My First American Idol

I watched my very first episode of American Idol last week. I'm probably one of the only people in the country that's never seen it, so I was asking questions along the way about how this whole thing works. My friends graciously guided me along.

It was "Elvis" week on Idol. So, all of the contestants sang old Elvis songs. Here's my take on the 4 contestants I heard.

Taylor Hicks (unfortunate name, I think) did a nice job with "Jailhouse Rock". He had a bluesy, New Orleans quality to his voice. I bet he'd sound good doing anything by Michael McDonald.

Katherine McPhee did a peppy, fun version of "Hound Dog" with "Shake, Rattle, and Roll". She reminded me of that chick in "Walk the Line" - lots of bubble, okay voice. Someone mentioned she can't dance, and forgot the words.

Chris Daughtry sang something I can't remember and looked into the camera like he was trying to pick me up. Felt creepy. And what's the deal with carrying around the microphone stand? Dude... get a guitar or somethin'! His voice was pretty good though.

Elliot Yamin sang something (again, I don't remember what) looking for all the world like Mr. Tumnis in the Chronicles of Narnia, only with really bad teeth (ugh!) Worst of all, he has this machine-gun vibrato that really grates on me. I mean, it's toltally out of control! I'll take the Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz" over this guy.

And in the end, I learn that I have to wait till the next night to find out how the voiting went. Well, the next night floored me! America likes Machine-gun Tumnis and votes the guy who can sing off!? We live in a weird world.

Moral of the story? Don't carry your mic-stand around. People don't like it.