1/30/08 - Miami, Florida Auditions

everyone. Well, another night of auditions however, there is some talent in Miami which is our stop tonight. In the openings scenes we see beautiful beaches, lots of sun and several sunbathers. Beautiful people Ryan calls them. This wonderland is best known musically by the success of Gloria Esteban and The Miami Sound Machine and of course our over 10,000 hopefuls sing "The Music Is Gonna Get You".

:hot: Paula arrives looking absolutely georgeous in a short dress that Simon comments on however both judges are quite appreciative of how she looks. Now down to business.


:shock: Our first contestant of day 1 is none other than Shannon McGough who works in a meat market. Her family is very proud of their little girl as pictures of her are plastered everywhere in the store. She does have an annoying habit of being a very loud belcher as she demonstrates. Once in the audition room she attempts to sing "Cry Baby" by Janis Joplin and frankly I wanted to cry after hearing this lousy rendition. The judges are a no for sure even though she wants to sing another song and tries to. However the judges are firm and she walks out in total disbelief as is her mother.

Former boy band guy Robbie Carrico (a professional) was in a group called Boyz N Girlz United that was not mentioned. Neither was it mentioned that he once dated Britney Spears. However he now is into Rock and performs a song I am not familiar with however the judges like him and he is off to Hollywood. His family is so excited they cover him in silly string. I found his singing to be just okay overall.


:( 8 guys are shown next who do not make it including a guy using some kind of pipe organ and a guy with an extremely high voice. Lots of "bleeped" words followed as these men leave.


: A good-looking Latin guy is next in the form of Ghaleb Emacheh who can play guitar, harmonica and piano. He says he sings with passion and sings a Marc Anthony song. While his accent is quite heavy I thought this man sounded fairly good. It is a no from Simon but Paula and Randy put him through although Paula is worried about the accent. She does however give him a big hug and once outside the audition room Ghaleb kisses everyone including Ryan.


Our next contestants are two very heavy-set women who share many things in common which include loving to eat which is apparent. Both of these women however have wonderful personalities and surprise both can really sing. Corliss Smith loves heavier men and sings a jazz number right to Randy as suggested by Simon. Brittany Wescott prefers a skinny man but does a great job singing "My Guy" originally by Mary Wells. I liked her best of the two. The judges are impressed with both and they get their tickets. Lots of hugs abound from these two for the judges. Outside, the families are loud in their joy that the girls made it.


Suzanne Toon was once in a performing artists school when she became pregnant with her daughter. The relationship fizzled with the father of the baby and he left her. Now in a tearful way she tells us how she is tired of struggling and wants to give her daughter a better life. Singing "I Can't Make You Love Me" originally by Bonnie Raitt, she impresses the judges and gets her ticket. This woman is quite pretty and I actually liked her voice.


After telling us the success of Season 3 Jasmine Trias, a very cute girl comes in to audition. The judges think she is so adorable. Ramiele Malubay may be short but gives us "A Natural Woman" by Aretha Franklin in a very big voice. Simon thinks she sounds like a hotel singer however both Randy and Paula like her enough to send her through. I personally thought she sounded quite good even though I am sick of that song.

Day 2 dawns with Paula coming incognito as Ryan says, Randy is decked out in purple and Simon calls his mom.

A pretty girl named Syesha Mercado is the first contestant. She actually was on the show "The One" but did not win although this is not mentioned. Instead we hear how happy she is at this point in her life as her dad just graduated from a rehab center. A very nice looking man who actually was a back-up singer for Motown. She sings "Think" by Aretha Franklin (another song I am getting tired of) and does well and the judges say yes. I actually thought it was just okay as too much shouting involved.


We see a fast clip of Natashia Blach singing "At Last" by Etta James (one of my favorite songs) and I thought she was very good. So do the judges and off to Hollywood for her.


Next up is Ilsy Lorena Pinot who is another professional that has toured internationally. Rumor is that she has a solo cd all set to go if she wins. Of course, none of this is mentioned and frankly I do not recognize the song she sang but overall it was just okay for me, nothing great. The judges like her and she gets her ticket. Just as a side note: I have read on another forum that this girl can be a real backstabber but again this could just be a rumor.


Several no's from the judges as we see three guys who are awful. Ben Hausbach, Carroy Bethea and Grant Rhea who Simon suggests to come back in a dress. Following this group is another "winner" named Fabienne Hyppolite (how would you like to be stuck with this name) who sings with her finger in her ear. When asked why she does this Randy pipes in and says to stop the pain. Her voice was terrible. Richard Valles is no better as it sounds like he is singing through his nose.


Next up is a girl who is so overly confident that Simon calls her precocious. Julie Dubela chats with Ryan before the audition and mentions she was on American Juniors. She relays this also to the judges who say they just loved that show. In a very overly dramatic way she sings "Me & Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin. Frankly the voice is just average (she sounded better at 12 years old I think) and the judges say no but suggest she become an actress. She starts to sing again but the judges want none of it and she walks out after arguing with them. She continues to grumble once outside the audition room. Precocious, wrong, my opinion is she is a total brat.


Our last contestant of the day dressed all in white comes into the room and throws himself around while muttering some incoherent words. The cranky judges are not impressed by this. Neither are they as he attempts to sing "I'll Make Love To You". Paula acts offended. Then this nut sings another song entitled "I Am The Next American Idol" that he made up. Brandon Black is definitely in his own world as Simon and Randy walk out with their no's. Paula stays and says thank you for auditioning. He tries to be funny again by telling us how he failed to impress with his audition. Strange duck overall.

And so as the auditions end in the dancing Miami, we hear 17 got their golden tickets. Our final week (yea) will have us starting in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday. One last note, I liked how they ended the show showing Suzanne Toon giving a kiss to her daughter.

Take care all!

I really did like Suzanne Toon. I crossed my fingers on this one that the judges would vote her through and clapped like crazy when they did. I'd like to see her go all the way to the top 12. The two big girls, Corliss and Brittney were adorable. Both had very good voices. My favorite was Corliss. I loved her jazzy sound. In my opinion over all, Miami has some of the best talent. But like I said before, you never know what's going to happen down the line.

You nailed it again concertcris, Last night was a good audition show I thought anyway,

When that Shannon got down with her audition Paula was so right when she said that the girl had never been told NO before. They mentioned her awards for singing bt I really didn't like her and did not think she could sing at all

I thougth Suzanne Toon was very very good and am so pleased she made it through, now to hope she makes it through Hollywood, very good voice.

Briattny and Corliss were great as well, I thought both had very good voices and again was pleased that they got their golden tickets. I was so so so so glad that Simon didn't make any comments on their size, but they made Mandisa look small didn't they, I have nothing again them at all but remember Simons comment after Mandisa left the room, These two are very good, and if they make it to the top 24, the skinny mini's better look out, They'll have strong compiation.

I DID NOT LIKE THAT JULIA at all, not only her voice but her personality sticks. She went into that room thinking she was a sure golden ticket holder, and I was happy when they turned her down, She sang better as a 12 year old in my opinion.

All in all last night was pretty good but it's so hard to believe that again out of 10,000 only 17 made it to Hollywood isnt' it?

Thanks so much for the great recap...

for posting denib and Sandi. I quite agree that Miami did have some talented people. I am hopeful that Suzanne, Corliss and Brittany do well in Hollywood. Really liked these 3 alot.

Sounds like it was a decent show, hm? Thanks for keeping me up to date - it's been insanity around here.
~tyg