January 13, 2008, Nashville, TN., 7:42 p.m., C.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

Hey!  It's your rovin' reporter friend, Ronee' Le-Anne Reaux, writing!  I am here to announce the start of yet another season of American Idol, season numbero ocho (number eight)!!

Yep, AI is back on the air!  Who knows what will happen this year??  So far, I've seen a few good people (Emily Hughes, Arianna Afsar, Scott Butcher, etc.); let's see if they can deliver the talent they say they have.  And let's see if they can go on in the hunt towards the finals, where the next American Idol will be crowned (in May).

This year, there's some new twists:  the contestants will be whittled down to 36 in order to reach the semi finals instead of the previous 24, and there's a new judge:  Kara DioGiardi.  There's now four judges who will eventually decide who goes on in the competition.

And then there have been some mighty strange ones.  They just had an 18 year old gentleman with the deepest voice I'd ever heard!  Poor guy couldn't sing.  He did not make it.  Then they had some who could have made dogs howl for mercy. 

WOW!!  (I think my ears are bleeding! LOL)

How they can say they have talent is something I can't understand!  I am not anywhere near the caliber of singers like Celine Dion, Madonna, Whitney Houston, or Beyonce, but I know when someone can sing or not! 

And those poor singers did NOT sing well at all!

I am now at the age where I can audition.  Don't know if I am going to do it or not yet; still have to work on the nerves thing.  If I face those judges, I can be expected to get chopped up like mincemeat.  When it comes to criticism, they don't mess around.  They know talent when they hear it, and if they tell someone's not good, they don't beat around the bush.

I know if I got up there, I'd probably end up making a fool out of myself.  That, or throwing up.  LOL  (I did that once.  Burrp!!)

I'll probably end up waiting a year to get a handle on the nerves.  They have a bad habit of abandoning ship when I need them the most.  LOL 

I can sing; but those dang nerves have ruined my chances of making it on previous shows.  So, here I be.

Waitin' in the wings yet again.  *Sighhhh*

Maybe I ought to try for a backup gig instead of lead singer.  LOL  That way, I wouldn't have to work as hard.  LOLOLOL

I'm one of these people who try to grab the bull by the horns.  I'm not afraid to try out for the lead.  Second best is good, but it's just not good enough for me.  I have a dream for stardom, and I am not going to give up trying to reach it.  I'm not one to give up that easily; I've gotten this far!  Why even bother to stop now??

Well, I am going to get back to my show, so I will let y'all go for now.  Time to watch more talented singers (or not)!  Woo-whoooooooooooooooooooooo!!  See ya; now I get to play Simon Cowell and judge the singers myself as I watch!  LOL  (I'd be a mean judge; I'd make Simon Cowell or Piers Morgan of "America's Got Talent" look like sweethearts! LOL)

~Luv, your friend, Ronee' Reaux.  :D

Simon Cowell, eat yer heart out!  :O