1/19/10 - Chicago Auditions

:welcome1: It's the second week of auditions of season 9. Are we ready to get blown away by the talent in the windy city? The answer is a big fat no but once again I am getting ahead of myself so let's start from the beginning.

With Frank Sinatra singing in the background, Ryan Seacrest tells us of the warm welcome the show got as we see many contestants being bleeped out for cussing about their obvious no's to Hollywood. It appears American Idol was in Chicago looking for talent in season one, season five and now in season nine. I have a gut feeling the talent will be lacking this time around.

We get to see a small segment of President Obama because after all this is his hometown. We see a marching band and of course get big hellos from several of the 12,000 hopefuls who showed up to audition.

Our guest judge this time around is none other than Shania Twain who has been one of the country artists to cross over to the pop field with her music. She is one talented lady who has sold over 65 million albums and earned herself 5 Grammys.
It's obvious Simon Cowell likes her alot as he gives her a big hug and opens the curtains of the audition room to brighten her day. Randy and Kara also seem quite pleased to have her with them.


Our first contestant has had a rough go of it since dear old dad decided to walk out on his family which has brought lots of pain to all. 19 year old Katelyn Epperly is auditioning today to hopefully brighten up mom's spirits. She sings "Syrup and Honey" originally by Duffy and impresses the judges who see her potential so it is a yes for her. I kind of liked this girl.

Next up is the previews, some commercials and then a lesson about the various names the city of Chicago has been called with examples of the windy city, shy town, etc. Moving right along........

26 year old Broadway baby Amy Lang has a great personality with an equally great "big" body and enormous boobs. Why is this important well you will soon find out. After telling Ryan she has had dreams of him, she enters the audition room to badly perform the song "Dr. Feelgood". Her act starts with her falling down and I honestly thought she had fainted as did the judges before she pops up to give us the full blast of her non-talented self. There is lots of discussion regarding her boobs as she has a way of making them bounce while she sings. How silly is this I ask? However it is 4 no's ending her Hollywood dream.

Lots of family and friends come to root for the contestants and our next young lady is no exception. 16 year old Charity Vance is from Arkansas and performs the song "Summertime". I personally felt she sounded not bad in her lower register but those high notes sounded screechy to my ears. The judges however like her and it's a full house to quote Simon to Hollywood.

Time killing time as we see a barrage of no talent people who either dress up like weirdos or just sang badly. At this point of the day only 4 golden tickets have been given out and the judges need a break. During the break we see a mom of one of the hopefuls who did not make it telling Simon she does not like him anymore. Oh dear!

Welcome back Angela Martin who has tried out for the show 3 times and has done well but for various reasons had to drop out of the competition. Sadly one of the times was because he father was killed in an accident. She had come back for season 8 and made the top 50 but once again had to go because she had a traffic warrant out. Now she is back and hopes to make it all the way this time around. I actually remembered her and thought she was quite good last time. She sings "Just Fine" by Mary J. Bligh and again impresses me and also the judges. See you in Hollywood Angela.

On this first day only 11 gold tickets were given out.


Day 2 blooms with the hopes of finding more talent from this city but alas it is not to be as we first see 26 year old Curley Newbern sing a song by the artist Maxwell in such a high pitch voice it gives the judges a laughing fit.

Curley is next matched by Alannah Halbert who is one drifty girl who does not understand why the judges are trying to help her sing in a lower pitched voice. It's a no to her also. Following this are black and white takes of ones who also did not make the grade.

Our next guy is 27 year old Brian Krause who was in the service and entertained the troops he says. Upon entering it is obvious he is a polite young man. He then proceeds to sing Tiny Tim's "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" in the same irritating voice as Mr. Tim. He evens starts tip-toeing before Simon stops him and asks him if this is a joke. Brian says it is not Mr. Cowell and he seriously means it. Of course it is a no to him however he lets us know he is going home to get in a warm bubble bath to relax his thoughts. Once again I say huh????

By 12 noon the contestants are still pumped however no one has gotten a ticket yet. In comes our next guy in the form of Harold Davis who says he is a champ as we hear the Rocky theme in the background. Before he enters the room we hear him hold one long note. Inside however as he performs "Nice and Slow" the judges are not impressed. He tells them his allergies have affected his performance but it still is a no which makes our champ break down in tears. The judges feel bad but are not going to let him go to Hollywood.

It is now 1:20 pm and the judges are feeling the pressure as no gold has gone out but lots of bad talent has come in.


Finally John Park enters who is a 20 year old college student. Shania is very impressed not only with his voice but his bottom half and his lips. This brings lots of chuckles from all. He gets 4 yeses and he lets his family and friends know that Shania loved him. While I did not know the song John sang his voice was not bad.

Outside is a small group waiting for their turn to audition. In the midst is 21 year old Paige Deschausse who suffers from asthma. When she was younger she had a bad attack which caused her throat to close up. Her mom feels music saved her life and here she is today. Singing "A Chance Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, both Shania and Kara see potential. Simon is a no however the women convince Randy to say yes and she gets the gold.

Next we see that Justin Ray, Keith Semple and Marcus Jones also got tickets. Sadly only 13 gold tickets were given out on this trip to Chicago.

Tomorrow finds us in Orlando, Florida and hopefully the talent is better there. Until then, take care!

Isn't that absolutely sad? Out of 12,000 Idol hopefuls only 13 got the gold ticket. It was nice seeing Shania Twain on-board as a guest judge. She has been one of my favorite country singers. I'm glad to see she came along to help with the judging.

Sadly, no one blew me away in the Chicago auditions. There were a few I liked such as Kaitlyn Epperly, Angela Martin and John Park. Of the thirteen receiving their gold tickets, these three were the only ones of interest.