love." But his breathiness and vocal ticks distracted from the song's melody. However,if he can rein it in a little, maybe he can bring some much-needed diversity to the charts.
While the those three above showcased more talent than Idol's producers have trained us to expect in a single audition-show hour, they must've been feeling extra generous when they added Ebony Jointer's audition to the episode. A tall glass of gorgeous who showed up with two coworkers to audition in their "Frisco Car Hops" uniforms, Ebony served up a heaping plate of "I Believe in You and Me" without the usual slathering of schlock we've come to expect from Idol hopefuls who tackle Whitney Houston. She was so delightful, in fact, that I can't recall much about her other pals except for that "motherly advice" comment that had Paula howling, but also maybe a tiny bit rageful.
Of course we also had the rude and deluded. Surely, there were outfits this season that rivaled Christa Fazzino's black-and-pink Flashdancey corset with veil and long shorts in the fashion-disaster department. I also wouldn't have minded if they'd doubled the length of the montage of singer-songwriters. I mean, aren't you curious how Faithon Gooding's creepy-hilarious "Do It, Do It, to Ya" ended? Or whether there was an intelligible word in Melissa Ferlak's "Flow This Desert"? How artistic was William Emil Samland III (a.k.a. "Wes") with "'Don't Worry, Don't Hurry"? Any song that uses the term "next-level love" and rhymes "towel" with "trowel" is a masterpiece.
So next week, we finally get the Hollywood episodes. I can't wait for the drama.
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