AI 10 2-2-11 Austin

Black screen and white letters, which states that American Idol would like to apologize for Steven Tyler’s behavior from last week. We promise it will never happen again. The screen then flows to a video of a contestant whose last name is Muck and Steven asks him if he knows what it rhymes with. We then fade to the new introduction.

This is American Idol and the introductions are just getting down right bizarre.

Cue the video montage of Austin with 7,500 hopefuls ready to audition. This is the third time American Idol has come calling in a place that is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. It appears Ryan is late and Jennifer’s husband Marc Anthony is there as well. Weird is all I have to say about it.

Day One

Corey Levoy and his sister Brooke did not meet until they were teenagers even though they spent their whole lives 15 minutes away from each other. They clicked immediately and are best friends. Brooke encourages Corey to sing and audition for American Idol. As Corey enters the audition room Jennifer asks him what Brooke would say if she were on the panel and Corey responds that she would be the harshest critic. The judges ask Corey to bring in his sister who gets a chair at the judges table next to Steven. Ronald is just shaking his head in amusement.

Corey chooses “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and while I think he added a few too many runs I liked how he made it a little bit country and found his voice to be quite good. He has great control over his voice. Randy states you have a good voice, your speaking voice is very high and I was unsure how it would come through on your singing. Corey admits to being teased about his voice and Steven responds, “Something tells me you’re not going to get teased anymore.” Jennifer indicates his runs were perfect, nice voice. Brooke indicates he was amazing, gave me chills. Steven asks her to vote and she responds, “heck yeah” and the other judges say yes. Corey is heading to Hollywood. He celebrates by shaking his booty telling the judges, “My whole life I’ve been told I’ve got J Lo booty.” Really?

Holly Cavanaugh who is only seventeen goes with “At Last”. This was a torturous audition as the key was constantly changing and she was not on the melody at all ever. Steven indicates the lyrics were clear but she was all over the melody. Randy states you were all over the place and does not feel she is ready. Jennifer indicates she needs to be more comfortable on stage. When the judges call for a vote, Holly breaks down in tears. Excuse if you cannot handle this then how will you be able to handle this competition.

Jennifer asks her to sing another song and she breaks down even more but finally composes herself and chooses “The Climb”. Of all the songs, she goes for this one. I think the performance was worse than the first but apparently the judges hear something I did not because Randy changes his mind and Holly is going to Hollywood. This poor girl will crack under the pressure of Hollywood week.

Cue the next video as we see four unnamed contestants being rejected which leads to Rodolfo Ochoa as he butchers “The Circle of Life” and Jennifer indicates you have vibrato but could not find the melody. We then get additional video of four more unnamed contestants who go home without their golden ticket. Well I guess it is true that cowboys cannot sing the blues.

John Wayne Shultz explains how he loves his family and working on their ranch which has been in their family since the 1850s. John’s mother is a breast cancer survivor. John is here to audition because of a promise he made to his mother. John auditions with “Believe” and color me surprised John is good. I thought with this was a lead up to a horrible audition but he has a rich deep voice made for country music.
The judges sing his praises with Jennifer indicating she was touched by the performance; he made her “believe” and “I can feel the strength”. Steven indicates it was beautiful I liked it. Randy states it was good and Randy asks John to bring in his parents so they can meet them. As they enter Randy states, “Hi, parents of John Wayne!” The judges explain John is going to Hollywood and his mother cries saying America will not be disappointed in John.

Day 2

Our day opens up with clips of the contestants who got their golden ticket from Day one, most of whom we do not know. The boys (Randy and Steven) are in a good mood as demonstrated through their hard-hitting interview while Jennifer is all glammed up and they are ready to be wowed.

Courtney Penry another seventeen year old finds Ryan the sexiest man alive and vows to marry him. This causes Ronald to laugh extremely loud. Courtney tells the judges they are all hot, explains she can imitate a chicken, and proceeds to do so. Steven’s response, “Oh, wait, we’re acting like chickens now? I’m down.” Oh, this cannot be ending up well.

Courtney sings, “Stay” and another contestant surprises me because she has a good voice after all. Jennifer indicates there are strengths and weaknesses in her voice but I love you but there are some things for you to work on. Steven states you have star quality and I like you. Randy says you have a nice voice but does not feel she is ready for Hollywood and votes no. Steven and Jennifer disagree with Randy, which means Courtney gets her golden ticket.

Cue our next video montage which demonstrates Texas pride is alive as well as there is a series of contestants who are heading to Hollywood including Shauntel Campos, Alex Carr and Caleb Johnson. The clips are so short I really cannot judge their singing. This flows into another video montage where Ryan tells us the momentum of day two continues, as seven additional contestants who remain unidentified receive their golden tickets. The funniest things about this clip are comments by Steven Tyler. The first was “Where is your pitch fork you little devil!”The second came after one of the contestants gave his occupation as “clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies,” and Tyler screams, “We have something in common, then, that is pretty much the whole 70s for me.”

Jacqueline Dunford and Nick Fink are lovebirds who met in their community college choir while singing a duet. How cute – NOT! The producers make them do all sorts of sweet things as they edit the video in an over the top manner. Jacqueline explains that Nick is her but as a boy and asks, “Does this mean I love myself?” Ronald was getting creeped out over the whole thing and can see this relationship will not last.

The couple auditions together but do not sing a duet only solo numbers. Jacqueline is up first with “Mercy” and I really liked everything she did with the song. Nick sings “Sunday Morning” and I found it just a little strange. I am not sure why. He does have a good voice.

Jennifer indicates that both were performing songs they hear repeatedly but both of you had different takes on them. Steven loves the couple. Randy says Jacqueline was a breath of fresh air and is sending both to Hollywood.

I can see Jacqueline making it through Hollywood week but there is no way Nick will be standing in the top 12.

Janelle Arthur indicates her family has been pushing her to audition for about five years. She performs a country song first which I did not recognize and she is very good. The judges want to hear something else and she goes with “No One Needs to know” which Randy cuts off with a call for a vote. All three say yes and Janelle receives her golden ticket.

Cue our next video, which includes someone coming in wearing an armadillo suit. I just heard Trudy in “Steel Magnolias” asking an armadillo. There is a series of 20 deluded contestants butchering various songs. These same contestants get upset when there is no golden ticket.

Casey Abrams is the last contestant of the day even though it is only 11:45 a.m. The producers need to pay better attention when editing those video introductions. Casey is auditioning with his “melodica”. I had to Google to figure out how to spell that since I had never heard the term before. Casey tells us his melodica keeps him from becoming bored. Casey also explains people think he looks like Seth Rogen, which is definitely not true.
Casey sings, “I don’t need no doctor”. This was a great audition. Casey has a great voice, demonstrates passion and incredible control. He was also scatting. I think this was my favorite audition so far. The judges all vote yes without any discussion and as Casey plays his melodica in celebration, the judges take the time to dance with him.

The Austin auditions end and we learn there are 50 golden tickets to Hollywood given out.

Overall, this was a pretty boring and routine episode of American Idol.

Tomorrow we are off to LA!

Until then…