April 4, 2003
Tonight, 8 more people are trying to make the semis! And helping out is tonight's guest judge, the star of "That's so Raven!" and formerly of "The Cosby Show", it's Raven Symone! My word, has she ever grown!

Arsenio comments in the open that he loves the kids they have on the show - except "if they were criminals like on AI we'd get more press". Touche!

JUNIOR SINGER
Victoria Higgins, 9, St. Pauls NC
Luis Figuero-Roig, 13, Philly

Victoria's dad is in the military, so he couldn't make the trip out. She hopes that if she makes the semis, he'll be in the audience! She sings "Almost like being in love" by Natalie Cole. She's very confident on stage, and has a nice voice too! Not really sure about the outfit though.

Judd: 4 "love you"
Stein: 5 "fabulous"
Zappa: 3 "transfixed"
Simone: 5 "hit every note"
Total: 17

Luis is very proud of his heritage, and wants to become a really famous salsa singer! Tonight he belts out "Goodie Goodie". Wow, he's got real neat style, daddy-o! Uses the whole stage. Like a young Ricky Ricardo!

Judd: 5 "goodie goodie for you!"
Stein: 5 "should be on the stage at the MGM Grand"
Zappa: 4 "technically awesome"
Simone: 4 "enjoying myself"
Total: 18

Time out America for you to vote. And before the scores are revealed, Victoria impersonates both Stein and Zappa! Which of course are naturally hilarious. But it doesn't help, as she loses 35-32 to Luis.

YOUNG DANCER
Geena (10) and Mike (13)
Power Club Express: Megan (18), Allie (9), Jamie (17)

Mike had to have surgery on his legs. Geena's the boss of the duo. In any case, they can move, and the majority of their routine is spinning which is quite impressive.

Stein: 3 "not much creativity"
Zappa: 4 "trying to do new things"
Simone: 4 "really good"
Judd: 3 "keep working"
Total: 14

Power Club Express have been practicing their unique style of dancing for two years now. Cartwheels and the splits are in time together! In the air flips! And they'll soon be auditioning for the Fitness America Pageant, I imagine.

Stein: 4 "cheerleaders from outerspace"
Zappa: 4 "super cool"
Simone: 3 "floor routine"
Judd: 4 "like cheerleaders"
Total:15

Get busy America! And you did! You flip-flopped the scores to read Geena and Mike 28, Power Club Express 27.

And before we get to the yuks, we get to see Jake Simpson (Series I winner) perform his new single entitled "I don't know how I got by" by Diane Ward. And it's really nice - buy the CD, okay? And while you're at it, buy "Fallen" by Evanescence. It's gorgeous, and it's been running for two weeks straight in my cd player.

COMEDIAN
David Crowe, 36, Seattle
Tim Northern, 37, Nashville

David's first job in college was that of a tour director. Since then, he's been fired from several jobs in the same field. Dave talks about marrying divorced women, Clinique makeup, and This Old House.

Zappa: 4 "awesome"
Simone: 4
Judd: 4 "odd as Ben Stein"
Stein: 4 "very funny"

When Tim first started comedy in 1993, he gave himself 10 years to get on national tv. Right on schedule, then! He kids about bi-racial marriages, plates in your head, and literacy.

Zappa: 5 "awesome"
Simone: 5 "stomach is killing me"
Judd: 4 "you're twisted"
Stien: 5 "reworked familiar concepts"

Log on to cbs.com and vote away! The winner is Tim, 36-30.

ADULT SINGER
Lisa Mack, 34, Baltimore
Matt Alber, 28, Wichita KS

Lisa was always obsessed with other people thought about her weight - and she wished that she had ignored it and started singing earlier in life! She sings "Lady Marmalade". She's really good! And she has brilliant pronunciation! And she can belt out the high notes, earning her standing ovation!

Simone: 4 "absolutely loved it!"
Judd: 5 "I am so sick of skinny white chicks - I LOVED YOU"
Stein: 5 "completely fabulous"
Zappa: 4 "YESSSSSSSS!"
Total: 18

Matt started out in classical but then slowly moved over to country. Fifteen years ago, he auditioned for star search but didn't get on. Tonight he sings "Somebody like you". He's got a nice voice, but I think the competition's too strong on this night.

Simone: 3
Judd: 4 "you got the talent"
Stein: 3
Zappa: 4 "awesome"
Total: 14

Move on up like the Jeffersons and vote! Time to digitize! Lisa wins 33-24. They'll be back next Friday for the semis! See you Wednesday!

April 9, 2003
Welcome to April 9th. Hope you're alright. Hard to believe, but Star Search has been on for three months now in its newest incarnation. At the top of the show, we're treated to a wonderful collage of the road to securing a spot on Star Search. Safe to say that none of the people shown will be on tv anytime soon. Tonight's guest judge, fresh off her appearances on Dawson's Feud and Clark's Pyramid, and as a celeb on Donny's Pyramid, it's the voice of Peggy Hill, Kathy Najimy!

JUNIOR SINGER
Melissa Mitchell, 12, Anaheim
Maria Raizel, 9, Murrieta CA

Melissa gains confidence by taking care of her baby sister. She sings "Part of your world" from The little Mermaid. Like many a junior singer, she starts weak but builds up near the end, and it sounds a bit forced at times though.
Judd: 3 "well suited for Nickelodeon"
Stein: 4 "loved her"
Zappa: 3 "going to be a supermodel if singing doesn't work out"
Najimy: 3 "my daughter's favourite song"
Total: 13

When Mariah sings, she's joyful and excited but never nervous. She sings "Fame". She has a much more defined voice then most juniors. And she really gets into the song too!

Judd: 4 "giant talent"
Stein: 3 "bit hesistant"
Zappa: 4 "charmed"
Najimy: 3 "do it as long as it's fun for you"
Total: 14

And after a break filled with CBS promos, the winner is declared - and it's Mariah, 30-27.

YOUNG DANCER
"Shockwave" (Jeff 19, Tristan 16, Alison 13, Hayley 14, Ashley 15)
Larissa Fucillo, 17, Lone Tree CO

Shockwave is very happy that they get to show America that clogging isn't just about wooden shoes. They're really good, very much in time.

Stein: 5 "incredibly creative"
Zappa: 4 "great"
Najimy: 5 "loved them almost as much as I love Michael Moore"
Judd: 5 "most cheeseball outfits I've ever seen"
Total: 19

Larissa explains it all by saying that many sacrifices were made for her including relocating the family. She's very concentrated on her skill and it shows. But she's having fun, too!

Stein: 3 "very confident"
Zappa: 5 "adored it"
Najimy: 4 "movement matched emotion"
Judd: 3 "light as a feather"
Total: 15

America, bossa nova over to the voting booth. Shockwave wins, 34-30.

COMEDIAN
Brad Trackman, 31, NYC
Andy Vastola, 34, Brooklyn

Brad got into comedy for a girl and has a strange resemblance to Stuart Pankin. Then she dumped him. He tries to get people to laugh by talking about beautiful women, engagements, and being the third wheel. But he's really kinda drab.

Zappa: 1 "most painful thing I've ever watched"
Najimy: 2 "want to see your real story"
Judd: 1 (lifts up index finger)
Stein: 2 "really have to try to be funny"
Total: 6. Ouch.

Andy for the longest time was delivering pizzas, but he gave it up for comedy. He talks about acknowledgements, new jobs, and stupid voices that men and women give each other. He is slightly less drab than the other guy.

Zappa: 2 "improvement on last guy"
Najimy: 3
Judd: 2 (mocks performer)
Stein: 2 "better than the last one"
Total: 9. Ouch.

If you think these guys are funny, you'll vote. If not, buy Family Guy on DVD. Andy wins, 21-17. Me thinks the other semi-finalist can already punch his ticket to the finals.

ADULT SINGER
Vicci Martinez, 18, Tacoma WA
CasKay, 21, Norfolk VA

Vicci is very sentimental about the gift she's been given. She and her guitar belt out "Come to my window" by Melissa Etheridge. They make a good combo but the guitar seems better.

Najimy: 5
Judd: 4
Stein: 3
Zappa: 5
Total: 17

CasKay found that eating and singing comforted her when she was younger. She sings Tia Marie's "Casanova Brown". She's not bad, but I can't stand her twitching of her lips.

Najimy: 4
Judd: 4
Stein: 3
Zappa: 4
Total: 15

And the winner is Vicci, 33-28, and that's it for today! Semi #1 is up next...

April 11, 2003
It's semi-final time! First, we have a flashback to the "non-winners". And tonight, we find country music singer Brad Paisley in the guest chair. We're jam packed tonight, so let us get right to the goods.

JUNIOR SINGER
Jeremy Holder/Luis Figuera-Roig/Mariah Rezell

Jeremy's got a real nice vibe going on tonight. And he nails the high notes like nobody's business!

Judd: 4 "loved you"
Stein: 4 "pulled himself together"
Zappa: 4 "really like you"
Paisley: 4 "great"
Total: 16

Luis and his latin stylings are back. He sings "Why do fools fall in love". Slightly out of place, when compared to last week's performance, but still very good overall. And it's nice to see something slightly different.

Judd: 5 "gonna become Ricky Martin"
Stein: 4
Zappa: 4 "you're so awesome"
Paisley: 4 "you are Wayne Newton"
Total: 17

Maria sings "The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. It's a nice song, but it just doesn't seem to 100% work tonight.

Judd: 3 "need a lot of practice"
Stein: 5 "really moved me"
Zappa: 4 "so cute"
Paisley: 4 "wonderful"
Total: 16

Ooh, this is going to be close!! Go vote! The first finalist is Luis, with 34. Both of the girls score 29.

YOUNG DANCER
Knucklehead Zoo/Mike&Geena/Shockwave

I like the knuckleheads. The greatest thing about their act is that everyone gets a chance for a solo dance.

Stein: 5 "fantastic"
Zappa: 5 "so totally cool"
Paisley: 5 "like watching The Matrix"
Judd: 5 "bursts of energy"
PERFECT 20!! YAH!!

Mike and Geena are decent tonight, but the problem is that sometimes Mike just seems to be walking around, waiting for something to happen. Furthermore, it's not that original.

Stein: 5 "talented"
Zappa: 3 "amazing stars"
Paisley: 4 "great"
Judd: 3 "keep growing"
Total: 15

The cloggers, Shockwave, are back, and just as good as ever. Better costumes than before!

Stein: 5 "hate the outfits, love the dance"
Zappa: 5
Paisley: 5
Judd: 4
Total: 19

Looks like the two dance groups are going to battle it out for the ticket to the finals. And as an aside, Big Brother 4 is now casting. You could be the next Lisa! The next Marcellas! The next Amy! The next Kent! The next Hardy! The next Chicken George!

Or you could just watch the show and find out that we have a tie. Between Shockwave and Knucklehead Zoo. And I think the Knucklers are done, because Shockwave wins the audience vote and thus the competition.

CBS - are you listening? Let's bring back the audience vote...

COMEDIAN (only two finalists due to news coverage)
Tim Northern/Andy Vastola

Tim talks about meeting David Copperfield, his friend boB, and golfing. Not very politically correct though.
Zappa: 3
Paisley: 5
Judd: 3
Stein: 3 "bit thin"
Total: 14

Andy yaks about disposable cameras, ice cream trucks, and hand signals for keeping in touch. And he's actually decent this time.

Paisley: 3
Judd: 2 (waves bye bye)
Stein: 4 "fantastic improvement"
Zappa: 3 (agrees with Stein)
Total: 13

Well, they're actually both mediocre tonight. But the one who is less so is Tim, who wins 28-27.

ADULT SINGER
Leyla Davias/Lisa Mark/Vicci Martinez

Leyla sings "I'm every woman". She's decent, but to be honest, the presentation is very much in the style of karaoke.

Paisley: 4 "great job"
Judd: 4 "find your own style"
Stein: 4 "very good"
Zappa: 4 "very nervous"
Total: 16

Lisa sings "Believe in yourself" from The Wiz as her fianc�e watches by satellite in Jamaica. And she's bang on again tonight!! Brilliant!!

Paisley: 5 "amazing"
Judd: 5 "I believe in you"
Stein: 4 "first time was better"
Zappa: 4 "great"
Total: 18

Vicci and her guitar are back, singing Bonnie Raitt's "Love sneaking up on you". Her voice is nice, but I couldn't hear it the first time around.

Paisley: 4
Judd: 4 "couldn't understand your words"
Stein: 4 "good stage presence"
Zappa: 4 "you were fly"
Total: 16

We're having a good night, no blowouts. Arsenio mentions after the break that "standing here with three beautiful women - so you know you're not watching the Masters golf tournament".

And the winner is Lisa, with 33. Hooray! Layla finishes with 27, and Vicci scores 31.

That's all for now, we start the second half next week.

April 16, 2003
Welcome to round two, series three. Remember, you can play the "Naomi Judd home game" at cbs.com. And speaking of Naomi, we are treated to a series of clips called "The Good, The Bad and The Juddly". Nice Naomi, not so nice Naomi, and then "just Naomi". Tonight's guest judge is a singer/songwriter, and his name is Ginuwine - and for the purpose of the recap I'll call him "G", for the sole purpose that otherwise I would misspel his name at least twice.

JUNIOR SINGER

Vanessa Campagna, 10, Beaver Falls PA
Kaitlin Kiyan, 12, Waipahu HI

Vanessa has been involved in basketball for a long time and loves people cheering for her. She sings "Dancing in the street". She's so anxious at the start that she misses a couple of words because the mike is away from her mouth. Her performance is average.

Judd: 5 "playful"
Stein: 4 "voice faltered a bit"
Zappa: 4 "awesome"
G: 4 "love her stage presence"
Total: 17

Kaitlin's family is real fun - she has some foster sisters and brothers. She sings Natalie Cole's "It's only a paper moon". She's got a good voice and she's very animated. She puts on quite a show, and the audience agrees!

Judd: 3 "praiseworthy effort"
Stein: 5 "made it fresh"
Zappa: 4 "jazz hands galore"
G: 4 "love her smile"
Total: 16

And after I realize that Survivor is doing a clip show, we're back and it's a tie - which means that Kaitlin wins due to the fact that she got the better audience score.

YOUNG DANCER
After Arsenio picks a bit at the cloggers from last week, we meet our competitors.

"Legend and Tempo": Jordan Powell and Ronald Evans, both 20.
"RoyalT": Laelle 14, Leah 14, Maria 16, Lauren 15, Sloan-Taylor 14.

Legend and Tempo feel that they both bring something different to the stage. Wow, they're good! Very robotic, but very smooth. And at one point, they're right in front of the judges! At the end, G gets up to clap but Ahmet starts tapping on his leg to remind him to vote! We can now see that a light blinks in front of the judges to remind them to vote and won't stop until they do. Surprisingly, Naomi does not mistake this for a camera flash.

Stein: 5 "fantastic"
Zappa: 5 "Hi sweeties. I thought you were great. I just wanted to stick these (pulls out two $1 bills) in your thongs".
SIDE NOTE: That might be his best line yet.
G: 5 "I need y'all for my tour"
Judd: 4 "loved the animation" (there she goes, spoiling another perfect score! ARGH!)
Total: 19

Like their competitors, RoyalT feel that they each bring something different to the group. I'm not really sure what to say about this group. They dance but it doesn't really seem to be anything new. That is all.

Stein: 5 "energy and imagination"
Zappa: 4 "exotic rock tribal dance"
G: 4 "love the energy"
Judd: 2 "looking for originality"
Total: 15

And after the obligatory Joe Millionaire KFC ad (whose 15 minutes only have a couple of seconds to go), we're back. Glenn hits us with the digits, and Legend & Tempo win 34-29.

COMEDY
Kevin Bozeman, 32, Madison WI
John Heffron, 30, South Lyon MI

Kevin was the youngest of 10 children. But he doesn't have to share the stage with anyone. He talks about being a criminal, getting fired and the KKK.

Zappa: 3 "didn't make me laugh"
G: 3 "made me laugh"
Judd: 3 "meh"
Stein: 3 "extremely weak"
Total: 12

John was pretty shy growing up. He finds it hard to approach women at a bar. His routine includes jokes about marriage, chewing Tums and the healing process.

Zappa: 4 "I'm a fan"
G: 3
Judd: 4 "see you on Saturday morning cartoons"
Stein: 5 "funniest guy we've had in a while"
Total: 16

Who will chuckle into the semis? It's John, 33-22.

ADULT SINGER
Vickie Natale, 22, Brooklyn NY
Ashley Ta'mar Davis, 22, Houston

Currently Vickie teaches music at a junior high school where she provides a save haven for them. She sings "Chain of fools". Really nice voice. Great energy too.

G: 4 "love her voice"
Judd: 5 "brought me up"
Stein: 4 "great voice"
Zappa: 4 "respect you so much for teaching music"
Total: 17

Ashley was discovered by her pre-school teacher in a production of "The Wiz". Tonight she sings "I believe in you and me". She's got a good voice, very silky smooth.

G: 5 "love her voice"
Judd: 5 "just beautiful"
Stein: 4 "unexciting to me"
Zappa: 4 "I loved you"

And the winner is... it's a tie at 33, which means Vickie wins on the American vote.
Just before I go, a format change to announce: there will now be three prelim rounds, three semis, and thus three in each category for the finals.

Gee, do I smell sweeps coming soon???