<p>We are big American Idol fans. We were so happy to see two MT people make it into the top 36 for this season. Adam Lambert (from Wicked in LA) and Arianna Afsar. Arianna is 17 and a senior in HS here in San Diego. My D knows her from MT around town and has seen her perform a few times, but has never been in a show with her. We last saw her in a production of HS Musical about a year and a half ago.</p>
<p>Anyway, these are the two favorites for my older D and I so far. We will see how the season goes this year and how far they get. Last year my H and I went to a taping and saw the top 10. Then the whole family went to a taping at the Nokia Theatre of the show before the final one. Hopefully this year we will get offered tickets again.</p>
<p>I love it, too! I was so sorry to hear that Joanna Pacitti was booted off the show after the airing on Wednesday. Besides having former record deals, she apparently was very close friends with someone who worked for 19 Entertainment. Joanna was selected to be Annie on Broadway when she was 11, then ultimately fired after the National Tour before opening on Broadway. It was a very big deal back then because the auditions were televised on Turning Point with Barbara Walters and America fell in love with her. So, this girl has had a lot of bad luck. She gets so close and ends up back where she started. Anyway, she would have been another MT person on the show.</p>
<p>Actually, Joanna Pacitti is from the MT world, as well. As a child, she was cast in the role of Annie for the revival which first opened on a pre-Broadway tour, but she was let go before the show came to Broadway. Whlle she went on to pursue a more pop music career, her beginnings were in MT.</p>
<p>EDIT…cross posted with Tina…someone else who has followed Annie over the years. :D</p>
<p>PS…as I don’t watch the show, I didn’t know Joanna was booted. I had read she was in the final 36, sorry.</p>
<p>We were also bummed to see Joanna booted from the Top 36. She was another one we were pulling for. I guess there was an article in Star magazine last week about her relationship with a couple of people from 19 Entertainment.</p>
<p>When you watch the auditions and Hollywood week they always choose those with some kind of a backstory they like or ones that you love to hate, like Tatiana. How did she make it into the top 36? You didn’t see much about Arianna because she is just a regular HS kid from San Diego. Hopefully she will be able to shine in the weeks ahead and do well!</p>
<p>She was in the final 36. It was only after the show aired that they made the announcement that they were replacing her with a different contestant (who didn’t make the top 36). Poor kid. They knew all about her professional career and connections when they let her audition. They just started to get worried when people started complaining that it wasn’t fair.</p>
<p>Really? I dont truly follow it or watch. I assumed in an earlier post that she was cut during the latest round. You mean they took her out of contention and replaced her? Yikes, deja vu for Joanna.</p>