Wow, how fast things are moving now that “American Idol” has shifted to Hollywood. Last week, 175 contestants began the second round of auditions and 76 were sent home. The 99 that remained had to do the thing that always separates the real talent from the wannabes: group competition. What this also tends to do is expose the jackasses, and this time around it was no different.

Jackass 1 and Jackass 2, otherwise known as twins Darrell and Terrell, were all over this show. Look, these guys can definitely sing, but the next American Idol is not going to be one that carries emotional baggage. These two have enough of said baggage to weigh down a 747. Terrell was all over his teammates, complaining to the camera that two of them were sleeping while he and one teammate rehearsed. Looked to me like they spent more time complaining than anything. Then, the two guys that were sleeping wound up going to the next round, and so did Terrell. Bear with me, it does get better.

So then later, his brother Darrell competes with his team and he is chosen to move on to the next round as well. Then, he decides to open up his mouth. “My spirit has been broken,” he said. “After how you treated my brother, I choose to leave the competition and go home to record with my brother.” Simon immediately said “Fine, go home.” Little did Darrell know that his brother had not been eliminated, so later on he had to go in front of the judges and eat crow. They eventually accepted his apology and let the jackass twins back in. But not before Simon let him know that he was “sick of the hissy attitude.” Simon and all of America, I can guarantee you that.

All night there seemed to be huge egos colliding. A girl named Tyra switched teams twice and seemed to cause trouble everywhere she went. But in the end, she made the right decision because the team she didn’t end up with kept forgetting their lyrics and were all eliminated.

Another hilarious bit was when cowboy Garrett and two of his cowboy friends were portrayed by the show’s producers as the cast of “Brokenote Mountain” and after they all were eliminated showed Garrett hugging his teammates and crying. Awwwww…..

Still shining through all the crap were three contestants I think everyone should keep an eye on. One is Paris Bennett….I think she’s only 17 but she has quite the pipes and a professional attitude to boot.
I’m predicting her as top 5 material right now. Mandisa (I don’t know if she even has a last name) can also belt it out, and I fully expect her to land in the top 12. Then my dark horse is that gray haired dude…..he’s got this Joe Cocker thing going on that just can’t be ignored.

The judges broke the remaining contestants into four groups, one of which was eliminated. So that left 44 contestants in all to compete for the final 24 spots–12 guys and 12 girls. And those will be determined tonight after solo acapella performances in front of the judges. Please please please judges, do us all a favor and send the jackass twins home.

We’re getting there folks…..it’s been a long ride already but it’s only just beginning to heat up. See you tomorrow….