Is the American Idol San Francisco Talent Pool Tapped?

If you watched American Idol Tuesday night, you may be wondering if all of San Francisco's talent has been sucked out in the previous seven seasons. Although Tuesday's auditions in the "city of love and peace," (as was last night's corky theme), boasted a handful of decent singers such as Adam Lambert from Hollywood, CA, the remaining contestants were fairly unimpressive.

Take Tatiana for example; the painfully bubbly girl donned what looked like a prom dress gone terribly wrong. She was put through to Hollywood after tweeting out a series of high-pitched songs and despite mixed reviews from the judges. The remainder of the show only digressed after Tatiana. From Dean Anthony Bradford's horrid carpet ensemble and joker face, to Akilah's (prounounced Akalah by Simon) continued miss pronunciation of the English language, the goofy contestants were becoming tiresome and predictable.

Even Simon's crass comments got old: "It was like you were drunk," he told Annie Murdock from Navato, CA. And of course an episode of Idol would not be complete without a sob story. Last night it was sweet Kai Kalama, whose mother is inflicted with a seizure disorder, and although their story is truly touching, Kalama was not terribly exciting in the vocal department. Nor were any of the other contestants.

No solace could be found either with the judges who usually offer some source of entertaining comic relief and/or sarcasm. Instead of the usual banter of Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, another predictable feud erupted between Simon and newbie judge, Kara DioGuardi. At least DioGuardi is a bit refreshing, in that she offers useful comments and advice, like suggesting that Kamala work on his stage presence, versus Simon's typical, "you're too theatrical" remarks. So far season eight of

Idol doesn't seem to offer much in the way of uniqueness and excitement. Let's hope that tonight Kentucky has more to offer.