Tonight, the auditions visit Miami (whatup!) and Dallas. I was supposed to go the the Miami Auditions, but I got lazy and didn’t want to drive an hour and a half through rush hour traffic to the UM campus. I probably should have gone.
First up is Ashley Sansone (27) — OMG Ashley. Shut it and sing, already. Wait. Nevermind. Don’t sing, just leave.
After Ashley is an assortment of contestants: Chanel Simone, Kandan Road, and Dreamgirlz–all rejected.
Caitlynne Curtis (16) sang Firework and she’s not terrible, but she gets a “not ready” from the judges. Paula puts on her mommy hat and comforts her. She was way better than a few of the crazies Simon let through last night.
Nick Voss (21) – Um, is this guy supposed to be good? He looks like a good dancer, but his vocals are terrible. Lounge act at best.
Ashley Deckard (14) from Davie (of course) can see ghosts. She cannot, however, see past the audition rounds.
Marvuin (?) — Simon said her singing was like wolves mating. She still got through, however.
The we get an assortment of good performances: 2Squar’d, a group of four girls in all white, Kendra Williams, who is awesome, Brendan O’Hara, and Jeremiah Pagan. I think everyone of these guys got through.
Then…Then we get something amazing. Melanie Amaro (18) sang Listen by Beyonce. She is effortless! What a great natural talent…love this girl. An audition performance has never moved me to tears, but this one did. Wow…she is going to be a huge star. What unbelievable talent!
After Miami wraps up, we move onto Dallas.
Johnny Rodgers, is jealous of Justin Bieber. Dude just needs to get off the stage.
Dylan Lawson (18) from Kentucky “performed” and the only words I caught from that performance was “check your bladder.” LOL. Goodbye Dylan.
A few weird performances including Michael and Michelle, and Phoenix who sounded like a lawn mower. Neither of these acts got through.
Then there was Dexter from Memphis. Dude’s a little crazy, rocking his Memphis jean jacket and wooden platform shoes. But he showed some serious passion at the end, and I can see why the judges wanted to see him again.
We get a quick assortment of good performances: Kyle Corr, Hannah Jackson, Ma’at, and Austin, all of whom we will see again.
Caitlin Koch (21) sang “Stop In The Name Of Love” and I LOVED the arrangement. Her vocals were just ok, but the arrangement was amazing…where did that come from?
We end the night with Xander Alexander (age 27/undisclosed), a self described “Britney Spears plus Lady GaGa” on crack. Sooo, dude needs to take his front down on stage. Simon’s analysis was exactly right–you can’t win when the audience hates you. Adios, Xander.
With that, the first week of X Factor wraps up. The most notable performance tonight was Melanie, for sure. I cannot wait to see her again.
My mom made a great observation about the reduced role of the host…he sort of blends into the background. Honestly, I don’t even know what his name is, and his voiceovers blend in so well, that I don’t notice that he is even there. I like that the judges and the host fade to the background, and it is really about the contestants.
I am slowly starting to like this show…see you next week for more fun!
