As Ellen Degeneres Arrives on Idol, Dozens Sent Packing

Hollywood Week is upon us, and as we all know, that spells a quick trip home for dozens of contestants. Night 1 featured the arrival of new Judge Ellen Degeneres, who showed up just in time to ruin many dreams. I'm not a big Ellen fan, but being open minded about that is the right thing to do. Ellen had a great first show. She was honest with the contestants, not mean. She showed a much needed sense of humor during her first hour, and frankly, looked like she's been here right along.

Rather than give a play by play, here are some of tonight's highlights. The most common theme was that the majority of contestants who played the guitar, got to stick around to round two. One of the best contestants was Andrew Garcia, who we were introduced to in L.A. Andrew's parents work to resolve gang violence. During his first audition, Andrew managed to give Katy Perry the chills. Tonight, singing 'Straight Up," and playing guitar, Andrew was called a 'Genius," by Kara.

The "Singing Teddy Bear," so dubbed by the panel in his first audition, Michael Lynche, announced to the judges that his wife was in labor, and then played guitar and sang, moving the body builder to the next round. Casey James, who stripped his shirt off by request in his first audition, played blues guitar, and wowed the judges with his improved performance.

Another guitar player, Krystal Bowersox, got the contestants in the audience singing back up for her rendition of 'Natural Woman" When Simon calls her 'Infectious," he is not kidding. Waitress Didi Benami, who is singing in memory of her best friend, who passed away 4 years ago, also played guitar, and was quite unique. Simon called her "Terrific."

Along the way, we lost Skiboski, Beat Boxer Jay Stevens, and one of my favorites early on, 16 year old Maddy Curtis. It's good to know I still get mad at the judges. Ellen, who seemed to be in charge of telling the contestants who to step forward, actually messed with several contestant, telling them to step left and right, forward and back, only to announce they all will be moving on.

Another contestant of note is Mary Powers, who brought her daughter to meet Simon at her first audition in L.A. She is being called a Rock and Roll Mom, and did well again tonight. As did my favorite of the season so far, 16 year old Charity Vance. This girl is top 20, in my opinion.

All in all, the show was great, but too fast paced. Perhaps the producers could have given us a two hour show, so we could have enjoyed more good singers. Tonight's show is more elimination fare, with the group singing phase. As the favorites shine through, I'll keep you posted. I'm going to go learn how to play guitar. Stay tuned.