Last night the American Idol auditions continued, this time in the city of San Francisco.

There wasn’t a whole lot worth noting – but I really can’t stand these audition shows, so I may have missed a gem or two.

A very arrogant girl named Tatiana made it to Hollywood. Her voice isn’t bad, but her attitude, laugh, and over-all look are just awful. She won’t last long.

Jesus Valenzuela made it through as well. He played the “look at my kids…can you really say no to them” card, though. Not sure he’ll make it past another round.

Most of the auditions seem like people that are just playing pranks to get on the show for their 15 seconds of fame. They spend so much time on these goofballs, that they actually have to do a montage of decent singers who make it through to Hollywood.

What’s up with that?

The final one that makes it through tonight is Kai Kalama who comes with the baggage of a sick mom as his story. I’m not knocking the guy’s mother, but I really dislike these aspects of Idol. I don’t believe that his mother’s health should affect the voting if he makes it that far.

Anyway – that’s all from San Francisco – not a lot to show this week.

Fox has confirmed some cut backs for the upcoming season of “American Idol”. Primarily in the area of “Idol Gives Back” a special where the series would ask for contributions from viewers to help the needy.

The reason for this appears to be because there are more needy people. The word on the street is that “Idol” doesn’t want to ask people to donate money because the economy is bad. So let’s think about that for a second – the economy is bad…people need more help than ever…and the show decides to STOP helping people this year because they don’t to ask those who DO have the means to help, to help those who DON’T have the means to help themselves?

Wow – that’s a super-great plan.

In an attempt to spice things up on American Idol next season, Simon Cowell has announced that Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi will be joining the show as the new 4th judge.

DioGuardi brings a slew of credentials with her in the form of her songs. They have appeared on over 100 Million records, and have been sung by talent like Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Taylorhicks, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken, the list just goes on and on and on.

She describes herself as a “straight shooter”, and has even had some time behind the judges chair when she appeared on ABC’s “The One: Making a Music Star”. She should be nice edition to the show when the new season begins.

July 17th is the start of the auditions for the 8th season of American Idol. That kicks off in San Francisco, California. The American Idol crew will continue on through 7 other cities which include:

Thursday, July 17
San Francisco, Calif., at the Cow Palace

Monday, July 21
Louisville, Ky., at Freedom Hall

Friday, July 25
Phoenix, Ariz., at the Jobing.com Arena

Tuesday, July 29
Salt Lake City, Utah, at the EnergySolutions Arena

Saturday, Aug. 2
San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico

Friday, Aug. 8
Kansas City, Mo., at the Sprint Center

Wednesday, Aug. 13
Jacksonville, Fla., at the Veterans Memorial Arena

Tuesday, Aug. 19
East Rutherford, N.J., at the IZOD Center at the Meadowlands

Visit AmericanIdol.com for full details on rules and restrictions.

Last night was big night for David Cook, even if it wasn’t a terribly surprising outcome for the rest of us. Sure on Tuesday David Archuleta sang his heart out. Sure Simon Cowell endorsed him – but everyone still knew that Cook was going to win.

Wisely, Cook doesn’t seem to be letting the win go to his head saying “I walked into this competition with no expectations and I’m walking out with out any.”

That’s good thinking when you look at the success levels of previous Idol winners and finalists. It’s a mixed bag. Some, like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood go on to be super stars. Others, like Reuben Studdard have had a harder time making it to super stardom.

Will Cook be the next Underwood or Clarkson Idol, or will his biggest gig in a few years be performing on American Idol again as a guest?

Only time will tell.

What’s up with the name of Mariah Carey’s new album? “E=MC2″? is that supposed to make her look smart and thoughtful?

Who knows…anyway, Mariah graced the Idol stage with her plump album whoring bosom, and, you know, there was a lot of singing to be heard by all.

The Bottom Three tonight were Kristy Lee Cook, Brooke White, and Syesha Mercado. Syesha was the first one back to safety and it came down to Kristy and Brooke.

Ultimately Kristy was given the boot, and then there were six.

The 80s music was still in full swing again last night, and the performances of all the remaining girls were really strong.

If its one thing that American Idol teaches you its that “talent” is only one small fraction of success. Each one of these girls is talented enough to have a career – and WAY more talented than some of the people on the radio today. Still, that talent will not be enough, and most of these 8 singers will never make it to the big time…that’s kind of sad.

On that positive note…here’s a breakdown of what they sang…

Asia’h Epperson – “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” Whitney Houston

Kady Malloy – “Who Wants to Live Forever,” Queen

Amanda Overmyer – “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Carly Smithson – “I Drove All Night,” Roy Orbison

Kristy Lee Cook – “Faithfully,” Journey

Ramiele Malubay – “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” Phil Collins

Brooke White – “Love is a Battlefield,” Pat Benatar

Syesha Mercado – “Saving All My Love for You,” Marilyn McCoo

80s songs were the pick of the week last night, and the Top 8 boys brought the house down with some very interesting renditions. Here’s a run down of what everyone sang:

Luke Menard – “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” Wham!

David Archuleta – “Another Day in Paradise,” Phil Collins

Danny Noriega – “Tainted Love,” Gloria Jones (’80s hit by Soft Cell)

David Hernandez – “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” Pandora’s Box

Michael Johns – “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” Simple Minds

David Cook – “Hello,” Lionel Richie

Jason Castro – “Hallelujah,” Leonard Cohen

Chikezie – “All the Man That I Need,” Whitney Houston

Everyone, even the judges, seems a bit blow away by the results of the show last night – lets recap…

First, the non-elimination stuff. The Top 20 did the group song thing – and it was in no way memorable. Seacrest announced that on March 11th the contestants would be singing songs from The Beatles song book. I don’t know how I feel about that (big Beatles fan here) – but I’ll watch.

Idol Gives Back is also returning in April.

The four singers that were eliminated are:

Jason Yeager

Alexandrea Lushington

Alaina Whitaker

Robbie Carrico

I can’t say I was terribly surprised to see any of them go, although they might not have been my first choices.

What did you think?

The flu bug hit the girl’s dressing room on American Idol this week, and it showed in last night’s performances. That’s really unfortunate because it means that we didn’t really get to hear what these women can do to the fullest of their abilities, but 2 of them are still going to be sent home. I have to say that I didn’t come out of this with a personal favorite – primarily because there wasn’t one “OMG” moment in the entire show for me. Again, I think that the flu bug may be a contributing factor to that, and that’s really a shame.

Here’s a run down of the girls and what they sang:

Kristy Lee Cook (24, Selma, OR) – “Rescue Me,” Fontella Bass

Joanne Borgella (25, Hoboken, NJ) – “I Say a Little Prayer,” Dionne Warwick

Alaina Whitaker (16, Tulsa, OK) – “More Today Than Yesterday,” Spiral Starecase

Amanda Overmyer (23, Mulberry, IN) – “Baby, Please Don’t Go,” Big Joe Williams

Amy Davis (25, Lowell, IN) – “Where the Boys Are,” Connie Francis

Brooke White (24, Mesa, AZ) – “Happy Together,” The Turtles

Alexandrea Lushington (17, Douglasville, GA) – “Spinning Wheel,” David Clayton-Thomas Combine / Blood, Sweat & Tears

Kady Malloy (18, Houston, TX) – “A Groovy Kind of Love,” Diane & Annita

Asia’h Epperson (19, Joplin, MO) – “Piece of My Heart,” Erma Franklin

Ramiele Malubay (20, Miramar, FL) – “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” Dusty Springfield

Syesha Mercado (21, Sarasota, FL) – “Tobacco Road,” John D. Loudermilk

Carly Smithson (24, San Diego, CA) – “The Shadow of Your Smile,” Tony Bennett (The Sandpiper)