American Idol 8: Round 1 Performances, Part 1

American Idol likes to change things ever so slightly every single year, just to keep us off-balance. This year, we’ve been presented with a Top 36 instead of the usual 24 - and more contestants calls for what we love: more eliminations. The first part of round one aired last night, a group of twelve singers who will very shortly be whittled all the way down to three.

It’s cutthroat, and it’s fabulous.

After three contenders from three groups of twelve are chosen for the Top 12, three more previously-expelled singers will be brought back for the Wild Card round. But we’re not quite there yet. Tuesday night, American Idol 8 truly began, replete with live stage performances and bitingly harsh judges’ comments. Finally, the show has arrived.

And it began with Jackie Tohn, 28, who professionally entertains even when she’s not competing for FOX. She chose a song I thought would be horrible - “A Little Less Conversation” - and an outfit which really was. But despite the odd fashion and somewhat less-than-stellar vocals, Tohn delivered a rollicking performance that kick-started the evening. She was energetic, bluesy and Tohn’s got a lot of charisma. “Way to start season 8 off,” Randy Jackson cried. “You can work a stage, girl,” Kara DioGuardi complimented her. “You got me up dancing,” Paula gushed, “you are a true performer.” But Simon Cowell wasn’t ready to make nice with Ms. Tohn. “I think you actually played the clown,” right between the eyes. Cowell called her performance “ungainly” and “gimmicky” and he hated her outfit. Tohn is obviously not a favorite of the show. When asked by Ryan Seacrest if she had any regrets, Jackie flippantly answered “no, dude.”

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