I would like to preface this post with an apology for my blog slacking. I was silently boycotting the audition round. Or perhaps I just wasn’t feeling inspired enough to write anything. But I’m excited now, so read on!
We’ve made it! Hollywood! Hollywood! And this year is my first season blogging from Hollywood! (Well, Hollywood, Florida, but close enough, right?)
Another first is Ellen sitting at the judges table. I <3 Ellen, but I hope this stays about the singers rather than a stand-up routine. I also think it will be hard for people to take her seriously. I don’t want to make any snap judgements yet, though. I am rooting for her to be awesome.
Hollywood is my favorite part of the whole season. We see front-runners emerge, and I think we get the most raw authentic performances of the whole season.
Will they do group rounds this year? Will we have legendary performances, like “White Chocolate” from last year? Perhaps a Frenchie/K Lo moment? I am excited to find out!
First, we have groups of 8 in a sudden death round. They can sing acapella or with an instrument.
We see Katie Stevens sing “For Once in My Life” and the judges like her.
Skiiboski is up next and sang “Aint Too Proud to Beg.” Ellen thinks heis creepy, and he gets cut.
Andrew Garcia sings Paula’s “Straight Up” which is a brilliant choice! It would have been a good song even before the Paula drama, and even better now. GREAT rendition. Ok, this guy is a front-runner.
Vanessa Wolf sang some Blind Melon, but she didn’t cut it. Too bad, because she had a good story.
Janell Wheeler sang “American Boy” which was another great arrangement. Props to the good arrangements! Idol is going the direction of not only being a great singer, but being a creative song arranger. Some might argue with me, but I think it is a very good thing. It is way more entertaining for me, and produces very memorable performances.
Haeley Vaughn sang Revolution (Is that the name of that song?) Change by Taylor Swift, and how awesome is this little girl? All sorts of adorable.
Mary Powers sang Pink’s “Sober”, and I really like her. But she is probably a one-trick pony.
Lilly Scott sang “Lullabye of Birdland” by Ella Fitzgerald, and she has a very unique tone. She is another one we need to watch.
Michael Lynche sings John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” and it was another awesome performance! And he followed Michael Castro off the stage. So did Castro make it?
Tim Urban sings David Cook’s “Come Back to Me”, and I think he is just ok.
Justin Williams, aka, 1/4th of White Chocolate, played the piano, but didn’t sound that great. He got cut in round one this year, so no group performances for him!
Maddy Curtis sang a song that I just don’t know about. And kind of blew that audition. Too bad. But my money is on her coming back next year.
Casey James sang some country and rocked out on the guitar. He is good!
DiDi Benami sings “Terrified” as written by Kara, apparently. She is cute, but I feel like I need to see more from her.
Crystal Bowersox, who needs to get her teeth whitened, is really great! She has good range, and sounds a little Kelly Clarkson-ish.
Crystal was the last profiled singer of the day, and tomorrow we get to see the group round! They cut the group form 187 to 96 today ( so how many will they cut after the group round?) Group round is fantastic, and I can’t wait. bring it, kids!!
