I, for one, am glad that next week American Idol will finally start filming in Hollywood. What the main draw of this season seems to be is the background stories of the contestants. I have many possible underdog stories to root for, but there is also no shortage this year of people that deserve to win; however, some just shouldn’t have gone through. In Atlanta and the “best of/worst of auditions” episodes, we learned:
Asia’h Epperson. Father was killed in a car accident recently, and she came anyway to give it a shot. She deserves it—her voice is good and her story is geninue. It’s pretty heartbreaking, and I hope she continues to impress despite the extraordinary circumstances.
Miss South Florida Fair (Brooke Helvie). A great reminder why I don’t get along with all women.
Hot Motorcycle Nurse (Amanda Overmyer). One of the most interesting, fun and talented contestants since I’ve seen in all the years I’ve covered Idol. She’s a very strong possibility to be the female Chris Daughtry, just like they said. I’m very intrigued and excited to see what she brings to the table.
Josiah (Not Josh) Leming. Interesting story: lives in his car to chase his dream and has a British-like singing voice, yet he’s from Tennessee.
Three’s Company (Twins Cory & Chris Lane and Ashley Lawing). And a cute dog named Panda. Pass Panda. Put Panda through to Hollywood, he is better than 1/3 that went through. However, the beat-box twins who have watched John Cena too much and even worse, their (?) girlfriend was the most annoying, irritating contestant I’ve seen so far. “Is today opposite day?” Are you above the age of 9? You’re not hot enough to get away with that attitude. I couldn’t wait until she got off my TV, but she can keep the dog on Idol if she wants. Panda’s a star.
JoAnne Borgella, who defies the status quo of Idol as a plus size model, was actually pretty good and has a lot of potential. I’m glad she got put through.
Alesha Stelzl. Got two chances, and didn’t know any Dolly Parton songs, but actually got through because Paula and Randy knew she’d sound like Dolly. I was actually pretty amazed that Ryan Seacrest knew so many Dolly songs. Does this mean Dolly is going to be a special celebrity guest this year? I actually like Dolly Parton, but please don’t put this girl in the same category as her. I’m also very tired of everyone singing Celine Dion songs. Who would have known that Dion songs were such a staple in this country for Idol hopefuls? And what would the country do if Celine Dion songs were banned from auditions?
Props for Jay Smoove for providing his own glitter-and-sparkle-laden prop. It was an audition on a budget, and I was entertained for a least a few seconds. If he could get some vocal coaching, maybe in a few years, otherwise, no thanks but hey, his MySpace has him pressing forward.
Chikezie Eze (is that for real?). A very unique name, and gave a nice audition doing some great Luther Vandross. I think Simon is underestimating him and this guy will do very, very well.
The young, definitely LGBT-friendly Idol contestant, Danny Noriega, singing “Proud Mary”, was pretty surprising. You just never know what you’re going to get from people. The question is how far can he get out of his comfort zone in singing? Really, that’s what makes an American Idol.
Thank you for reading; make your moment your breakthrough.
