American Idol's Kentucky Derby: More Infighting, a "Threat" and…Buskerism

Wed., Jan. 21, 2009 9:05 PM PST by Natalie Finn

Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell

Michael Becker/Fox

Can this animosity between Simon Cowell and Kara DioGuardi be real?

On tonight's installment of American Idol, Kara had varying strong reactions to Simon's usual bluntness, at one point opting to crawl under the table with Paula Abdul in order to hide from the acerbic Brit.

Then there was Simon, jumping all over Kara's commentary as if she were a certain other female judge.

"It's like man versus woman up here," observed Randy Jackson—for the second night in a row. "Whoa, what's going on? Bizarre season eight."

And the Louisville auditions were like that, too—weird (and a bit repetitive) all around. And not only because a guy clad head to toe in black and white tried to pull off Tori Amos' "Mr. Zebra"; a sign in the crowd read "Simon has great pecks"; and Paula told someone that what he said wasn't normal.

Read on for more tasty morsels from Wednesday's Idol, and weigh in on whether you think Simon is just that annoying or Kara is just that dramatic:

Ab(dul)normal: After auditioner Mark Mudd told the judges to "be careful in whatever you do" as he made his ignominious exit, Paula warns him, "You don't say that to people, 'be careful.' That's just not a normal thing to say." (Personally, we think they made a big deal about Mudd's "threat" because it made for a good promo, but it certainly seemed to shock Paula straight.)

Resident Wordsmith: Simon told the Hollywood-bound Brent Keith Smith that his audition was "a bit buskerish." Meaning, Smith reminded Simon of a busker, an itinerant performer, someone who plays in public to solicit money...Good word.

Awkward Moment: Kara assumed Rebecca Garcia, voted Most Humorous by her high school class, was screeching "Before He Cheats" on a lark—thereby making the poor girl cry.

Butchering Worthy of Top Chef: Aaron Williamson, who really, really wanted to know if the judges had ever seen the rain.

Best in Show We Got to Know: Smith, Joanna Pacitti (another refugee from a failed record deal), Matt Giraud, Alexis Grace, Leneshe Young.

Best in Show in 30 seconds or Less: Kris Allen, Felicia Barton, Ryan Johnson, Shera Lawrence.

Loading poll...