Check out a round-up of recaps from around the net. What are the critics and pundits saying about last night’s American Idol auditions in Portland. Read more below!
‘American Idol’ recap: Portlandia – Welcome to Portland, home of the weird. Would “the jewel of the Northwest”‘s eclecticism overwhelm our corporate-casual sunlight magnet of a host? No! Ryan was fine in the crowd! It was the door handle that did him in. Later on, Seacrest’s ego would be challenged by a preposterous pastry version of himself (Real Ryan would never let chocolate sprinkles get so close to his mouth) and a very special giant named Junior who had no idea who Ryan was. Our poor hero was so flummoxed, out there in the wild, that he started running around with a small, potted tree who had no choice but to love him back. Couldn’t we all use a friend? – Entertainment Weekly
American Idol Portland Auditions Recap: Oregon, Baby, Gone – “Congratulations, you’re going to Hollywood!” But not quite yet, Idoloonie Nation. First, you’ll have to sit through the Dance of Diminishing Returns, in which a cherbuic 28-year-old guy “entertains” you by shouting “I’m adorable!” and screeching his way through “Somebody to Love”; a cable TV salesguy belches, coughs, and blows his nose for the cameras; and Ryan Seacrest waltzes with a ficus. Heck, as a sharp-eyed TVLine reader noticed, American Idol couldn’t even bother to correctly spell the word “audition” at the start of its Wednesday-night show.- TV Line
“Auditions #6: Portland, OR” – Modest Mouse. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Florence and the Machine. Has anybody else been surprised by the interstitial music that Idol’s been playing lately? It sounds like it’s catering more to old people like myself than the 16-year-olds it was flaunting last season. I’m taking this as a potential good omen. Our penultimate (yes!) audition episode was a nice blend of actual talent and funny weirdos. The sob stories were a blend of legitimately heart-tugging (how can you deny the Liberian refugee or the lady taking care of her stroke victim boyfriend?) and intriguing. (Which no-good lowlife basketball player was Britnee Kellogg married to? I will reveal below. Don’t get excited.) – AV Club
‘American Idol’ recap: season 11, audition city #6 Portland – Portland, Ore. brought a couple of quirky contestants, one serious sad story, plus a few decent singers. Otherwise, the energy level seemed off. Ryan Seacrest had to resort to running around with a potted plant. For someone like me, who has seen more than 80 audition episodes and 600-plus auditions since 2002, this one felt a bit strained. The editors didn’t even seem to try very hard to make this memorable. Is there anything we haven’t already seen? – Atlanta Journal Constitution
‘American Idol’ finds the eclectic — and the gross — in Portland – “American Idol” usually goes for the low-hanging fruit when it decides on storylines for the audition episodes. So it’s no shock that host Ryan Seacrest started Wednesday’s show by walking through the throng of hopefuls and noting that “with an eclectic crowd like this, there’s no telling who – or what – we may find.” What we found was pretty much the same thing we find in every audition episode. Some good singers, some good stories and some hopeless cases designed to make everyone else sound better by comparison. – MSNBC
‘American Idol’ Portland Auditions: Hipsters And Sob Stories – American Idol made its first ever audition cattle call in Portland, Oregon, and though the city is commonly stereotyped for its organic-living, irony-accepting citizens, the episode was surprisingly light on the references to Portland’s alternative culture. (Though it wasn’t totally scenester-free — say hello to Idol’s token hipster, Brittany Zika.) Head below for the five contestants from the Northwest you’ll want to keep in mind when Hollywood Week begins on February 8. – Idolator
‘American Idol’ 2012: Auditions go to Portland – Fortunately, show host Ryan Seacrest promises us, tonight’s auditions will be full of drama. No telling what can happen “with an eclectic crowd like this,” says Seacrest as the camera pulls back to reveal him standing in a virtually all-white crowd. “American Idol” has come to Portland, Oregon, and the “Idol” Civic Cliches Research Dept. seems to have run out of gas. “A jewel of the Northwest” that’s known for its cloudy skies is the best the department could come up with for Voiceover Seacrest – Washington Post
‘American Idol’ Recap: Portland Power! Britnee Kellogg and Jessica Phillips Steal the Show! – It’s time for American Idol to hit up another city that they have never stopped in before: Portland, Ore. In fact, this is the first time they have gone to the Pacific Northwest since season 6. There was some talent to be found, let’s check out the highlights of the night! Brittany Zika had a dream that she was singing “Gravity” with Sara Bareilles. For her birthday, she ended up at a concert and somehow made that dream happen. Wow. Now she wants this dream. Belts out “The Story” by Brandi Carlisle. Her voice has a unique tone to it and she puts a beautiful spin on it. Jennifer Lopez, “Your tone is so pretty.” Randy Jackson, “This is for real.” – OK Magazine
‘Idol’ Goes to Portlandia: Put a Songbird On It! – Sadly, no one covered “Portlandia’s” “Dream Of The ’90s” theme on “American Idol” Wednesday night (how cool would that have been?), but the dream of the Idols was still alive in Portland this week. Sure, some auditioners’ dreams got crushed, like the fast-food worker with the unfortunate/kinda-awesome name David Weed, who tried to take on Rush, or hyperactive wannabe rocker Ben Harrison, who sang a version of Queen’s “Somebody To Love” that nobody on the judging panel loved at all. But the show did start out with one quirky girl who was so cool, she should actually get her own “Portlandia” guest spot alongside Aimee Mann. (Fred Armisen, are you reading this?) – Reality Rocks
American Idol 11: No Sleep to Portland – Tonight, American Idol goes to Portland, OR for the first-time EVER. Yup. Portland, Oregon. Home to hikers, bikers, dragon-chasers, vegan hoopers, people who wear fake birds on their attire. I mean, you say Portland, you think American Idol, right? Let’s bust out the Florence + The Machine and the… Sara Barielles, I mean Tripster The Hipster Brittany Zika, but she LOVES Sara Barialles. (How the hell do I spell that?) Brittany is a nanny/SOCIAL MEDIA TECH. Wow. Never heard that one before. Is she a ninja? A guru? A rockstar? Tripster Hipster sings a Brandi Carisle song and truth be told, she has one of the more interesting voices I’ve heard all season. She is even a bit reminiscent of Season 9?s Megan Joy — who totally became a wearer of bird things! Zoinks! – Top Idol
