Words fail
I know that we’ve been in the end times since the Ascension, and that no one knows the exact time of Christ’s Second Coming, but stories like this just make me sit up, scratch my head, and say to myself, “Self, I think we might be just about there. And not a minute too soon…”
The mind boggles, the soul searches, and the conscience is seared.
Come, dear Lord Jesus, come!
-ghp
AI:6 - 12 + 12 = SemiFinals
It’s about time. The preliminaries are over, and we’ve survived the general crapfest that is the open audition phase of the competition.
Most important, we now know the 24 semifinalists — fanbase-building, prognostication, and conspiracy-theorizing can all begin in earnest. 
So let’s have a look at who we’ll be watching over the next few months, shall we?
The Girls:
Alaina Alexander, Antonella Barba, Melinda Doolittle, Stephanie Edwards, Gina Glocksen, Leslie Hunt, Lakisha Jones, Amy Krebs, Jordin Sparks, Haley Scarnato, Sabrina Sloan, and Nicole Tranquillo.
The Guys:
Rudy Cardenas, Jared Cotter, Sundance Head, Paul Kim, Blake Lewis, Sanjaya Malakar, Nick Pedro, Chris Richardson, Brandon Rogers, Chris Sligh, Phil Stacy, and A.J. Tabaldo.
Some people don’t like the final “preliminary audition phase” show. I do, largely due to it being only an hour, and we do actually get to see some snippets from the final performances during Hollywood Week. It’s also interesting to see how folks react to the pressure-cooker that is the holding room, elevator ride, and long walk to & from the judges.
This season’s version of the “announcement” show gave one memorable, standout moment as far as I’m concerned, and it centered on the final spot given out to the guys. Honestly, I was fearing for the safety of Sundance & Seacrest — It really looked like Tommy Daniels might just snap & throw a beatdown on them. He just looked that pissed off.
I think that, as long as America doesn’t get stuck on stupid, there is a very strong group of 12 finalists that will begin the seriously overblown & over-hyped phase of the competition. At the very least, they look much, much stronger than the blighted AI:3 finalists, and have the potential to be a stronger full group than the AI:1, and possibly even AI:4, finalists. They’ve got a lot of work ahead of them, however, if they want to rise to the levels of the top-notch AI:2 finalists and the approaching legendary status of the AI:5 finalists.
It’s way too early to try to name the finalists. Some heretofore strong folks will wither in the glare of the AI stage, while other, more unassuming kids, will rise to the occasion. That all said, I do certainly have some ideas about who I think will make it through to the Top 12…
Lakisha & Jordin are my locks to make it to the finals amongst the girls. I think Melinda falls just short of that status, as do Gina, Haley, and Antonella. The other girls have a tougher row to hoe, particularly as I don’t think any of them got significant screen time up to this point. That can be hard to overcome.
Brandon & Chris Sligh are my locks amongst the guys. I want Sundance to do well, and I think that Blake, Nick, & Phil could also have a strong shot.
The next three weeks will be tough, as AI will take up 3 nights (Tue & Wed performances & Thu results), but at least it won’t be an experience driven by morbid curiosity.
Yay! 
-ghp
AI:6 - Hollywood Week
Courtesy of major winter storm that’s blanketed NW Indiana with 8-12″ of snow (and the prediction of more lake-effect snow tonight) and the 2 snow days that have resulted (both for the kids and for me — one of the perks of working in higher-ed…), I’m able to stay up a little later & pound out my thoughts on Hollywood Week so that they’re ready bright & early for all y’all!
172 rapidly & ruthlessly became 40.
I’m assuming that the 40 is made up of 20 boys & 20 girls, which is interesting only because it means that the girls faced a much tougher road through Hollywood than the guys. Why? Because the 172 were top-heavy with girls — 114 to the mere 58 guys. Brutal…
There were, I must admit, some surprises among those cut loose. I was most shocked, I must admit, that Baylie Brown was sent packing. I think it was deserved (you gots to remember your lyrics!), but shocking nonetheless, given her other attributes. If she can get over her delusions of being “city” instead of “country”, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she got a lot of interest out of Nashville. Jory Steinberg was also a surprising elimination, if only because I thought she was quite good… well, that and the fact that she already had a record contract in Canada a while back.
Most embarrassingly sad/pathetic elimination saga? Nicole Turner — hands down. A 27 y/o woman who sings a song she doesn’t like/feel just because she gets pressured by her mother? Exqueeze me? There’s something not right with that picture. She needs to get some backbone, and moms needs to stop being so freakin’ overbearing. And that’s before we even consider the fact that moms got up on stage! Simon was right.
None of the guys eliminated really shocked me all that much. TK’s hometown favorite, Matt Sato, was sent home after the group auditions. While he wasn’t my cup of tea (a little to dramatic for my taste, and I didn’t like his voice all that much), with a little bit of seasoning & maturity, he could certainly be back at some point in the next few years.
If I noticed correctly, three interesting members of the “No” room were Amanda Coluccio (flirty Jersey Girl in denial about her flirting), Shyamali Malaka (who I would’ve rather seen make it instead of her brother), & Jamie Lynn Ward (who’s going to have some splainin’ to do & some fences to mend back in North Cackalack).
The luckiest member of the 40 has got to be Sundance Head — for as strong as he looked in Memphis, he looked & sounded even worse in Hollywood. I’ll be surprised to see him make it any further.
As of right now, Chris Sligh is looking to be my early favorite (i.e., the one I want to go deep into the competition, not necessarily the one I’m picking to win it all; although I do think he’s a lock for the finals…).
Tomorrow, we’ll get the full rundown of the final 40, and then the 24 semi-finalists.
And the preliminaries will finally be over! 
w00t!
Evolution Sunday
Did you know that today is “Evolution Sunday”? Well, it is, and it is being touted as a growing “movement” (funny word, that - it makes you feel all warm & Ablaze!(tm)-y inside, no?) in some Christian circles.
I’m not really that surprised by this, as it’s pretty consistent with much of what passes for “good” in contemporary “Christian” churches.
Support for “Evolution Sunday” has grown 13 per cent to 530 congregations this year, from the 467 that celebrated the inaugural event last year. Organisers [sic] see it as increasing proof that Christians are comfortable with evolution.
“For far too long, strident voices, in the name of Christianity, have been claiming that people must choose between religion and modern science,” says Michael Zimmerman, founder of Evolution Sunday and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis. “We’re saying you can have your faith, and you can also have science.”
These excerpts convey two interesting points.
- • First, that some Christians are increasingly “comfortable” with evolution is neither surprising, nor proof of anything other than the fact that Christians are still sinners. We can be comfortable with some unbelievably wrong & sinful things.
- • Second, saying that one can have both faith and science, in this context, is saying nothing more than that one can serve both God and mammon. (see Matt 6:24 & Luke 16:13) T’aint so.
Thank God for faithful undershepherds, who protect us (oft stupid) sheep from the wolves who would devour us!
-ghp
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