By: Mary Cavaliere

Auditions continued in Minneapolis with talent scouts Kate Flannery and Brian Baumgartner from one of my favorite television shows, The Office.  I agreed with them, there was a lot of talent in this city and once again Last Comic Standing ticked me off by only putting through three comedians.  I've gotten complaints from some of my readers about this as well. They really need to explain their reasoning at the beginning of the season.  If they don't want to have that many people at the semi-finals in Las Vegas then hold a semi-semi final first somewhere else.  Or at least explain to us WHO decides to put people through?  The talent scouts?  The people in the audience?  Do they count the number of laughs?  WHAT?????

It's hard for us, the television audience, to determine who is the best.  Sometimes we only see three or four jokes from any one comic and that's not enough to determine if they were better than the next guy.   But I want to give a shout out to my favorites in this city:  Alex Thomas, Dan Cummings, Darlene Westgore, Doug Mellard, and Pete Lee.   Congratulations Dan and Pete for making it to the semi-finals!

Auditions moved to Nashville where again, there was a slew of comics I truly enjoyed yet only four were put through to the finals.  The featured judges were George Wendt and John Ratzenberger, the infamous Cliff and Norm from the hit comedy series Cheers.  It was good to see them again.

I want to give a shout out to my favorites in Nashville:  Taylor Mason (I am truly ticked you didn't make it through), Erin Jackson, Heath Hyche, Dale Jones, Keith Alberstadt, and Killer Beaz.  Congratulations to Dale, Erin, and Heath for making it through to the semi-finals.

Hey, was it me or have we seen Sabrina Matthews before?  Did she audition sometime earlier this season or is she a return from last season?  I'm not very good with remembering names, but I never forget a face!

Next week is the final round before the semi-finals in Vegas and it is the International episode where we get to hear comics from around the world compete.

You can read more of Mary's television blogs at www.myspace.com/italiangirl57

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