To start out tonight's episode of American Idol and kick off Season 11, we saw a montage of teenagers who auditioned after watching the show since they were kids. We also learned the contestants would be documenting and filming their own journeys as they made the trip to audition. For the first time ever, auditions were held in Savannah, Georgia.
The first contestant we saw audition was David, a 17-yeard-old from North Carolina on the prowl for a girlfriend. He was in a contest a couple years back with Scotty McCreery, who he claimed to have taken first place over. He sang "Remember the Rain" by Century 21. The judges compared him to a young Michael Jackson and asked him to sing a song for them. He received unanimous "yes" from the judges.
Next up was champion tap dancer, 16-year-old Gaby. She sang "Sunday Morning," by Maroon 5. She also receive a yes from all the judges and was given her golden ticket to Hollywood.
We saw short audition clips of contestants named Brianna, Neco, Molly, and Elise who each made it through to Hollywood as well. The judges were impressed to see such talent right out of the gates.
Then, it was time for Jessica Whiteley, the 19-yeard-old from Ohio to audition. The streak of golden tickets quickly came to an end. After a good 30 seconds of silence once she finished, Randy told her it was awful and that this isn't the right career for her. She left by saying she would see them in Texas, which the judges hoped wasn't true.
Shaun Kreisman called himself a Ryan Seacrest look-alike and had his impersonation perfected. He even worse a black suit with a white shirt and thin black tie. His audition song was "Oh Girl." In the end, it was a no from the judges, but they couldn't get over his resemblance to Ryan.
The six-foot tall 15-year-old, Shannon, was next. She shared that her dad was a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1987 World Series, so she asked to bring them in. She led in a slew of girls, along with her father. Finally, she got down to singing her audition song: "Something's Got a Hold on Me" by Etta James. The judges all agreed and gave her a ticket to Hollywood.
After some bad auditions, we met Amy, the 24-year-old from Tennessee who is living in the woods in a tent. She sang "Superwoman" by Alicia Keys. Steven told her the spirit of the woods snuck into her and said yes, and Randy and Jennifer agreed.
Next up was 23-year-old Joshua from South Carolina, who left all of his nerves outside with his boyfriend and wished Jenny would come to his block. He sang "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Jennifer told him she didn't know if his voice wasn't quite what they were looking for, and Steven agreed. Randy told him he was terrible, and off went Joshua without a ticket.
Stephanie, the 15-year-old who has been watching the show since she was eight, was incredibly nervous for her audition. She chose to sing "Inside Your Heaven," by Carrie Underwood, her favorite Idol. The judges commented on her voice being a little nasaly and said she could take vocal lessons to help. Even though Randy said not yet, Jennifer and Steven told her yes and passed her through to Hollywood.
Skylar Dixon came in to audition with her brother, Colton, last year. This year, she auditioned solo, but not without having to drag her brother into the room at the request of the judges. She sang The Script's "Break Even." With quite a bit of encouragement from the judges, Colton changed his mind and auditioned with David Cook's "Permanent." This year, both brother and sister received their golden tickets to Hollywood.
We saw a montage of tears and hissy fits from various contestants before 25-year-old Lauren Mink came in and auditioned with "Country Strong." Jennifer got "goosies," and Lauren received yesses from the judges.
There always seems to be one really crazy person who thinks they are really good and turn out to be absolutely terrible. Tonight, that spot belonged to Mawuena Kodjo, who sang Rascall Flatts "Stand by You." Or rather, attempted to sing. Steven told him he has the confidence, but he "ain't got the song." Randy told him it was really terrible. Mawuena said he was going to prove Randy wrong, so he and Ryan hit the streets to get opinions from the public. Luckily, they found a few young girls and an elderly gentleman who were in support of Mawuena - the judges still said no.
Ashlee, the 28-yeard-old who invented the "joy hop," came in next and demonstrated her dance before singing a bit of The Beatles "Come Together." Somehow, this girl got a yes from each of the judges. It looks like she just might joy hop all the way to Hollywood.
Next were more clips of hopeful contestants being let down and turned away without the opportunity to go to Hollywood.
W.T. Thompson quit his job working at a federal prison in order to audition for the show, despite his wife being six months pregnant. He sang "Boondocks" by Little Big Town and received a no from Steven, but a yes from Jennifer, leaving it up to Randy to decide. He came out with a ticket to Hollywood.
One of many Steven Tyler fans, Erika called him her future ex-husband and groped his rear end as he gave her a hug. She then sang "Super Duper Love" by Joss Stone. After the song, she got a hug from Randy and groped him as well, even if she didn't make it through to Hollywood.
NBA dancer, Brittany, sang another Joss Stone song: "Spoiled." Steven said he liked her melody, she was on pitch, but she needed to get it out a little more. Randy voted yes, Jennifer said no, and Steven said yes, so she received her golden ticket.
The final contestant to audition was Phillip Phillips, who works at his father's pawn shop. He sang Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." He broke out his guitar to sing his own rendition of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." He received a yes from all three judges.
Don't forget to check out tomorrow night's episode, which will be an hour-long recap of the Pittsburgh auditions!
What did you think of tonight's episode? Do you have any favorite contestants so far? Were you excited about the return of Colton? Leave a comment below!
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