Miami was better than Omaha, but not much happened there in American Idol 7 Episode 6 either. We got a glimpse of a boy bander who thinks he’s a rocker (Robbie Carrico), single mom Suzanne Toon, and excessively perky Syesha Mercado. For some portion of the evening, the judges were all sipping out of Paula’s cup.
Tonight’s stop is Atlanta. Clay Aiken, Jennifer Hudson, and Fantasia Barrino auditioned here. Ryan Seacrest’s parents show up, but they’re not there to audition.
Josh Jones is in love with glass. He sings Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. He’s decent, but Simon again fears he’s found a demon. They make him sing with his back to them. For some unknown reason, Simon doesn’t think someone who has to perform not facing the audience could win. He gets two yes votes (not Simon).
JP Tjelmelano auditioned two people ahead of Carrie Underwood. Yet another one of those people who can’t take the hint. At least this will be the last we see of him, though, as he’s gotten some camera time. Simon gives him a no. Randy gives him a no. Paula gives him, well, I can’t really tell, which leads to a montage about how nobody can understand what Paula’s actual vote is since she doesn’t have one half the time.
Asia’h Epperson lost her father two days before the audition, as she got a phone call about a car accident half an hour after talking to her dad to inform him she was making the trip to Atlanta. She sings How Do I Live as a dedication for her father. She’s a good singer with a unique voice, making it enough of the way through the song before crying to impress the judges.
Brooke Helvie is Miss South Florida Fair (yeah, that’s apparently a real thing). She sings Who’s Loving You by the Jackson Five. In addition to being really perky, she’s got one of the better voices we’ve heard. Also, she gets her wish and hugs Simon, who calls her possibly the most annoying person he’s ever seen.
The introduction for Eva Miller tells us she’s got a lot of attitude. Don’t even let her sing. We know this is a waste of time already. Despite the belief that it’s all an act, the judges just let her keep singing on and on, something they don’t allow some borderline singers to do.
Alexandrea Lushington sings My Funny Valentine after Ryan gets done hitting on her great grandmother. It only takes a couple lines before the judges stop her and let her through. I don’t remember this girl, but she got beat out by David Archuleta (who we saw in episode 3) about midway through Star Search in 2003.
16-year old 9th grader (I don’t want to know how often he’s stayed back) Nathan Hite plans to show the judges his wit, which means he suspects that he sucks and is just doing this so he can yell at Simon. Simon gives him a choice whether he wants to listen or be a smartass. He pretends to listen before going into smartass. Mildly amusing but not worth showing.
Nurse/biker chick Amanda Overmyer sings Janis Joplin’s Mean Woman. Simon’s got the same concern I do: how much variety is this girl going to be able to deal with? She’s definitely good enough to go through, though.
Josiah Leming quit school and has been living in his car for nearly a year, which he says he loves. He sings a song he wrote called To Run. Simon thinks he’s picked up an English accent when he sings. He’s iffy but good enough to go to Hollywood.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 7 episode 8, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.