Aloha, 'Idol'! The Judges Hit Hawaii
Jan 28th, 2004
January 28, 2004
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It wasn't exactly Girls Gone Wild, but SIMON COWELL and RANDY JACKSON did go a little girl crazy on their West Coast tour -- at least to hear judge PAULA ABDUL tell it on last night's edition of "American Idol."
She was under the weather for the Los Angeles auditions, but said she found it amusing that the "boys" greenlighted so many more women than men, including a talented little person named Jasmine.
"I just find it odd that since I wasn't there to keep my boys on a leash, they went crazy," she said with a winking smile.
Tonight on ET, Paula will give us more of her exclusive "Idol" thoughts before the series continues its search for the next Kelly Clarkson or Ruben Studdard in the tropical paradise of Hawaii.
It's been a long haul for the judges, who've traveled across the country to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, New York City and Honolulu to find the next "Idol." The judges would sometimes sit through 120 good, bad and just plain deafening auditions a day.
After listening to the almost 80,000 people who want to be pop stars, Simon, alias Mr. Nasty, says, "A million people could apply for this show and you're still only going to find two good people, and that is the horrible statistic. You saw what happened last year. There are only two people every year, or in some cases only one person who makes a difference. Of course, every one of the 80,000 thinks they're fantastic."
FOX's so-bad-it's-good, talent-search series kicked off its third season Monday, Jan. 19, with a rib-tickling premiere featuring auditions from New York City. As always, the Brit wit was in rare form, even speaking canine to tell one awful wannabe to "Woof, woof -- get out."
The opening night hijinks worked: Approximately 29 million viewers tuned in to the premiere, making it the highest-rated season or series debut on any network of the 2003-'04 season.
The fun continued the next night from Ryan's hometown of Atlanta, GA, with a tone-deaf medley of "A Whole New World" and more screechy auditions. Then, "American Idol" unleashed more tryouts from the Deep South when it hit Houston on Wednesday.
"There's never a shortage of talent," Abdul says. "You find some of the best talent in the most remote parts of the country and there's always someone who drives to make it and we'd love to see that happen."
A special edition of the series, called "American Idol: The Road to Hollywood" will air Monday, Feb. 2, and then the 117 contestants who made the "Going to Hollywood" cut will finally be unveiled Feb. 3-4.
So who's next in line for pop-star royalty? Check out ET tonight for all of your latest "American Idol" news!
Courtesy of ETOnline.com