AI:6 - Minneapolis

January 17, 2007 · Filed Under popmedia

And so it begins.

17 golden tickets out of 10,000+ auditions.

1 golden ticket for someone actually known by a FoTB (Friend of Territorial Bloggings) — 16 y/o Matt Sato. (TK - it’ll be interesting to hear if the home situation is as strained as it sounded, or if that was primarily a construct of editing/storytelling…)

(Only) 1 golden ticket recipient clearly pegged for the Top 12 — 19 y/o Sarah Krueger. She’s my pick-to-click from Minneapolis, as she had the best combo of “the look” and “the voice” — she’s cute/hot and she sang the best of anyone they put on the air. (As always, perhaps the most interesting question is the one that asks whether or not they’re keeping someone great in “reserve”, ala Bo Bice…)

Too many morons to count… (and just why did folks have so much trouble with trying to open the wrong door? ) I mean, “Urban Amish”? “Cowardly Lion”? Mid-audition “Water-break Guy”? The “Juggler”? The “Biggest Fan”? The “Mall of America Girl”? “Charo, Jr.”? (who was ok until she opened her mouth!) Yikes!!

I’m consistently amazed not so much by the publicity-seekers (e.g., “Urban Amish” & “Apollo Creed”) as I am by the sincerely delusional who think that they are, you know, good (e.g., “Mall of America Girl” & the “Juggler”). The publicity whores just make me feel pity, while the delusional make me sad (for them) and angry (at those who enable/encourage such painful & hurtful delusions)…

On a side note, “Mall of America Girl” provided a good teachable moment for me with the 9 y/o Territorial Daughter, in that I was able to remind her that just because you try your best/hardest (which, of course, you should always do!), it doesn’t mean that you will automatically get approval and/or success. Being self-possessed enough to value full, honest, effort is the best goal (even as all the other stuff is, of course, nice…). After all, we do sometimes enjoy doing things that we aren’t necessarily (i.e., qualitatively) good at — e.g., I like blogging…
There were a few good “heart-tugging” stories — e.g., Denice (the “Crack Baby”) Jackson, Jarrod (”Top Gun”) Fowler, and Rachel (the “Reservist”) Jenkins. The first two have a very strong chance to make it through to the semifinals (top 24), while Rachel will likely wash out in Hollywood.