Jose Penala and Other News

A picture named JosePenala1.jpg

Ok, I find this hilarious.   Ya know how contestant Jose Penala (left) is on all the top 44/24 spoiler  lists but nobody has been able to  find a NETNAMES registration for him?   Jose is Filipino, and  this article, from a  Filipino publication wonders if “Pinoy texters will do for Jose what they did for Jasmine Trias of Hawaii.”   Remember, Jasmine was that lovely girl from AI3 who made it all the way to third place with tons of help from her fellow Filipino-Americans.   Hee.   Anyway.   The article announces, that from now on, Jose will  known as Sway.   Yep, just SWAY.  

Well, wouldn’t you know, look what Idol registered through NETNAMES on December 9th:

www.swayofficial.com

DING!   I really don’t know what to say.   I think “Sway” is kind of a dumb name.   But hey, what do I know–I don’t get why Ace Young didn’t keep his real name, Brett.   I think it’s way cooler.

The article assumes that SWAY is part of a Top 24 that’s already been chosen.   Do they know something that we don’t? Thanks to mkbdiva from Survivor Sucks for that find.

This Time magazine  article is worth the read.   It wonders why Americans seem to enjoy the audition portion of the show so much.   Interestingly, it asserts that the audition shows earn higher ratings than the competition shows.   I know that the show actually loses a little steam as contestants get voted off the Top 12–but it usually picks back up towards the   finale.   But, do the auditions actually have higher ratings overall?   I need to do some research, because I don’t think that’s true.   It’s obvious the auditions are popular, and that the audience especially loves the trainwrecks–because every year the producers feature more and more “bad” auditions at the expense of the good ones.   I guess people like that feeling of schadenfreude derived from watching folks make total fools of themselves.

Hey, I’m kind of excited!   Reality TV magazine posted a link  to my blog!   YAY!   They found my link to Jennifer Sieminski’s MySpace and gave me credit for finding it.    I “found” it on a message board–can’t remember which one.   And it took one of my online buds, grrrr,  to point out the cool gossip she posted in  her blog.    The RTVM article mentions how Fake Tan Girl, Crystal Parizanski wore two different outfits–one for her audition song and another for Lady Marmalade.   Crystal, in an interview, explains that she performed “Lady Marmalade”  on a different day, in front of Nigel.  Jennifer makes the same point–that Lady Marmalade was not performed in front of the judges even when it’s edited to look that way.   You have to check out the little interview RTV did with Crystal.   She really is a character!   She says this about how the producers manipulated her:

“…they told me to “look better in Simon eyes” I should put more makeup on, and they came into the WOMANS bathroom to FILM IT!   When I told them I was scared and I felt NAUSEOUS and just to make a mockery of me and my mother they told us to “strut” down the street, while filming.   Also they edited out most of the AUDITION which you can notice by my song being “cut” in half!   I came back when they “followed” me out the doors all the way to the street corner, and I asked them.. “was the whole bathroom skit to make a mockery of me?”   Apparently it was.   But they failed to air that on their ‘show.'”

I’m a little surprised, however, that RTVM didn’t pick up on my Jessica Nolan  post.   Her entire audition was edited to look like it was conducted in front of the celebrity judges, complete with Simon and Randy reacting to her.   In fact, the audition   took place in front of Nigel–she NEVER auditioned in front of Randy, Paula and Simon.   I’ll bet they never even met her.   Now, that’s totally blatant manipulation if ya ask me…

Oh,  RTVM has an interesting tidbit on David Hoover, the crazed auditioner from  Chicago  who was somehow put through to the Hollywood round.   He’s got a few tunes up on his website, and according to RTVM, he can sing.   They wonder if  the judges,  “let him through with his wacky audition knowing that when he made it to Hollywood that his true singing skills would make a good story?”   Interesting.

Hopefully I’ll have  a recap  up  later after tonight’s two-hour (why?) episode featuring Greensboro, NC.   If not, tomorrow for sure.