Jan 23rd, 2003
American Idol: The Morning After
January 23, 2003
The search is on! Tuesday night "American Idol" returned for its second singin' season with host RYAN SEACREST, and judges perky PAULA ABDUL, surly SIMON COWELL and cool RANDY JACKSON. And let's not forget the all-new crop of intriguing "Idol" wannabes!
For the past three months, "Idol"'s iron-willed trio of judges have been hard at work auditioning the 50,000 KELLY CLARKSON wannabes --and tone-deaf hopefuls -- all itching to be the new American Idol.
"You won't believe what Simon, Randy and I have had to listen to," Paula says. "Not everyone was cut out to be a star!"
As expected, Sinister Simon was in fine form, telling several competitors:
-- "All I could think of while you were performing is how I would pay you to stop."
-- "That was excruciating. I think all the preparation in the world wouldn't really help you because you have a terrible voice."
-- And finally, to one nervous, note-carrying flunkie: "No. 1, you can't sing. No. 2, you can't remember the song. And No. 3, you can't read your own handwriting!"
Simon also shared the story of one especially memorable performance: "His name was Keith, and he was so bad that one of the security guards actually collapsed. This is a true story. He actually fell down flat!"
While there are many awful auditions, Randy was optimistic about the new crop of hopefuls: "I think, and Simon will probably agree with me, the talent is, like, three times better than it was last time. So, I didn't see anyone trying to be Kelly Clarkson, or trying to be Tamyra."
But Simon doesn't agree that the new contenders are better. He tells ET, " Everyone is an expert before they audition. They all turn up, they've got the answers, and they know what they are going to say to me. They are all rehearsed and over-rehearsed. Then every single one of them walks into the room, stands in front of us and everything is forgotten. Every single time. They clam up, they forget the words, they make mistakes, they have nothing to say back to us if we slag them off. So in that respect, I think they think they know it all, but the reality is, it is absolutely identical to show one."
FOX kicked off-season two of its smash talent search hit with two specials Tuesday and Wednesday night. KRISTIN HOLT, whom you might recall as a finalist on the first "American Idol," has joined as a special correspondent.
Auditions were held in Atlanta, Austin, Detroit, Nashville, Miami, New York and Los Angeles.
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