DFWCards

American Idol Comes to Louisville

When the Season 8 American Idol auditions come to Louisville July 18-21 (first round) and September 4-8 (second round – with the judges), things are going to be done a bit differently than in the past.

The show’s producers, attempting to stem a ratings decline, have decided to make the auditions more visually interesting to viewers. To accomplish this, they are moving them from the traditional generic hotel ballroom setup to sites representative of the city being visited. In Louisville, that means that Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul will be deciding who goes to Hollywood on the finish line at Churchill Downs.

Louisville will be the second stop on the 2008 audition circuit, with the schedule for the remaining cities as follows: July 17, San Francisco; July 25, Phoenix; July 29, Salt Lake City; Aug. 2, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Aug. 8, Kansas City, Mo.; Aug. 13, Jacksonville, Fla.; and Aug. 19, East Rutherford, N.J.

It's Derby Day And We've Been Invaded

The most important day of the year in Louisville has arrived - Derby Day 132.

It also means that in less than 24 hours, all of the attention-seeking celebrities (redundant terms, those) that exploit the city's intense desire to be appreciated will have left our fair burg in their collective rear view mirrors.

Derby Week is the only time of the year that most of the country's beautiful people deem Louisville worthy of their time, and the locals eat up the attention.

If this interests you, you can read reports on the hoi polloi who attended the Barnstable-Brown (Louisville) and Derby Eve Gala (Lexington) parties.

Thunder Over Louisville Kicks Off the Derby Festival Today

From the Thunder Over Louisville web site:

Rated as one of the top 100 events in North America, the Derby Festival’s Opening Ceremonies is truly a sight to behold. And each year, more than 500,000 eager thrill-seekers do just that.

The day-long event kicks off the two exciting weeks of events that are part of the annual Kentucky Derby Festival. The Thunder Air Show dazzles the crowd with more than 100 planes, aerobatics teams, daring sky diving teams and breathtaking stunts.

When it gets dark, the Thunder rolls. The fireworks will feature the latest in pyrotechnic power from Zambelli Internationale, America's "first family of fireworks". Eight 400-foot barges assemble on both sides of the 2nd Street Bridge to form the stage from which the fireworks spectacular ignites.

The breathtaking and mind-numbing 28-minute show includes Thunder’s signature one-mile “waterfall” effect off the bridge, making the fireworks seem to rain down forever. And in the crowd’s memory of the show, it does!

After more than a decade, the show remains the largest annual pyrotechnic display in North America. Seen by millions worldwide via a July 4th rebroadcast on the Armed Forces Network to more than 150 countries, it is the state’s pride. A Discovery Channel documentary on fireworks shows says it best, “Thunder is the Grand-daddy of them all!”.

"Don't Put Me On The Electrical Side"

Visitors to the east wing of Louisville's Galt House Hotel regularly ask that they not be given rooms that face the Louisville Gas & Electric towers and electrical wires on the east side of the complex.

However, if the Unversity of Louisville's proposed new basketball arena were to be built at Second and Main, near that site, the customers' perspective would likely change.

The $381 million arena -- largely funded by bonds issued by the Louisville Arena Authority -- includes a plan to tear down LG&E's two electrical substations and raze its building at Third Street and River Road, modernizing and enclosing the equipment in a new building across Third Street.

But That Derby Marketing Machine Does Work Well

Given that it is now that point in the year when the world's attention does point toward Louisville, newspapers around the United States are doing their part to share all the fun that you can have while you're there for the Kentucky Derby.

The Associated Press' Elizabeth Dunbar does the honors this year, in a widely distributed article that regurgitates well-established Derby cliches and serves as a very nice commercial for the Kentucky Derby Museum, Churchill Downs, and the upcoming Kentucky Derby Festival.

 

"We're the 16th Largest City, But It Doesn't Seem Like It"

Louisville's identity crisis continues.

In the latest effort to get people to think about the Derby City more than once a year, local officials are launching a three-year, $2.5 million makeover of the city's image by developing a marketing plan and new "brand," to be aimed at attracting new businesses, workers and tourists.

The Louisville Courier-Journal quotes resident Matt Tucker, who was interviewed at 4th Street Live. Tucker said he thinks it's a good idea to re-brand Louisville. Tucker, 23, said the city isn't nearly as exciting as places such as Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.

"We're the 16th largest city, but it doesn't seem like it," he said.

Battle for Arena Location Is Joined

Louisville Courier-Journal:

In a rebuke of the Kentucky House, the Senate yesterday voted unanimously to strike language from a budget bill that would require an arena in downtown Louisville to be on the old water company block.

If the House rejects those changes, it would set up a showdown over the project's location in a conference committee of House and Senate members.

The Senate spending plan approves $75 million in state-issued bonds for a Louisville arena but does not specify a site. A state task force has recommended that the project be built on the riverfront at Second and Main streets.

The waterfront arena has the support of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, Mayor Jerry Abramson and the University of Louisville, whose basketball programs would be the chief tenants.

It's a Good Thing He Didn't Pick a Taller Building

Who knew that the Louisville skyline had buildings interesting enough for a BASE jumper to ply his craft?

On Monday, a 37-year-old Louisville man was left in serious condition after he jumped from a riverfront building and his parachute malfunctioned.

The LCC Gets Progressive

The prestigious Louisville Country Club, which has been accused of discriminatory membership practices, has accepted its first African-American member.

Louisville banker William Summers V joined the club, which is located between Brownsboro Road and Upper River Road, in Januaryafter several members asked him to apply.

Three More Parishes to Close Their Schools

Having received a Catholic education at both the elementary and secondary school level in Louisville, it is with particular angst that I note yet another consolidation of schools about to take place there.

St. Barnabas, St. Bartholomew and St. Pius X will close their schools at the end of this academic year and create a new regional school in the fall. The new school will encompass kindergarten through eighth grade.

The new school will be the first regional Catholic school created by parishes in eastern Louisville.