Season 9 Preview: Ben Honeycutt and Jermaine Purifory

By On 01/07/2010 · 25 Comments · In American Idol

This is our continuation of our preview of possible Season 9 contestants. Remember, that the Hollywood round doesn’t occur until January 9th this year. We don’t know how far any of these contestants might go. And since we never see some of the competition round contestants until the competition starts, we might never see some of these people. We might have even found the wrong person with the same name.

Number 19 : Ben Honeycutt
Home State: Alabama
Style: Acoustic/Metal Christian

Idol Chatter: Jermaine Purifory
Hometown: Elizabeth, N.J.
Age: 25
Style: Gospel/R&B

Pictures/Myspace/Links for Ben after the jump

Ben Honeycutt:
Picture
Myspace
Pride in the Name of Love
No One (youtube)
Bleeding Love (youtube)
I Don’t Wanna Be (youtube)
Apologize
Youtube Channel

Band: Candlefuse
Myspace
Facebook
Website
Turn Around (video)
Fighter (youtube)
PureVolume

Will this guy ever see the light of day? It’s like somebody mixed Kris Allen with David Cook to come up with this contestant. Yep, another guy with a guitar who can arrange songs. From his covers on youtube, this dude would have no problem navigating the obstacle course of Idol theme nights. He’s already getting buzz in the Idol fandom world. And his name sounds like a popular character from M*A*S*H.

It would be a bit of a shame if Ben did not to make the show. This type of contestant is really popular, but Idol can’t take another artist like this winning a 3rd year in a row. So, can they risk it? He’s talented, though, so should he not get the chance just because he has the same vibe as some previous winners? The Idol stylists would no doubt be able to work their magic on him. I think Kara and Randy would like him. IDK. He’s definitely good and I’d like to see what he could do. The anti-white-dude-with-a-guitar crowd is likely screaming “NOOOOOOO!”

In other news, Jermaine Purifory featured on Idol Chatter looks promising. He’s got a flexible voice with a great tone and is not the type of contestant we’ve seen on Idol for a few years. He’s got a bit of a Chris Brown vibe (without the legal troubles) and would give Idol a male foothold on the Ryhtmic and Urban charts with strong crossover appeal to Pop. But, he’s male and Idol wants a female winner. So, Jermaine might be out of luck this year too.

If you’ve missed some of the Idol Hopefuls for Season 9, checkout the Season 9 Preview Roundup.

 
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  • sonyab

    Ben Honeycutt: YES!!!!! :) I like him!

    Jermaine Purifory: Nah. I like Ben better.

  • tierbee

    Hmm, I actually like them both. I think. Guess we’ll see, lol.

  • jack5791

    I love Ben Honeycutt, but I worry he is too similar to Kris. Then again, THIS is what is popular right now. He’s extremely current, a really good singer with a great tone, and should definitely make it based on that alone. And based on the songs hes uploaded to YouTube, he seems like he makes smart song choices. Either way, I don’t think he will win but he definitely COULD go far. He seems like a very likeable guy.

  • sonyab

    tierbee

    Hmm, I actually like them both. I think. Guess we’ll see, lol.

    Hahaha yeah I guess we will all see who we will like. :)

  • maturin

    You can’t really tell a whole lot about Jermaine from that informal vid except–lovely tone to his voice, and he and that Ahmir are a hoot. So many of these kids have a ton of personality and then it gets squished out on the show, though.

    Ben H: no strong feeling from this one, except I agree about the WBWG dilemma. Trying to shut out a whole popular music demographic so that they don’t risk multiple winners who are in the same genre seems risky–so does putting one through.

    Hey, they need a WBWG who’s talented but either totally hideous or a colossal jerk. See what the audiences do with that! Fan: “I *loved* that R.E.M. cover! But on the other hand, he just kicked that girl in a wheelchair! What to do!”

  • itsalleternal

    Ben: Nothing really unique, and not my favorite voice either. I’d take a pass on him, and I don’t see anything to suggest he would make it out of Hollywood.

    Jermaine: He can’t win, but he would bring a new music group to Idol for sure. I think he is good enough as well to make the top 24.

  • sonyab

    maturin

    Hey, they need a WBWG who’s talented but either totally hideous or a colossal jerk. See what the audiences do with that! Fan: “I *loved* that R.E.M. cover! But on the other hand, he just kicked that girl in a wheelchair! What to do!”

    What? ROFL! Gee what a dilemma! :) And a question. What is WBWG?

  • maturin

    What is WBWG?

    White Boy with Guitar :-)

  • jonoave

    Well, he’s cute. ;)

    I find it amusing that now all these contestants are being compared as “love-childs” of older Idol contestants. Kris was mentioned as the lovechild of Cook and Castro, and now this dude as the (un?)holy union between Cook and Kris!

  • gangreen29

    Ben’s vibrato is out of control lol. If he has that poor of a control over his voice sitting there in his living room I think he would bomb on the idol stage. I like Jermaine, not enough to call him a favorite, but I think if a girl were not to win this year the next preferred type would be an R&B singer.

  • IdolThoughts

    If Ben was on last season there would be no Kris. Sorry, kind of unfair to Kris, but I’m sure it will be very unfair for Ben this season (if he makes it) because of Kris and Cookie. Ben’s voice is more pleasing to the ear…not strained at all. And he’s really cute and charming…reminiscent of Idol Cookie. I LOVED Cookie’s pre-performance vids!

  • sonyab

    maturin

    What is WBWG?

    White Boy with Guitar :-)

    Oh! ROFL! Cool. :)

  • http://www.twilightslo.com Mateja

    Oh Ben… He is good. Better singer than Kris. He is way more pleasant to listen to. Just like Bryce Larsen. But sadly, his style is just too similar to Kris’.

    I am sick and tired of white boys with guitar.

  • Kirsten

    Hey, they need a WBWG who’s talented but either totally hideous or a colossal jerk. See what the audiences do with that! Fan: “I *loved* that R.E.M. cover! But on the other hand, he just kicked that girl in a wheelchair! What to do!”

    Not a problem. If a contestant has a solid fan base, he can kick wheelchair girl. The fans will just say that it shows he is adorkable (was an accident, even though he wound up and did it twice) or that he’s not afraid of being himself (“I’m tired of people pussy-footing around people in wheelchairs. If people who can walk can get kicked, why not the disabled? It’s discrimination, I tell you and I’m sick of it!!!!”) or they’ll find a way to blame the girl.

    Meanwhile, if you are the season’s villian, you could throw yourself in front of a bus to save the girl in the wheelchair and still not win (“He just did that for attention.” “Like it takes talent to get hit by a bus.” “If they mention this on the show, I’m going to barf! No way he should get votes just because of that. It’s a singing competition, not an emergency surgery competition.” “I hope they make him pay to fix that dent his body made in the bus.”).

    I find it amusing that now all these contestants are being compared as “love-childs” of older Idol contestants. Kris was mentioned as the lovechild of Cook and Castro, and now this dude as the (un?)holy union between Cook and Kris!

    Dog breeders call that in-line breeding (the law has an uglier word for it when it involves people…incest). Soon, Idol will have the perfect WBWG and we can get it classified with the American Kennel Club (or certified by the RIAA). Everybody will want one.

  • Mark

    Hmm… I don’t know. Ben is pretty good. As good as some of the contestants we’ve had, though? Well, no. I actually think they might be OK to let him through the Top 24, because he’s an unfavorable comparison to the S7 and S8 songwriter types in Cook, Castro, and Allen (and probably Matt, though I’d need to hear him on a dry feed to be certain). For one… the vibrato was just all over the place. Almost Matt-like, except Matt’s usually kicked in when he was trying to hard. Ben’s is just everywhere all the time, and it will not be pleasant to the ear on a dry feed. And I’m not a fan of his tone; it’s not dissimilar to those contemporary male country singers who I couldn’t tell apart if you put a gun to my head.

    I’m liking Jermaine just a little more. But only a little. Not bowled over by him in terms of actually doing well on Idol. They could also put him through as weak competition; they will have better female singers than this.

  • maturin

    Meanwhile, if you are the season’s villian, you could throw yourself in front of a bus to save the girl in the wheelchair and still not win (”He just did that for attention.” “Like it takes talent to get hit by a bus.” “If they mention this on the show, I’m going to barf!

    Ahahahahahahaha! YES!

  • girlygirl

    Ben is talented but there’s too much vibratto in his voice in several of these posted clips. Needs to work on that. He is going to have a problem because TPTB won’t want a third straight WBWG to win. And from the couple of youtubes I watched, IMO Kris and David are both better than Ben (YMMV). Still, assuming he makes it through Hollywood week, I could see him being one of the favorites.

    Haven’t watched Jermaine’s stuff yet…

  • BootStar

    I liked ‘em both! But, yeah, that Ben dude is like the lovechild of Cook and Kris. I didn’t notice his vibrato, but that doesn’t generally bother me as much as it does a lot of folks. I care more about overall tone and musicality. I think his voice is much better than Kris’s though. I liked Kris from early on, but his voice has never been his strongsuit.

    Maybe the strategy this year will be to have one or two really strong women surrounded by female cannon fodder and a bunch of really great guys in a variety of genres who cancel each other out. The fans of each “cute boy” will destroy the others so that the talented gal gets all the revenge votes.

    I think, if TPTB really want a female to win this year, they’re going to need to have one hell of a strategy in place to pull it off. Maybe Garry Kasparov is looking for a new gig and can act as a consultant?

  • jammasta

    Ben Honeycutt looks like a godawful zombie who absorbs you into the underworld as a nice WBWG. Get a haircut. And as a major Kris fan, he does have a better voice than Kris early on (though Kris’s has improved quite a bit after the show, but his voice was never really his strong point). But I love acoustic arrangements of R&B songs. Voice is a little whiny in Bleeding Love, but that can be fixed with some time (or maybe he used a sound system that went weird?). I don’t see him having a stronger musicality than Kris, though. But very nice. Haircut.

    Jermaine Purifory looks promising. I don’t really see Chris Brown, I used to like Chris Brown but his voice became just too youthful for me. Jermaine has a good R&B/Pop style, we haven’t really seen a successful male contestant in the R&B area for a while.

  • Lyrical12

    I’m liking this Ben guy. Kris last season seemed like a really nice guy and I did like him, but he was always just rather bland and I wasn’t the hugest fan of his voice. Ben’s voice is definitely a lot more pleasing to the ears, and as long as does something to set himself apart and is a little more interesting I could see myself rooting for him.

    I would prefer a little more of a rocker, but any guy who covers U2, Coldplay, and Lifehouse is good by me. His Pride (In the Name of Love) cover is a lovely rendition of one of my favorite songs, and I love how at the beginning of the video he basically makes it very clear that U2 is his favorite band. U2 is my favorite band as well, so I’m immediately inclined to like this guy!

  • colette

    Jermaine’s featured song on his myspace space is pretty good, very pretty opening arrangement:

    http://www.myspace.com/agggggggg?loc=interstitialskip

    By the way, I hope they’re not going to be shafting the boys because they’ve decided they need a girl to win this year.

    but it is interesting the ladies have been more successful, statistically. I think they consider Ruben, Taylor and probably Kris as chart under-achievers with dubious staying power. I’m not agreen’ just sayin’. but all of the women have done pretty well….

  • girlygirl

    Colette

    Kelly and Carrie have done very very well, but the other women have not sold a ton of albums. And have they had a lot of chart success on the Billboard Hot 100? I know they have had a bunch of hits of some of the more genre-oriented charts (Adult R&B, Christian, etc), but I don’t know if aside from Kelly, Carrie and Jordin they have had a lot of big hits on the overall Hot 100 chart.

  • IdolThoughts

    Ben’s version of Use Somebody is one of the best covers I’ve seen of that song.

  • http://mjsbigblog.com/luvadamlamberts-american-idol-tour-2009-washington-dc-re-cap.htm luvadamlambert

    I don’t want another wbwg,especially one that’s a combo of two cobtestants that were never my favorites.*even though I love then both:)) *

    rotflmfao kirsten

  • chessguy99

    I am sick and tired of white boys with guitar.

    And perhaps, so is the average Idol viewer/voter. And, this may be what TPTB will use to get their girl winner. There are a number of these WBWG on the Hollywood spoiler lists, and they are for the most part all very easy on the eyes. Put a half dozen of them in the Top 24 and they will all disappear due to the dispersal of votes.

    I like Ben, but I want to see a girl win this season. I don’t think TPTB will put Ben through to the Top 24 unless they are going to try the WBWG overload plan. He’s good enough looks, voice and performance skills to actually win the show; if he’s one of maybe two WBWG types in the Top 24.