I think he’s a hoot, and I don’t think he’s a bad singer. It was obvious from the outset that he was a comedian/entertainer. I’m curious to see how this all pans out. If nothing else he’s getting some exposure and he’s being talked about. Could he hope for more?

Now, this isn’t to say he’s my favorite. I don’t have one yet…Anoop is good, but he’s not my favorite, either, and I don’t think he’s going to be when all is sung and done.

Yeah, but Normanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a joke on purpose,

And the joke is in the singing, that’s his schtick, which makes him a joke contestant. His voice is ordinary, dull I’d say, completely lacking in any interesting character, or tone, or anything that makes a singer worth listening to. He is not a singer, he is a comedian who sings, rather poorly.

Perhaps the producers are just so desparate for ratings that they’ll deliberately manufacture a Sanjaya mark II just for a bit of controversy in the news. Just wait till the VFTW crowd gets behind him and send to the top 12 and god know how far further, and the whole contest will be turned into one big joke.

I love Von. He is progressing toward putting it all together, and I think the judges know exactly what theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re doing. They see more than us. All we see is exactly what the producers want us to see.

It will be interesting to see if he can tone it down. There is no doubt that when someone sees potential, they are harder on the person.

I hated Von yet again. Why donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t they tell him to chill and stop shouting?

I think that is just what Simon did. I believe they see potential in him. If he is humble and can learn from the people there, he might suprise us.

If anyone want to complain about Von Smith à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“And I Am Telling Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , have another listen to Norman Gentle, once you remove the jokes, the singing was really quite awful. And he is just a joke, just as Simon said.

Yeah, but Norman’s a joke on purpose, which makes him awesome. And I liked the small bit of real singing I heard from Norman better than all of Von’s Sam Harris imitation so far.

I found it a bit odd as well, but everyone deals with healing from grief in their own way. This must be his. He wants to honor her memory from what he said at his audition.

That’s probably the difference I guess. I don’t really find him all that sincere. I mean he did say that she died quite suddenly, so it wasn’t like she had the chance to tell him – “honey, if I unexpectantly die today, I want you to go on American Idol right quick”. So, presuming that this is what she wanted, and doing it in her honor, is kind of bullshitty to me.

Of course, my thinking this does not preclude me from enjoying his singing. So, a few weeks from now, I could be going on and on about how great he was last night. It’s not all or nothing with me. Just because I think he’s a crappy widower, doesn’t mean I might not find him to be a good contestant. Time will tell. I’ll still give him a chance.

Thanks, SpencerJ, for articulating my thoughts- on these particular contestants- so I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have to

Anytime Jocelyn

second…there is room int he world for musical comedy…and maybe he does not win….but umm….there is potential for money making….ever heard of

Weird Al Yankovic?

NickMWestern could be Nick M from Western

I just found Nick hendrix MySpace. He still has music upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

This is starting to look good….
I think if Nick is in the Top 36, I almost like that we didn’t know it with the rest of them. It’s a nice surprise to get, IMHO.

Nick Hendrix
Age: 17
Hometown: Orlando, FL
Audition City: Jacksonville
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/3knick
MySpace Music: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=372006362

Nick Mitchell a.k.a. Normund Gentle
Hometown: Stratton, VT
Audition City: NY
Nick Mitchells MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/normundgentle
Normund Gentles MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/normundgentle
Photo: http://media.americanidol.com/photos/536/38695.jpg
Hollywood Interview: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3_ZGxk5XkA8
AI Audition Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=4il4-ZYk79c
Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=U9AmkXe7Oc0
Photo: http://media.americanidol.com/photos/541/39760.jpg

The last time a contestant turned into a joke (Sanjaya!) was the time when people started talking about the show having jumped the shark. If they purposely chose a joke contestant over someone who can actually sing, now that is really the beginning of the end.

I would hope that if they let him through to the Top 36, it is because he has shown real singing chops and not because of the joke factor. He has gotten as far as he had up to now because of his humor, true, but we have yet to see him take an audition seriously, maybe there’s something there after all.
I definitely don’t see him as a real contender yet, but he sparked enough interest that at the very least it would be interesting to see where it leads.

I just canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t judge anyone for their behavior after the untimely death of a spouse. Maybe Danny shared that video because he misses his wife and wants the world to see who she was. Maybe he tried out for AI a month after her death because sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d always wanted him to, and he was pushing the age limit. Or maybe heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a manipulative genius. I have no idea, but Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m going to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sure their ordeal and her death is a huge, HUGE part of who he is as a person right now. I think it would be unfair to expect him to keep it under wraps. And Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m sure that if heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d never mentioned his late wife and the word got out, heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d be criticized as cold for not revealing that particular detail of his life.

I liked his audition, but was a little less impressed last night, so the jury is still out for me on Danny. I will get annoyed if his backstory continues to get air time – but at this point ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been mentioned twice so Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not ready to get mad about it.

You said it better than I.

Norman is an ok singerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦but his entertainment value is really unmatched à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦he really has no shot at winningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦but i do hope he makes the top 36 just to lighten the mood from time to time.

The last time a contestant turned into a joke (Sanjaya!) was the time when people started talking about the show having jumped the shark. If they purposely chose a joke contestant over someone who can actually sing, now that is really the beginning of the end.

I’m sure their ordeal and her death is a huge, HUGE part of who he is as a person right now. I think it would be unfair to expect him to keep it under wraps. And I’m sure that if he’d never mentioned his late wife and the word got out, he’d be criticized as cold for not revealing that particular detail of his life.

I liked his audition, but was a little less impressed last night, so the jury is still out for me on Danny. I will get annoyed if his backstory continues to get air time – but at this point it’s been mentioned twice so I’m not ready to get mad about it.

Agreed. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not going to be everyoneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cup of tea.

Which is fine, don’t you think?

And even if he had no sob story to speak of or didn’t mention it to begin with at all, people would still find reasons to dislike him.

Maybe they don’t like his singing? No reasons need to be found.

The sob story gives the ammunition to use against him though.

You’re making a broad generalization here. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to not care for how Danny’s backstory is employed. Somebody who voices that concern is not merely looking for an excuse to pile on him.