AI 10 2-3-11 Los Angeles

The show begins with a video of contestants receiving their golden tickets as we hear Ryan say Los Angles is the entertainment capital of the world as we see him on a roof top – Say Hello to LA – THIS IS American Idol!

LA is home of super-stardom. We see some friends from MySpace.com where for the first time Idol allows people to audition online. Out of 16,000 entries, those chosen are in LA to get a real chance at stardom. This fades to video of the judges arriving and Steven is smoking a cigar while Randy is wearing the ugliest golden shoes ever seen.

Day One

Victoria Garrett is a telemarketer who tells us God brought an idol to LA for a single purpose. She knows where she will be on the finale, getting the title of American Idol. I have no idea what Victoria was singing I was just thrilled when it was over. Steven votes and says Victoria is going to Siberia and admits it was not “baaaaad” while imitating a goat. Randy says it sounds like shooting an animal. Victoria leaves without a golden ticket.

Tim Halperin admits to being a big fan of J Lo. Tim goes with “She will be loved” and while he has a good voice, the whole performance was boring. Tim asks Jennifer how old she is which was too funny. Steven wants Tim to work on his voice and step it up but votes yes. Randy does not think he is ready yet so it is a no. Jennifer also thinks Tim must work on this strength, but he has a nice tone. Tim is going to Hollywood.

We have a clip of Justin Carter who Jennifer tells lacks power and goes home empty handed and we then have some time wasting with all these people carrying food into the audition room with Ryan asking who ordered all of it. This was just LAME!

Cue video clip of two friends Daniel and Isaac. These friends will support each other knowing only one-person can ever win. Daniel believes Isaac will be better. Isaac even dropped out of college to come here, even though his parents do not know. These best friend auditions never end up well.

Daniel Gomez who is eighteen is confident he has a superstar voice and chooses “I’ll Be”. Gracious heavens Daniel is horrible and his voice is flatter than any pancake. Steven tells him he was so far from the melody. Randy says you are tone deaf and singing is not for you. The judges unanimously say no.

Isaac Rodriguez also eighteen chooses “Build Me up Buttercup”. What an idiot for choosing this song. Isaac fumbles the lyrics just as much as he was fumbling with the melody. Jennifer tells him he has a nice smile. Steven says he set the song on fire, but in the wrong way. Isaac admits to messing up the words but Randy says he messed up everything. Randy tells him he should never sing again. Isaac leaves without a golden ticket.

Both of the friends promise to keep singing because they believe in themselves. Ronald says let us move on.

Day 2

Cue the video introduction where some weird old guy is dancing out in the line.

Karen Rodriguez is one of the MySpace contestants. She chooses “You Give Good Love” and is seriously good. I mean she has a beautiful voice. Steven states you have confidence and a sparkle in your voice. Jennifer praises her beautiful control. Karen states she was hoping for that since she sang to Jennifer on TRL (what when she is 10?). Karen wins over the judging panel that unanimously sends her to Hollywood.

Tynisha Roches (Is this name for real?) is so confident she brought her own microphone because she IS the next Idol. Tynisha is always winking and making weird noises to the camera. I can hear the garbage truck eating her alive already. Tynisha begins with “My Way” which is just simply freaking horrible. I am so nervous. The judges are just laughing and can barely get in a word. Randy decides to leave as Tynisha is singing “And I am Telling You”. She actually chases him out and they wrestle for the microphone. PLEASE this is just a waste of time. Tynisha will not stop singing until finally security arrives to haul her out.

Cue video montage as we learn it is 3:00 p.m. and there has been a lack of golden tickets. Will our next belly-dancing contestant bring a change?

Heidi Khzam who auditions with “Superwoman” which is just okay yet the judges send her on to Hollywood. It was amusing to watch her dance while Steven was scatting.

Next, we hear from Matt “Big Stats” Frankel who is CEO of MSFP or in other words “Matthew Scott Frankel Productions. He claims to have a compilation album with Chaka Khan. “Big Stats” is his hip-hop alter ego. Ronald realizes he will be wasting more time listening to this. First, he raps his introduction for the judges and then stumbles through a rap version of “Love Don’t Cost a Thing”. Randy just says no. “Big Stats” then tries to sing a J Lo song which he murders and then quips “I just need to lubricate up a bit”. The man will not stop singing. What is up with tonight’s crazies.

Cue our next video where Ryan laments about the lack of talent in LA and we see a series of contestants clearly not heading to Hollywood. William Roberts, Jeannette Manning, Daniel Hall, Anthony Granger, and finally Arista Pemberton who does the splits and literally rips her pants.

Our next contestants are brothers Mark and Aaron Gutierrez. We learn Mark is a substitute math teacher and Aaron is a salesman who lives life by his own rules. These brothers seem too good to be true, which means we must be set for, yet another horrible audition. The brothers surprise me with their beautiful duet of “Lean on Me”. They have excellent voices, can enunciate, and exert great control. This was a great audition. Randy indicates they are great, Jennifer loved it and Steven simply says “Godlike”. The brothers are heading to Hollywood.

The evening ends with the most ridiculous waste of time ever on American Idol. Mr. Cooper Robinson or should we say “Human Tornado” trying to capture his “15 minutes” of fame. The “Human Tornado” comes blazing on the screen in a horrible outfit, very incoherent, clearly too old, and continues to mumble something and even after being told no continues to sing and scream as he leaves. Why was this included at all?

This episode was boring and the worst of the audition shows from any season. We only see five real auditions and they do not even bother to tell us how many golden tickets were awarded from LA.

Next Wednesday is the final audition city, which was San Francisco. This was the first audition and it took place in August prior to the hiring of Ms. Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. I am wondering how the producers will work their editing magic to make us think they were there. I had a friend try out and the producers said he had a great voice but he was not what they were looking for. In my mind, the next American Idol should have a great voice.
Until next week…