Last night, the eleventh (wow, really?!) season of American Idol premiered. The two hour show brought us contestants from two days’ worth of singing in Savannah, Georgia. They suffered through their audition lines in hot, hot heat, but would any of them bring the heat? How did it go last night? Let’s take a look…
Note: Overall, I was pretty underwhelmed with the talent last night. Let’s hope that the producers hid some good ones and that some people didn’t show their full potential right off the bat.
The Most Potential
Ashlee Altise, 28, a sales associate. This is the girl who invented the “joy hop.” She had so much whacky personality oozing from her ears that I was sure she was going to be terrible. When she turned out to have a big and pretty decent voice, it was a pleasant surprise. She had soul and confidence and more potential than most other contestant had in their little fingers.
David Leathers, Jr., 17, from NC. The first audition of the night, 17 year old David looked like he was about 12, which Jennifer noted. His talk of being a ladies man was pretty hilarious – what ladies would think this kid wasn’t jail bait? He also had me thinking his claims were dubious when he said he beat last year’s Idol, Scott McCreary, in a local competition in 2009. However, David did deliver a nice, high pitched voice when it came time for it. He’s not perfect, but his imperfections make him refreshingly amateur rather than annoyingly perfect. Jennifer Lopez made him sing a Michael Jackson song – being that this boy has such a high pitched voice, comparisons would be inevitable. A chorus of three yesses from the judges let David through to Hollywood.
The Dixon siblings, Schyler and Colton, 16 and 19 respectively. These two auditioned last year, and they both went to Hollywood. Colton claimed last night that he didn’t plan to audition, but the situation seemed like a set up when the judges insisted he sing. (Judges, if you liked him that much, why did you cut him come Top 40 time?) Either way, both kids sounded pretty good. Schyler started her song with the typical Adele-style bluesy lilt that the judges have been going for in the last couple of years, but she opened up and showed lots of power on the chorus. Colton seems to have more vocal power than his sister, but I would recommend to him that he open his mouth more on the big notes to make sure he stays on pitch. Either way, they both got through, and I’m intrigued to see more of them.
At the end of the night, after lots of “After the break” hype, we got to see Phillip Phillips. As expected, he wasn’t as good as the previews were making him out to be, but he definitely has a voice and plenty of uncocky confidence. His version of “Superstition” was a little self-indulgent, but his pop-rock version of “Thriller” was tons of fun. His quirky personality and raspy growl was definitely reminiscent of Taylor Hicks, and while Taylor won Idol, he hasn’t exactly had a thrilling career since. (Disclaimer: I loved me some Taylor Hicks, truly I did, so no attacks for not liking him – I’m just pointing out the sorry truth.) Phillip is really cute, though – ladies, just wait til the producers give him a makeover.
The Best of the Rest
A quick roundup of the other positive auditions:
Gabi Carruba, 16, has a pretty, plain kind of voice. She slid from note to note pleasantly, but does she have any real power in that youth of hers? That remains to be seen.
Shannon Magrane, 15, has a daddy who used to play ball for the Cardinals. Isn’t that nice. She sang an Etta James tune well enough, and the judges were impressed that she could do so with her entire family in the room (as requested by said judges), so they put her through.
Amy Brumfield, 24, lives in a tent in the middle of the woods with her husband due to unfortunate financial circumstances. Her singing is seemingly a little under pitch, but it got better when she opened up on the chorus. Amy seems like a fun person, so despite not being wowed by her vocals, I’m rooting for her a teeny bit.
Stephanie Renae, 15, made the awful mistake of singing a Carrie Underwood song. It only served to accentuate how “eh” she is. If Simon were still around, he would have told her that she wasn’t ready yet and that she should come back next year, which Randy sort of echoed, but the other two judges sent her through to Hollywood.
Lauren Mink, 25, runs a program for adults with disabilities. I love that more than her voice, which is adequate but not special. J. Lo completely disagreed with me, literally saying that Lauren has a “special voice.” Off she went with a golden ticket, another step closer to stardom.
W.T. Thompson, 25, quit his job to chase his dream of auditioning for Idol. Seems like a silly move in this economy, especially considering that his wife is pregnant. He’s got a decent voice and the blue collar charm that Idol likes to feature. He seems like he’ll stick around for a while but not take the prize.
Brittany Kerr, 24, is an NBA dancer. She’s awfully gorgeous, but if I were the judges, I would have asked to hear a second song. Her voice is good, but she didn’t show it off properly with “Spoiled” by Joss Stone. J. Lo is the only judge who questioned if Brittany’s voice had power, while the other judges drooled and gave her a golden ticket easily.
A montage early on showed quick snippets of Brianna Faulk, Neco Starr, Molly Hunt, and Elise Testone, who all made it through. Some of them showed some potential, and a lot of times these quick contestants are the ones who make it farther in the competition. Let’s see what happens with them.
All in all, 42 people made it through to Hollywood.
The Bad Guys
None of these auditions were of the William Hung hilarity caliber, but here were the ones who were not so hot.
Jessica Whitely, 19, sang with the horrible throaty croak that people sometimes use when they’re trying to imitate talent. It’s an ugly sound. After the judges sat in silence for a couple of seconds, Randy finally told her it was “awful.” Thanks for being the one to break the bad news, Randy.
Shaun Kraisman, 26, was a Ryan Seacrest wannabe. The show gave him an awful lot of intro time, and he was better than I anticipated, but the judges gave him a unanimous no. I didn’t really get this one – I thought, considering some of the other subpar talent they took, the judges could have asked Shaun for a second song to prove his chops. Oh, well.
Joshua Chavis, 23, just wants to sing for NASCAR. He claimed that people tell him he sounds like Chris Daughtry and Brad Paisley – but not so much. Along with his rendition of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz, he did what seemed to be a weird dance routine, snapping his fingers a la the Jets in West Side Story and flared his nostrils while speaking through the song out of tune. “The voice just ain’t there,” is what Steven told him.
Mawuena Kodjo, 25, from South Africa dreamed of being the first African country singer. It never sounded like a great idea, and Mawuena proved that it wasn’t from the second he opened his mouth and tunelessly droned a Rascal Flatts song. After getting his negative verdict from the judges, Mawuena took to the streets with Ryan to find people who still thought he was good. Grandpa and his three granddaughters, though, couldn’t even convince the judges to take this character.
Erica Nowak, 28, cared more about grabbing Steven Tyler in inappropriate places than actually singing. It was a good thing, too, because Erica’s manly voice did not wow anyone.
And that was it, folks! The final verdict is that I didn’t spot any potential winners last night, nor have I even found anyone to really root for (besides Elise Testone, who I incidentally went to college with, so I have to throw my support behind her a bit). Of course, if you had told me Lee Dewyze was going to win back when I first saw him, I would have told you you belonged in a mental institution. On American Idol, you just never know.
Tune in tonight for the Pittsburg auditions.
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