Is it just me or does jury selection for the Michael Jackson case — which resumes today after a week's hiatus because Jacko is a delicate flower (he was given intravenous fluids at Santa Maria's Marian Medical Center for what doctors described as "a flu-like illness with some vomiting") — sound like American Idol?

Lawyers will once again question selected members of the public in a bid to find 12 impartial jurors.

Each side can challenge an unlimited number of jurors for any signs of bias and reject 10 jurors without cause.

The pool of prospective jurors has already been narrowed down to 240 since jury selection began. As well as the final 12, Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville will also have to choose eight alternates, who will replace any jurors dismissed during the trial. [BBC]

Paula would encourage all the would-be jurors, an occasional tear dripping down her lovely, empathetic cheek; Simon would indignantly repeat "I see this juror in a Holiday Inn lounge"; and Randy would give the impression he is judging a dog show, what with the obscure hand signals and persistent verbal canine references.

But enough "reality": in addition to jury selection resuming today, the Smoking Gun dropped another bombshell on Friday, announcing they have the secret grand jury transcript, which has remained sealed. The complete grand jury transcript runs 1903 pages and includes the testimony of 41 witnesses, including the alleged victim and six members of his family, Jackson employees and associates, flight attendants, child welfare officials, four lawyers, one clinical psychologist, and a comedy club owner.

Thus far TSG has published the complete testimony of the alleged victim, his younger brother, sister, mother, and grandmother, attorney Larry Feldman (who represented the boy who made molestation allegations against Jackson in 1993), psychologist Dr. Stanley Katz (who reported his suspicions of abuse and molestation to child welfare and law enforcement officials after interviewing the alleged victim and his brother), Jesus Salas (former Neverland house manager), Brian Barron (part-time Neverland Ranch security guard), Michael Davy (official with the Los Angeles Unified School District), Cynthia Bell and Lauren Wallace (corporate flight attendants), along with the actual Jackson indictment (which had been released only in redacted form).

TSG has also detailed what they consider to be the highlights of the testimony:

* A California cop who moonlighted as a Neverland Ranch security guard told of seeing a written directive ordering that the accuser not be allowed to leave the 2800-acre property. The directive, posted in the estate's security office, came during the period in which investigators allege the boy and his family were imprisoned at Jackson's estate.
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