Tonight finds us in Nashville, Tennessee. Our show starts out with our first contestant whose name is Darius Thomas, a 18 year old student who is dressed in shorts and a plaid shirt. Randy wants to know if he can hit a high note. He obliges with a huge lengthy note which has Ryan Seacrest looking up at the windows, other contestants with stunned looks and finally we see a building fall down. Steven lets out a wow. I have a feeling Mr. Thomas did not get the gold.
This is the second time our show has visited Nashville in 10 seasons, the music city of some well-known country artists. It seems 10,000 have taken over the streets but in reality 17,000 showed up to hopefully make their dreams come true. The judges are ready to find the talent. Across the street are the contestants hoping to garner the success of our very own Carrie Underwood who is a Grand Old Opry member along with her many other achievements in her career. The show felt what better place to hold the auditions but none other than the Ryman Auditorium. It is a legendary venue with 17,000 legends in the making Ryan says.
Hoping to carry on Carrie's legacy is our first contestant whose name is Christine McCaffrey. Right away you know she is in trouble as her talking voice sounds like a cartoon voice. She walks into the audition room giving odd notes. Randy wants to know "what is this"? Christine tells him this is American Idol. Moving on she gives a not very good rendition of the song "I Hope You Dance" originally by Lee Ann Womack. Randy can not contain his laughter during her performance. After her song, he wants to know if she is serious. Of course she is because she can write lyrics and sing them. Okay, whatever. After Steven Tyler gives his no which Jennifer Lopez backs up, Randy wants to know if she can read minds. We then cut to Ryan as Christine comes out empty-handed. Obviously reading minds is not one of her gifts. What got me is how she said she got two no's and one yes from Steven. Ryan did not believe it and frankly we all know that was not true.
:haha: I must say I was quite impressed with our next duo who are Rob Bolin and Chelsee Oaks who are both 23 years old and from Nashville. These two have a on again/off again relationship which is currently off. They do sing together as well as live together. Strange indeed. We hear of their relationship in a short clip before they go before the judges who are encouraging them to get back together. It is obvious they love each other but can not sort out their problems. We briefly see Chelsee's current boyfriend Josh McClintock who is waiting outside with the family. He says he really does not know Rob. Then our judges have these two sing a duet which they do beautifully to the song "To Love Somebody". The judges love it. Then each takes a turn singing solo. Rob does a nice job with the song "What's Going On" by the legendary Marvin Gaye. Chelsee sings Brandi Carlile's "The Story" and she too does well. Randy thinks they both sing well, Jennifer agrees as does Steven and it is three yeses to Hollywood. The judges still think they are going to get back together.
We now go to a break with scenes of future moments of Nashville contestants.
:sing: Welcome back to Music City. It is 10 a.m. and we see the holding room which contains some interesting moments which is the lead-in for our next contestant, Allen Lewis. This heavy-set, tattoo artist who is 26 years old and from Ohio has a wonderful personality. Sadly the same can not be said as he warbles "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynrd. Randy thinks he is more of a band guy. Allen gives a speech about how others think but in a good way since he knows he is not going to Hollywood. He wishes the judges a good day. Jennifer thinks he is a tough-looking guy who came in as a tiger and was tamed like a baby. She meant this comment in a good way.
Next up is a young girl who was once Miss Tennessee as well as Miss Teen USA. Her name is Stormy Henley and she is 19 years old. Her boss was once none other than Donald Trump. She has gained the confidence from her experiences to try out for this show. Steven certainly appreciates her look as she enters the audition room. She performs "Father Can You Hear Me" in a somewhat quiet voice. Steven thinks she has a beautiful squeaky little voice and wants to know if she ever lets loose. Her response is no. Jennifer thinks she is beautiful but votes no. It is now up to Randy and obviously he gives her the gold as we see her emerge from the audition room. We next see Jennifer telling Randy and Steven that she has the smallest voice they have heard so far and I quite agree. I do not think she will make it past Hollywood.
More scenes of more contestants before we now see it is 4:00 p.m. Four fast clips are shown of others who did not get the gold. This leads up to our next contestant who is Adrienne Beasley, a 22 year old woman from Kentucky. She lives on a farm and she was adopted by a white couple when she was two years old. It was odd growing up but you can tell she loves Carolyn and Freddie Simmons, her adoptive parents. She performs the song "Summertime" in a very nice and controlled voice. Randy says very nice. Steven hears something special in her voice which almost made him cry. Jennifer is surprised by her voice and it is three yeses to Hollywood. We last see Adrienne phoning her dad letting him know the good news. He wants to know who is paying for it but is also tickled by the news.
It is now 8:00 a.m. of our second day in Nashville. The judges have arrived with high expectations.
Our next young lady is also from Kentucky. 28 year old Kameela Merricks has been told she has a big voice. Sadly we see evidence of this when she belts out Chaka Khan's " Sweet Thing" which is quite awful and pierces the eardrums with her screeching. Randy tells her it was horrible, loud and it hurt. Steven tells her to go back home and practice. From Jennifer it is a definite no which is echoed by Randy and Steven.
The next hour is quite brutal as we see several who do not make it. First up is a strange looking person dressed from head to toe in a purple alien suit. Then comes Polina Kozhikova followed by Patrick Counts. Randy tells Patrick he thinks his singing is a joke. Steven tells him he does not have a good voice and Jennifer just says no. Our next scene is Ryan consoling a crying Patrick followed by clips of others who did not get the gold.
A nervous Jackie Wilson waits for her turn. She is 28 years old. She sings the Aretha Franklin hit "Until You Come Back To Me". She sounds quite good and pleases the judges which garners her the gold. In fact the judges actually clap for her. We next see her outside the room kissing the older man waiting for her. Ryan is surprised about the boyfriend.
After several quick clips and a commerical break we meet our next contestant. Ryan says without further adieu he lets LaToya Moore speak for herself. This 26 year old young lady is dressed to the hilt in a beautiful blue evening gown. She does think highly of herself as she let's us know she is a recording artist and sees herself to be a star. She also claims people see her glow without her speaking at all. One final word about herself as she enters the audition room and that is "unique". Oops I'm wrong, she has to throw us a kiss and tells us she is excited and hopes the judges thank god for her being here. Ryan looks flabbergasted as am I. I believe the judges were stunned by her appearance as Jennifer says "someone is ready for their close-up". She tells the judges that she has brought them a cd of her singing for them to share. She also tells them she spread herself around generously meaning the cd which brings Randy to clear his throat as they move on. She then tells them it is nice to meet them before she gives an awful performance to the song "When I Close My Eyes" by Shanice. Jennifer asks what the name of the song is while Randy says he is not sure that is it. She wants to do another song but Randy finds her annoying and gives a demonstration of the annoyance. It's a no across the board but she continues to sing and Randy re-inforces the no vote. She comes out singing from the room and tells Ryan she thinks they would have liked it better if she had gone a little slower for them. Oh brother!
After the break we see that Tennessee is back on track with clips of three young men who do get the gold. They are:
Paul McDonald who sings Rod Stewart's "Maggie May".
Jimmie Allen who sings "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5.
Danny Pate who does "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" by The Temptations. In fact the judges clap along and add a few notes themselves.
Night is falling in Nashville as we meet Matt Dillard who looks like he belongs on a farm since he is wearing overalls and a cowboy hat. He tells us in his clip that his parents are foster parents and taken in 700 children in the last 3 years. It is great to know there are such caring people in the world as the Dillards I think. He then performs the song "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. At best his voice is average but Randy gives him a small yes. I did like Matt's comment that he could pretty up if they wanted. Jennifer says no as she does not think his audition was strong enough. Steven is on the fence but does say yes and Matt is off to Hollywood.
:( Next is our sob story of the night as we meet 15 year old Lauren Alaina. She speaks highly of her cousin Holly who inspired her to become a singer. Sadly three years ago Holly was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It has been a tough road but Holly is still with us as Randy has Holly brought in before Lauren sings. Her song choice is "Like We Never Loved At All" which is a Tim McGraw/Faith Hill number. The judges love it with Randy telling Lauren she has a god-given talent. She starts crying which brings Jennifer to say "don't cry as she might cry too". Randy adds further praise by saying she is the best we have seen today. She then brings in her family after the three yeses and performs a duet with Steven on the song "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". Now I think this girl can sing for sure. Steven adds in a clip he thinks they have found the one today.
Our next stop will be Austin, Texas as we see clips of some of the contestants and also comments from the judges. Sorry but it was not mentioned how many actually made it from the Nashville auditions. I see several potentials from Music City but Hollywood will certainly let us know if they got the right stuff to go further. So until next time I bid you adieu. Have a great week all!
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Subject: Nashville Auditions - 1/27/11 
Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:32 am
