Fancast Exclusive: Justine Guarini Blogs About American Idol: First Elimination

By Justin Guarini
Fancast American Idol Correspondent
Host of Reality Chat: Idol Wrap and Idol Tonight, TV Guide Network

What a wonderful experience these contestants are going through. Yes there’s stress, anxiety, and (this year) severe sickness…but these kids (I cringe to call them that considering I’m not that much older) are being treated to the good life. If only for a little while.

When I see the photo shoots with the private jet, and the video montages that make them all look like stars- even the people who are plainly uncomfortable, are made to look good- I think back to the ambush shoots they did with us. Yes, ambush. We were very often not made aware of the fact that we had a photo shoot, in the early stages. One particular top 24 ambush memory surrounds one sunny morning in Los Angeles.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that the audition shows we watch are taped months in advance. Even then, people don’t realize that the top 24 shows are taped, edited and aired a few days later. The first live show we’ve seen this year is Thursday night’s show. The contestants have been chilling in Hollywood for at least a week or two before tonight doing the photo shoot, video shoot, and living it up in general. The same applied for us, but we stayed in the lap of luxury for almost a month.

Imagine it. We were all between the ages of 17-22, most of us had never been to California before…much less LA, and we were staying in one of the nicest hotels in the city, for a month. Free. It was heaven, and we loved it. We explored the heart of Hollywood by day, and slept in heavenly beds by night. Le Meridian, what a great hotel. Besides The ‘W’, I’ve never slept in a more comfortable bed…other than my own. I take my bed very seriously and it’s tricked out for maximum comfort. Tempurpdic everything. Anyway, we lived and played with Hollywood as our campus. We had the Beverly Center near by, restaurants, Rodeo Drive only a mile away, a killer hotel that we didn’t have to leave (or pay for) and young aspiring friends who I shared a special bond with, if only for a while. Like all good things, it came to an end and the 30 of us who were slowly becoming fast friends, triumphed and suffered together, dwindling each week, until there were only 10. I recently drove past the hotel, and to my displeasure found it boarded up and closed. A new hotel is going up in its place. I was not completely heartbroken though. There is no amount of remodeling of even demolition that can expunge all the memories, the romance, the words we spoke in confidence, and the charmed life we led in that wonderful place. Our voices and our tears are soaked into the very foundations.

Ambush! I walked out of the elevator one morning to find a PA telling me that I had a photo shoot to go to…now. I believe ‘What?’ was my response. Lucky for me I’ve had experience around cameras, and was wearing as I did all the time when cameras were around, some manly makeup. No such thing you say? I laugh in your general direction. Almost everyone looks like they’ve been dragged out of a very dark cave when they’re hit with some of the harsh lighting that comes off of the shoulder mounted cameras that follow you around on Idol. The lights are meant to illuminate…not make you look handsome or pretty. Thus the light mineral makeup I wore to compensate for being human. Lucky for me.

Still I was ambushed and all I was wearing was a Simon Cowell Special. A black v-neck sweater. Uncanny. Also uncanny…my confirmation name (In the Catholic Church “confirmation” represents the ceremony representing the transition from a youth to an adult member of the church around 15 or 16 years of age…that’s the simple explanation..during that ceremony we chose names from a list of saints names, to ceremoniously add to our own )…like I was saying my confirmation …was SIMON. Oh how that would haunt me in the years to come. My brother Bobby teased me to no end about that one when I got on the show, he was my sponsor for the ceremony so he had dibbs on all the fun-making.

I managed to make it through, but knew that I must have looked a little jacked. Not as bad as the other photograph that was take during a top 10 ambush. I hadn’t shaved…and looked a little derelict. I guess that’s the point though. They want the before Idol and after Idol photos. Some of the before photos are just plain mean though.

The Top 24…

Oh no! Group songs. I’m actually happy to see that they’re just ok as a group. Last year they were great as a group, but ok as individuals. Oh…(retch), it’s over and I’m happy to see the 60s end, once and for all. I will say that they all look great, and magically Amanda’s hair has grown 2 feet overnight!!! Haha!

The guys results…

Garret is called to the center, and I’m not surprised. He didn’t get much camera time. Not good. I was a bit surprised at how quickly he was axed. With the “kiss-off” (that’s what Nigel calls it, and it’s meant like blow a kiss as you leave the stage, not “hey, kiss-off, jerk”) song he shows us why he can’t be the idol winner.

God Luck Garret, nice work up to this point.

This show is harder to watch than I thought. Maybe it’s because I feel vulnerable and am really tired from the work I’ve been putting in on my new album (and these blogs, which keep me up late at night). Or maybe it’s because I understand how good life seems while you’re on the show and living the dream I can’t imagine what it must feel like to go from everything that I was talking about earlier, then immediately back to the “normal life”. It must be like traveling on a train at a hundred miles an hour with a one-way ticket away from your old life, and just when you get used to the comfy seat and the pretty stewards and stewardesses serving you delectable treats, you get thrown out from the caboose while the train is still moving. All you can do is sit, bruised, watching the train shoot off into the distance…while the smoke from the stack ( the only tell-tale sign of the fact that the train ever existed) slowly dissipates around you.

The girls…

Amy Davis’s number is called and I’m not surprised. Another person who didn’t get a lot of camera time and who was one of the weaker performers in a strong pack. Sad. Her parents are crushed.

Paula looks great in her video, and I hope that it hits in the club. Nice job.

The other girls result…

Yea right, Amanda isn’t going. I’m sorry, she’s good TV. Nothing against Joanne, but she’s not had the camera time or the performance last night. Although I thought Amandas performance wasn’t good, I think that Simon saved Amanda from the chopping block last night by saying that he hoped she came back. We’ll see after the break. Thank goodness for my DVR. Amanda’s new hair gets to live another day!!! I really liked Joanne, but she got caught under the train wheels. Unfortunately she’s been a victim of the system…and didn’t perform to the level she needed to.

It’s a little weird to see the tears flow so early, but realize that these people have bonded for weeks and formed serious friendships. They are in the fight to survive a complete life altering event together. It’s stressful. To say the least. I remember breaking down (in relief and joy) backstage after I found out that I made it into the top 10. I’m not a easy crier either. The tears are sadness at the loss of a friend, and a person with whom you can confide…as well as a sense of relief that it’s not you going home. It’s very easy to get accustomed to that lifestyle. La dolce vita. Free clothes, food, room and board, free cell phones, Apple computer products, the adoration of millions…all that ends when you leave the show, and I assume it’s as painful a withdrawal as one from any addictive substance.

The other guys results…

Chakeeze, no surprise. Heck even he wasn’t surprised. He threw his hands up as his name was called. Colton…yet another sufferer of the lack of camera time disease. Plus he laughed at looking like Ellen DeGeneres. Not good when you want your own identity. Both of these guys have legitamate reasons to go home. Chakeeze seems shocked, and Danny is tearing up. I think Chakeeze is going to have some grey hairs to dye out tomorrow. Simon lays it on particularly thick, and tells Colton to get a good job. Not the worst advice. Hopefully he’ll get a good job in a Broadway show!

All in all, no surprises. The guys and gals have another crack at it next week, and I won’t be surprised if the Idol Gods ratchet it up about 60 notches to make up for this week.

Until then…

Justin

homepage photo credit: Matt Beard