American Idol auditions

Saturday morning is when Idol-related activity finally breaks through the cool-quiet veneer of the W’s lobby. Friday was so frenzy-free — “I hear today’s an off day; tomorrow’s when it’s all happening,” a valet offers furtively — that it was just another night at Ghostbar, which means the usual bridge-and-tunnel-ly assortment of high-life-seekers. When a bartender, his tongue loosened by a $5 tip for a glass of water, is asked about any pending Idol mania, he looks quizzical. “Is there supposed to be some kind of American Idol thing here tonight? I hadn’t heard.”

Tom Maurstad