AI 10 2-9-11 San Francisco or what is dropping from the sky?

The date November 9, 2010 flashes across the screen as Ryan indicates San Francisco is our last stop and a place where first impressions are everything and we see a woman crying as she is walking and she turns to the camera and says, “Just because someone farts you should let them finish singing.”

Cue the space age introduction to American Idol.

Can it be the producers are taking us down the road of juvenile humor? I can see this episode going downhill fast.

The judges may have seen contestants in November but the actual auditions in San Francisco was in the middle of August which is where all those 9,000 people were hanging out, not in November. I suspect the producers picked a pool of people and then brought them back for the judges to see. The editing of tonight’s episode was interesting in that whenever the winners came out with their golden ticket there was a room full of people including the last contestant of the day. There use of what time it is was ridiculous as well.

Enough of my bitching about petty details and we can move into discussing the actual auditions.

Cue video as Ryan explains we are six cities down with one final stop in San Francisco, which lies 400 miles north of Los Angeles. San Francisco is the city by the bay where the judges will be searching for a golden voice in the golden state. It was two years ago in San Francisco where we found one of the most electrifying contestants of Idol history, Adam Lambert.

Day 1

Our first contestant is Inessa Lee who is originally from the Ukraine. Given the introductory video and her stating her dream is “to be famous”, I am thinking the exact opposite is going to be true. It appears she has posted videos of herself all over the internet. Inessa goes on about how Shakira and early Madonna are her influences. She claims to look like Katy Perry.

Inessa enters the audition room like little Mary Sunshine all chipper and over the top. She explains to the judges she is a belly dancing, yoga, musical star/actress and she can be anything they want her to be. Randy asks her to demonstrate some belly dancing while Ronald just shakes his head.

Inessa starts to sing and I have no clue what song it was but she certainly cannot list singing as one of her talents because she was incredibly bad. I hated her voice and poor Inessa is even more tone deaf than I am which is saying a lot!

Steven explains she is cute and precious and he had hoped she would be good but he was disappointed. Your pitch and melody were all over the place. Jennifer tells her she has a young spirit and Randy simply says no. Poor Inessa is leaving without her golden ticket but the camera follows her out as she throws a tantrum insisting the world has not seen the last of her. I pray that we have definitely seen the last of Inessa!

Cue video montage where we learn the morning talent has been bottoming out as we see all the crying contestants leaving without their golden ticket. Heaven help us as the producers are having Ryan talk about bird poop and showing umbrellas covered with the stuff. Do we really need this?

We next see a video montage of several contestants who are getting their golden tickets. The clips were too short to judge but Brittany Mazur, Lara Johnston, and Matthew Ness are very happy they are heading to Hollywood.

Next contestant comes with a better than average sob back-story. Stefano Langone from Kent, Washington was in a serious car accident on May 28, 2009. The fire fighters pulling him out thought he was dead and the hospital staff did not have high expectations for his parents. Stefano was told he would not be able to walk normally again and would not be the same. Stefano fought hard to get out of the wheelchair and was walking again in 4 months. While Stefano is left with physical scars, he explains something like this causes a flame in you and he is hungrier to make an impact.

Stefano auditions with “I Heard It through the Grapevine.” Stefano does have a good voice and is able to hit each high note with perfection. Jennifer tells him, “You have star quality and movie star looks. You are definitely here for a reason. You have S T A R all over you!” Steven says it was nice while Randy tells him it was “up in the hood”. Stefano is heading to Hollywood.

Wow the next video indicates it is the end of day one and we are lucky enough to see all the contestants camping out to get the best slot for the next day’s audition. Trust me those people would not be camping out in November in San Francisco.

Day 2

Clint Jun Gamboa or “Jun Bug” works as a host in a karaoke bar in Long Beach, California. The customers there tell him he is too good to work there so he has decided to audition. Clint chooses “Billionaire” as his audition song. I think Clint has a nice voice but he was trying too hard with the runs. Randy asks him about his background and Clint explains he grew up singing gospel. Randy tells him not to lose that and says he is the best they have heard so far. Jennifer says his vocals were good and the judges send him to Hollywood.

Cue the video of all the colorful crazies who came to San Francisco for their 15 minutes of fame, which leads to quick clips of contestants crying as they leave without a golden ticket. We do get to hear a little of Kenneth Berba and Weston Lee Smith. This is one time I would have been happy if the sound had been muted temporarily.

This leads to our next contestant Drew Beaumier who lists his occupation as Bartender/Autobot. Yes, Mr. Beaumier came to his audition dressed as a Transformer and he actually transforms into a car prior to singing. This audition cannot be good. Drew goes with “Born to be Wild” which he flubs at the beginning and he does not improve before the judges cut him off. I would suggest when you are singing you should not be so low to the ground or have your mouth covered by car parts. The judges tell him no and as he leaves Steven asks him, “Before you go, how many gallons per mile?” We see a clip of Drew pleading that he does not want to be a car for the rest of his life. Really, then Drew perhaps you need to choose never to wear the costume again and never to pretend you are an Autobot. Give me a break!

We are back to the city by the Bay and it is afternoon where the girls are hitting a home run. Naturally, the producers have to play a video montage of all the woman with “California Girls” as the backdrop. This video moves into a clip of four anonymous women getting their golden tickets.

Julie Zorrilla enters the audition room and Jennifer just loves her glittery golden shoes. Julie is auditioning on her 20th birthday and tells us she grew up in Columbia where they had a wonderful life in the Andes until the guerilla fighters took over. Her family left without a word and she admires her parents for moving to a new country without a job and starting over. Julie goes with “Summertime” and while she has a good voice this song was over the top slow, she was practically pausing on each word and do not even get me started on all the ridiculous runs she threw into the song as well. The song has a beautiful melody but you would never know it from this rendition.

Steven tells her, “You are fabulous, great range and you just ooze star quality.” Jennifer says she felt her confidence, she was planted in the ground, I can see you are a performer and this excites me. Randy explains after Fantasia blew this song out of the ballpark in season three he never wanted to hear it again but he found her choices interesting. Julie is heading for Hollywood.

Dave Combs is next up with “Oh Darling” and he truly sucks as a singer. Steven tells him, “I was very disappointed. You were so off the melody, it was like you are on another planet.” Steven tells him no.

This leads to a video montage of Steven being in a bad mood as we see a series of horrible auditions. Steven asks Rick Deschamp if he hit his head on the way in. Steven tells David Johnston that he sounded like the Beatles but then states he is lying. Shirley Corbett auditions in a cop costume while murdering a song I do not recognize. Steven tells her, “You should be arrested for that voice” and then asks, “If she has handcuffs.”

Emily Anne Reed enters the audition room with her guitar and tattooed arms while Steven begs her to be good. I saw the arms and all I could think about was “caw-caw” Megan Joy and wanted to run from the room. We learn Emily is from Arlington, VA but she moved to California to become a star. We learn her house recently burned down and she is disappointed because it was the first home she was excited to live in. Emily wants to build a better life and for her it would be with a music career.

Emily sings “You’re getting to be a habit with me” and the performance did not wow me. She was on key, which is good, but there was something about the voice, which irritated me. Jennifer says, “You have the most interesting voice we have heard in eight cities and this is an important part of being a recording artist.” Steven does not think she is ready and votes no but Randy thinks she is unique and votes yes. This leaves Emily’s fate in Jennifer’s hands. Jennifer indicates she has a singer/songwriter vibe and gives her a second change by voting yes. Emily is heading to Hollywood.

Welcome back as we see it is almost sunset in San Francisco and the producers provide us with a series of contestants who will not be going to Hollywood.

Our final contestant of the day is James Durbin who has the sob story of all sob stories. First, we learn his father was a bass musician who was always away and dies of a drug overdose when he is nine years old which hurts because he never really got to know him. Second, he was diagnosed with Tourette and Asperger’s syndrome. Third, he was bullied, beat up, and made fun of throughout his life. He finally met an angel named Heidi who has been his rock, they were dating, and to their surprise found out, she was pregnant. How this could a surprise, I will never understand, apparently he never made it through Health class to learn about contraception. Fourth, he was laid off, they do not have much money and live in a place with the cheapest rent, and sometimes they do not even have money for diapers. Yet being a father has changed his life and he needs this to make a better life for his son.

James is nervous about his Tourette’s emerging while he is in front of the judges as he enters the audition room. Initially James sings “You Shook Me.” James has a good voice along with a high range but he was having trouble controlling the strength of those higher notes. James has some rough edges to smooth out but with the right help, he could be a good singer.

It was clear the judges were enjoying his performance. James asks Steven if he can sing one of his songs, “Dream On” and in this song James really blew it out of the ballpark. I think he reached a higher octave then even Steven gets to. I am concerned though because to reach those higher notes he had to yell which will ultimately hurt him in the end.

Jennifer explains that James kind of goes off into his own world when he sings causing James to tell them about his Tourette’s and when he is singing it all goes away. Jennifer tells him, “You sing from feeling, from hurt, from your soul, from the need to feel, and make others feel.” Randy loves his range, “He’s pure up there. It’s crazy.” Steven indicates he is so, so, good, “over the top.” James is heading to Hollywood.

Cue a quick recap of all the golden tickets given out in San Francisco even though Ryan does not reveal a total number.

Thursday begins Hollywood week so let the train wreck begin.

Until next time!