I goofed again by thinking this was our last week of auditions however there is one more week to go before Hollywood. Sorry, guess I am getting anxious for these auditions to get over with so we can finally start focusing on the talent of this new season. I must also apologize for being so delayed with this re-cap. I was tired last night and today had a very busy day but finally I am getting it posted. So here goes:
Should Ryan be scared considering he is on a very tall building informing us of prior visits to the Lone Star State. Well I would be as I hate heights. However we get to also hear that Dallas in the past has been a wealth of talent as of course this is where our very first season winner came from. Who, you are asking: no surprise as it is Kelly Clarkson and get ready to hear her name several times during this show.
We then get to see Simon and Randy in a limo going to the auditions after the usual intros and welcome from Ryan. They are wondering who the guest judge is. Simon says Richard Simmons which brings a laugh from Randy. Clint Eastwood's name is also mentioned which Simon thinks would be perfect. Sorry both of those guys are busy and in reality the guest judge is Neil Patrick Harris.
Neil has had a pretty lucrative career in show business. He got his start at a young age in the television sitcom Dr. Doogie Howser. This led to more career success as a song and dance man, star of screen and stage, host of several awards shows and he is currently on the show "How I Met Your Mother" which has earned him several Emmy nominations. His goal is to "shatter the dreams of thousands" and making two or three dozen people cry during his stint on AI, then he feels he will have done his job. He is just kidding of course. Okay, good our judges are finally seated and we can begin with the first audition.
First we see one of many brief clips of Kelly Clarkson which leads into the introduction of another contestant who tried to make it to Hollywood eight years ago. Her name is Julie Kevelighan who is now a college student. However her dream of course is to become a singer by profession. To accomplish this she has taken acting and singing lessons in preparation for today's audition. Coming in wearing a sparkly green dress and carrying a sign that says "This is my year" she attempts to sing "Black Velvet" by Alannah Miles. It is a terrible rendition and the judges are staring to give their no's which prompts Julie to sing again. This time the song is "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and like the first one sounds awful. Another song "Something To Talk About" follows. Throughout this massacre the judges are trying to say no and she is finally led out of the room by security. Once outside the room she tells Ryan she goofed because of her breath control and offers to sing another song but Ryan tells her the judges no is final. We see her final moments with her leaving the building and still trying to get the first song right.
Back from the commercials we hear the ladies have done well this morning and see several who got the gold in short clips.
Next up is 29 year old Lloyd Thomas who is a dock worker for an airline. He really does not like the job but it does support his family. We get to see a picture of his cute daughters before he enters the audition room. Wow, this big, burly guy can actually sing as he performs "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder. The judges like him and it is a yes to Hollywood. His last comments are he wishes we could taste the victory he tastes. No thanks dude!
Now starts the stand-off between Simon and Neil as we will see several clips during this first day in Dallas of them in total disagreement about some of the contestants.
After that nonsense our next girl arrives. She is Kimberley Carver who sings an original song (we are getting alot of that this year). She does it so well both Kara and Randy really like her jazzy number. Simon does not see her potential so he is going with a no vote. Neil however has the final vote which is a yes and this young lady gets the gold. I actually kind of liked her jazzy number. She mentions outside the room that Simon hated her but thank goodness for Neil. Inside Simon is saying "welcome to jazz t.v." with a smile.
We then see that thousands think American Idol coming to their town is a big deal with some of the scenes being shown on the news.
Our next guy who hopes to become the next idol is an obviously gay man known as Dexter Ward. We see lots of face time from him winking. He does a terrible rendition of "If I Ever Fall In Love Again" which leaves Kara speechless. She asks for help from Randy who tells it like it is by saying Dexter's performance looked like it hurt. It is a no from all but Simon softens the blow by telling him he has a great smile. Disappointed we then see Dexter crying on someone's shoulder.
The judges need a break which brings us to an update from Neil on how the auditions are going.
Our next young lady comes in wearing a dominatrix type outfit all in black and carrying a whip. Kara asks who she wants to whip first. Erica Rhodes was once on the show "Barney and Friends". She wants to distance herself from that however Randy wants her to sing some "Barney" music which she does. It was nicely done. Now down to the real nitty-gritty as she then sings "Free Your Mind" by the group En Vogue. The judges all agreed to send her through. What got me was how much more excited her mom acted once she knew Erica had made it. For me her singing was just okay overall.
Our final contestant of day one is a young man named David Pittman who was diagnosed at age 9 with Tourette's Syndrome. For those of you who do not know of this disease it is an nerve infliction which causes tics in different parts of the body. Some of the symptoms are blinking eyes, shaking of the head, constant clearing of the throat as explained by David. He has learned to live with it and surprisely none of these tics occur when he is singing. The judges applaud him as being brave and are impressed with his take on the song "Bring It On Home To Me" by Sam Cooke. I liked him also. Welcome to Hollywood David!
Day 2 is upon us with a new guest judge. It is one third of the "heart throbs" Jonas Brothers. Joe Jonas and his brothers are actually from Texas so he is happy to be on the show. He is definitely a cutie but I felt as a judge he was not really needed.
Once the judges are seated our first contestant is Todrick Hall who appeared with Fantasia in the show "The Color Purple". He wants to make his own dreams come true by performing what I thought was a very inventive original song which he had put together for the judges. Very good voice in my opinion and the judges agree by giving him the gold.
Day 2 is off to a good start as we see a short clip of Dawntoya Thomason singing and are also told five others got the gold. Wondering if this lucky streak can continue we are now introduced to a young lady named Meagan Wright who brought her little brother Dawson with her. He says she can sing and she proves it by performing the song "To Make You Feel My Love". The judges are a yes and she gets her ticket. I thought her voice was good but did not care for the song choice.
Oh goodie we get to see another round of commercials and previews however last season's winner Kris Allen is shown in yet another Ford commercial so that should make his fans happy.
Ryan is having a blast in Dallas as we see him on a very tall building stranded, doing work pushing a drink cart and is happily hanging out with the cheerleaders. This bit works into our meeting a very positive and peppy girl named Vanessa Johnston who is 22 years old. She loves the color pink as demonstrated by the outfit she has on. Sadly this peppy girl shows she is not a singer by doing an awful version of "At Last" by Etta James. Four no's are given but she takes this in stride with a positive attitude which I thought was kind of refreshing for a change.
Wonder why Simon is so mean? Well this next part has Ryan telling us of all the ordeal poor Simon has to go through for this show trying to find the next American Idol. My heart is just bleeding for him knowing this torture has made him a millionaire, owning cars, beautiful home, etc. etc. etc. Yeppers your right I am being sarcastic.
Our last girl of the day is definitely a survivor. She is 16 year old Christian Spear who got Leukemia at age 4. Her mother thought she would not survive this dreaded disease but thankfully at age 8 she went into full remission. This story touched my heart as I too have had to deal with this disease. My oldest grandson contacted it at age 2. I thank God daily he went into remission at age 5 and today he is 25 years old and living his life to the fullest. Christian enters the audition room to sing "All I Could Do Is Cry" by Etta James. Turns out it is a full house of yes to Hollywood for this brave young girl. I was not so impressed with her singing but do wish her well.
Altogether 31 got the gold from Dallas which is a big number considering what we have seen so far. Our next and hopefully final stop for the auditions is in Denver, Colorado. Have to say that this town is my mom's hometown and she tells me country music is big in that area so I am sure the country folk will be happy. Now I must bid you adieu and hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
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Subject: Dallas Auditions - 1/27/10 
Thu Jan 28, 2010 10:28 pm
