American Idol 7: Audition Episode 3 - 1/22/08

My opinion is the one hour installment of audition episodes works best because they move quickly, we get to see what we are there for, a few stellar performances and all those train wrecks. I also find it is more interesting for what we don’t see.

Tonight we visit San Diego which was the first audition city actually. Apparently 12, 000 people came out to audition but only 30 (the most of any city so far) received a golden ticket. This is actually less then 1% of the total.

We were treated to only 11 people getting the majority of air time which quick snippets of the good, the bad, and the horrible!

Here are my comments about the contestants.

Tetiana was first up. I couldn’t write fast enough to catch her last name, let alone try to spell. I will forgo my usual comments about naming children. Tetiana is definitely pretty and has the idol look but I wasn’t impressed at all. Her audition song was “Someone to Watch over Me”. I will give her credit for choosing a different type of song but she was running the risk of someone telling her it was too Broadway. Her voice was okay but nothing special. Simon indicates she’s not as good as she thinks she is which I agree. Randy and Paula disagree and vote yes and Simon in the end votes yes as well so Tetiana gets her ticket to Hollywood.

American Idol producers found a twist last night as we have a single father auditioning. Perrie (again with a stupid name) and his son Avian (what is up with these names?) are next to audition. Perrie explains that Avian’s mom’s death, wrong place, wrong time in 2005 was really hard (we must be talking about gang/drug violence is my guess) and he has matured into a new man and isn’t it terrible it takes such a tragedy, let’s say the obvious. Perrie goes with “I’ll Make Love to you”. I wasn’t wowed but he did have good vocal tone. Simon states he has a really, really good voice. Perrie gets a golden ticket and we end with little Avian telling the world he dad is going to Hollywood. Get out the harps, damn I am getting cynical.

Michael John is next who is from Australia via LA. Michael chooses an Otis Redding song I didn’t recognize and actually I really liked his voice. Michael definitely has the pop star/Idol look; he is boy band cute and has some natural performance talent. Simon says he likes a white soul singer, Paula states he has good control, and Randy was very impressed. Michael gets a golden ticket.

I was in shock three good auditions which naturally means trouble is on the way! The next three contestants are briefly shown butchering what ever song chosen. We had Marat, Christopher, and Tehilla.

Our next contestant, Valerie Reyes gets quite a bit of air time. We hear how Mariah Carey is her idol, she adores her, she walks around singing her songs and she often hears people saying is that Mariah and Valerie advises them it is actually her. Ryan asks Valerie what she thinks about the audition shows and Valerie admits she laughs at them because most people are terrible. Ryan asks her if that would be her and she says absolute not. I could see what was coming.

Valerie attempts “Against All Odds” (do these contestants ever watch this show, not one contestant or finalist can ever sing this song well). Valerie is totally and utterly tone deaf, she sucked big time. Simon shouts his “Oh my God” and I laughed out loud when he said that sounded like a Mariah Carey record that has been left out in the sun for a year and then someone puts in on to play. Randy told her she was terrible but if she could learn how to sing melody it could be better. Valerie goes home empty handed and we end with a video of her realizing she is going to be one of the bad auditions. It was a priceless moment.

We get a few more snippets of the ridiculous including Joseph and Juanita. One was doing pantomime while the other was butchering a song. I can’t believe your 15 minutes of fame is worth this ridicule.

Next up are friends Christopher and Monique, they work together. Monique is first with “I Believe in Miracles” by Whitney (what is wrong with these contestants, no one can do Whitney). Let us just say that Monique was so terrible it was totally painful. It was my first fingers down the chalkboard moment. The judges tell her it is not good and she attempts another one, do these people never learn it doesn’t work. Monique breaks down crying.

Christopher attempts “The Greatest Love of All”; women can’t sing Whitney so I can’t believe Christopher would choose this song. First of all he was totally out of tune, the song was practically unrecognizable and he was &*^% too loud. Christopher is also deaf to the judge’s reaction to his singing and attempts it again in a lower register and it is even more painful. Randy is actually pointing out every single note that was out of tune but Christopher keeps on singing until security finally escorts him out.

Christopher and Monique are the contestants who are shouting out comments which are of course bleeped out.

The last contestant from day one is Samantha Musa who is there with her sister Michelle. The sisters are obsessed with Simon which is interesting I suppose. Michelle is ushered in to the audition room and hands Simon a note, her sister pleads to meet them and Simon invites her in and offers his lap for her to sit on. Samantha is jealous. Samantha goes with “Until You Come Back to me” and she isn’t bad, I can’t say she was spectacular but came pretty close to being the best of the bunch. Michelle is asked her opinion and she votes yes, Randy and Paula like her and vote yes. Simon states it was a great audition and she gets 4 votes and a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Day two starts off with Blake who has auditioned at least 10 times since Season 3. Oh my god, it is the Statute of Liberty guy from Season 5. Blake’s mom Leslie fully supports his attempts to try out and sacrifices a lot so he can visit all these cities. She admits to being obsessed with the show. Blake chooses “Stand by me” and it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t good either. He does not get the golden ticket thankfully. Blake is still young enough so I suspect we will see him again next season.

We are then shown 7 contestants very quickly all bad. They weren’t on long enough for me to scribble now their names.

We then get a big back story on Alberto, he of what has to be the longest nails I have ever seen and they didn't appear to be fake either. Alberto tells us he is shy but wants to feel free like the eagle on his shirt. Singing for him is like the ultimate rebuilding of my soul, it is my inspiration. He states he gets lost in his imagination, perhaps too much, he lives there. I am not sure where he lives but it definitely isn’t in any type of reality. Alberto comes in with a giant green fan with “I am the biggest American Idol Fan” and trust me I almost lost my dinner. He has a smaller gold fan with Paula’s name on it.

Alberto advises the judges he has written his own song titled “Live”. I don’t want to kick someone when they are down but it appears all he was repeating was a chorus of the word tragedy and there wasn’t any melody, it was actually sickening to listen to. Simon indicates the song is depressing and Alberto indicates the song ends happily but he never quite is able to get to a happy ending because Simon is interrupting because it really isn’t a happy sound. Alberto is told it is a no and we see his family defending his artistic and creative nature and the producers show Alberto running away with his fan and they fade to an eagle. Oh my god that was just tacky!

Aaron Garrett is next. I am not sure what he was singing but all he was doing was saying leave me alone now over and over again while he was snapping his fingers. Aaron gets a big fat NO!

David is next; he is 16 and previously had vocal paralysis. He overcame the problem without surgery because he really, really wants to sing. David goes with “Waiting on the World to Change” and although he made the fatal error about forgetting the lyrics he covered well and surprisingly was good. I enjoyed the performance, I sat up in my chair and there was a smile on my face. I felt good when he was done. It was nice hearing Randy do back up for him. Randy tells him he has a really good voice, Paula you have a nice tone, very mature for your age, great talent; Simon indicates he agrees with Paula and Randy. David is going to Hollywood.

Day 2 in San Diego ends with Carly Smithson who is from Ireland. She owns a tattoo shop with her husband and they clearly work on each other. Carly previously auditioned during Season 5 and got a golden ticket; however, they was a problem with her visa and she was disqualified. Carly goes with “I’m Every Woman” and she has a nice voice but she was singing with too many embellishments and they were good choices. She should have gone with a more toned down performance however the judges still give her an opportunity and she gets the golden ticket to Hollywood.

We are then presented with some very quick snippets of the other winners of the golden ticket from San Diego.

I am getting stoked about this season and we are only 3 episodes in.

Charleston, South Carolina is next. Until tomorrow!