Idol chatter.

Am I the only one who made the connection between last night’s American Idol contestant Tyra and MTV’s Making the Band, season three? Given my obsession with the latter program, I just might be, but imagine my surprise when one of Diddy’s early castoffs auditioned for Simon, Randy and Paula…and got through! Tyra, a 24-year-old from New York, who spent the minutes before her audition telling Ryan Seacrest about her recent string of back luck, sang “In the Still of the Night,” after which the judges complimented her tone and her ability to maintain control, what they assumed was a result of some vocal coaching.

This was quite a different audition experience from Tyra’s Making the Band days, where she flubbed her first attempt at impressing Doc, Phil and Laurie Ann, but managed to squeak by on her second try, only to cut by Diddy shortly thereafter. Cold-hearted snake.