Our first 2008 'American Idol' Booking Photo!

There are certain signpost events that mark the passage of time on each season's American Idol... Randy first bringing the boys into the Dawg Pound to woof at a hot female contestant... Simon and Ryan having their first homoerotic showdown... Paula falling out of her chair for the first time in a fit of wild giggles... And our first contestant mugshot.

Kudos, Perry Cataldo. You may not make the Top 24 -- your singing wasn't as good as your inspiring personal story -- but you'll always be a footnote to me.

Picking up the mantle that used to be reserved for TheSmokingGun, TMZ has found Cataldo's mugshot (all credit to them for the lovely photo above) stemming from a 2006 arrest for bringing a handgun into a Glendale, Ariz. bar following a fight. He was ultimately fined $568 after pleading no contest to carrying a concealed weapon.

While Cataldo's San Diego Idol audition, heavily showcased in Tuesday (Jan. 22) night's show, acknowledged his troubled past in reference to a deceased baby mama who left him caring for his four-year-old son, it offered few specifics except his proclamation that he'd turned his like around.

Check out the full audition:

Cataldo was sent on to Hollywood and you'd have to go check out a spoiler site to find out if he's still in the competition.

There needs to be an asterisk next to Cataldo's First Idol Booking Photo status. His was only the first shot not built into his celebratory Idol clip package. Jessica Brown, who overcame crystal meth addiction to be one of this season's Forgettable Idol Blondes, had not one, but two mugshots acknowledged and featured in her pre-audition clips.

We somehow suspect that Cataldo won't be the last...

E-mail

• Digg
• Facebook
• Fark
• Yahoo Buzz
• Stumbleupon