Simon Cowell is back for a ninth (and final) season (minus his loopy sidekick because she thought she should make more dollars than she made sense), hoping to find America’s next top idol. We start off with auditions in Boston.
The first guest judge is Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice, now known for her marriage to David Beckham).
Janet McNamara has made the show for one purpose: promote the American Idol video game. Randy likes her 90% of the time in the game. Paula (not to be confused with Kara) always likes her. Not that it matters, but she sings Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield. Apparently, Janet didn’t get the memo. There’s a new judge, and one of the old judges is gone. Well, at least she knows who Posh Spice is. Granted, even if Paula were still around, she probably wouldn’t have voted for Janet either.
Maddy Curtis is number 9 out of 12 kids. Mom and dad, get a hobby. She sings Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Randy didn’t think it was going to be that good. Kara says she has an authentic old soul. Simon likes that she’s not annoying for a 16 year old. She’s through to Hollywood.
Pat Ford is, however, annoyingly perky. Kara likes him. Randy wants to hang out some time, as long as he stops singing forever. That said, he’ll be back next year.
Jennifer Hirsh, Claire Fuller, and Jess Wolfe get lumped into a going to Hollywood montage.
Amadeo Diricco sings Hoochie Coochie Man by Muddy Waters. The judges already like him before he starts singing, but when he starts singing, his big voice wins them over even more. Simon’s favorite audition of the day.
Derek Hilton thinks he sounds like Chris Brown and The Eagles. He doesn’t. There were 20 people in his head, none any good.
Mary Doyle believes she’s an anime character, and she hopes to make it big in Japan. She sings Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin. Simon tells her she’s verging on terrible. Well, that’s better than actually being terrible.
Luke Shaffer sings Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade. His lobby buddy Benjamin Bright sings All My Loving by The Beatles. Both make it through to Hollywood.
Andrew Finley is tired of the waiting. Oh, and by the way ladies, he’s single. He starts off giving Simon an attitude before singing House of the Rising Sun. When he finishes, Kara wants to know if he’s angry. When he says he didn’t like waiting, she gets angrier than he was, giving him a lecture and telling him she doesn’t like him at all. In closing, she offers to spank him.
Ashley Rodriguez sings I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys. Kara tells her she has a commercial look and voice. Set the bar. Victoria says she’s one of her favorites. Simon thinks she may have it.
Tyler Grady shattered both of his wrists when he fell out of a tree. Not good for a drummer, but his dream has been to be a front man anyway. In 1971. He sings Let’s Get it on by Marvin Gaye, and he gets 4 votes for Hollywood.
Lisa Olivero sings Vision of Love by Mariah Carey. Well, that took all of about three notes before it fell apart.
Mike Davis is an actor on speed boat Codzilla. He sings Yesterday by The Beatles. Kara found that touching, and he invites her out for steaks. He doesn’t get a yes (or a no) to that invite, but he is going to Hollywood.
Katie Stevens wants to bring good news back to her grandmother with Alzheimer’s. She sings At Last by Etta James and easily gets through to Hollywood.
Joshua Blaylock sings Bless the Broken Road. Simon thinks he’s forgettable, but good enough to advance. Now he just needs to teach him how to be mean.
I’m noticing a pattern here. What’s up with the 5 minute commercial breaks?
Justin Williams was diagnosed with cancer 7 years ago. After surgeries and chemotherapy, he has recovered fine. He sings Feeling Good. Combining the story with the voice and looks, he could do well.
Norberto Guerrero is also from a few decades ago. Simon tells him he sings like a three year old girl dressed like Latoya Jackson. So that’s a no then?
Bosa Mora’s mom and dad are from Nigeria. He sings You Look So Good in Love by George Strait. Simon says good but boring. Victoria disagrees and wants Simon to stop rolling his eyes. Bosa gets a no from Simon, but the other three say yes, although he has a lot of work ahead of him.
Leah Laurenti grew up in an overly protective family, never sure whether music is something she should keep pursuing. She sings Blue Skies. Randy calls her one of the best of the day. Kara wants her to know she really is good.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 9 Episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.
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