The Most Idol-ized Place on Earth
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Disneyland has always been "The Happiest Place on Earth," but now, Disney World can rightfully be called the "Most Idol-ized Place on Earth."
Everyone in the audience was knocked on their collective keysters last night when Disney World brought out Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks, Fasntasia Barrino, Taylor Hicks, Ruben Studdard, David Cook and Kelly Clarkson last night as they premiered the newest attractions at Disney Hollywood Studios -- "The American Idol Experience."
Nobody -- and I mean nobody in the media -- expected Clarkson, marking the first time the first seven Idols assembled on one stage. This came after Underwood and Cook performed, tearing it up with a duet of Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way."
We had a total of 25 Idols, including Jesus-clone Bo Bice, curly-headed Justin Guarini, Bucky Covington, Ace Young, chubby-but-talented Chris Sligh and vote-for-the-worst phenomena Sanjaya.
Disney has re-created the sparkling blue-and-silver Idol set down to the "silver stools of doom" and the Coca Cola cups at the judge's table. When Ryan Seacrest made a cameo for this special launch, you'd swear you were in the studio audience watching the taping of the No. 1 show on TV.
Fastpass Your Way to American Idol Fame
Now, each day, Disney is offering 400 American Idol Experience auditions, and the finalists will compete on this stage where Clarkson and the other winners assembled. The prize: a front-of-the-line pass to audition for next season's TV show.
(That doesn't mean the winners will definitely get on the show. But they won't have to camp out for days outside an arena like the rest of us, before getting their moment before Simon, Paula and Randy.)
Last night's winner, Michael Ellis, sang a truly inspired version of "Superstition" to become the first Disney-vetted American Idol.
The judges were very much clones of Simon, Paula and Randy -- a little too much for my taste, but I'm sure it'll be a crow-pleasure.
And now, Disney has given me a new dream: To bring William Hung to Orlando for one more "She Bangs" performance. All I have to do is stock the 1,000-seat audience with twisted, like-minded weirdos like myself, Hung will triumphantly return to American Idol auditions, and the rest of us can finally watch Simon spontaneously combust.
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Comments
Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth. Walt Disney World is not.