A ton of talent tonight! And, a lot of pimping. I spy some producer favorites in this bunch! Oh yeah. And most of them are teens. My personal favs were Hayley Reinhart, Tiwan Strong and Scott Dangerfield. How about you?
American Idol 10 heads to Milwaukee, WI…land of cheese and Danny Gokey! (Maybe the same thing? j/k!!!)
It’s a two-hour extravaganza tonight. You might remember that Milwaukee is the city executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has called the greatest audition city EVAH!–filled with unbelievably talented…teenagers. Can’t wait. Erm.
Stick with me as I live blog the fun. Watch for videos later. Joe’s Place Blog has a list of contestants we should keep an eye on HERE.
Later tonight, I’ll be the guest on the Idol Radio Show on Blog Talk beginning at 11 pm ET. Click this link to listen.
VIDEOS and Live blog after the JUMP…
The show starts off with Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson jamming on “Sweet Emotion”. Ha.
I spy Danny Gokey! He’s down with the hopefuls. “The Package”! That’s the goal! Says Jlo Wait…I thought Kara DioGuardi was fired?
Scott McCreery – 16 – Garner, North Carolina – by “Your Man” by Josh Turner, tt – Plays baseball is the role model on the team. He’s 16 but talks like an 80 year old. He’s been singing country music all his life. Holy shit, he’s got a voice so deep, it’s almost skeery. “You make me smile” says Jennifer. Next he sings some Travis Tritt. Yeah, he’s a good singer. Idol hasn’t really had an old-fashioned country crooner, particularly of the male variety yet. “That’s beautiful” says Steven, after reciting a crazy limerick about sex with animals. Oh that Steven! Of course, Scotty is through. – VIDEO
Joe Repka – 19 – Swanton, OH – “Longest Time” by Billy Joel – Joe is a “radio guy”. He confesses to never listening to Seacrest. OMG he’s got a chimpmunk voice. He can’t be serious…can he? His just a famewhore trying to get TV time. “Do not quit your day job, ” says Steven. Pursue radio is the general consensus. Joe breaks into a warbly rendition of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Steven sings harmony. And then everyone says NO. – VIDEO
Emma Henry – 15 – Littleton, CO – “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper – Wait…she’s driving. Oh. She has her permit. She was 5 years old when Kelly won Idol. She watched. Ever since, she’s wanted that moment so bad. She’s got an interesting tone, but I can just tell she’d die on the big stage. Stage fright Idol was Season 9. “You got a certain something I can’t put a finger on, ” says Steven. “You have a special quality, you should keep working on that, ” says Jennifer. “I’m not sure that I think you’re ready yet, ” says Randy. Jennifer says no, Steven says yes, Randy says she’ll get swallowed up. (He’s right) But he caves and says yes. – VIDEO
Next, a montage of really bad contestants. “If Gaga were here, she’s run out of the room screaming, ” says Randy to one of the contestants who butchered “Bad Romance”.
Naima Adedapo – 25 – Milwaukee WI – “For All We Know” by Donny Hathaway – She works grounds clean up for the Summerfest amphitheater. We see her picking up garbage and cleaning toilets. She looks at the stage and says, “That should be me!” She wants to change her life, provide for her family. Woah, what an Idol backstory that would be, huh? From toilets to the BIG STAGE. She’s got a nice soulful voice, if unremarkable. The judges like her. All three say yes.Jlo calls Steven “Steve” and he corrects her! “It’s Steven, ” he says. DIVA. – VIDEO
Jerome Bell – 27 – New York, NY – “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye – Jerome sings at Bar Mitzvahs and weddings. Dude! You’ve got a nice rich, soulful voice, you don’t have to SCREAM AT ME. Ugh. I hate the hopefuls who try too hard. “Hot crazy vocals in tune, nice dynamics, I like you man, ” says Randy. “Beautiful, ” says Steven. Jennifer thinks he’s cute. Jerome is through. – VIDEO
Why am I looking at the Fetus? Oh because we’re going to talk about lowering the age to 15. Push those teenagers.
Thia Megia – 15 – Mountain House, CA – “Chasing Pavements” by Adele – This chick competed on America’s Got Talent. I think she’s the 15 year old Nigel has been raving about. She’s got a very mature, radio ready voice and the right look. Jennifer says she’s got “the total package.” “I loved your voice. I thought it had a lot of character, ” says Steven. Three yeses, she’s through. The producers are going to pimp the hell out of this one. Teen Idol! – VIDEO
Every 15 year old who sang in front of the judges on the first day of auditions got a golden ticket. Ugh.
Nathaniel Jones – 22 – Mount Zion WI – The Lion Sleeps Tonight” Civil War reenacter. Dude’s dad is not a hippie! Hippie’s believe in sex! Oh god. He’s auditioning in his Civil War outfit. Yikes. Yep. Crazy scary falsetto for the win. Steven liked the song. (???) but not for American Idol. – VIDEO
Mason Wilkinson – 23 – West Allis, WI – Whoa. Tone deaf warbling for the win. Randy is doing that laughing-behind-his-notes thing he does. “Ok! Should we vote” asks Jennifer. Erm. It’s no. – VIDEO
Molly DeWolf Swenson – 22 – Seattle Wa – “Sittin on the Dock of the Bay” – The name sounds uber preppie. She just graduated from Harvard. She got an internship at the White House. OMG Randy punched her in the mouth earlier. The clip is hilarious. She’s got a very rich, striking alto. Very nice. The judges are duly impressed. It’s three yeses for Molls (probably what her friend Bunny calls her). – VIDEO
Day Two!
Hayley Reinhart – “Oh Darlin” – Wheeling, IL – She’s got a bluesy powerful rock voice. I like her. Steven is very very excited. She auditioned last year, but was told to come back this year. Randy says she’s improved “so much”. They all say yes. – VIDEO
Tiwan Strong – 29 – Chicago IL – “Twisting the Night Away” – Ooooh. Very smooth, nice tone. Love that he’s not throwing in stupid runs. He’s got an old-fashioned soul thing going, but he could probably excel doing an Usher-type turn. Good stuff. “I see the sparkle in your eyes, ” says Steven. “Very controlled nice tone, ” says Randy. “You did a really good job with it, ” says Jennifer. Three yeses. Tiwan moves on. – VIDEO
Steve Beghun – 27 – Bloomington, MN – CPA works as an auditor for a big accounting firm. He’s as boring as you might thing. No way this guy can sing. Well, actually he can sorta sing. Not bad. Nice sweet tenor, but not really great either. “I found you to be disturbingly great…different, ” says Steven. Three yeses for the accountant who Sings. Real. High! – VIDEO
Vernika Patterson – 20 – Milwaukee, WI – “Loving You” by Minnie Ripperton – Uh oh. I’ve never heard this song song well on Idol…and I still haven’t. She’s really off key…here comes the whistle note…she doesn’t even go for it. “This is not going to work for this, ” says Jennifer. “I don’t think You’re ready for American Idol, ” says Steven. Vernika puts on a ‘tude. “I can sing better than half those people out there!” Vernika stomps out, after accusing the panel of rejecting her because she’s fat. Oy. No chick, you suck. Randy calls Kelly fat. Uhm. lulz. – VIDEO
Albert Rogers III – 24 – Ogelthorpe, GA – “Stand By Me” – People tell him he sounds like Ruben Studdard, Usher and Luther Vandross. Needless to say, he’s not even close. I wonder if his friends tell him he’s good. “You squeezed the flavor out of that song…I liked it…but not for Idol.” Steven says inexplicably. He says no. “I thought it was terrible and a joke, ” says Randy. Is Randy the new Simon? Steven puts on his best Paula to reprimand Randy. Sadly, I don’t think it was a joke. Dude thinks he can sing. – VIDEO
Scott Dangerfield – 22 – Milwaukee, WI – “Dreamin’ by Amos Lee – Nice blue-eyed soul coming from this boy. Wow. Niceeee. “You might be my favorite I’ve seen so far, ” says Jennifer. Three yeses. But if they don’t want another white guy to win, they might want to deep six this guy in Hollywood. “He felt the music in his body, ” says Jennifer. – VIDEO
Megan Frazier – 20 – Green Bay, WI – “Baby” by Justin Beiber – Chick was forced to be a Green Bay Packer fan by her Dad. He would have beat her otherwise. Just kidding. OMG. This chick is a real joke. Listening to her warble “Baby” like an operatic goat is pretty funny. Oh, she’s just looking to get herself on TV. It’s a no and she doesn’t even look upset! Her whole family is laughing as she leaves the audition room. Right. – VIDEO
Alyson Jaydos – 26 – Chicago, IL – “Come Together” – “I want to bring more Rock n Roll to American Idol, ” says Alyson. She’s a big Steven Tyler fan. Steven says, You almost look like you could be one of my… Erm.” Don’t say it, Steven. He comes out from behind the desk to give his star struck fan a big hug. She’s got a deep raspy voice. Unique. I like her. She sings “Dream On” and Steven joins in. I want to hear him duet with Gokey. Heh. “Very pitchy, ” says Steven, “That kind of scares me.” “I think you’ve got a great quality in you voice, ” says Jennifer. Randy is not sure if she’s ready. He says no. Jennifer says yes. It’s up to Steven now! Of course, he says yes. Was that little exchange set up or what? She wasn’t all that pitchy. – VIDEO
SOB STORY AFTER THE BREAK. Ugh.
53 contestants move on to Hollywood from Milwaukee.
Back from break and we’re treated to some EXTRA PIMPAGE of the hopefuls the producers want us to remember. Sheesh.
Chris Medina – “Break Even” by The Script – He’s engaged to a chick who suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2009. Oh. Dear. God. She woke up out of a coma after a month and a half. Despite being in a wheelchair, and unable to take care of herself, he’s sticking by his girl. His singing is very sweet–nice falsetto Not bad. But he’ll get a million points for the mega sob story. OMG they ask him to bring the girlfriend in. Ugh. They wheel her in to wave uncomprehendingly. This is really sickening, I’m sorry. Shame on everyone involved. Dude can sing, he doesn’t need to exploit his poor fiance. – VIDEO
ETA: You guys may think I’m being insensitive, but actually, the thought of this woman being used so Idol fans can shed crocodile tears makes me sick. I have all the compassion for her in the world. (I edited the word “vegetable” out. Sorry if I offended anyone).
