American Idol Season 6 Episode 5 Birmingham

I had to watch last evening's show on tape because I didn't get home from the airport until 11:00 p.m. Last night the audition city was Birmingham, AL, home of 2 winners and a 2nd runner up. 11,000 people tried out but only 20 people received their golden ticket to Hollywood.
On with the comments of last night's performers the producers allowed us to see anyway.
Erica Skye was the first contestant we viewed. I wasn't impressed by her back story which went on way too long. At least she said before her audition, if singing doesn't work out she is going to look into something in the dental field (I'm not sure I want her working on my teeth). Erica chose "Unchained Melody" as her audition song, foolish! Her performance was totally without any merit. Paula actually got up in horror and left. Luckily for us Erica was sent home packing. The only funny thing about this audition was when she left she used a gesture which Paula had to explain to Simon was obscene. The look on his face was priceless.
Next was Katie Bernard and this is a woman with allegedly two voices. Her talking voice was so obnoxiously strange it was like fingers on a chalkboard. It sounded like the mice in Disney's Cinderella. Katie chose "A House is Not a Home". Her singing voice was clearly different and easier to listen to but I just did not enjoy the performance and it seemed so strained. I am not sure if she was faking her regular voice or her singing voice but I am not sure I could handle week after week of her. She managed to get yes votes from Paula (just to irritate Simon) and Randy. Simon said no.
Tatiana (I kid you not) was next. She is only 17. I don't remember the sang she song but I did enjoy her voice. The young singers are kicking butt this season so far. She was a bit showy with her movement and gestures but she was in tune and there was great texture to her voice. Tatiana received her golden ticket.
Diana Walker is next. Being an overweight individual I just have to say, Diana being such a large woman she does not know how to dress. Her outfit was tacky and was distracting, at least to me. Clearly Diana does not understand the rules of this game, don't perform Whitney Houston. Diana went with "Saving all my Love for You" and she just could not perform the song. There was no trip to Hollywood in Diana's future and trust me we are all glad.
Bernard Williams came in next and chose "Rock With You". His voice was pretty good but I have to agree with Paula I thought he was off key as well. Paula said no but Simon and Randy gave him a yes so he gets another chance in Hollywood.
Every season we have to have someone lie about their age to try out and this season we were shown Margaret Fowler. The show spent too much time on her story and her absolutely, unbelievably, tacky, ugly, disgusting, horrible, there are not enough bad adjectives to describe this train wreck of an outfit and I will repeat it once again, people carrying excess weight can find appropriate clothing. She was all in yellow so we had to have the "Big Bird Sesame Street" theme which irritated me. I can't even remember what she sang because I was distracted by that scary outfit. Margaret couldn't sing and in the end under the questioning of the judges finally admitted to being 50! No Hollywood for "Big Bird"!
Our next contestant is probably going to be our Kellie Pickler of Season 6 - her name is Jamie Lynn Ward. We got her sob back story about living with her grandmother to take care of her paralyzed father. Then she tells the judges (tacky to ask anyway) out it happened - apparently her stepmother was cheatin' on her daddy and he wanted revenge and shot her and somehow himself causing his paralysis. I lost any sympathy for her and her family at that point. She was unremarkable to me. I liked the sound of her voice but she was incredibly pitchy. Simon said no but the other judges said yes so Jamie is coming to Hollywood!
Chris Sligh is shown next. He is a large man with lots of curly hair and states when he looks in the mirror he personally thinks he looks like Christina Aguilera, yeah right! He is full of himself to say the least. I did enjoy his answer to the question of why he was there. Chris's response was "he wants to make David Hasselhoff cry", a reference to last year's finale which Chris had to explain to Simon, priceless. Chris chose "Kiss from a Rose" which is a very difficult song and I actually thought he nailed the performance and hit the high notes. Chris got a yes from all three judges and his trip to Hollywood.
The next person we saw was Victoria Watkins and her 6 feet long hair. I felt we spent way too much time on the hair and her mother who also has very long hair. Victoria chooses "You Raise Me Up" and she was okay, not great and she clearly isn't an American Idol. She is told no to Hollywood.
Lakia Hill is next and let us just say her singing was pretty horrifying and gets a not from Randy and Simon.
Nichole (stupid spelling) is the next person who wants to go to Hollywood and she comes with her entourage all wearing "Team Nichole" shirts, heaven help us. She chooses "Something to Talk About" which I thought was an utter mess. The judges are nicer and indicates she needs work but encourages her to try again. No golden ticket for "Team Nichole" - I was jumping for joy!
The final performer shown was Brandy who has to go with "Like A Virgin", how many times must people use this song, no no no, it should be banned. Her singing was totally bad and her dancing wasn't any better, she couldn't even clap on the beat. Brandy doesn't respond well to criticism and indicates it was the wood floor throwing her off so she was given a chance to sing on the carpet and tries "Proud Mary" which was even worse then "Like A Virgin". The big fat no from the judges got a lot of back talk and expletives as well. What a wonderful way to end an audition show.
Tonight we are off to LA for more auditions. Until tomorrow.