The road to Hollywood for 164

Well, the Hollywood began last night (Wednesday). One hundred and sixty-four hopefuls marched or queued up dutifully for their turns on the stage.

Most of them quite nervous. That's understand. A few forgot their lyrics, despite Simon Cowell's stern admonition of NOT doing that.

Before the music even started, the contestants were all told that two-thirds would eventually go home. That really heightened their anxiety. I guess it was one way of eliminating those who don't have the nerves for the big time.

This obvious attempt to scare them succeeded because I felt a handful who would be pretty good if they were not too anxious would have sung quite splendidly.

But this is Hollywood and the knives have been sharpened, and Ryan Seacrest was probably eager to get to his radio show or his spot on E!, whichever was his schedule for the day.

There were at least 10 or 15 who sounded like they might just make it to the last two dozen but then "experts" like me have been wrong before, so what else is new?
One name that has popped right up on the spotlight is Carly Smithson a.k.a. Carly Hennessy.

She's sweet. Some say from Ireland and can sing quite a bit. But she ain't an amateur. Internet bloggers lambasted her as being a real pro because she had signed a six-album deal with MCA Records in 2000.

Her only problem was her CD sunk rather quickly in the market and Carly tried and failed to qualify for American Idol Season 5.

Right now, she seems to be doing all right among the "ordinary people".

Those who know her background aren't exactly thrilled by the kind of treatment she has been receiving from the Idol organisers. In my opinion, she's an above average singer.

I was attracted by the tattoo on her right shoulder that sort of creeps down her arm. When I first laid eyes on Carly, I thought "what an interesting girl." Anyway, we should be hearing more about her, or from her in the weeks to come.

Amanda Overmyer was the other person who caught my attention. It's not often that you get a rocker chick clambering on to centre stage and looking more than a bit like Rogue from X-Men! Some of my office colleagues have taken a fancy to her.

They think Amanda's pretty cool, with that hair colour and her unmistakable persona. When Amanda belted out Light My Fire, she set many men's blood on the boil! Some female supporters went a bit berserk too.

I was told Amanda's a nurse. A nurse, I thought, you gotta to be kidding. No way, Jose! But she really is. And she rides a Harley Davidson as well. My god, this rocker chick is the ultimate.

Hope she does well in the coming weeks. We all need someone like Amanda to bring in the excitement to a show that's beginning to look a bit tired in its seven season.

Then there was Josiah Leming. He was pumping away on the electric organ and I told myself silently, "hey, this guy is not bad at all". Even the three judges gave him the thumbs-up. Josiah was relaxed, quite at home with a musical machine that he's familiar with.

I have to confess at this juncture that I only caught the first hour of the two-hour special of Idol Hollywood week.

Hey, a man has got to have dinner too. By the time, I returned to sit in front of the telly, someone told me that Josiah got the boot. Unbelievable, and I had high hopes for him.

The fourth person who drew some attention to herself was Brooke White. Brooke has a certain charm that makes TV viewers want to be her friend. In fact, according to unverified reports, Brooke has 14,000 fans on MySpace.

This girl with a potential to reach the last 24 has an easy demeanour that compells all who watch her in the show to cheer for her.

Those were the four that caught my attention during the precious 60 minutes that I had allocated to this hot show. It will get hotter in the coming weeks.

That's partly because most of us have nothing better to do than to think that sometimes we can sing better than others.