I'm thrilled as this is the last show of the audition process. Seems American Idol thinks we have not gotten enough of the auditions so this show is giving us a view of some of the things we have missed. Of course, we are going to see some repeats of some of the segments of the last few weeks but thankfully they are short clips. Our judges are seated so on with the show.
The longest of journeys starts with the smallest of steps says Ryan. So what does everyone remember he asks? It is General Larry Pratt once again singing "Pants On The Ground". We then see several different people singing this song which is annoying me to no end. I have a feeling the General will be on this year's finale. Agree or disagree?
Ryan tells us that song choice is crucial to these auditions as we see several checking lists of songs. This leads into our first contestant Jessica Furney who tried out for season 8. Last year she tried to impress with some Janis Joplin but got nowhere. This year she has a new look and approach. She sings the song "Footprints In The Sand" which was co-written by our Simon Cowell. Victoria Beckham is stunned he had written a song which embarrasses Simon a bit. Jessica does a great job with the song and impresses all. Naturally this time she has hit the gold. I kind of like her personally.
Next up is drama queen Amanda Shectman who does some theatre work. She is very good making her voices sound like other people (I liked her Britney Spears moment). She is also able to talk with her mouth closed. This time however she wants to perform before the judges with her own voice. I thought she sounded kind of good. There is some talk about her not connecting with the song but both Kara and Victoria are giving her a yes. Then Randy asks Simon for his vote and Simon does several overly dramatic gestures while Amanda is pleading for the gold. I thought this bit was funny from Simon. Finally Simon says yes as does Randy. Our drama girl is last shown giving her acceptance speech before she leaves the building. Good performance Amanda!
Several are shown who will do anything to impress the judges. Some short clips are shown of dumb outfits, splits from a guy, etc. etc.etc. As you know instruments are not allowed on this first audition but we see a repeat of clips shown of Crystal Bowersox with her guitar and also Lee Dewyre putting his guitar down to sing "Ain't No Sunshine". Both made it to Hollywood.
More clips of what is known as the "fake outs". These contestants act like they have not gotten the gold but in reality they have as they fake out family and friends. Chris Daughtry was one of those nuts. Next we see people who have tried out for idol before. Some are remembered by Randy and Kara but Simon does not remember anyone with the exception of one. Remember last year the girl named Crystal who goes tanning and can not sing. A light dawns for Simon however again she is not going through but does look quite different now.
Now we come to Lacey Brown who actually made the top 50 last year in season 8. She was beat out of the top 36 by Megan Joy. This time around she is singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" to hopefully impress the judges once again. They are impressed and send her to Hollywood. I frankly did not think she was that good but what do I know?
More nonsense as we see our next contestant Stephanie Fisher who has tried out 6 times before and has never made the grade. She claims Victoria Beckham is her idol and she is thrilled to be meeting her. Her singing however is terrible and Simon stops her from going on. Stephanie says she is star-struck with Victoria so Simon has Victoria turn her back so Stephanie can not look at her. Needless to say this does not improve the singing. She gets a no but Victoria does give her a hug. She wanders out of the room without hearing all the votes but it is a no across the board.
Ryan claims that several 16 year olds have talent. We see clips of Rachel Hubbard, Thaddeus Johnson and Genesis Moore who get their tickets. My thoughts are okay but not great.
We next hear that after 7 cities and over 100,000 contestants that athletes are a big part of the show after seeing all kinds of people tell us their occupations. 17 year old Adrian is introduced who has several names such as big man and big kahuna as this lad is 6' 8" in height. He calls himself a manflower who likes to swim instead of playing in other sports. He performs "Can't Help Falling In Love With You" by Elvis Presley but in a very girlish and high-pitched voice. Randy is giggling. After singing Kara tells Adrian it seems like a small school boy is trapped inside him. Simon adds "or you've eaten one". Adrian takes it well when he gets a no vote from all but does let the judges and Ryan know that they have his number and can call him anytime if they can figure out a job for him.
From the ridiculous we now have a big burly man who reminded me so much of LL Cool J. His name is Michael Lynche who is soon to be a new dad. He is very muscular as he is a personal trainer. He performs some Righteous Brothers music and frankly I really liked him as did the judges. He gets the gold.
A sad story follows from our next girl Didi Benami who is singing in honor of her best friend Rebecca who died 4 years prior. Nothing was mentioned how she died but you can see she was quite young and this devastated Didi. Claiming that Rebecca believed in her as a singer, Didi performs "Hey Jude". It is very emotional and she cries. She need not as the judges like her and send her to Hollywood.
Another sad tale as we meet 16 year old Aaron Kelly who tells us of the rough life he and his brother led while with his parents who moved around alot. Dad could never keep a job and due to this both boys were about to become wards of the state. However Aaron's aunt and uncle stepped in and adopted the kids. Now he has a good life and hopes it gets better by going to Hollywood. Singing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus he does impress and gets the gold. I sort of liked this kid also.
Several tell us what they will do with their fame as we meet the next contestant Kimberley Bishop who thinks she has the look to make it. She mentions before the audition that she has a good heart, she would be into recycling and plans to help the kids in Africa. Acting in a sexy manner she slaughters the song "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry. Unreal as I already hate that song. The judges think she is seductive and naughty but do not give her a ticket. She then asks if she may be excused or do they want her to sing another song. No dummy, your audition is over! Duh!
Can this get worse, yeppers it can as we meet Shaddaii Harris who we hear from briefly with her mom by her side. Mom has a vision her daughter can sing however Shaddaii proves otherwise by giving an awful rendition to the song "I Keep On Falling In and Out of Love With You" originally by Alicia Keys. Four no's follow and then she tries to sing another song but the no's are final.
A big thank you from Ryan to all the cities they have visited. Dallas was his favorite and this brings in our next sad story. Hope Johnson comes from a family who has had a lot of poverty in their lives. She has 6 sisters and a brother. Her parents could never give them much as they never finished school to get good jobs. I must say here that they obviously knew about sex since they have 8 kids. Okay, I am being catty, sorry. Anyhow we hear how Hope would save part of her lunch to bring it home for her little brother so he would have something to eat at night. She sings and sounds fairly good which leads the judges to give her the gold ticket.
We have made it past the auditions and next week finds us in Hollywood as we see clips of Ellen DeGeneras who will take her permanent position as the new judge. I am thinking watching these clips that Ellen can be nice but also shows a tough side. After all the thousands we have seen in these past shows only 181 actually made it to Hollywood. Who will be our next star?
Goodnight all!
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Subject: The Road To Hollywood - 2/3/10 
Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:08 pm
