We have finally made it to the end of the audition phase of the competition and I am pumped about Hollywood week! I think there is a nice pool of talent to draw on as we move forward. We end up in New York and Puerto Rico… and I must say we ended on a high note!
We started the night off with Adeola Adegoke who sang “And I Am Telling You” by Jennifer Hudson. That was my first clue that she wasn’t going to Hollywood for the same reason I know it can’t be good when people say they are going to sing “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston. Adeola was so sure she was making it to Hollywood, she quit her job. The tender side of Simon came out and he helped her out by calling her boss to get her job back.
Jorge Nunez, our first Puerto Rican audition, brought the Latino flare that Idol hasn’t seen yet. Hey Ricky Martin has been gone for quite awhile! I think he can do well if he is able to translate his style into Idol format.
Jessika Baier paid for her trip and nine friends by winning singing contests – over 700 in her lifetime! She has a nice voice but was a bit over the top. I think Simon was a bit hard by saying she was horrible. I don’t know if something was wrong with my television because I didn’t think she was as bad as the judges let on. Well, at least she is making a decent living doing what she loves.
Melinda Camille, the resident hippie who loves to dance naked in her room, sang “Feeling Good.” Her voice was nice but her personality and likability is what really shined. America will love her, especially Dave over at Vote For the Worst (I can only imagine what they will do with the whole nudist comments).
Jackie Tohn is a 10-year musician veteran whose dad taught her to play guitar. I thought she started off a bit weird and I couldn’t see her fitting in with the various weekly styles until her second song using her “normal singing voice.” The judges gave her four yeses. She is not my favorite, but I think she could do well.
“Norman Gentle,” obviously someone who relies on comedy vs. talent to win people over, sings “And I Am Telling You.” His plan worked and finally won Simon over – making the judge acknowledge he was a bit funny. He then sang “Amazing Grace” and had a decent voice until he went into the second verse and went back into his cabaret. This didn’t detour the judges because they want to be entertained in Hollywood.
Monique Garcia Torres has a sweet voice that doesn’t win over all of the judges. She depends on her cute 9-year-old brother, Christopher, to charm Simon. She makes it to Hollywood by the skin of her brother’s teeth.
We got a brief look at Kendall Beard who has gotten a lot of buzz on the Internet. She had a great voice so I’m sure her fans (and yes, people are already choosing favorites) are happy.
As this season’s auditions wind down, a familiar face shows up. Alexis Cohen, the very angry, bitter rocker who used the finger quite frequently last year is back. She has now changed her attitude and is taking a calm zen approach to this year’s audition. Simon (and Kara) said she got worse and immediately the finger was up again. I think she is now one of Simon’s favorite people.
Patricia Lewis Roman was our last audition, singing in the exact spot her parents were married. The judges were not happy with “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” but let her through after a second song. I think if she can find a way to stand out in Hollywood, she has a chance to capitalize on her international flare.
Now on to question and answer. If you have a question about American Idol, I encourage you to send it to me at staceypro@yahoo.com.
Ellen from Wichita writes, “Phil, We would like to know how the stories come up on the show. How do some people get their life stories talked about and some don’t? What is the deal with that?”
The truth is, many of the auditions get their stories filmed, but the producer has to choose the stories that seem the most interesting. It’s all about finding something that will intrigue the audience. That is how those stories are chosen.
Well, next week the fun begins. Hollywood week is exhausting and busy, but it provides an atmosphere where the best stand out. I can’t wait to see it with you! Until then, be safe.
9 Comments
Well, I broke down and watched tonite but only because was waiting for the Hell’s Kitchen season debut. I wasn’t too crazy about any of the contestants. (Hell’s Kitchen was good though). Cannot wait for Hollywood.
I didn’t watch this episode–nor did I DVR it. Ugly Betty and Smallville trumped AI this week. Not that I don’t love AI–I really do–but the episodes of all these auditions are really tiresome at this point. Bring in the competition already!!
I’ll be watching next week to see how Hollywood goes and after this week I’m hoping they never have American Idol on a Thursday night again because trying to choose between American Idol and all the fantastic shows on Thursday nights is just a really hard thing for me to do!
Keep up the good work Phil! And I’m a day late, but congrats on the record deal!
I missed last nights show…and I’m not really sad about it. I’m having trouble latching on this season. I hope Hollywood gets more entertaining.
I DVR’d last night and fast-forwarded through most of it rather painlessly. The Nunez guy was quite good, I thought. And I agree with you Phil, the judges were cruel to Jessika. She was better than a lot of the yellow-ticket holders. The rest of them entertained me as I watched them fly by on fast forward. Didn’t really listen to much of the rest of it. Next week hopefully the fun will begin. I’m with you, Hum… this year hasn’t grabbed my attention yet either. But it never does at this stage of the game.
Melinda’s voice was ok… but it was her sparkling smile and personality that really won her over!!
That Norman Gentle guy could actually be pretty good if he took it serious!! The Amazing Grace song that he sang was good, until like Phil said, the 2nd verse, he turned it into a joke. I really don’t see him going far if he can’t take it serious. The people who do take it serious will eat him alive!!
And that girl with the middle finger problem… yea.. even if she could sing, is this the type of person that AI wants to represent them??
Right now, I don’t have any front-runners. Maybe after next week I will. I did pick David Cook when I saw him on Hollywood week. Right now, I am keeping my eye on the blind guy.
Well, I broke down and watched tonite but only because was waiting for the Hell’s Kitchen season debut. I wasn’t too crazy about any of the contestants. (Hell’s Kitchen was good though). Can’t wait for Hollywood.
In light of our current country’s situation today, I find it personal release that I can comment and give AI a thumbs up or thumbs down on contestants or judges comments. It lightens my day to vent a little on something unrelated to our darkened economy situation.
So I take most of it with a grain of salt and wish all of them well. It is above all “The Entertainment” business for which I am grateful.
quala ack for you… do you really want to copy and paste my comments? Unless you are my niece don’t do it again (and why would you ?… you have your own opinion surely.) Which we would like to hear. We don’t agrree at all most of the time but we do not dislike each other because of if. I’m pissed that bikini girl iis in the top 35 .
I too am growing tired of auditions and look forward to next week when they really start thinning out the pack. I dont think they should have let Norman Gentle through. Yea, he sang one verse of Amazing Grace half decently but doesnt take it seriously. There are plenty others that did and probably sang better than he did that didnt get through. Oh well…I guess daring to be different does pay off sometimes.