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Inside 'Idol's' Top Twelve Taping
![AI7_12Perf_3[1].11.08_0718.jpg](http://blogs.accesshollywood.com/AI7_12Perf_3[1].11.08_0718-thumb-175x116.jpg)
My face is such a familiar one on the CBS lot where “American Idol” tapes, having spent so much time their covering “Idol” and its neighbor “Dancing With The Stars”, I figured I could get away with parking on the lot even though spaces are limited. So, I rolled up showed my ID and I was in! Usually I’d have to park all the way at the mall across the street and walk over.
Just as I was pulling into a parking space (next to Gina Glocksen’s assigned spot) a white Mercedes G500 pulls up ahead of me with the vanity license plate that had a ♥ in it. A bunch of brunettes got out and I instantly recognized Kim Kardashian. I caught a glimpse of her and was pretty sure it was her since Ryan Seacrest produces her E reality show “Keeping Up With The Kardashians. So, it would make sense that she got tickets. At first I saw her from the side and then I saw the butt and knew it was definitely her.
I’ve never seen this girl in person but from what I know of her she has a rather large backside. That’s an understatement. It’s huge. When she walked into the studio and someone pointed her out its all people were talking about. She spent the commercial breaks texting on her cell phone and I caught her yawning after Michael John’s performance and checking herself in the mirror after Kristy Lee Cook sang.
Other celebs I spotted in the audience were Taye Diggs and Camryn Manheim.
I have to say the energy inside the studio was at an all time high tonight. It felt like a brand new show. The new stage had producers, audience coordinators and pretty much anyone involved with the show on edge – but a good sort of nervous energy that became infectious and had the audience full of spunk.
Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe came on stage to psych up the audience for the new set and joked,
“Not all of which is working at the moment. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it will light up.”
Sitting here watching the show back on TV, the set looks massive. In person it’s really no bigger than the last stage. In fact, the stage itself is actually smaller where the contestants perform. The upstairs level is what makes it seem so huge. It looks pretty impressive considering I’m told the new set cost just around one million dollars. A fairly small amount considering how much money the show makes for Fox.
I got the star treatment from Nigel who came up to say hello and then moved me to a better seat. Usually it’s back of the house for me. So, im grateful for that. In past seasons, Nigel has sat to the left of Simon Cowell but with those seats now a mosh pit he now stands off to the side alternating between the monitors and the stage. He was loving every minute of this Lennon/McCartney songbook show which he has worked so hard to make happen.
I spent most of my time in the studio trying to see if I could figure out what Simon would think of each performance.
First up was Syesha who failed to really impress the audience. Simon was tapping his toe through the whole song so it was pretty obvious he was going to say something positive. Randy on the other hand, right when she started singing, turned around and moved his chair away. Paula pulled him back over. So, it was no surprise Randy did not like it.
The audience absolutely loved Chikeze. He sounded 50 times better in the studio than he did when I watched the show back. Simon had a huge smile on his face the entire time Chikeze was performing so it was obvious to me he loved it.
Simon zoned out during Ramiele Malubay and Jason Castro’s performances, which he thought were both boring.
Simon spent the entire time Carly Smithson was singing watching her on the stage monitors. He never once watched her on stage. I’m not sure what to make of that. And why later on in the show did he forget her name?
When it came time for Brooke White to perform Simon got into a conversation with Paula Abdul. It’s interesting that he thought it was one of the best performances of the night when he didn’t pay attention to the first half of it!
I knew instantly Simon hated Kristy Lee Cook’s countryized rendition of “Eight Days A Week.” He turned around to the audience and bobbed his head along to the song obviously mocking the country twang of it.
I’ll disagree with Simon tonight and say that I thought Syesha was boring and I think it will be so long Syesha tomorrow.
This is the first time I've ever read this, and I wasn't impressed - the writing is extremely juvenile, and there are some grammatical errors. Regardless, according to Adam Vary over at EW, the reason Randy "turned around and moved his chair away" during Syesha's performance was that he was trying to listen to her on the monitor because the band was drowning her out. It had nothing to do with not liking the performance.
I normally don't respond to those who call out my grammar issues. I know all about it. Here is why I dont spend nights crying over it. It's a blog. I've never claimed to be an English major. This is not high brow journalism. It's entertainment. Most of the time i'm writing things quickly on my blackberry to get stories out quicker. I write what I see and since this is your first time reading then you dont know that my blog is also about my experiences in the business and my opinion on what I see. I saw Randy turn around and move his chair away with a look of horror on his face. I'm sure it had something to do with the acoustics but as proven by his comments he did not like it either.
Well...I did not find the writing to be juvenile at all. I found it to be very descriptive and such a great visual of the behind the scenes for those of us who can only watch from our livings rooms at home. Thank you for taking the time to piece it all together. It was much appreciated and the grammatical errors that were pointed out were non existant to me as I read it.
I don't care about your grammar issues. I love your blog (especially when you are catty). If writing on your blackberry helps you get behind-the-scenes information out quicker, then so be it.
Based purely on blog postings, you have a better mastery of the English language than Billy Bush. He certainly does the Bush family name justice ;)