Hoping for a bigger and better audition show, where else for FOX and AI to turn to but BIG D for last Wednesday night’s AI one-hour show with auditions from Dallas, TX, which gave us our first Idol Star in Kelly Clarkson. A total of 31 contestants got tickets punched to Hollywood, tying Boston and Orlando for the most tickets with the auditions completed to date. Neil Patrick Harris and Joe Jonas were the guest judges, and NPH was way better than JJ (Kim: Eddie, as always, I love you, NPH was great!), and both were a considerable upgrade over the train wreck in LA with Katy ‘trash-mouth’ Perry and the devilish Avril Lavigne.

Of the 31 moving on, here’s my thoughts on the BEST that we got to hear and see in BIG ‘D’…..

· Lloyd Thomas- 25 year old dock worker. Sings “Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder. Stevie W is always a bold choice, and he does a really nice job with it, and he's super-likable, so that's definitely good for him. Simon even tells him that he's the best audition that he's seen all day, and he gets a unanimous "yes." Cousin Greg, EIWBIT (Eddie Idol Wanna’ Be In Training) says Top 15…I beg to differ, but do think he has the chance as a dark horse for TOP 24

· Kim Carver- 26 year old teacher from Denton, TX. Sings an original song, which is always ballsy. (Kim: Ballsy, it's usually the Kiss of Death) She has a great voice, though the song kinda’ sucks. Simon doesn't find her unique or interesting either, but she gets “yes’s” from all the others and is through. Doubt she makes it through Hollywood Week.

· Erica Rhodes- 23 year old grad student who may be the only person in the history of the competition who uses a ridiculous costume to positive effect instead of negative. She used to be on Barney and Friends so in order to distance herself from that part of her life, she's dressed up like a dominatrix. WOW….crack that whip baby! Randy asks her to sing the Barney song in the outfit, and it's pretty creepy, but she's a good singer and the whole thing kind of works in an odd kind of way. Then she sings "Free Your Mind," by En Vogue, which truth be told I’ve never even heard of (Kim: Tsk, Tsk, Eddie, gonna hafta to teach you a lesson in the "playroom" -- En Vogue's Free Your Mind was awesomesauce). Unfortunately, she kind of sings it out of her nose, and not nearly as good as the Barney song. But she’s through with a unanimous vote. I think she has the look and personality to go far, she’s TOP 24 for sure, but don’t she’ll go too deep in the competition after that.

· Dave Pittman- 27 year old from Arkansas who has Tourette's syndrome, but it doesn't affect him when he's singing. He sings "Bring It On Home To Me" by Sam Cooke, and he does have a really nice voice that surprises the judges -- it's quite different from his speaking voice in just about every way. He gets a unanimous "yes." Hope this kid makes it through Hollywood. (Kim: Sorry, Eddie, but I gotta step in here and say that the ONLY reason this guy made it thru was .... Tourette's = RATINGS -- I will FO SHO watch!)

· Todrick Hall- 24 year old Actor/Playwright who starts out DAY 2 of the auditions. He was in The Color Purple with Idol-winner Fantasia, which is a big plus for him, but he's singing an original song he wrote all about the show. Kind of odd, but it’s catchy and he has a pretty good voice, so he’s through with 4 “yes’s”… though Simon’s not enamored with him much at all.

· Dawntoya Thomson- gets a ticket after we here her for a about 10 seconds, sounded OK.

· Stephanie Daulong- 24 year old ‘bandana girl’ gets through as well, sounded good in her short bit of face time.

· Megan Wright- 20 year old from Richardson, TX. She sings "To Make You Feel My Love" by Garth Brooks, and she's pretty decent. Being a big Garth fan, it's not the greatest thing I've ever heard, but she's good. She does seem to be the type though like she could be kind of annoying, so I doubt she makes it past Hollywood Hell Week. (Kim: Really, Eddie? You're a BIG Garth fan????)

· Christian Spears- 16 year old who was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 4 years old, and has been in remission since she was 8. She's singing an Etta James song, "All I Could Do Was Cry." She's not the greatest I've ever heard, but it's a good song choice, and considering she’s ONLY 16, she's pretty damn good. She gets a unanimous "yes." I could see her in the TOP 24, but not having strong enough vocals needed to get much farther.

The bottom line…. At the end of the day, we got 31 Golden tickets, but I'm not sure we have the next Kelly Clarkson! And YES…. I’ll continue to VENT here about the quality of what we all see and hear on the show, as the % of folks with talent that we actually see continues to go down. Only 9 of the 31 folks ticketed to Hollywood from Orlando received some FOX air time, that’s less than 1/3 of the best that Dallas had to offer and worse %’s than Orlando. PLEASE FOX…..LESS FREAKS AND MORE TALENT! (Kim: YAY!! The FREAKS are winning!)

Fast Facts: The Denver, CO auditions on Tuesday night, Feb 2^nd is the last of the city touring auditions, with Victoria Beckham returning as the Guest Judge for the final auditions in Denver. Wednesday’s show is being touted as ‘The Road To Hollywood’ installment episode.

Idol Chatter: Tension already between Simon and new AI judge Ellen DeGeneres? Ellen joins the cast (I can hardly wait….NOT!) in place of Paula Abdul starting Tuesday, Feb 9^th in Hollywood. Simon’s constant tardiness allegedly has Ellen upset with him. Who cares Ellen…Simon IS the show!!

More ‘Eddie Idol’ chatter to come after the final Denver auditions this week, but until then….Eddie Idol is….OUT!

Kimmy has a bit more to say .... tho not concerning American Idol.

Just wanted to pass on that Michael Jackson: This Is It -- is Brilliant!! Loved it enough to go out and buy it (on DVD now)! I can't even tell you how many times I replayed "Beat It," trying to get the dance sequence right (LOL)!

Oh and For The Record, I CAN Moonwalk! And I know the Thriller Dancing Ghoul routine! BWAHAHAHA! Srsly. Don't judge, you know there's a few of you who do too!

So sad, that such a brilliant career and special person's life was cut short, whatever the circumstances. His children, Prince & Paris appeared tonight on the Grammy Awards and they are a Testament to the Man that we will never know. Yes, there has been controversy, but if he was so BAD, how could he have raised such lovely children?

THANK YOU MICHAEL -- I MISS YOU!