TV Watch

Wednesday’s Idol: A Familiar Face in Louisville

01/22/2009 at 12:00 AM EST

"Bizarre season eight!" Randy Jackson said on the second night of the second week of auditions, which took place over two days in Louisville, Ky. Randy was referring to a silly moment when Paula and Kara both slid out of their chairs and onto the floor. The talent was all over the place too: You could have gotten whiplash between the extremes of good (who got a golden ticket) and just plain/deliberately abominable (who got to sing on and on anyway).

Good: Joanna Pacitti, 24 (pictured). She comes with a pretty serious professional resume that includes a not-very-successful record contract, singles on movie sound tracks (including Legally Blonde), a fairly comprehensive Wikipedia entry and an album, This Crazy Life, from Geffen Records. You can get it on iTunes. This season's Carly Smithson?

Bad: Ross Plavsic, 26. A very entertaining geek (who enjoys arranging Chinese characters according to their radicals), as well as an awful, tone-deaf baritone, who took a big sip out of Paula's cup to soothe a scratchy throat. (You can watch his sloooooow, deeeep, baaaad version of "Amazing Grace" on YouTube.)

Good: Alexis Grace, 21. A petite woman with a little daughter named Ryan Elizabeth and a surprisingly big voice. Randy: "I think you could come out of your shell and surprise the world." Kara's advice: Don't wear pink and go home and make love to your fianc.

Bad: Mark Mudd, 25. He said he was the descendent of Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set the broken leg of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He seemed more like the descendent of Booth. On the way out, he told the judges, "Be careful," and they weren't sure if it was a threat. Fun times!

Good: Leneshe Young, 18. She has a great voice, sang her own catchy song and told an inspiring story of overcoming a homeless childhood. "I have no clue what it's like not to struggle," she said. But there was no struggle with the judges. Randy: "You're kind of what we need." Kara: "Brilliant."

Bad (but so what?): Aaron Williamson, 27. What he considered singing was mostly shouts and whoops that grew louder and louder (watch a clip). But, hey, he energized the room, and left the judges happy. Paula: "I loved it -- it got my aggression out!" -- Tom Gliatto

Tell us: Who was your favorite from Louisville? Was Mark Mudd really a threat? Had you heard of Joanna Pacitti?

Read about Tuesday's Idol.Michael Desmond/The CW