The auditions wrapped up with a stop in Atlanta last night in American Idol 7 Episode 7. We were treated to perky Miss South Florida Fair Brooke Helvie and 16-year-old Alexandrea Lushington. Fairly uneventful, but still one of the better showings we’ve seen recently.
Tonight it’s a mix of auditions from all the cities, before we head to Hollywood next week. They’ve saved some of the best and probably about 45 minutes worth of the worst.
Amy Davis grew up lower than lower middle class, which I’m not sure exactly what that means. She sings Blue Bayou. Decent voice. The judges think she can learn to get better once she gets over her nerves.
Ryan Seacrest tells us Tiffany McCambell has a voice that’s a gift from God. He didn’t say which one, though. Simon wants to know if he has a return policy.
Twins Cory and Chris Lang say they have pretty much the same girlfriend, Ashley Lawing, a blonde with a purse dog. She believes she knows which one she’s in love with. They, meanwhile, believe they’re hiphop artists. Then it’s her turn to audition with her pomeranian Panda. I bet the dog’s the most talented one of the four. The dog gets through to Hollywood.
Carden Lee McKinney sings One Night Only. Good voice, but Simon’s afraid she’s too theatrical. She gets two yes votes (as usual, not Simon).
Plus size model JoAnne Borgella sang the national anthem at the college basketball championships at Madison Square Garden, so the judges expect her to be a good singer, and she delivers, if not overly convincingly (Simon says no, though the other two put her through).
Alesha has been singing since she was 8, and she sounds the same now as she did then. They dismiss her so she can go learn Dolly Parton and come back. She learns Islands in the Stream. Actually, she does sound okay with this song. Simon refuses to vote, but the other two let her through. This is the first time they’ve sent someone off to learn a new song that it actually worked out.
Jay Smoove (seriously?) thinks he’s an R&B recording artist. He sings an original song, Beautiful Lady. After hearing his nickname, I wasn’t expecting much, but he’s surprisingly actually not bad. Not quite good enough, though.
Chikezie Eze was cut last year. Not real clear why. Unlike the people who get rejected for having no talent at all who just can’t take the hint, this guy’s got a good voice.
Danny Noriega is another returning reject. He sings Proud Mary. He’s one of those guys with a voice that doesn’t sound like it’s actually coming from him. I was surprised that he sounds good.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 7 episode 9, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.