American Idol Season 8 Off to a Rocky Start with Poor Performances by Early Favorites

Ever the Drama queen, American Idol Season Eight's first live results show was filled with laughter, tears, and a few anxious belly-flipping moments. The judges, normally reserved and fairly cagey when it comes to exposing their true opinion (except for Simon of course,) were fairly harsh this time around. Even nice, demur little Paula Abdul laid the hammer down telling several contestants that they had just blown their one chance at stardom. Perhaps their unusual candor was brought about by their disappointment in the first round's performances, perhaps producers told them to ramp up the attitude, whatever the case only a few of the potential Idols receive favorable comments and some (like 16 year old Stevie Wright) were basically told they should have never made it to Hollywood in the first place.

Adding to the tension was the single elimination style that has been adopted by the show this year. Only three performers from the twelve who sing each week will make it through to the next round, with another three being selected by Simon, Randy, Kara, and Paula in the "wild card" round. It looks like the producers' attempt to inject the American Idol entertainment Juggernaut with even more public appeal has worked. The first round of voting brought an unprecedented 24 million votes-10 million more than last season's first round.

In any other season, sending only three people through might have been a problem. However, this season's talent seems to have dried up when they were forced to perform live. The night opened with an over-the-top exaggerated performance from Jackie Tohn that was so far different from the soulful folk sound that got her to and through the Hollywood rounds. The only thing worse than her breathy, atonal screeching was her eighties inspired outfit featuring a skin-tight, leotard-like pants and overinflated high-top sneakers.

Another performer that decided to show America who he "really was as an artist" was roughneck Michael Sarver singing Gavin Degraw's I Don't Want to Be, the 27 year old oil worker from Jasper, Texas received harsh critique from the judges. Randy said the song didn't fit with his bluesy style while Paula said he rocked it, which I'm pretty sure is an automatic knee jerk response from her reserved for just about any male performer. Yet it may have been Simon Cowell, Idol's resident bad boy, who saved Michael's budding career by covertly pleading with America to give the man another chance.

The highlight of the show was when Ryan Seacrest called two surprise contestants out to hear their results. Carly Smithson and Michael Johns, two of last season's top ten, came out on stage and gave a performance that should have sent shivers of dread down the spines of this year's group of hopefuls. True the duo has had a year of near constant touring, practice, and have been working hard on their respective albums (Johns' is finished and drops sometimes in May) but the disparity between the best of this first group of season eight singers and two of the top ten ranked from last year is noticeable, to say the least.

There was, however a "surprise" at the end of the show. When the final two were called onto the carpet, Danny Gokey and Tatiana Del Toro. Paula launched into a mini spiel about how nobody could take anything for granted and America needed to vote, vote, and vote again for their favorites. For a moment it was looking like there would be a repeat of last year's Sanjaya syndrome where a poor performer would sneak through on shock value alone, displacing a competitor with true talent but America triumphed sending the soulful Danny Gokey through and sending the emotionally unstable Tatiana to the back of the class. It wouldn't be surprising though if she made it through in the wild card round, after all, for all its talk about discovering the best and the brightest new talent, Idol is about the ratings and controversy breeds ratings.

Gokey's performance and his encore after the results were read should be proof enough the man has the talent, star persona (in the words of Simon Cowell,) and the chops (in the words of new judge Kara DioGuardi,) to be the next American Idol but it doesn't hurt that he looks quite a bit like a younger Robert Downey Jr.. However, if his fans are not vigilant and forget Ms. Abdul's sage advice, there may be a repeat of Michael Johns' unceremonious ousting from last season. As most will remember, Michael Johns' fans thought his victory (or at least placement in the top two) was sewn up and neglected to vote resulting in his placing outside the top tier.

Next week another group of twelve hopefuls take the stage trying to stake their claim on their dreams of stardom in this new, "tougher" American Idol.