American Idol 9 – Hollywood Round Part 1 – Recap

yes finally done with the prelim auditions……….enjoy people!!

Anyone know where this west coaster can watch right now? I used to watch at Rickey’s site, but I don’t see that going on tonight.

I’m not feeling Katie Stevens

I’m not feeling Katie Stevens

really? I respect your opinion but I thought she was awesome. I think with a lot of work she could be a female version of Michael buble.

I thought Katie was very good, it seems like she’s going to be featured heavily in hollywood. Everyone saw the skiiboski fiasco coming.

Vorona – Try this: http://www.justin.tv/davidhepp#r=15A1NSc

Skiiboski’s audition wasn’t bad, I just think TPTB wanted to get rid of him after getting a look at his rap sheet.

LOVE IT!!!!

A tribute to Paula! How sweet.

I liked Andrew’s version of Paula’s song “Straight Up”.

Awwwwwww! Kara compares the dude with the guitar to ADam. I LUV Adam but I thought the dude reminded me of Kris-not Adam.

Andrew was awesome, funny that the first time someone sings a Paula song is when she’s not there,

Yeah, that Andrew dude totally gave off a Kris-esque vibe. And the comment Kara made about “flipping” the song around? That seems more Kris than Adam.

Kara compared andrew garcia to adam?!? He was wearing plaid! He was playing guitar! He reminded me more of kris. Either way cool performance. Now he will have to top that

I just cant like Andrew. He reminds me too much of Gokey.

I’m not really a Danny fan…but I’ve always loved his version of “What Hurts the Most”

I thought Andrew was pretty awesome, and did not remind me one bit of Adam. More like Kris if you were comparing.

Well Adam did “switch around” songs like “If I Can’t Have You” and “Believe,” I think that’s what Kara was referring to.

Kara, I’m one that likes your insight, but you’re testing me.
Andrew Garcia was very good!

Just when I thought I couldn’t dislike Kara anymore. OMG

It looks like Kara is gonna be taking Paula’s place of the “wtf did they just say?” judge. In her defense though, this only her 403291 stupid/annoying mistake this season.

Haha I knew I liked Kara

I like Adam references

ellen’s ok she hasn’t talked that much

they’re being rrly mean
a lot of good ppl are leaving

it’s rrly sad

not becuz Andrew reminded me of Adam-I just like the references

why does this seem like most people getting thru play guitars?

Ellen seems good

and Mary did well

Who is that cute Danny guy and why haven’t we heard him sing yet?

not becuz Andrew reminded me of Adam-I just like the references

It was almost like Kara just needed to drop Adam’s name… and couldn’t find the right moment . Because that comparison was really weird!

Hmm, there are some pretty intriguing people getting through…

Liked a lot of the people in this first half hour, I’m still not in the Haeley love train but I understand the appeal. Mary Powers was much better than in her first audition and her song choice was awesome. Janell did great too.

GeminiDolly – Now everytime I look at Andrew I will think of your comment!! LOL.

Kara will never say the word “brilliant” and put it together with Kris Allen. He did, after all, drop her crappy NB.

Loved Andrew’s style. He’s had some great song choices with Maroon 5′s Sunday Morning and Straight Up.

Has anyone seen this acoustic version of Paula by okaysamurai before? I thought Kris should do something like this, but he ended up going one better with Heartless.

From what I’ve seen Andrew, Janelle, and Katie are the ones to beat.

She’s amazing

Kara so pissed me off. She’s ridiculous.

Andrew and Katie were awesome.

I like Michael lynche

Wow! Lily was really good.

GO Ellen! Seriously she is doing just awesome so far as a judge IMO. She is fair and honest with a sense of humor. She is exactly what this show has needed…

Why are people so mad at Kara (I don’t like her but she didn’t dp anything that bad)?
Just because he made a comparison you don’t agree with?

I liked Michael’s performance. Lily performance wasn’t bad IMO.

I like that I can actually “hear” the contestants from this season when they play guitar. I never could really “hear” some of the other contestants in the past (Jason, Brooke, Kris) when they have played guitar on Idol. It always seemed like some of them were barely strumming the guitar when they played on Idol.

Janell was really good

I LOVED Lilly. My favorite of the night so far.

And I love Ellen, too. But that doesn’t come as a surprise as I love her show as well and watch it as often as I can.

Maybe I’m just being a defensive Kris fan, and this is only based on what I read, but BOOOOOOOO @ Kara. “who was that ungodly cool guy who rearranged songs acoustically and wore plaid? Oh wait, he beat my cuddlemuffin.”

No drama yet apparently, so tonight sounds interesting.

Luv
I’m happy she dropped Adam’s name in there but that guy was nothing like Adam! Not mad at Kara for dropping Adam’s name but just didn’t agree with the comparison.

I’m going to say it …..I love “No Boundaries” and TFM……there

Anyway, I like Kara….the reference to Adam was the flipping of the song around….David Cook did this as well (Billie Jean).

Thought I wouldn’t like Ellen but so far no problem.

Tim is REALLY great

haha dc fans are gonna like him

CBTM! Sorry I spazzed.

I’m going to say it …..I love “No Boundaries” and TFM……there

aladam not you specifically-it’s seems like a lot of people are pissed at her

Haha. I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one who went WTH? when Kara said the thing about Adam. XD

Adam definitely is NOT the one I think about when I think about “flipping” songs. lol

SHOCKER! Justin’s gone? Andrew’s rearrangement was great but the guitar playing was not good…? Haha, Come Back to Me! It was aite. Janelle was good; so was Lily Scott.

OMFG, they sent Justin the handsome crooner home and kept that teenage kid that cant even sing?

What?

Thats the first choice yet that made NO sense to me.

Good lord, Casey! He’s hot and he’s good. He’s my wheelhouse.

Ooooh. I really like Casey James. Nice voice, bluesy guitar, and he’s cute to boot. XD

Whoa! That Casey dude is HAWT!

Seriously, I thought Justin was a LOCK.

I mean:

1. Great singer.
2. Good looking.
3. Cancer survivor.
4. Crooner.

and they send him home? Say wha? Every year we get a crooner but they send a great crooner home? There MUST be something more to that.

luvadamlambert
02/09/2010 at 8:45 pm
Tim is REALLY great

haha dc fans are gonna like him

You said it not me…. *nervous laugh*

Also since when is Adam known for “flipping songs around”? Did Kara watch AI before S8?

Casey is the one to watch!! (for me!!)

I like that I can actually “hear” the contestants from this season when they play guitar. I never could really “hear” some of the other contestants in the past (Jason, Brooke, Kris) when they have played guitar on Idol. It always seemed like some of them were barely strumming the guitar when they played on Idol.

I like hearing the playing too– you can tell that Andrew Garcia’s playing was meh, but that blond guy in the ponytail, Casey, was good. But the reason we can hear the instrument now is because it’s just the contestants with their guitars/pianos or a cappella at this point. You could always hear the instruments in the past in Hollywood week. Just wait– the bandzilla will inevitably take over once they hit the big stage. I love the band, and they’re awesome, but they tend to be THE BAND, you know?

All these contestants are totally sucking up with the Kara songs, the David Cook songs, the Paula songs! That said, I FLOVED that. Didi, she was great.

I like Didi. A lot.

So far for me:

Andrew, Katie, Casey and Didi. And maybe Janell.

ETA: Good lord Crystal. Wow. Add her to the list!

God, that song might of just made Kara the winners song writter again

I thought Didi was great.

Damn that girl can sing but needs to get those yellow teeth fixed. Veneers time baby.

dreadlock guitar girl was good.

I’m still in shock they sent the good looking crooner, cancer survivor home. Not only that, he was the ONLY one in the whole group that went home. Bizarre.

My favorites of the night: Lilly, Casey, & Didi.

I hate to agree with Randy’s annoying refrain of a girl winner, but I’m liking the girls. Lots of singer-songwriter musician types with unique voices– but with stronger voices than your Brooke Whites or Megan Joys– we have Didi, Janelle, Krystal, Katie, Lily… interesting. That was a good episode. I enjoyed it.

Janell was very good and omg omg omg … I flove Crystal … she’s amazing!!!!

Wow, Crystal was amazing. She made my husband stop and listen and say “I like that girl.” Heh.

Didi’s amazinggg

And yeah, the girls are really strong so far.

like sma11ie, i agree too with randy that it will be a girl’s year (of what i heard so far)

Didi was great, too, and also made my husband stop and listen

I have to go and try to follow Lost so I’ll be back later to expand, but I loved this episode. This episode has made me more excited for idol than I have been in years.

My 3 favs: Casey, Didi, Crystal

Didi was absolutly great too!

and i think that Maddie should come back next year or in a couple of years because she has a very nice voice

This episode has made me more excited for idol than I have been in years.

Me, too! Noooo!

The only 3 I thought were really good were Andrew, Lilly and the last single mother person (Crystal?). Couple others were ok, but nothing special. Disappointed they didn’t show John Park

Good show tonight, lot of very strong girls in the competition, I was surprised how good both Lilly and Crystal were and Katie, Andrew, Janell and Didi confirmed the good impression from their auditions.

Casey was 100% improved from his audition, he’s much better with his guitar.

I loved Megan from last year but wished she had a stronger voice, so its cool seeing a big crop of girls this year have that kind of unique style but with really strong voices

And while I liked both Didi and Crystal, I liked Crystal more. She keeps your attention more.

This is turning out to be a bummer season. None of them have any star quality about them. I dont remember any of them except for Andrew Garcia.

I wasn’t wowed by Casey or Didi, although both were more than good enough to get through the round

All the girls were good and a few guys too but noone really caught my interest(ok not all girls most of them)

There were some good things about tonight but it would’ve been nice to give some others some screen time. The drama is coming with group round…yuck, never liked anything about it.

mj, I’m sure it was brought up already but Vanessa sang No Rain by Blind Melon

Singing Kara songs should not be allowed. DiDi could sing find but it didn’t make up for the smug look on Kara’s face.

Crystal has a great voice, but didn’t agree with Simon who acted like it was all about her likability, nothing special about her personality, to me.

Lilly has a very good jazzy voice but way too confident, almost cocky.

Surprised by Casey, didn’t expect to like him as much as I did.

Didn’t realize until I started typing that I had focused that much on the personalities but since American Idol has never had a winner without a really likable personality, it is important IMO.

TPTB are definitely pushing for the girls this year. Out of the serious auditions, it was 2 to 1 in favor of the girls. I wish they would meddle a little less.

However, it does seem like the “this is a girl’s year” refrain is somewhat warranted. So far, the girls seem to be stronger overall. I like Katie, Ashley, Janell, Didi, and Crystal so far.

MJ: I didn’t see it posted but the song Haeley Vaughn sang is Change by Taylor Swift. She’s definitely positioning herself as pop country.

I actually really enjoyed this episode. It’s my 1st full one that I’ve watched though I’ve watched some auditions here and there.

My favorites were: Andrew, Janell (whose audition hadn’t impressed me), Lily, Michael Lynche, and Crystal. LOVED what they all did tonight. I like Didi and that was a great song choice (from Katharine Mcphee’s album but I guess she didn’t know Kat had cut it) – but her voice sounded a little thin to me. I like her phrasing – I hope I like her next performances better. Casey James is HOT and did well but I think he’s fodder. Haeley seems like she might be fodder too unless she steps up her game. I like her personality though and she’s got a pretty good voice. Oh I liked Katie too.

Good job by the judges tonight too. What they showed of Ellen she was very good IMO. Randy was the only guy who wasn’t shown saying anything useful.

I dint lile casey

How did Keia Johnson do?!!

Bye peeps-it’s the last day of being 12 ever

Didn’t realize until I started typing that I had focused that much on the personalities but since American Idol has never had a winner without a really likable personality, it is important IMO

I agree that contestants have likeable/interesting personalities is very important. Right now I am not really drawn to anyone’s personality from this season like I have been in the past early on with idol contestants. I do think that Andrew is pretty talented and I think that Mike is a nice singer, I liked what he did tonight with the John Mayer song.

and i think that Maddie should come back next year or in a couple of years because she has a very nice voice

Totally agree with this.
Also liked Didi, Crystal, Haeley (sp?), and Lily.
And wow! Casey did some cool blues guitar, a nice change of pace with all the jazzy singers.
Oh– and Mary Powers definitely has some pipes.
Yeah, so far the girls look very strong.

12? I.am.so.old! lol

Good stuff tonight — saw several folksy/pop/country girls. It will be interesting to see if they all make it. Definitely seems like a girl’s year.

luvadamlambert
02/09/2010 at 9:18 pm
Bye peeps-it’s the last day of being 12 ever

Happy b-day! Hopefully your 13th won’t suck as hard as mine did.

On another note. I was sitting on my couch during Casey’s performance, and I zoned out. Can’t remember a thing. Was it good?

Andrew Garcia is up next. He sings an acoustic version of Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up’ with an acoustic guitar. The judges dig it. He’s soulful, confident. Kara calls it “genius”, and says Paula would have loved it. She compares him to Adam, who she says would take a song and flip it.

I missed that tonight but it seems to me that Kara was mixed up in names here… that was Kris..

I have decided to not read all the comments here before I comment ……..

I loved tonight and think I saw some GREAT talent!! There were several that I can see making it to the top 12 and I know we didn’t see them all! I loved Ellen and think she will be so refreshing….she takes this seriously it seems and that is a good thing because this means so much to these kids!
I wasn’t too sure about watching this year but am rethinking that! LOVED IT TONIGHT!

Thanks seriously? lol

I loved Ellen too, actually. Of course I loved her before this so she’ll really have to screw up to make me feel differently.

luvadamlambert, have a happy birthday! And enjoy the snow. Coming down pretty good out there again. I have decided I’m not shoveling until tomorrow, heh.

Ok, Crystal was the breakout star of the night, for me. She wasn’t on my radar at all, and now is an absolute favorite. Her rendition of “Natural Woman” was fabulous; powerful, well-phrased, and, yeah, her personality came across pretty well. Didi is another favorite (though I already liked her), as are Janell (I loved the cheekiness that was present), Mary (powerful vocals indeed!), and Lily (absolutely original). Andrew isn’t too bad either, though, while I thought his choice of “Straight Up” was really cute, his execution seemed a little off tonight for me. Not as good as his audition.

Haeley has a great presence, but I thought her rendition of the Taylor Swift song was really off. Any number of really painful notes. I’m beginning to doubt that she’ll have the voice to hold up long into the competition, unless she seems to tap into the goodwill that country singers tend to have on this show. On the flip side, Katie Stevens was competent, but had no presence at all and really isn’t very engaging. I’ll bet it’ll be her downfall in the long-run.

Interesting to see the downfall of a lot of featured competitors this early. Was there that much loss in S8? Mind you, I didn’t care for any of them, save Vanessa. That was predictable, but disappointing.

The judges were OK. Ellen was a bit of a non-presence, but what she did have to offer was pretty competent. She’s not Shania or anything, but that’s asking a bit much. Still, you can tell how old that panel is feeling. Both Simon and Randy were really just predictable and added nothing. Randy made one interesting comment at some point, but then he had to go and add the “you’re 16!1!” thing to a contestant’s critique and lose my goodwill for the night.

On the whole, though, great start to Hollywood week.

Good heavens! I google Casey James and didn’t expect to find what I found.

I google Casey James and didn’t expect to find what I found.

WHY did I go run and do it, too? I’m gonna have nightmares. Hee!

The judges looked tired and bored.

I don’t know if any of the contestants we saw tonight would be marketable, especially for the radio today. Over the years I have seen what a problem that can be.

Now I had to google Casey James. Great. Dolly Parton much?

Tonight was good. Lots of great singers. My favorites were Didi, Lilly, Janell, Andrew, Casey, & Crystal.

I like Katie well enough, and I think she has a very mature voice for her age, but I think her song choice was just kind of boring in comparison to some of the others – especially seeing Crystal have the kind of vocal nuance and edge to take an overdone on Idol song and make it seem new. Not to mention seeing Janell take a rap/sung collabo and turn out a great acoustic version of it.

Didi and Lilly also made really good song choices for their voices, and I REALLY love both of their tones.

Andrew “straight up” ROCKED with his rearrangement. Casey’s a lot better with his instrument, and he’s got some decent guitar skillz, too. If he’s gonna make it far, he’s gonna have to prove he can perform without it, though.

All in all, a good episode. Bring on the group drama!

Both Adam and Kris are known for flipping songs. But Andrew’s style and look are way more Kris than Adam. If Kara was going to compare him to Adam, then she should have also compared him to Kris.

Not that it’s a huge deal in the end, I know. It just seemed a little odd to me.

I’m still not excited about this season. It’ll probably not be until Top 12 that I decide whether there’s anyone I care enough about to want to get invested in. A handful of contestants with real potential, though. Mostly the girls…

I forgot to mention I also enjoyed Mary Powers tonight.

Also: Unintentionally hilarious comment of the night goes to Randy Jackson. Casey James finishes a good cover of I Don’t Need No Doctor and Randy declares him a really good “singer songwriter”.

I am convinced that thin-skinned Kara is never going to like Kris for his dropping of NB. That was the first time the coronation song was not sung on the tour and there was lots of publicity, mostly saying it was a good idea to get rid of it.

Andrew was my fave for the night, followed closely by Crystal. I see them both in the top 3. I’m calling it now!

I google Casey James and didn’t expect to find what I found.

WHY did I go run and do it, too? I’m gonna have nightmares. Hee!

Should Casey James get into the Top 12 or even just Top 24, the complaints will start flooding into Google when the tweenies start googling their latest AI heart-throb and find something they didn’t expect.

There were a few people that I was looking out for that they didn’t show at all. Aaron Kelly, for example. Once again they didn’t show Michael Castro singing, but I think he made it to the next round because I think they showed him briefly in the preview of tomorrow’s group rounds show. They probably sang songs that couldn’t be cleared for broadcast, I guess. I thought Ellen Degeneres was very funny and likable. It’s gonna be fun to watch her.

Reminder:

No rehashing of Season 8 or my delete finger gets busy!

I liked Andrew, Casey, and Lilly best, closely followed by Crystal and Didi. They didn’t show Tyler, Lee, or Katelyn Epperly, of the ones I’m watching.

Everytime someone does a DC song, they mess it up. David just makes those songs sound easy to sing. Can’t wait until someone tries Light On!

I think the judges did Vanessa a favor by sending her home. She’s clearly too inexperienced to handle the whole competition right now, but, if she spends a year or 2 getting more experience performing in public, maybe she can try again and get further. She should have a certain amount of local notoriety just from getting to Hollywood Week. That could help her get gigs.

I liked Ellen as a judge.

Haeley has a great presence, but I thought her rendition of the Taylor Swift song was really off. Any number of really painful notes.

Is anyone capable of singing Taylor Swift’s songs in tune? Haha…

They didn’t show Tyler, Lee, or Katelyn Epperly, of the ones I’m watching.

From what Tyler said about getting the chance to get his ish together the next day I assumed he might not have been at his best. But Idk (obviously).

Ok, during Hollywood week last year, I was 99% sure a guy would win, and this time, I feel just as strongly that a girl will win – they just seemed overall to be much stronger than the guys.

Andrew was definitely the stand out of the guys – though tbh I’m getting a little sick of the whole “rearrange a song by just playing a guitar with it and having a mellow vibe” thing – which seemed way too similar to what Kris did last year (and made it all the more weird that Kara compared him to Adam, instead of Kris – I was like, wha– Kara?)

The only other guy to stand out for me was Casey – I was way more impressed with him here than during his audition. He is very attractive, and the blues vibe was very cool.

So many of the girls, though, were just much stronger than the guys. The last 2 especially. Wasn’t impressed with Didi during auditions, but liked her a lot more here. And Crystal has an excellent voice and expressive nature. I can see her being a top female contender. Other fav girl was Lily – she has an amazing, really unique-sounding voice.

I thought Haeley had an annoying tone on her belted notes, but her winning personality (and unique niche as a performer) will likely take her far.

Too bad about Vanessa I was hoping she would make it a little further, and she had a lot of early fans, it seemed. But not being able to hold a microphone properly was a bad sign for how things might have gone further down the road.

Aw, Andrew’s trying to make me fall in love with him. (It’s working). Casey was a whole new man with that guitar. I was impressed.

There was some pretty special talent tonight. I love when someone kind of awesome like Crystal comes up there, does her thing and makes the whole room love her. She sucked them all in with a great performance. Everyone who wasn’t giving her a standing “o”, was just sitting there with the “oh shit” face LOL.

Lily & Didi are cool chicks, with interesting voices. Ya’ know how you size up the way someone looks and expect them to be one kind of artist? Well, I want to personally thank Michael Lynche for looking like he should be singing some Luther Vandross, yet coming out and doing THAT. Exciting surprises like that always remind me to keep my preconceptions in check. (Kind of the way I expected Casey to suck, but then he didn’t).

There was a lot of fun, unexpected stuff for me like that tonight. Makes me hopeful for a good season. Also, so far, I’m giving Ellen a thumbs up.

That’s what I’m pretty sure Kara meant, and I don’t recall Kris doing that aside from that one song, and I’m not even sure “Heartless” really fits the bill either.

What Andrew did, particularly since it was just guitar, immediately brought to mind Heartless, that’s where I saw the comparison more obviously being made with Kris.

Okay those that stood to me tonight w/o looking at names was Crystal!!!

I honestly can’t say anyone impressed me more or even equally to her. I will say that Big Mike and Casey James were both better than their auditions. I think Casey mainly stood out to me for his guitar playing skillz. I thought Andrew Garcia was quite good, kind of reminded me of Kris in the way he flipped that song.

I’m kind of surprised none of the judges had the ‘where with all’ to point that out. Hee! Uh hum!

Moving on, I thought some of the other girls were very, very good! I liked Didi, Lily (some, I thought she was good, but there was something that didn’t quite connect with me), and Katie Stevens has a beautiful voice! Haeley didn’t stand out as much as I thought she would. And now to go look at the names. Okay, that’s about it.

I felt bad for Vanessa, she was too nervous for anything good to come out, but I hope she doesn’t ever give up on her dream! I also felt bad for Justin because he was the only one in his group to not go through.

I also thought Ellen (who I loved btw) was looking at Simon in a funny way when he was talking about liking a waitress (Didi) going through, or whatever he said.

I was surprised they didn’t show John Park – along with Andrew Garcia, I kind of have them pegged as two of the more heavily pimped guys in the bunch.

Seeeing Vanessa Wolfe and Justin Williams respective meltdowns is exactly why I didn’t see it as a travesty a couple weeks ago when word leaked they had been cut. A good initial audition has nothing to do with the pressure and expectations of Hollywood.

Ellen: She was so funny! The woman who has no socks and shoes on Ellen says the that Hollywood is dirty ROFL! And then she tells a group to step forward and step back and step to the side ROFL! They are all through. That was a good one Ellen.

Lily Scott: Did they show her audition? I don’t remember her.

Casey James: I am so glad Kara or even Randy didn’t tell him to take his shirt off!

Oh, and I really liked Ellen as a judge! Thank god she wasn’t like she was on SYTYCD, which was pretty bad as far as actual judging was concerned.

She reminded me a bit of NPH – witty, smart, direct, yet a tad nurturing as well. I really like it so far. Like she has the kindness of Paula, and the abruptness of Simon, and her own fun sense of humor all mixed together

Crystal, Didi, Lilly. My faves. Haeley and Janelle are close behind. Michael Lynch and Andrew Garcia were high points tonight. Katie Stevens is pretty much awesome, but she just doesn’t do anything for me. She’s not interesting enough to me. But, I expect her to do very well.

Ellen was okay. I kind of like that she didn’t really start her first night with a bang. I mean, she just did her job. She was funny enough, but not overly so. Simon, meanwhile, has checked out. He wasn’t even trying.

Go here to find photos of Casey James and his band: http://sarahholtphotography.blogspot.com/2008/09/casey-james-band.html

Okay I’m back! Idol was even better than Lost tonight! First I thought Ellen did a great job. Her first two days went by so seamlessly. I really liked a lot of her critiques, and I thought it showed that music is something that even outsiders like us on this blog can really have a feel for and an opinion about. I thought Katie, Casey, Mike, Tim, and Lily were great. Those singers alone would have left me with a positive impression of tonight. Haeley, Andrew, Didi, and Crystal however pushed the show into amazing territory however for me. Andrew’s voice just brings a smile to my face, and what a cool twist to a Paula song. I can’t believe people think that no one is marketable or has a personality that pops out because Haeley screams “I am more bubbly than Taylor Swift, and I sing her songs better than she does recorded!”. Didi just sings so effortlessly and it is beautiful. There is such an interesting tone to her voice that I could listen to forever. Crystal had an amazing cover of Ray Lamontagne on youtube that has now been pulled, but I was rooting for her but nervous, and she knocked it out of the park. She may not have a big loud personality, but she exudes warmness and I love her already. I know some people are not going to love it being the year of talented girls, but it makes me so happy!

What about Jermaine Sellers or the other Jermaine? Did anybody see them?

She reminded me a bit of NPH – witty, smart, direct, yet a tad nurturing as well.

That’s an apt comparison, and I agree.

Hazehel

Good heavens! I google Casey James and didn’t expect to find what I found.

WOAH! HOLY CRAP!

Poor Casey clearly has too common a name LOL.

Didi Benami’s Hollywood first round audition song — TERRIFIED, written by Kara Diogardi is in Katharine Mcphee’s current album UNBROKEN.

Listen to Kat’s version here and compare :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt_DZ4nRXIY&feature=related

Great start to Hollywood week! I LOVED Didi! Didi for the WIN! LOL am I too early for that? Anyway I like Andrew, Lily and Crystal too. I like a lot of the others too. I am glad they got rid of a lot of the so so singers.

Ellen did pretty good for her first week. Now they need Doogie next season and it will be complete, lol. Are they ever going to show Jason Castro’s brother singing, lol. Poor guy needs to just give it up already. It does seem like a strong season for the girls.

Other than Mary Powers I’m not really feeling the contestants from tonight based on MJ’s & rickey’s highlight clips.

Okay I’m back! Idol was even better than Lost tonight!

I second that! Lost was just a’ight for me. Those Kate eps always suck Sorry, digression. But AI so kicked Lost’s butt tonight

And it just occured to me, Ellen came onboard so effortlessly, and Kara, even more than one season in, still seems woefully out of place. Ellen is showing how it’s done, imo

Are they ever going to show Jason Castro’s brother singing, lol.

Hopefully not. He sucks. I’m okay with him continuing to famewhore through the Hollywood rounds, but at minimum, I need him to be cut at the rooms.

As for the Didi vs. Kat comparison? Didi’s very good. Kat’s very lame. And, the song Kara wrote is pretty good.

I enjoyed tonight. I was honestly surprised. Some very good singers with unique voices, at least for idol. Especially enjoyed several of the girls. Things are looking up!

Oh, and I thought Ellen did fine. Nothing spectacular but at least she proved she’s willing to offer criticism. I will enjoy her humor at least.

I google Casey James and didn’t expect to find what I found.

OMFG. lol (Of course I was curious and had to see for myself.)

What about Jermaine Sellers or the other Jermaine? Did anybody see them?

That brings up a good point — do they post a list of the contestants that were cut tonight on the AI site? 83 (?) are gone already.

LOL I just wanted to know why they put Michael Castro through again?? I didn’t hear him sing last season either. Oh well, he must not be good enough to be aired. OH and I like the rocker chick, Mary Powers too. However the Haeley girl is annoying! I can’t stand her voice, ewwww.

Of course I was curious and had to see for myself.

Funny how that works, isn’t it? I couldn’t help myself either. Hee. Glad I did that when my kids were in the other room

I keep calling Casey… Casey Jones. I can’t help it.

I think the girls’ semifinals are gonna be tough this year, so much talent. Can’t wait for that.

Funny how that works, isn’t it? I couldn’t help myself either. Hee. Glad I did that when my kids were in the other room

Tee Hee – you would have had some explaining to do there.

Wow, there were a LOT of talented kids featured tonight. I was impressed by Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Lily Scott, Mike Lynche, Crystal Bowersox, Haley Vaughn and Didi Benami.

I’m totally a sucker for WGWG and a bluesy baritone so I’m kind of partial to Casey James right now – if I have an early favorite. I still think one of the girls will win and there are some terrific girl singers already.

So far so good!

Reminder:

Spoilers STAY in the spoiler thread. Thank you.

Haeley has a great presence, but I thought her rendition of the Taylor Swift song was really off. Any number of really painful notes. I’m beginning to doubt that she’ll have the voice to hold up long into the competition, unless she seems to tap into the goodwill that country singers tend to have on this show

I feel like Haeley’s greatest asset is her personality – imo one of the most winning and infectuous of the whole bunch. It’s very easy to really LIKE her. But I agree, the voice is not quite there yet.

LOL I just wanted to know why they put Michael Castro through again?? I didn’t hear him sing last season either. Oh well, he must not be good enough to be aired.

He was shown singing last year, but yeah, not particularly memorable, imo. Not as good as Jason.

I feel like Haeley’s greatest asset is her personality – imo one of the most winning and infectuous of the whole bunch.

I thought the same, her voice was good but didn’t blow me away, but she’s so darn cute and charming. Plus she’s different (at least for Idol) and I like that.

I actually really liked big Michael Lynche, he made me smile.

I feel like Haeley’s greatest asset is her personality – imo one of the most winning and infectuous of the whole bunch. It’s very easy to really LIKE her. But I agree, the voice is not quite there yet.

I think Haeley’s got the beginning of “the goods”. I agree she’s a charmer, and I love the way she sticks to the music she wants to do. I just don’t think she’s ready for this yet. She’s loaded with talent though.

Just watched it again and it seems that Alew Wagner Trugman from last season was there to support someone (a blonde girl) who made it to the next round. It was in the little montage at the end of the first day that also featured Charity and Todrick.

Yeah, Haeley may be better served by getting cut in Hollywood and trying out another year – then she’ll have more time to develop her voice. She definitely has the “it” factor, though, plus confidence and a sense of who she is as an artist. Definitely strong potential there.

That episode has me pretty excited for Idol this year, and I wasn’t expecting that at all. I was disappointed with the audition rounds, but what a lot of promising people in one episode!

I loved Ellen, and think she may really bring some new life into the show, and respect her enough to think that she’ll know when humour is called for, and when it isn’t. So looking forward to more!

Kara is an idiot. It seems she had one of her memory lapses tonight.

i loved janeel!

Too lazy to read back through all the comments, but whatever happened to the asian dude they showed in the commercials singing ‘Apologize’ with a guitar. He sounded great in the commercials, but didn’t get shown on the episode… anyone know why not or whether he got through? Because from the snippet from the promo I thought he was one of the best of the bunch, far better than some of the ones who were shown.

Although the talent this year doesn’t seem as terrible as last year’s crop, I wasn’t totally blown away by anyone, except maybe Andrew Garcia’s reinvention of ‘Straight Up’, which actually was pretty awesome and should land him on the map to be a real contender. Idiot Kara immediately compares him to Adam Lambert last year. Psst, Kara: Adam kind of sucked when he tried to reinvent songs last year, which wasn’t often (thank goodness). The name you’re looking for is David Cook, who was awesome on all of his reinventions. Not that Garcia is the same style as Cook, but he definitely demonstrated a Cook-like proficiency at sytlistically changing a song successfully.

Idol is determined to have Haeley in top ten but I am willing to bet she is going to pull a Paris Bennett. Paris was given high praise and lots of people predicted a huge career for her after the tour. I don’t even know what she is doing now but I do know she doesn’t have a big career. And in my mind, Paris showed much more potential than Haeley.

I liked Haeley the first time I saw her, but I didn’t really get her this time because, other than the fact that no one, it seems, can ever stay completely in tune singing a Taylor Swift song live, she was dressed like she was going to prom… or a pageant. Sorry, shallow moment.

Poor Casey clearly has too common a name LOL

Haha, Casey James is too common? I wonder what folks got Googling David Cook last year. Articles about high school kids named David Cook in in local sports or academics, David Cook town hall members, etc.? I mean, I actually know a David Cook myself. Though– I heard somewhere that “Megan Joy” is the name of some… exotic actress? That’s worse, I guess =P.

Paris was given high praise and lots of people predicted a huge career for her after the tour. I don’t even know what she is doing now but I do know she doesn’t have a big career. And in my mind, Paris showed much more potential than Haeley.

Paris annoyed the hell out of me. I saw the tour that year, and she was the worst live performer of the 10. Plus, I think she’s kind of lazy, so I’m not at all surprised she doesn’t have a big career. Haeley seems to have her head on much straighter than Paris did.

the only problem is- i liked alot of people, but i didnt LOVE THEM. there are alot of taylor swift look alikes and guys (and girls) with guitars….hard to seperate from the pack

Idol is determined to have Haeley in top ten but I am willing to bet she is going to pull a Paris Bennett. Paris was given high praise and lots of people predicted a huge career for her after the tour. I don’t even know what she is doing now but I do know she doesn’t have a big career. And in my mind, Paris showed much more potential than Haeley.

Paris had this great big jazzy voice, but what was she going to do with that in this day and age? Haeley may not be the best singer on idol this year, but a cute black bubbly pop country teen? She could be HUGE.

Tonight was a really fun show. I liked a lot of the singers that went to the next round. I liked Crystal, but also many others. Tomorrow’s AI should be good!

Yep. Haeley is really cute.

I’m not really an Idol fan, and only watched S7 because Archie was on. So since I’ve already found my Idol, I had no intention of watching again. I did watch tonight because I wanted to see if the gal from Iowa makes the top 50. She lives only 100 miles from me, woot! …(Can’t even remember her name. That shows how much I’m following this, lol.) Anyyyway, I thought there were alot of contenders tonight. The two that stood out most to me were Andrew Garcia & Crystal Bowersox…Yes, Didi did very, very well. But I can already see the wheels spinning in Simon’s head. He wants the Rags to Riches story to start playing out again.

Anyway, so far Garcia is my early favorite with that performance of ‘Straight Up’, but it’s a long way to the finish line and we’ll see whether he can keep the momentum up.

And I still wish they had shown the asian guy. I thought his clip in the episode promo was really good.

I don’t get the love for Tim, at this point. Casey is good, but I don’t know if he has any depth. Of the girls, Lilly was the best, for me. I thought she was great, actually she was my favorite performer of the night.

I am convinced that thin-skinned Kara is never going to like Kris for his dropping of NB. That was the first time the coronation song was not sung on the tour and there was lots of publicity, mostly saying it was a good idea to get rid of it.

Back around Halloween, Kris tweeted that he wanted to go trick or treating, and Kara tweeted him back that he could to come over to her house. (Or something like that. It was cute.) I don’t think she’d be tweeting friendly stuff to him if she didn’t like him. Besides, who doesn’t like Kris?

not really feeling that katie stevens girl…too disney

I like Haeley, but I can’t stand Taylor Swift. She needs to make better choices. Then again she is only 16!11! (tm Randy)

I’m liking quite a few of these contestants so far. I think I’m going to enjoy this season. Like the girl with the whitish hair and tights. I forgot her name.

Whether you’re a Kris fan, an Adam fan, or Kradam fan…when you see a laid back dude clad in plaid, playing a guitar while changing up a well-known pop song…Adam is NOT the person that comes to mind (mine anyway).

I don’t really care who reinvents what – I don’t think it’s a criteria for this show. Even the smallest inflection can help an artist make a song their own and lead to a stellar performance. So, I don’t really care who the greatest AI song-reinventer is. But, perhaps what Kara was trying to say wasn’t as literal as people are interpreting.

I wasn’t reminded of Kris by that performance at all (nor was I reminded of Adam or anyone else). I just thought Andrew was really good at being Andrew. So, I’m not sure what she meant, but I see it as entirely possible that she knows, and that’s she’s not confused or stupid at all.

I don’t get the love for Tim, at this point.

I’m not a fan of Tim really. And, I saw tonight why that Come Back to me song never really took off. It’s pretty sucky.

So what is the deal with Casey having to take off his shirt in his first audition. I missed that. Is he this year’s eye candy?

Haeley may not be the best singer on idol this year, but a cute black bubbly pop country teen? She could be HUGE.

I agree. Haeley has the “it” factor. Plus, unlike Taylor Swift, she actually CAN sing live. As you said, she might not be the most vocally proficient, but she can sing.

And I agree about Ellen’s first night being seamless. She didn’t make waves by doing anything newsworthy, but she did the job.

I wasn’t reminded of Kris by that performance at all (nor was I reminded of Adam or anyone else). I just thought Andrew was really good at being Andrew. So, I’m not sure what she meant, but I see it as entirely possible that she knows, and that’s she’s not confused or stupid at all.

Perhaps Kara is only referring to Hollywood week. Both Andrew and Adam took songs sung by women and rearranged them.

I am convinced that thin-skinned Kara is never going to like Kris for his dropping of NB. That was the first time the coronation song was not sung on the tour and there was lots of publicity, mostly saying it was a good idea to get rid of it.

Kara built a successful career for herself in the music business as a young woman. I’m sure she’s had some of the songs she’s written be insulted more harshly than that. Most song-writers have written a clunker or two. Hers got to fail miserably on a pretty large stage, but I’m sure she’s got thick skin. I doubt she’s holding any grudges against Kris.

Also – I quibble with the whole “reinvention” thing, when mostly what these guys are doing is just slowing the song down and playing it acoustically without the beats. People have been doing that long before AI.

if casey james is this year’s eye candy-we’re out of luck

I have nothing bad to say about Kara. Andrew Garcia’s reinvention of ‘Straight Up’ could actually become a hit record today. He may continue to reinvent songs much as David Cook, Adam Lambert, and Kris Allen did.

At this point I am more impressed with the girls than I am with the guys. But then, that may be what Idol wants. Thus far, Season 9 has a much stronger line-up than last year.

I have no feelings towards Ellen. Neither good nor bad. She did her job.

haeley-i also couldnt decide if i liked her or not, her jaw was too distracting…her singing was ok, but pitchy…although u can guarantee top 12 for her, black country singer? none on the scene

not really feeling that katie stevens girl…too disney

Yeah, I had the same thought. She’s very good, but in general I’m not as big a fan of the 16 year olds (or 17 – think she was 16 when she auditioned) peeps on AI. In almost every case, even the ones who do very well on the show, I always feel they need more time to really discover themselves as musicians.

And I agree about Ellen’s first night being seamless. She didn’t make waves by doing anything newsworthy, but she did the job.

That’s a good deal more than can be said for some of the judges on occasion.

Pretty decent show tonight. I thought Ellen did really well. Fit right in, was entertaining and gave honest yet tactful feedback. There were some good performances in there but nothing that blew my socks off at this point. The closest was probably Lily. Also liked big Mike, Didi and Crystal. I’m not completely convinced about Andrew, Haeley, Mary Powers and Casey James who I have a feeling plays a mean blues guitar and is an ok singer.

It’s clear there are many good singers they’re holding out on showing for whatever nefarious reason. Looking forward to tomorrow’s show since group dynamics always bring out a little something special in folks.

I have no feelings towards Ellen. Neither good nor bad. She did her job.

I love Ellen. I’m not sure I love her as an Idol judge though. (It’s her first night so shame on me for judging her so early on the job.) She seems pretty happy to be there and she did a good job. I miss the weird quirky interactions between Simon and Paula. But I know lots of people didn’t like that at all. It did seem like Simon was way nicer than usual tonight. Maybe he was mean in the past to piss Paula off??????

I’m looking forward to seeing the top 12 or 10……

Tim sings David Cook’s “Come Back to Me”. He’s got a nice tone, but he’s pitchy and a little whiny on the high notes.

I didn’t even know the song had “high notes.” Scott Borchetta: “How can he be on Idol if he can’t sing the high notes? That must mean that he’s a true artist.”

tomorrow s/b really fun. they said there would be shocking stuff. I wonder what it will be.

Simon and Ellen have an odd dynamic. They don’t seem to like each other but in a not very interesting way.I liked the girl who did American Boy and the ones most folks here liked.I don’t think the African-American country singer is threatening Taylor Swift just yet.

I also miss the stern Simon who used to lecture them about how they were looking for a POP STAR. What’s he going to say now. We’re looking for someone who can sell at least 300K albums and get a decent sized Pop hit. How the mighty have fallen.

‘

I liked Crystal, Andrew, Jannelle and Lily. Probably liked Lily the best.

Which one is Tim? I missed about the first ten minutes of the show tonight. It seems I missed Katie, who I kind of like, but I don’t remember a Tim.

Overall, some good stuff tonight….group songs tomorrow are going to suck though. Why must they make them do that?

So what is the deal with Casey having to take off his shirt in his first audition. I missed that. Is he this year’s eye candy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyRSNyoHQZo

Overall, some good stuff tonight….group songs tomorrow are going to suck though. Why must they make them do that?

That must be really hard for them. But it gives an indication of their personalities too…how they get along with people, how humble they are…. other stuff too.

If you look at last season, Adam and Kris were very professional and kinda of went with the flow. They took everything in stride. Any employer would appreciate that. I think????

ross

Of the girls, Lilly was the best, for me. I thought she was great, actually she was my favorite performer of the night.

She was mine, too.

I thought all the judges really seemed to be paying attention. Very no nonsense. I liked it.

Haeley is not my cup of tea but to be honest, back stores are so tiresome after 8 years that they have a negative effect on me. Lots of posters like her and she may grow on me but the worst thing that can happen to her IMO is for the judges to favor her too much. It can backfire. It will be interesting to see her sing other genre.

i FLOVE didi benami. i finally found my crush for the season. andrew’s definitely my top fella so far. this is turning out to be a really good season!

I thought all the judges really seemed to be paying attention. Very no nonsense.

Nobody was kidding around. So the attention was on the contestants.

Nobody was kidding around. So the attention was on the contestan ts.

YES! As it should be!

i FLOVE didi benami. i finally found my crush for the season. andrew’s definitely my top fella so far. this is turning out to be a really good season!

I am so happy for you! It’s a fun feeling! I’m sure I’ll feel excited once the show gets down to the finalists. I was an Adam fan from his audition, and that was crazy fun.

So if you already FLOVE someone, you are going to have a lot of fun. She is definitely talented and very prettyl

Crystal and Casey for me…woo for musician-singers!! (There were quite a few tonight, but these two were my favorites )

Anyway, I’m not feeling Haeley. I guess I’m just so tired of mediocre singers (especially in country music) who are considered frontrunners/darkhorsesor whatever, no offense.

I also miss the stern Simon who used to lecture them about how they were looking for a POP STAR. What’s he going to say now. We’re looking for someone who can sell at least 300K albums and get a decent sized Pop hit. How the mighty have fallen.

Well said. Tis a pity.

I LOVE Lilly and Janell. they are Amazing. I hope both make top 24 and 12. I really dont like Didi. sorry. I like HER. she seems nice, but i hate that annoying megan joy like voice. Its really annoying.sorry. Janell and Lilly Get my vote this season!!!

group songs tomorrow are going to suck though. Why must they make them do that?

That must be really hard for them. But it gives an indication of their personalities too…how they get along with people, how humble they are…. other stuff too.

It also gives an indication of any musical aptitude beyond singing karaoke, IMO. If you think about it, the best group numbers, like the Chris Sligh/Blake Lewis group, and the Matt Giraud/Kris Allen group, are made up of contestants who eventually prove themselves quite good at musical arrangements, and in fact, songwriting (we haven’t seen Matt’s work yet, but I’m hoping/guessing he’s a songwriter too). I know some AI fans don’t value musical rearrangements, but I think knowing how to choose and rework a song so it works for you, or for a group shows creativity and musicianship, which may be a sign of how well they’d do in the future– on or off the show.

YES! As it should be!

You are so right. I still enjoyed Paula and Simon’s silly banter.

I think I can get over it though.

Based on these videos, it seemed like a good show. I liked almost all of the ones who made it. I don’t know about Katie, though…I liked her audition but she didn’t bring it for me here.

Does anyone remember an interview with Randy when he mentioned that unlike past years, they saw very few contestants trying to emulate the winner from the year before (in this case Kris Allen)? He said they saw very few Kris and Adam clones.

By my count, there were nine people who got through with acoustic guitars and clever arrangements tonight. Sure, they weren’t all WGWG, but they all definitely followed the David Cook/Kris Allen formula (which I’m definitely excited about).

and the Matt Giraud/Kris Allen group, are made up of contestants who eventually prove themselves quite good at musical arrangements, and in fact, songwriting (we haven’t seen Matt’s work yet, but I’m hoping/guessing he’s a songwriter too). I know some AI fans don’t value musical rearrangements, but I think knowing how to choose and rework a song so it works for you, or for a group shows creativity and musicianship, which may be a sign of how well they’d do in the future– on or off the show.

Actually Matt has some original work out there, but there all live performances of their songs. He is a songwritter, and a good one too.

The ones impressed me tonight are Janell, Andrew, Katie, and Didi. I really love Janells performance of American Boy, did not expect her to pick that kind of song!

Whoa, I wasn’t the only one who missed Paula? Mostly because she’s been associated with Idol for the last 8 seasons and her loopiness will be missed (by some).

But I liked Ellen tonight, she did her job and didn’t fail. That was good enough for me. She was making an effort, she wasn’t making that many jokes (though the one I remember where she messed with the group who went through was hilarious), and she was actually not being “the nice judge” I expected her to be.

My top 4 for tonight (I still have to do a TON of catch-up) are Janell, Crystal, Didi, and Casey. I loved the song Janell did and the arrangement was terrific. Crystal…. just…. WOW. That was amazing. Didi was great, she wasn’t the biggest standout but I think she has major potential. As much as I ragged on Casey James’s look (since I’m a guy and guys with long hair annoy the bejeezus out of me), I really really like him. He reminds me a bit of Bo Bice in a way.

The only one I didn’t like that much that they put through was Haeley, I thought she was a bit messy tonight, but at the same time, something about her would’ve made me send her through. She seems very bubbly and infectious. I love her personality, and I hope she does better next time. I didn’t think Tim was fantastic, but I agreed with Kara, shaky but still decent.

Maddy should come back next year. Her performance wasn’t horrible. Not great, but there was definitely a great voice in there. Just got really lost.

I’m still sad about Erica Rhodes. I wanted her to do well.

I also liked Tyler Grady swearing at the camera and saying “If an American Idol logo appears on my mouth, I’m sorry!” LOL. I thought he cleaned up pretty well, too. I ragged on him and Casey for their looks and despite my hatred of long hair on guys I thought they both cleaned up well. I thought I saw Shelby Dressler go through, I hope so.

To be honest, I’m not looking forward to tomorrow very much at all at all. The ad(?) just had too much drama for me. I hate the group rounds. Knowing America, they’re gonna focus on a lot of the drama. Ugh, end it now.

Andrew was amazing too, but the comparison would’ve made a hell of a lot more sense if she said Kris instead of Adam (Not delving, that season’s over). I really don’t know what about that makes me really peeved. But whatever, Andrew was still awesome.

Katie was pretty good, not mind blowing, but still good. I’m not seeing the Disney in her voice at all, to be honest; her voice was pretty big and soulful for her age. Skii Bo Ski sucked. Ellen had a great (and humorous) analogy.

Still catching up, but so far my top 4 remains the same. I loved those 4 and liked all of the others they put through. Great night!

Re: Kara’s props for Adam during Andrew Garcia’s audition.

OK, I know I’m a little thin-skinned about Kris, who I don’t think gets his due for what he achieved last year on Idol as one of the darkest dark horses in the history of the show to win.

But the reason Kara’s comment irked me was that Andrew G. has this bluesy voice, plays guitar well, re-arranged that Abdul pop song for a hip guitar-voice arrangement. To me that just sounded much, much more like what Kris was doing, in almost every respect, than what Adam did to remake his songs.

Kris and Adam shared the glory last year…..I just want them to share the credit, as apropos……

And my favorite tonight was Crystal. Loved that big, Joplin-esque, generous sound, and how obviously musical the kid is. Also it’s refreshing to see a female contestant without the makeup, the sexy clothes and all the trimmings, still exude a lot of appeal on her own terms and a lot of musicality — and be rewarded for it. Hope she continues to excel….I don’t think they’ve had someone like here in the top group since Kelly….

Didi and Crystal are THE standouts tonight, hands down! Also for the guys, Andrew and Mike were other favorites for me.

For me, Lily’s vocals were perfection. Brilliant. Best vocals of the night, hands down. Her bell-like clarity makes her stand out from the pack. I can’t wait to see what she can do with some current material! She’s gonna give Didi a run for her money.

Wow, of course I preferred the guys. I just saw Brian Mansfield’s poll over on Idolchatter and we only saw 4 guys who went through and 7 girls who went through. Ha, obvious bias much? Oh well, at least they were all pretty good girls.

Didi and Lily were the only ones who really blew me away tonight.

I was a little disappointed in tonight. It seemed that we spent more time focusing on the people who went home than those who stayed. More than half stayed (95 of 181), so I would have liked to have it more heavily weighted that way. I guess they had to tell us what happened to all those auditioners who they focused on earlier in the season before they knew how they should edit the show.

Anyway, Didi was wonderful and I’ve never heard that song before. I also thought Lily Scott was a breath of fresh air, especially since a lot of the earlier singers tended to shout a lot. What a great job making a classic sound totally current.

Haeley seriously needs a vocal coach. Seriously. She has a lot of talent, but it seems to me that she’s doing a lot of things wrong that could be easily corrected. I love her personality.

Andrew Garcia was just “meh” for me. Who did impress me was Casey James. They guy had a total “whatever” audition, but he really shone last night. Sometimes, exceeding expectations are a good way of getting noticed.

Another one who surprised me was Mike Lynche. His gym rat backstory had me thinking he’d be more ham-fisted. He took a very gentle run at Mayers song and added some nice touches. I’m interested to see what he can do next.

I don’t normally pick on Kara, but she was pretty annoying tonight. Ellen was delightfully insightful. Randy and Simon both need a new schtick.

By my count, there were nine people who got through with acoustic guitars and clever arrangements tonight. Sure, they weren’t all WGWG, but they all definitely followed the David Cook/Kris Allen formula (which I’m definitely excited about).

Yet Adam is the one season 8 finalist mentioned. That seems a bit off to me?

I don’t think the people with acoustic guitars are trying to emulate Cook or Kris. That’s just who they are. I haven’t watched all of the auditions, were there Adam clones?

jammasta: I enjoyed your post. Thanks.

_Kara’s comment on Andrew Garcia. All I can say is thank God that Kris refused to sing NB at the Phillipines concerts eventhough that song is pretty popular there.
-Justin Williams I thought was a little bit cocky. I’m not sad he did not make it
- Love Didy ever since the Hey Jude audition. She is so much like Brooke White .
-I don’t know how they are going to differentiate all these guitar players though.

tinydance, I think Kara was only referring to Hollywood week. Both Adam and Andrew picked songs off of the girls list and rearranged them. I think there isn’t much more to it and that. I don’t think she is making a big picture comparison. I really think it’s that they both picked songs sung by women.

I don’t think the people with acoustic guitars are trying to emulate Cook or Kris. That’s just who they are. I haven’t watched all of the auditions, were there Adam clones?

You’re right undercooked, emulate is probably too strong of a word. But I do think that like Kris last year, many of these acoustic guitar singer-songwriter types saw the previous year’s winner and thought that AI could be a good place for them to show their talents.

The great thing is that this year’s crop of guitar playing singers is super diverse musically (Michael, Didi, Lily, Andrew, Casey, etc.) They all have unique styles with their music. I’ve always liked acoustic style musicians, so Idol is getting closer to my preferred type of music.

Haha, on the Adam clone…there was that one audition that was pretty horrible who claimed that Adam had listened to his demo. I agree that Adam is a much more difficult artist to emulate.

I wouldn’t have minded Kara comparing Andrew to Lil at all: it’s so wrong it’s hilarious. Although I feel a bit weird about her saying Adam instead of Kris, there’s one thing I’m kinda glad about: she didn’t say Danny. If she did, well…… Kara Dioguardi: b. Dec. 9, 1970, d. Feb. 10, 2010 by assassination brought up by Internet backlash.

But I am seeing more types like Kris/Cook over Adam. Not complaining about that, after all, a lot of people who are supposedly imitating Kris/Cook are females and are standing out in their own way. If we had another Adam, he probably would’ve been shot down by the judges. One is a good amount of Adam.

Kirsten, you’re absolutely right about Haeley. I feel like she’s a bit unrefined, but she’s just so damn cute and bubbly and I freaking love her personality, although I really don’t know why, I just FLOVE it. I think she has potential to be refined. I’m gonna go so far as to say that her smile adds a LOT to Idol. It just makes you feel all warm and gushy inside. I dunno, she’s just has this magnetic aura, I want her to go on tour just so I can say hi to her at the buses and maybe do another fake marriage. proposal.

I haven’t watched all of the auditions, were there Adam clones?

There were some. They weren’t very good. I don’t think clones do well. It’s a strange concept, posing like past winners. Very weird. lol

Haeley is not even remotely country. Janell isn’t country either. At least Idol didn’t try to pass off Janell as country like they did with Haeley.

My favorites were Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Lilly Scott, Mary Powers, and Didi Benami.

My favorites were Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Haeley Vaugh, Lilly Scott. Mary Powers, and Didi Benami.

They were all good.

Whoops. I actually didn’t like Haeley. I’ll edit that now.

In his Hollywood week video, Michael Lynche mentions Kris’ win as his most memorable Idol moment.

I would love to see Big Mike do a duet with Pocket Idol someday, the image of the two of them standing next to each other has me loling.

Pretty good night. My rankings are below. It was hard to rank everyone within a group– I mean, the 5 I loved, they were all pretty close. Didi reminds me a bit of Brooke but got her own sound, and steadier and stronger vocals, which is great. I loved Brooke though, so perhaps no shocker I ranked her first:

Awesomecakes:
-Didi
-Lilly
-Janelle
-Andrew
-Crystal

Great stuff:
-Katie
-Casey
-Michael

Not bad:
-Tim
-Haeley
-Mary Powers

Which one is Tim? I missed about the first ten minutes of the show tonight. It seems I missed Katie, who I kind of like, but I don’t remember a Tim.

OMG! LOL! That says it all right there. I personally do not think Tim is going very far.

ETA: BTW, I think tonight was a really good show and I’m looking forward to see what the ratings were. I think the number of comments here as opposed to the last few audition shows is very telling. We’ll see.

It would be like if he had come out there, sang with a husky voice, danced badly, wore a vest, and made handhearts, and then she compared him to someone who WASN’T .

just peed in my pants. yeah, ive never thought of adam as an arranger, but at this point, i honestly could care less what the judges think, since their assesment is often a WTF moment.

overall, impressive episode. i enjoyed most of the contestants that went through. some of the girls were outstanding, but so were a couple of the guys. you know, for a very weak start to the season, i got a good feeling about whats ahead.

But I am seeing more types like Kris/Cook over Adam.

I am looking for more types like James Taylor and Carole King! I have been wishing for a season like this for a very long time. Singer/Songwriter type who play guitar or piano. I think that was one reason Brooke White was my second favorite contestant for Season 7.

I agree, Haeley is not country, but it seems Idol is pushing for country pop. I hope she improves in the group rounds.

sma11ie,

I like your top 5. I’d rank it Didi (totally agree on the Brooke with great vocals point), Crystal, Janell, Andrew, and Lilly.

I think Michael (big personality), Katie (touching backstory), and Casey (I guess heartthrob status, not seeing it?) are big threats to make it far.

From what I’ve seen, this year’s crop is much more talented than last years. I’d say 5 or 6 finalists from last year are up to par with this year. I think it will be a much more open race.

I liked Lily, Didi, Crystal (needs a makeover stat), and Katie (from my neck of the woods), but I get more of theater vibe from her than Top 40. I was completely surprised by Big Mike, nice voice and plays guitar well. Casey surprised me, also, cool guitar playing, singing is okay. The girls had more stand out performances. I have to say when they showed Justin’s performance, I truly thought it was from last year’s Hollywood week, giving the audience a glimpse of why he was cut. It was horrendous and he seemed so sure of himself. It was painful to watch. Laughed at glimpses of Michael Castro … I’m thinking his days are numbered.

One more thing: KARA IS AN ASS OF EPIC PROPORTIONS! Yeah for Ellen! I knew she’d bring it. Who needs Cowell now? Not me. Good riddance Kara, Randy and Simon. Been too long at the fair.

Kara is an idiot — that’s my perspective.

My first episode 2010! I only half assed watched it – and I, like someone else said hours ago, love Ellen. I just can’t see her annoying me ever. Good choice to bring a professional comedian on board!!

Some AWESOME ladies – the one that did Sober, Natuaral Woman, and the Kara penned tune….I actually focused when they were on. I might watch this year beyond Mj and Rickey’s clips.

Out of all that was on that show – I find it sad that there is a hang up on one teeny tiny statement by the most annoying judge on the planet…Kara. Bring on the new fan wars!!!

From what I’ve seen, this year’s crop is much more talented than last years. I’d say 5 or 6 finalists from last year are up to par with this year. I think it will be a much more open race.

ITA – especially with the thought that they might want a woman to win this year, I feel that they aren’t really pushing any one woman, but instead showing a bunch who are all very talented and have a good shot at it.

On the guy side, otoh, there are only a few that they’ve tended to pimp more (like Andrew Garcia). So I’m possibly seeing a really strong female field in the top 24, and just a few strong guys with a bunch of mediocre ones. Just a guess.

I really dont like Didi. sorry. I like HER. she seems nice, but i hate that annoying megan joy like voice. Its really annoying.sorry. Janell and Lilly Get my vote this season!!!

Honestly, watch Ellen’s face during her audition and after when Simon was commenting on her. I’m not so sure Ellen likes her, but I could be wrong. I loved Didi’s audition and thought she did a great job tonight, but someone mentioned that her voice sounded a little thin. I think so too. JMO. I’m really curious to see how she progresses from here. She seems to be a sweetheart and has great phrasing (as mj said), but I’m not blown away by her yet. LOL, I’m probably just reading into Ellen’s reaction. Not that what she says and does is the end all that be all, but I just found the whole think interesting.

But back to S9. I think the talent pool is deeper, from what I have seen so far. I really do like some of the girls. I also like Ellen as a judge. She really does take it seriously.

totally agree on the Brooke with great vocals point

Ha, just watched Didi’s Golden Ticket interview on the AI site, and her favorite AI moment was when Brooke White did Let It Be. Well there you go .

Also, just realized another reason why I found this episode so refreshing– it was focused on the talent and not the dramaz and omgz in-fighting and tears and tantrums, etc. No Tatiana, Bikini Girl…

Of course, we got all drama that coming up for Group night haha. We’ll hopefully get some awesome White Chocolate-like performances to make up for the overwrought drama, I hope.

I really dont like Didi. sorry. I like HER. she seems nice, but i hate that annoying megan joy like voice. Its really annoying.sorry. Janell and Lilly Get my vote this season!!!

I can see the Didi-Megan comparisons, but Didi has a beautiful upper tone to compliment the lower jazzy tone Megan always used (sorry not a music major). I get more of a Colbie Caillat vibe from Didi.

When Lily performed, I said to my daughter, that’s what Simon was hoping for in Megan Joy. The girl’s got a quirkiness that appeals to me. Her vocals are unique, but on pitch. Megan seemed flat to me a lot of the time. Only a few songs worked with her vocals. Adam never flipped a song on his own — he had help and stated as such after his performances.

“Yep, that would be good.” — ratna?

Not to beat a dead horse, if only she didn’t qualify it with LAST YEAR. I almost wish she didn’t qualify it because then there would be a whole lot of outrage from the DC quarters as well as Blake Lewis’s. Once again, Kara needs to think before she speaks.

Lol, undercooked!

And ITA that the talent pool is really strong this year – though I’ll temper that by saying that, whereas last year seemed to have very strong guys and pretty weak girls (which imo, proved pretty true once Top 36 and Top 13 were decided), this year has the opposite problem, with much stronger, diverse girls, and weaker guys.

Then again, oddly enough, despite all the focus on backstory in auditions, I’m glad there was less focus on backstory this time around in Hollywood Week, and a sense that some people might get pushed through on (gasp) talent, rather than, say, a disability (sorry, Scott).

I absolutely loved Casey, Andrew, and Didi. Didi made me want to download that song, and I’m not a big Kat McPhee fan. I liked Casey before, and I like him even better now. I wish we could have heard Tyler Grady (Gradey?) sing.

As soon as Kara said Adam’s name, I thought, “She means Kris.” I think she just said the wrong name, pure and simple. Maybe I’m naive, but that’s how I see it.

Is it wrong to want to prove Randy wrong? I’m sick of his constant, “a girl is gonna win season 9″ schtick. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. We’re not just going to vote for a girl to win just because he declares it so.

I love seeing new posters here. That is so awesome!!!!! This is really a fun site so enjoy.

Gee, why the guys always get all credit here

Because that’s how it sadly tends to happen on the show too. I remember Slezak pointing out once that the girls rearranging songs tend to either get no credit for it, or criticism for it. The guys, not so much.

OMG I love Didi. i really really liked her audition but i don’t like to get attached to people that early. but WOW I loved her hollywood song. i thought it was amazing. my son didn’t like the high pitched thing she did but overall he really liked her. he is a 16 year old boy so i think her looks helped a little.

and kara’s comment to andrew: i don’t give a rat’s poopy-hole what she says so this comment doesn’t bother me. if she wants to say andrew is amazing like adam that’s cool with me. it just means someone else is going to win!!! i’m just kidding. i really like andrew and i believe he will go very far. i just freaking hate kara. i think i’ll mute her from now on.

and ellen did a good job. i think as the season goes on she will get more comfortable.

Bottom line is: these days, pretty much everyone except your Lil Rounds type performers will do some form of rearranging at some point to avoid being karaoke, IMO.

ITA-If a contestant doesn’t change up a song these days, I think it counts against them. And you are right, the women change songs up too.

I’m kicking myself. I love the regular posters too. It’s all good.

I loved all the girls with guitars (except for Haeley — my girls didn’t even recognize the Taylor Swift song — but she’s so likeable). They all have the phrasing, tone, and pipes, but I’m afraid they could cancel each other out if and when they make it to the voting rounds.

The only guy that stood out was Casey — did not expect that. Andrew was okay but he seems to lack something (charisma?).

Ellen did fine — non offensive and blended in. I’m ashamed that I did not miss Paula. The show was edited to focus on the singing, but the group round seems less promising.

I miss Paula. Oh well. She has a certain magic. I know a lot of people would disagree. I liked the show tonight, but it was too safe……

blissful: I enjoyed your post. I can’t wait to see how the season shapes up.

Thanks iluvai, I thought it was just me and the crickets here. I’m looking forward to it too. It’s the first year my girls are watching so I’m excited with all the great women singers.

Good night

I loved all the girls with guitars

Hey, isn’t that a song? That could be the theme song for this year!
“Girls with Guitars”…I like it!

My only concern with the contestants this year is how they are going to do with the theme weeks.
It’s pretty hard for singers who don’t have the biggest range to attack the usual idol themes like Stevie Wonder week or Mariah Carey week.
Brooke was pretty much useless on both Mariah Carey and showtunes weeks and you know there will be a Whitney Houston week with her “comeback”.

IMHO, the guy is better than Kris, but nowhere near as brilliant as Adam. So, yeah, Kara shouldn’t have said that…

Hmm… this is girls’ year. Definitely.
And a lot of talented ones for this season. They can surely sing, and many play guitar too. I guess the assets that will make the difference will be: stage presence, versality, originality, charisma, and whether or not they have authentic artistry. A beautiful and pleasant tone and on-pitch vocals are a must too, of course. This certainly will be a competitively interesting season. We’ll see.

My son and his friend said Andrew reminded them of a combination of Kris and Danny Gokey, big glasses and all. lol As for Kara being an idiot in some people’s opinions, she’s a very successful one. I wouldn’t mind being called an idiot for my personal opinions if I were a well-paid one.

Back to the actual show. I liked it. I found it helpful to show back to some of theirs audition because I never remember the faces and names. Girls are stronger this year, guys that I thought had good voices were lacking in terms of charisma, stage performance and that kind of people have usually problems connecting with the AI audience.

Kara worked directly with Adam after idol, that’s probably why she remembered his artistry the most.

Kara’s comment re Adam flipping songs did leave me scratching my head a bit because I was thinking of others instead of him. As for Adam’s Believe in Hollywood Week, I never even thought of that because Adam’s version actually managed to turn that song into an even bigger, beltier, diva-ier song than it already was. So it was not so much flipping the song as making it even more AI-style pageanty with the melisma. Also, Adam’s rendition seemed less current rather than more so, while Andrew Garcia’s version was quite current.

Anyway, a few articles have commented on Kara’s boofoo. Besides EW’s Slezak, there are articles from BillBoard, Washington Post/Express Time Out, Seattle Times/TV Guide and Gather.com. But the night is young.

Why is doing acoustic stripped down versions of every song a more “artistic” form of rearranging than changing them up with respect to tempo, phrasing and general style with the full band? Never got that.

Why is doing acoustic stripped down versions of every song a more “artistic” form of rearranging than changing them up with respect to tempo, phrasing and general style with the full band? Never got that.

Youtube is full of acoustic strip-down versions by bedroom musicians..

Why is doing acoustic stripped down versions of every song a more “artistic” form of rearranging than changing them up with respect to tempo, phrasing and general style with the full band? Never got that.

In their defense, the contestants didn’t have much choice in this round, it’s either going to be accoustic or a cappella.
But IA that if the contestants aren’t carefull there’s a risk we’ll see a lot of acoustic arrangements during the competition and it’s going to get old.

I love the fact that the quieter “softer” singer is no longer considered boring and lacking star power… I can’t help but bristle when I hear Simon praise some of this year’s singers for this – because it seems just like yesterday that this was a “quality” that was damning! So often in the past the big power singers were the focal point, and I think it led many excellent singers to push themselves out of their comfort zone and blow it.

That “It Factor” comes in so many different styles – I might be wrong, but this year it looks like that’s finally recognized! What I loved most about Season 8 was the diversity… even if picking up a guitar and singing softly with emotion got you judges’ criticism like “busker” or “karaoke” or “boring” or “bland” or… Some of the biggest praises last night was for that very same style!

I hate to pick “favorites” at this point as we didn’t see so many singers last night – hardly seems fair to give the advantage and exposure to only some (although I loved Didi Benami, Andrew Garcia and Janell Wheeler). You would think I would get over this by this year, but I never do… But as Season 8 proved, you don’t need airtime and a back story to shine down the road – it’s just harder to get down the road!

Anybody know what Justin Williams did that was so bad or bizarre? The snippet was hardly enough to figure it out…

I am enjoying Season 9 so far and may the best man/woman win!!! I enjoyed Andrew, Didi, Crystal and Casey tonight. There are a few others that I liked in the auditions that made it to Hollywood, but I didn’t see them. There was an african american girl in a blue dress that said it was her 3rd time and she had made the top 50 last year but had had to leave because of a warrant. Does anyone know where she’s at? I liked her a lot.

Crippity crappity! Yes, the girls ARE good and it’s clearly a girls year, but I like boys! Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ll come right out and say it, I’m that shallow. I didn’t have anyone last year that really rocked my boat and I was hoping for a better year this year. There’s still time. One quirky, interesting, non-pretty boy, that’s all I ask…….

As far as the Adam mention… well, we had Kris Ford commercials the last few weeks. I was surprised they didn’t have another one this week. I was kinda surprised they didn’t pull out the next ‘Carrie Underwood’ for some of these girls.

Its just what they do every season.. why is this a big surprise to anyone?

For me, I liked andrew garcia. For some reason he had a little bit of a Santana vibe, not sure why. Also like Casey James. None of the girls did much for me.

As for the rest.. for the most part many of them looked ridiculous strumming guitars. I suspect this season we’ll see too many people feeling like they need to pull out instruments to look the part – when in actuality most will be more impressive stood there and sung since their skills are not up to par.

Reminder:

Going back to delete all the Kris/Adam fan warring.

Well, I am LOVING all the different people with guitars, esp. the girls. I really loved Haeley simply because she was not trying to be Jennifer H. or Whitney — in the same way I loved the voice of the white girl who sang “Natural Woman”. A good song is a good song, and pigeonholing singers into a genre b/c of their appearance is boring. I want Haeley to get control of her voice and go far this year. I do like her more than Paris B., although Paris was an amazing talent (I think she is doing some touring show like “Lion King”, isn’t she?).

It’s shaping up like it’s going to be a pretty good season. There’s a lot of talent on the girls side, but not as much with the guys. My husband should enjoy it, though.

Andrew and Casey were great, Mike slightly above average, and Tim only so-so. (As a side note on Tim’s cover of Cook’s song, it was good enough to cause Cook’s version to jump 700 spots on I-Tunes overnight.)

So then does the Top 24 happen begin Tuesday? Ready to see Ellen in action!

Well, I am LOVING all the different people with guitars, esp. the girls.

I’m not sure if this was directed at me or not. You’ll notice that the 2 people that stood out for me were strumming guitars. Its just that more than a handful of contestants didn’t perform well singing AND playing an instrument. I think its going to get increasingly difficult as we’ve seen in the past 2 seasons as when contestants that wish to perform with instruments will need to learn both the sheet music and the lyrics – thats a tall order for people with just adequate skills.

Also wanted to add.. that the girls as a whole are talented, but I’ve only seen one or two with good voices and have something unique about them. Its still very, very early. I don’t believe we get a clear picture until top 10 anyway – there’s lots of time.

Really like Didi. Great voice, great tone and great phrasing.

Faves from last night were Andrew Garcia, Mike Lynche, Didi Benami, and Crystal Bowersox. Jannell Wheeler has an interesting voice and style.

I felt very sad for Vanessa and Maddy Curtis. I really want someone to take Vanessa by the hand and help her. Dolly or Reba, are you watching? Maddy actually has more than one brother with special needs. I believe the family adopted 3 more. She failed at song choice. She’s 16, so hopefully she’ll try again next year.

BTW, Kara is an idiot. Andrew reminds her of Adam? In what universe?

I thought Ellen did very well on the judges panel and I’m looking forward to the groups tonight. Overall, it was a very good show. For once I didn’t fall asleep watching it.

Really like didi. Great voice an great tone.

I am so-and-so on her. She sounds like Colbie Caillat. I don’t really like it when girls use that “almost-pitchy” tone in their voice like so many do today… Well, I like it on Ke$ha but not on sing/song writers.

As for the rest.. for the most part many of them looked ridiculous strumming guitars. I suspect this season we’ll see too many people feeling like they need to pull out instruments to look the part

I agree that most of them looked ridiculous with the guitars. It was obvious that for a couple of them it was nothing more than a prop. Honestly, I find the guitar playing distracting. I would rather they just sing.

I never found much substance to last night’s show…it will have to pick up the pace and show some quality if it wants to hold my attention for an entire season. I think the producers try too hard to commercialize the show when, in essence, all the viewers truly want is excellent vocals and entertainment. They should leave all the other crap at the door and off the stage. Just an opinion!

So then does the Top 24 happen begin Tuesday?

No, a week from next Tuesday.

Haha, that Andrew guy was fun!

edit

My take on the kara thing with Andrew and Adam is because they took songs originally sung by women, so it was a surprise.

edit

mary powers one of the first voices that excited me,She had this
great big voice with a rock edge. Her look however is rock light and dated . A make over and a current rock stylist could improve that package bigtime.. I hope she gets some help bedore the nextrounds
Didi a cross between Brook and megan but better than both.
1
Lilly is a really good singer and I think she has sang with a group or band(simon liked it but could have found it dated
janell withamerican boy was just really good. Crystle sparkled without
any problem as she does my girl and kills it, But again not a package and needs some help with styling for the big stage.
Boys Andy has some lovely vocals I saw fast clips of Chris Orphan (GOLIGHTLY) Drop the end and we know he writes as many do here
Michael lynch some charisma. Didn’t see todrick but from before he has voce and charisma in spades. casey of the longish hair pumped up the personality and delivered a credible blues jzzy sound Did’t see man others that I like but then I didn’t see tyler ‘grady sing!
I think the standout were the ones that the audience provided backup for and cheered Chrystle ( so fine) and big mikealso a little back up!
!

I agree that most of them looked ridiculous with the guitars. It was obvious that for a couple of them it was nothing more than a prop. Honestly, I find the guitar playing distracting. I would rather they just sing.

“Ridiculous” –? Why? It’s not ridiculous in my universe to sing and play the guitar at the same time. What year is this?

Most singers would probably rather sing accompanied than acapella, so if they can accompany themselves, I think they’d rather.

I don’t find it a distraction at all, especially if that’s who they’re trying to show they are as an artist. If they normally play when they sing, then of course they should play if that’s how they’re comfortable performing.

If they can’t play, or if it’s a prop, then that’s different. But that’s not the majority.

I thought that Hollywood week SUCKED for the most part. Everyone was either very average or just slightly better than that. And this is what….season NINE, right?

The only people I remember are Gokey 2.0 (the guy that sang “Straight Up”), the black girl who sings country and the silver-haired sandwich maker.

As far as the Adam mention… well, we had Kris Ford commercials the last few weeks. I was surprised they didn’t have another one this week.

The Kris commercial was shown last night, just like the previous weeks.

Why is doing acoustic stripped down versions of every song a more “artistic” form of rearranging than changing them up with respect to tempo, phrasing and general style with the full band? Never got that.

LOL – I’ll admit, one reason I haven’t really jumped on the Andrew bandwagon (though he is good) is that I am getting rather sick of the whole “sing a stripped down mellow version of an uptempo song” shtick. Though I agree they didn’t have too many options for rearranging things in the first round of H-Wood week – so we have to see further into the competition in terms of what styles these people really bring out week after week.

That’s why I never find a fav (and especially not a huge fav) until much later in the competition. I need that break out moment, that performance that really grabs me. Typically it doesn’t come (if at all) until about top 10 or 9.

I liked several of them last night, that was fun to watch. Ellen was great. Though she looked upset or angry towards the end, wonder what that was about. Even Kara toned it down and wasn’t so hyperbolic, thank goodness.

I loved Andrew, but in previews for tonight it showed him crying, I think, so I’m a little worried about that. I haven’t been reading the spoilers because I like not knowing in advance.

I liked the guitars and the singer/songwriter vibe last night, reminiscent of Season 8. I hope we’re going to have some of that this season.

They said it’s a woman’s year, and they might be wanting a woman to win this year, which probably means they stacked the deck in the early auditions for that to happen, and maybe didn’t put too many great guys through (but of course we didn’t see that on tv). I wonder if tptb tell the early judges to focus on the women this year etc.

My favorites so far, mainly based on last night, are mostly girls: Lilly, Crystal, and Didi. I liked Mary, too. Among the guys, I liked Andrew and I think I could really like Casey, too.

Ellen did a good job. I look forward to seeing her regularly on the show.

Really like didi. Great voice an great tone.

I am so-and-so on her. She sounds like Colbie Caillat. I don’t really like it when girls use that “almost-pitchy” tone in their voice like so many do today…

I actually like Colbie’s wobbly voice on her records, but I’ve seen her live, and she is… very inconsistent live. And kind of boring TBH. Didi sounds a lot better than her. Much stronger voice and presence. Colbie’s thing is that she writes cute songs and sings them cutely, not her performance skills, IMO.

I forgot Janell. She’s good, too, and I like her personality.

I feel bad for Maddy. I thought she sang well enough to go through, despite the song choice. She really is still young, though, and needs a little more confidence, but she will probably be back some other season.

I remember liking Tyler and wish I had seen him sing here, but he will probably be featured in the next episodes so it’s all good.

I wonder if tptb tell the early judges to focus on the women this year etc.

NO! You don’t think this show is manipulated in any way, do you ?

I actually like Colbie’s wobbly voice on her records, but I’ve seen her live, and she is… very inconsistent live. And kind of boring TBH. Didi sounds a lot better than her. Much stronger voice and presence. Colbie’s thing is that she writes cute songs and sings them cutely, not her performance skills, IMO.

I totally agree. I bought Colbie’s first album and liked it enough but after I saw her live, I just wasn’t as interested anymore and didn’t get the second album. Maybe this is why she never made it on Idol.

As to Didi, I really, really like her but I hope she doesn’t get pimped too much to the point that it turns some people off.

Mary102
02/10/2010 at 10:01 am
As far as the Adam mention… well, we had Kris Ford commercials the last few weeks. I was surprised they didn’t have another one this week.

The Kris commercial was shown last night, just like the previous weeks.

Really… when was it, because after the Adam mention, I wondered who else they would pimp from previous seasons. I stepped out of the room for a moment, but asked my husband to watch for it.. because I KNEW it had to come. I really thing that previous season pimping should be an AI drinking game.

I actually like Colbie’s wobbly voice on her records, but I’ve seen her live, and she is… very inconsistent live. And kind of boring TBH. Didi sounds a lot better than her. Much stronger voice and presence. Colbie’s thing is that she writes cute songs and sings them cutely, not her performance skills, IMO.

Haha, yeah Didi sounds like Colbies records… Still a very tiring voice for me. I think I liked Janell best, she was very relaxed, I love listening to singers that doesn’t tense their throat muscles too much.

I thought that Hollywood week SUCKED for the most part. Everyone was either very average or just slightly better than that. And this is what….season NINE, right?

This is Season Nine and you’re still not really liking anyone. Why am I not surprised? Haha. Good to see you, Tony.

This should be an interesting year for me. I generally like male vocalists better than female and they are very obviously pushing the girls. It makes me wonder if they have intentionally not put through many strong guys just to better the odds of a girl winning it.

Everyone’s taste are different. For me, based on what we have seen so far from those girls, I like Mary Powers and Lily Scott. I cannot stand to listen to Didi at all…that pitchy thing she does with her voice turns me off.

I actually only LOVED Andrew Garcia’s version!! He totally swept me away!!! I know this is abit early but I hope he wins!!!

I do like Haeley Mary Powers. I REALLY liked Andrew Garcia and Big Mike. They didn’t should Jermaine Sellers last night but I’m looking forward to hearing more from him as well. The show is already picking out their picks for the season.

I think I’m going to be turned off of most of the girls because its obvious the show/judges are going to push them to the break of unbearable for me.

Crippity crappity! Yes, the girls ARE good and it’s clearly a girls year, but I like boys! Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’ll come right out and say it, I’m that shallow. I didn’t have anyone last year that really rocked my boat and I was hoping for a better year this year. There’s still time. One quirky, interesting, non-pretty boy, that’s all I ask…….

LOL…don’t you like Andrew??? He’s got a totally mind-blowing voice IMO and not a very pretty face… but i am rooting for him. I like boys too!

someone was complaining about the stripped down acoustic arrangements.
it’s not only that way because they aren’t going to provide you with a band at this stage. It’s also because, a capella or with a single instrument, they can really hear what you got vocally.
A lot of people are passed through initallyl because they exude personality and sing a few bars well. now the judges and us get to actually see them try to put over an entire song (or most of one), and you can hear very quickly who has the chops for that and who should keep singing in the shower or get a voice teacher….

I was kinda surprised they didn’t pull out the next ‘Carrie Underwood’ for some of these girls.

None of them are country artists so I’m not surprised.

FYI & For comparison, in this youtube David Cook does an acoustic “Come Back to Me” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS83IsggGPA

Just a note – I liked what Garcia did w/ Paula’s “straight up” song except for the fact that he said he was going to sing his own version of it. I might have bought that had I not heard that slow version on Canadian radio last week. LOL. So, he hunted around and picked a fresh version – that’s fine – but don’t say you’re doing you’re “own” version!

I also liked Lily Scott, Casey James and Crystal Bowersox.

I usually don’t like the girls singing, but I was very impressed with Janell and Didi. None of the guys really stood out last night except for Andrew, who I thought was great. Mike Lynch and Tim Urban were also not bad.

I don’t think Kara was really saying that Andrew reminded of her of Adam at all, merely that what he did with the song was reminiscent of Adam last season. Same applies to Kris; it really doesn’t matter. In any case, I thought Ellen was excellent!

Also, in the original post it says that the Vanessa girl sang “Rain” by Third Eye Blind – I’m pretty sure that was “No Rain” by Blind Melon. Not a big deal though.

I was really happy to see at the end that Tyler Grady made it through – he was easily my favorite from the audition rounds! Hopefully he will be shown singing in some of the future episodes.

I just keep rewatching Didi over and over. I love her raw emotion that she puts into her singing. It’s what I love about Brooke White. There’s also something very familiar about Didi’s voice but it’s not really Colbie Callait sounding to me. I can’t figure out who though. Either way, I love it. Her voice isn’t for everyone. I can’t certainly understand that. She definitely was perfectly on pitch though

Loved Andrew Garcia, Didi Benami and Janell Wheeler

Liked Lily Scott, Mary Powers, Casey James & Crystal Bowersox

Disappointed by Haeley Vaughn…I don’t get the appeal at all based on that performance. It sounded like a squeeky mouse to me. Thought Tim Urban sucked too…although he’s cute as a button.

Some of the singers last night were so good, it’s almost a shame to make them go through singing the different styles Idol demands. Andrew Garcia, Janelle, Lily and Didi should just head straight to the recording studio; wonderful vocals and all seem to have an established style, which has been an historic Idol problem. I would kinda hate to hear Lily Goes Country etc.

Just a note – I liked what Garcia did w/ Paula’s “straight up” song except for the fact that he said he was going to sing his own version of it. I might have bought that had I not heard that slow version on Canadian radio last week. LOL. So, he hunted around and picked a fresh version – that’s fine – but don’t say you’re doing you’re “own” version!

just because you heard it on a canadian radio doesnt mean Garcia hasn’t been playing that version for years. you know it is possible that in two musicians can unknowningly come up with similar/same re-arrangements of a song.

A lot of people are passed through initallyl because they exude personality and sing a few bars well. now the judges and us get to actually see them try to put over an entire song (or most of one),

If a contestant make it to the judges, they usually sing a good portion of a couple of songs. They just show us part of the audition. This is what I’ve read from reports from those who have made it that far.

Just a note – I liked what Garcia did w/ Paula’s “straight up” song except for the fact that he said he was going to sing his own version of it. I might have bought that had I not heard that slow version on Canadian radio last week. LOL. So, he hunted around and picked a fresh version – that’s fine – but don’t say you’re doing you’re “own” version!

That’s a bummer. I figured he would have at least taken ” his version” from You Tube. Why don’t these “rearrangers” at least come up with a cover that isn’t on the freaking radio? If you are that good, pick a different Paula Abdul song! Or at the very least, don’t take credit for it!

Mike Lynche (NOPE, not DQ’d) talks to his wife on the phone.

I’m late to the party, so maybe someone commented on this already (sorry if that’s the case). If Mike Lynche were DQ’d, wouldn’t it be after Hollywood week episodes since the supposed reason for him being DQ’d was his dad leaking the news that he made the Top 24? Unless this comment is inferring that the producers would have opted not to feature him on the Hollywood round shows because of being DQ’d.

Wow, I’m impressed with the singers this year! I’m glad that there’s so many singer-songwriter types because they’re closest to my heart than the boring powervocalists like Lil Rounds, Syesha, Mariah, and Celine. Singer-songwriter represents true music.

I like Didi, Janell, Lily, Andrew, Crystal, and even Haeley! Didi can transform an ordinary moment into something magical.

Maybe it was because she ended the show, but Crystal is the one who stood out for me. “Natural Woman” has been done to death on Idol, but for me, it didn’t matter. Andrew’s take on “Straight Up” was nice but whenever I look at these “reworkings” of songs, I take a step back and ask myself..would I really think this was impressive if I’d never heard this song before? Sometimes, it’s just the novelty of hearing a familiar song in a different way, and not the actual talent that impresses people.

That’s a bummer. I figured he would have at least taken ” his version” from You Tube. Why don’t these “rearrangers” at least come up with a cover that isn’t on the freaking radio? If you are that good, pick a different Paula Abdul song! Or at the very least, don’t take credit for it!

ITA-That is always the danger. You wonder how many arrangements Rickey and the band did/helped out with over the years that they were never thanked or credited for? Which takes me to

Sometimes, it’s just the novelty of hearing a familiar song in a different way, and not the actual talent that impresses people.

Agreed. As a stand alone song, would it really hold up? IDK. But having said that, I thought Andrew sang it really well.

ITA-That is always the danger. You wonder how many arrangements Rickey and the band did/helped out with over the years that they were never thanked or credited for? Which takes me to

Probably most of them. What are the odds that some 24 year old, even if they come up with idea, also has the musicianship to see that idea through without extensive help from Rickey? Especially considering they may only have a day or two to make it happen.

For all we know, Rickey may have heavily influenced all of the “re-inventions” people have been crediting to previous contestants in this very thread.

And still I quibble with the re-invention term. I’d really just like to call it: Guy in Flannel Shirt With Guitar Slows Down Tempo of Song or GFSWGSDT.

Not to say that i didn’t like it, because I did. Very much in fact. And, I don’t need Andrew to be some musical genius so early in the game anyway. If the performance is good, and comes across well on TV, I just can’t bring myself to care if they stole it from Youtube, some obscure bar band they saw in Kansas last year, some other reality show contestant or Rickey.

Alot of good performances am finally getting excited about Season 9.

Sometimes, it’s just the novelty of hearing a familiar song in a different way, and not the actual talent that impresses people.

LOL – ITA. Yet another reason why I’m getting sick of these re-workings (particularly in the GFSWGSDT style (thank you, SpencerJ )

Heartless is a good example – your take is exactly what I felt about it – in terms of it being more novelty that the song was being done so differently, but in the end I couldn’t help but think – I didn’t like the original at all, not liking the cover that much more.

Really… when was it, because after the Adam mention, I wondered who else they would pimp from previous seasons. I stepped out of the room for a moment, but asked my husband to watch for it.. because I KNEW it had to come. I really thing that previous season pimping should be an AI drinking game.

Not sure what time, maybe in the first half hour – but I remember sitting on the couch watching it, and looking at the tv to see Kris in the commercial.

No doubt Didi, Andrew, and Crystal all have the likelihood of being pimped to death. At least I like them all. I’ve been on both sides of it though. Not being able to stand who they way overpimped, like Adam last season or loving who they pimped like Archie in Season 7. I’m not even going to hope it doesn’t happen cause as a long-time Idol watcher, I know it will. Yet as always, I will make up my own mind like most of the viewers who aren’t obsessed with the show and don’t read the blogs and probably don’t even know what pimping means.

Is is just me, or does Didi sound a bit like Fergie?

^^Nope, I pegged her as sounding very much like Natasha Bedingfield.

One quirky, interesting, non-pretty boy, that’s all I ask…….

@longsong..I’m thinking Tyler Grady for you???

Last night, I loved, loved Janell Wheeler, Andrew Garcia and Crystal Bowersox.

Katie Stevens, Michael Lynche and Casey James were all good.

Also Lilly Scott, she was also very good, but I must say that I think her voice is somewhat old fashioned and I’m not sure how she would fit in the current mainstream scene.

I thought Didi Benami was just OK. I think she really had to strain her voice to sing certain notes. So that’s why I don’t love her like Janell and Crystal.

I didn’t love crystal

By the way, what ever happend to the 2-hour Hollywood Week episode? Why are they all only an hour? I hate that!

I thought Crystal and Andrew Garcia were both off the chain. Andrew was unreal. I thought that was better than Heartless because I already think he is a better singer than Kris! And Crystal, that voice was from heaven, are you kidding me????? I’m already excited to listen to these kids…

lily scott is definitely my favorite- as soon as she started singing it felt like you were transported to another decade- in the best way possible. everything about the performance was impeccable, i love the tone of her voice and the little vibrato she adds at the end of notes. maybe her voice is “old-fashioned,” but to me she sounds more indie and she describes herself that way. how cool would it be if an “indie” girl’s music became really popular?
I also love janell’s voice and how she changed “american boy” up to fit her style. it seems like her style is flexible, not just country. her voice has more depth than just a country twang. i liked didi’s initial audition and she has an interesting tone, but her hollywood audition felt a tad strained and off key. so far, lilly’s getting my vote. i can’t stop humming “lullaby of birdland.”

lily scott is definitely my favorite- as soon as she started singing it felt like you were transported to another decade- in the best way possible. everything about the performance was impeccable, i love the tone of her voice and the little vibrato she adds at the end of notes. maybe her voice is “old-fashioned,” but to me she sounds more indie and she describes herself that way. how cool would it be if an “indie” girl’s music became really popular?

That would be totally cool! Lily’s sound is so authentic, like you are listening to someone who really knows music. It’s awesome to hear artists like her in this show.

Didi’s performance was just magical. It felt so pure and honest. That’s what music is all about.