So tonight, you will get two, two, two episode summaries in one! I was too distracted by the MLB craziness and excitement last night to actually finish the post, so here you have it: Two nights in one!
Oh, yeah, and GO BREWERS! Whew, now that that is out of my system…
From last night in Chicago:
Brock and Makenna sang “Colder Weather” by Zak Brown Band – They are pretty cute, but I think the guy is better than the girl.
Robin Royal (clad in black lace) and a host of other bad auditions followed. They all sucked.
Skyelor Anderson – His backing track cut off, but he kept going! I like him, but Paula is right, he needs to work on the vocals a bit. But the kid has potential to grow.
Mark Inman is getting a PhD in Philosophy… Kids, this will one day be your college professor. He “sings” Radiohead’s Creep. Paula tells him that she has been where he is a few times in her life. Paula, BEST. RESPONSE. EVER. The problem is THEY ACTUALLY SAY YES. Seriously? Simon, say it isn’t so! Canon Fodder.
Arin sang Aint No Sunshine, and a few other good auditions snuck in there. Some of these go way too fast.
Josh Krajick, the burrito slinger, sang “At Last” and he even cracked a approving smile from Simon! He is good. Really good. And he will be a great “before” That they can mold.
The second half of the episode we are back in Seattle. Weren’t we already here? And what is with the Cheryl, Nicole, Cheryl, Nicole…I am getting confuzzled.
The Good Girls sang Marvin Gaye. I didn’t write any notes about them, so clearly they were not noteworthy!
Drew Ryniewicz (14) sang Justin Bieber’s Baby, and I actually loved the arrangement! Like, it was crazy good! Her voice is decent but needs some refining. I hate to be a skeptic, but I doubt she put together the arrangement herself, so I wonder who the mastermind was behind that?
Peet Montzingo sang “Billionaire” but instead of billionaire, he changed it to famous. Not so good, Peet. He is sort of likable, but like the judges said, acting or comedy is probably the way for this one.
4Shore sang Boyz II Men, and while they are good, they are not really that original. It pretty much sounded like a BIIM tribute band.
Elaine Gibbs is 53 year old wedding singer and sang You Got a Friend. She is pretty freaking awesome, why did they not show more of this!
Francesca (17)- Her voice was pretty good, but not great> However, she was so stinkin cute, that she made it!
Tiger Budbill – Simon gave him the deciding 3rd yes. Not sold on this one whatsoever, but I will attempt to reserve judgement until I see more.
Phillip Lomax (21) sang “Fly Me To The Moon.” He has some ok chops, and hopefully he can be taught the rest.
Tiah Toliver – Simon LOVES this girl, but I have to agree with the ladies, that she needs some SERIOUS vocal work. And I think when compared to some of the other girls, she will get ousted right quick.
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Tonight we saw our Jersey episode!
Brian Bradley – “Stop lookin’ at my mom!” – This kid is good! His schtick is a bit precocious for my liking, but I can see why he would be EXTREMELY marketable. That said, you can tell that the kid is still just a kid, and his act is just an act. He can be molded, and I think that’s what LA sees in him.
Kelly Warner sang Hallelujah and looked refreshingly normal, and sounded great. I am looking forward to seeing more from her!
Aaron Surgeon sang Don’t Want To Miss A Thing. I agree with Simon, he was average. Meh.
Lilliana Rose sang You Are My Sunshine. She has a throwback neo soul voice a la the Adele. Hot right now, and therefore, she is in.
Andy, who is the same height as Paula, is 43 and never had a girlfriend. Awww…But his voice is clearly terrible, so they really didn’t have to make us listen to the whole song.
Cashmere – Mariah Carey murdered! Alert the authorities! Cashmere sang Always Be My Baby. But clearly, not well.
A host of other bad contestants performed, well, badly.
Cari Fletcher (17) sang Alone. You know I can’t hear this song without thinking of my beloved Carrie. This Cari’s voice was very controlled, but correctly noted by Simon, it wasn’t that memorable. That said, she is a cute girl and maybe tv or movies would work out for her, too. She might do really well with some pop vocal coaching, too.
AusEm – These kids are not good enough. The guy is better than the girl, and that is why I think Nicole had issues putting them through. They need to find another girl for this Austin kid to sing with, and then maybe….
Tora Woloshin – Wow – this is a serious star. Love her! She sang Jackson Five, and she rocked it. A few slight pitch issues, but those can be worked out. She has a great base to work with!
Jor-el, complete with Bob Fosse hand snapping, sings Madonna’s Lucky Star. Yikes and a half.
The Stereo Hogzz – Meh, they were just ok. Nothing special.
Brenan Hunt, from Nashville, thinks he has the X Factor. He is singing an original song. He has a great voice, but his attitude seems a little too snobby for my liking. People on twitter were calling him a douche, and douches don’t tend to do well on talent reality shows. Meh…maybe I will grow to like him.
Paige Elizabeth (18) sang some Lady Gaga, (but not as good as Haley). Another pretty good, but kinda meh.
A few more good quickie auditions: LeRoy Bell, Brewer Boys, and Nick Dean. All of them I would like to see a full song.
Devon Talley sang a painful rendition of Seasons of Love. Poor Jonathan is rolling in his grave.
Jazzlyn Little (16) is from Cape Coral, FL . She sang I’m Going Down by Mary J. Blige. I don’t get the whole “I’m overly unconfident in myself” act. She’s good, but her shy act was not at all endearing to me. Well have to see if this was made up, and if so, how she really is. Because her voice was pretty fantastic.
Two weeks and the auditions are already over? Yes please! X Factor, this is why I love you. Next week, is Hollywood Week Bootcamp. It kind of sounds like a infomercial workout video series. I am really excited to see the process and what types of shenanigans they make these people go through. It was disclosed that there will be a top 32, so I would guess 8 in each group of: guys, girls, 30+, and groups. I don’t even think we saw 8 groups get through, so I hope they have a better pool to work with. Next week shall be exciting!
When do the live shows start? I am hoping to see some drunk!Paula 
But in all seriousness, I want to emphasize again how vastly awesome this judging panel is. LA Reid makes me loathe Randy Jackson even more than I already did. This is what Idol could have been, people!
Until next week…
