Idol chatter

I took Zoe to the "American Idol" taping on Tuesday and we had a ball.

We waited outside for about an hour. Sitting nearby was Scott Savol's parents, the Bo Bice chicks and someone with a "Kiss Me Constantine" sign. There were only a couple hundred of us hanging out til the doors opened and I kept thinking that it's hard to imagine that the show so few of us would be seeing in a small soundstage in the back of the CBS lot would soon be seen by 21 million people around the country. Or, as I like to say, the number of drivers on the Santa Monica Freeway at any given time.

The studio is smaller than what it seems on TV — isn't that always the case — and we got our seats at about 4:15. At about 4:40, the warmup host comes out and jazzes up the crowd. Pandemonium soon erupts when Simon, Paula and Randy and introduced and run out from behind the bleachers to their seats.

We're told by the exec producer to give a standing ovation to everyone, as to not make anyone feel bad and that we should be very silent when the show first opens and then burst into spontaneous applauase after Ryan makes his opening remarks.

Overall, the music sounds better in person than on TV. With a bunch of really loud speakers and a live band, most of the performances are impressive, though I think Scott was pretty bad and Zoe's favorite, Carrie, seemed to have a hard time hitting the high notes from "Love Is a Battlefield."

During commercials, the judges banter a little with the audience or go to their dressing room. The contestants are always backstage until they come out to give their performances. I can't imagine how nervous they must be but they seem like cool customers when they get out on stage.

I've never watched the series before but now Zoe has me hooked. Before yesterday I would've have predicted a Bo-Carrie final but now Constantine, who rocked the house with "Bohemian Rhapsody," is looking like he may be the one to beat.