Pittsburgh Auditions - 1/19/12

Night two of the new season premiere finds us in Pittsburgh "the city of champions" for the first time ever since the show began. Seems like this town should have been visited before now considering that most of our auditioners tonight that we got to see got the gold. Here goes:

The Good

Heejun Han (I think that is the spelling) seemed so laid back in his before audition scenes. However he does have a fairly good voice as he performs "How Am I Suppose To Live Without You" originally by Michael Bolton. Sort of a nerdy looking kid but I do believe he might have a shot.

Reed Grimm has been performing with his family since the age of 2 and does show his "it" factor as he performs the theme from Family Ties. I liked him.

Aaron (sorry missed the last name) does the song "A Change Is Gonna Come". He sounds fairly good but we have heard this type of version from so many others so I feel he is limited somewhat.

Chase Likens just sounded okay for me personally.

Planking Patricia Bell is there for support for her younger sister Samantha. Samantha has a nice voice but I am wondering if Patricia will have to plank her body for her performances. Her chances of moving on from Hollywood are nil I think.

Creighton Fraker does an original song as well as a version of "Who's Loving You" by Terrence Trent D'Arby. This guy seemed interesting to me and might have a shot of going beyond Hollywood.

15 year old Eben Frankenwicz does have a voice and I liked it. Will the pressure of Hollywood be too much I wonder as his life now seems so good judging by the clips we saw of him and his family.

I felt so bad for 17 year old Travis Orlando who tried out last year and almost made it to Hollywood. He does the song "Isn't She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder and shows he has a voice however he is not pushing it enough to become a stand-out as mentioned by the judges. Sadly Travis's mom dumped her family, his dad has kidney problems and his brother is working plus going to college. They have lost their home but Travis, brother and dad are somehow making it together. Not sure he will do well in Hollywood but was glad he at least got the chance.

Mobile DJ and wedding singer Erica Van Pelt sounded fairly good on her number.

Last of day two is Hallie Day who sings "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. She can sing and the judges really liked her with Jennifer mentioning she could win it all. Not sure I would go that far but she does have a voice.

The Bad

Only one actual bad was shown although during the show we saw others who were crying about not making it. His name is Shane Bruce and he sings "Hallelujah". I really did not think this young coal miner was bad so was surprised he got a no vote.



Good wishes to the 38 who actually did get the gold. We have a special show on Sunday, the 22nd where our journey takes us to San Diego for the next set of auditions. No idea why they are doing this but do know I will be watching. Well that's a wrap on this fast-paced hour so I must now bid you .

Planking??? Really? Have to admit it was one of the most unusual auditions I've seen in a long time. I did like her though so I'll be watching her as well as young Eben. (Looks like I broke my promise to myself)

Hey, it is kind of hard not to pick favorites so I understand your dilemna. I kind of hate picking favorites at this point myself because Hollywood is the real test of who goes on and somehow my picks either start disappointing me or do not make it past Hollywood. Right now I see alot of potentials and do have a couple I really like and hope they do well.

I do too. Let's see how they do during Hollywood week.