american idol 8 – Page 6

American Idol Season 8 Episode 4

Last night American Idol went to San Francisco in American Idol Season 8 Episode 3. The show was desperately starved for talent, but we did see Adam Lambert and Kai Kalama toward the end of the night.

Tonight’s stop is Louisville, Kentucky. The first trick for the contestants is to figure out which pronunciation of Louisville is correct.

Tiffany Shedd is up first. We know she’s going to bomb, but at least she’s going to college when they reject her. She sings Mariah Carey’s Hero. Simon calls her a donkey. After walking out, she’s angry that the show is just looking for nerds and freaks, which explains how she got on it.

Joanna Pacitti has been trying to make it in the industry since she moved to LA at age 16. A&M Records signed her back then. In 2007, she was dropped from her label a year after her debut album. So much for this show being about the best undiscovered talent in America. Granted, it’s obvious nobody discovered her music when she had a record deal. She sings Pat Benetar’s We Belong. It’s obvious this chick can sing, but I’m not liking this trend of people coming on Idol for a second/third chance.

Mark Mudd, Jr. has a story about how he’s almost died 5 times and how he’s related to Samuel Mudd, the doctor who fixed John Wilkes Booth’s leg after he broke it while shooting Abraham Lincoln. He sings George Jones’ White Lightning. Sounds better than I’d expected. Simon suggests he go on Wheel of Fortune instead. When he’s walking out of the room, he tells the judges to be careful, which they believe is a threat.

Brent Keith Smith sings Bad Company’s Something for You. Paula is pleasantly surprised. Simon didn’t like the song, which leads Kara to pout. He says yes anyway, as does everyone else. Then Paula and Kara go under the table for some reason.

Dueling piano player Matt Giraud sings Gavin DeGraw’s I Don’t Wanna Be. Different but with potential. Simon worries about his lack of self confidence. He’s through to Hollywood.

Ross Plavsic knows about stuff nobody else cares to know about. He’ll be singing Cara Mia by Jay & The Americans. Allegedly, the reason he sounds so bad is because his throat is scratchy. So he takes a sip out of Paula’s cup.

Stay-at-home mom Alexis Grace, 21, has a 2 year old daughter named Ryan. She sings Aretha Franklin’s Dr. Feelgood, and she pulls it off. The judges hope she comes out of her shell but vote yes based on her voice.

Aaron Williamson is so pumped and wants to scream loud enough so that everybody gets annoyed by him. He sings (aka shouts) Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain? Eventually the judges get out of control, too, until Simon gets them to stop. That was a waste of time.

Rebecca Garcia was on the local news the morning of the show. She sings Carrie Underwood Before He Cheats. These news people should really screen these people before putting them on. Kara thinks it’s a joke, but the tears convince her otherwise.

After that, we very quickly skip through four good singers since it would be too much trouble to actually show us some talent.

Leneshe Young grew up homeless. She’s there with her mom to move on and go forward. She sings an original song, which the judges like for some reason, but regardless her voice is strong. Kara calls her brilliant.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 5, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol Season 8 Episode 3

American Idol 8 Episode 2 and Kansas City brought us Ashley Anderson, Jason Castro and his brother Michael Castro, Matt Breitzke, Danny Gokey, and Lil Rounds.

Tonight we head to San Francisco, where Katharine McPhee and, more importantly, William Hung auditioned.

Tatiana del Toro from Puerto Rico (Simon points out they’re going there and she could have saved the airfare) is… confused. She rattles off a bunch of job titles which may or may not be jobs she actually does. To help her through her confusion, she went to a psychic who said she’ll be in the top 12. She sings Aretha Franklin’s Never Loved a Man, among other songs. She’s not as good as she thinks she is, but she’s good enough to proceed. Simon and Randy warn her she doesn’t have the big voice she wants to have. Randy says yes. Kara doesn’t think she has the vocals but likes the vibe. Paula says yes. Simon doesn’t vote, but Tatiana wants him to change his mind anyway. Hopefully when she gets to Hollywood she’ll pick up a new laugh.

Dean Anthony Bradford is in the wrong decade. He sings Stars by Simply Red. What the bloody hell is this?

Jesus Valenzuela is trying out for this show since it’s a family show and his kids are really into it. He sings a couple lines of something before Simon stops him. Paula kinda likes him, and the opportunity arises for him to bring his kids into the audition room. Simon says no regardless, but the others say yes. Somehow Simon gets a hug out of this.

Dalton Powell finishes his Rubik’s Cube pretty quickly. He should probably stick to that.

Akilah Askew-Gholston is studying anatomy, which she believes will teach her how to sing gospel. If only she could pronounce any of the body parts (or anything else). She doesn’t know the difference between Simon and Randy either, although she somehow knows who Kara is. She sings an original song Make Sweet Love. Simon tells her that her song sucks, so she sings A Natural Woman, which convinces them she’s not a singer. Her argument is that the bad high note came from the wrong rectum and she should be given another chance. Oh, and Paula makes her nervous because she had a hit song in the early 80s when she was a child.

Annie Murdoch plays instruments and scats. She could quite possibly be possessed.

Adam Lambert from Hollywood has been singing since he was about 10. He’s been in the cast of Wicked for the past year and a half. He sings Bohemian Rhapsody, Simon’s favorite. Paula calls him one of the most diverse singers they’ve seen. Simon thinks he’s very theatrical. Randy says yes. Simon agrees. Kara reluctantly sides with Simon. After his story about how he had a crush on Paula back when she was famous, she says he’s the best they’ve seen.

Closing out the show is Kai Kalama, who’s been taking care of his sick mother for about a year. He sings Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by The Platters. Simon likes the voice but not the ship singer personality. The others have the same line of thinking, but everybody says yes.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol Season 8 episode 4, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol 8 Episode 2

American Idol kicked off its eighth season last night, down about 3 million viewers (a lot of people will make a big deal about this) but still easily the reigning TV champ nonetheless. American Idol 8 Episode 1 brought us Phoenix hopefuls Arianna Afsar, Stevie Wright, Michael Sarver, Scott Macintyre, and some chick in a bikini.

Returning to David Cook’s home turf, tonight the judges are searching for talent in Kansas City, which is apparently in Missouri.

Chelsea Marquardt finally decided to take the plunge and come on Idol. She sings Without You by Mariah Carey, proving that her family lied to her. Simon says it sounded like a cat jumping off the Empire State Building.

Ashley Anderson picks a song co-written by Simon Cowell, Footprints in the Sand (if only she got the name of it right). She sails through to Hollywood, and Simon likes her since she knows he (partially) wrote something.

Casey Carlson sings 1000 Miles by Vanessa Carlson. She’s through to Hollywood. Good to see them devote a whole 30 seconds to a decent singer. Now let’s see if they can give 15 minutes to a trainwreck or two.

Brian Hettler sings Aretha Franklin’s Think. The judges don’t need to think long about rejecting him.

Von Smith sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I was struggling to figure out whether this was good or not, but ultimately he got through.

Jason Castro, who stayed on the show last year a month longer than he wanted to be there, is back with his brother Michael Castro. He sucks at interviews just like his brother. Pink haired Michael says his brother is more girly than he is. He just started singing 20 days ago. He sings In Love with a Girl by Gavin DeGraw, and it turns out he’s got a good voice. He’d have been better off getting some lessons first, but it’s still enough to advance to the next round.

Matt Breitzke can’t sing for a living with a young child and wife, so he’s a welder instead. He sings Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine. Randy tells him he’s probably just like a cool bar singer and says no, but the others say yes. Simon likes his heart and ambition.

Jasmine Joseph is a wee bit creepy, and her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow doesn’t help change that any. The judges just stare in silence.

Jessica Paige Furney is from Oz, literally. She sings Crybaby by Janis Joplin. Simon likes that she stands out. Randy calls her a natural.
Sisters Asia McClain and India Morrison are rappers. Their rapping is entertaining but not overly good. Asia’s singing falls apart from there, but India’s not bad and makes it through.

Jamar Rogers sings California Dreaming by The Mamas and the Papas. Over the top but good.

His best friend Danny Gokey is there with him. He’s being weighed down by his grieving, as his wife passed away four weeks before the audition, but he hopes people will be able to get to know her through him. He sings I Heard it through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye. Paula calls him soulful, and Randy thinks he’s one of the best so far.

Anoop Desai is wearing his Saturday morning best. He sings Thank You by Boyz II Men and is surprisingly good. Simon thinks he needs a makeover and is too geeky.

Andrew Lang arrives with some faux cheerleaders who may be somewhat obnoxious but are probably more memorable than he will be. He sings My Girl by The Temptations. There’s a good voice in there somewhere. Randy lets him through. Then he sings Ain’t Too Proud to Beg (does he know any other groups?), which causes Randy to change his vote. Simon wants to say no to all of them. Andrew out.

Asa Barnes is a father and band director. He sings Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel quite well. Simon doesn’t get the song choice but likes Asa. Paula is happy that this wasn’t a disaster, unlike most people who sing Michael Jackson.

Michael Nicewonder (is that a real name?) is mad as his mother for telling him he can’t sing, which we know already he can’t. He says he’s related to Hank Williams, Jr. He sings an original song. Yeah, it’s a waste of time. So Simon asks him to sing another.

Dennis Brigham had a dream last night. Simon told him he’s the best they’ve seen all day. We know this one isn’t going anywhere either. He sings With You by Chris Brown. Simon didn’t get it. But Paula says yes, as does Randy. It seems the begging worked, though having a dream about Simon didn’t.

Mia Conley dozes off in the holding room, but she unfortunately wakes up to sing Loving You. She warns the judges that God will make them pay for this.

The last contestant of the day is Lil Rounds, mother of three. Still trying to recover from a tornado that hit her apartment, she has decided to give Idol a shot. She sings Stevie Wonder’s All I Do. Paula says she’s one of the best, Simon calls her fantastic, and Kara also thinks she’s one of the best.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol 8 episode 3, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol 8 Episode 1

American Idol’s back for another season. Whether that’s good or bad is subject to much debate, but here we go. Apparently, if it ain’t broke… fix it. The biggest change we’re seeing this year is the addition of a fourth judge, Kara DioGuardi, who apparently was nominated for a Grammy. Like she’s not there just in case one of the other judges needs to go ~~to rehab~~ on vaction for a while. Of course, alongside her will be Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, and an awful lot of people who can’t sing.

Seacrest tells us this is the biggest season ever (as usual). The first stop is Phoenix, Arizona, about 1/4 mile from the sun. They first met Jordin Sparks here.

Tuan Nguyen seems to think he’s from the 70s if his hair is any indication. For some reason he’s decided to incorporate drill team dancing with his singing. He wants to be as big as Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, who at some point in the past were indeed big. He sings The Way You Make Me Feel. I think we’ve spent enough time on him already.

Multi-colored haired Emily Hughes’ mom had to give up singing to be a mother, but Emily wants to pick up where her mom left off. She sings Barracuda by Heart. Simon likes her because she’s different. Paula says she’s probably in the top 5. She plans to ditch her band who can’t go on their European tour without her, but she plans to go the Daughtry route (uh, he dropped his original band).

Randy Madden hasn’t had any singing lessons. Since he’s crying before he gets in there, this should be dramatic. He sings Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. Simon says his singing is wimpy. He asks for them to give him a chance, then the waterworks start. Kara tells him he hasn’t worked hard enough to make it in the industry. Although he wouldn’t have made it very far, if for no other reason than he is indeed a drama queen, he sings better than many of the people they will let through.

J.B. Ahfua sings Wake Up and Dream and gets through to Hollywood. Simon suggests he loosen up a bit, though.

It’s pretty clear Michael Gurr should not be there before he even sings. As for his singing… what the bloody hell is this? Simon doesn’t know what language that was. So, of course, they let him sing another song.

Aundre Caraway already has a stupid nickname (X-Ray). He’s got his guitar with him and sings a song about a cactus. Whether this is an actual song or not, he’s not going through to Hollywood, and unlike Michael, they don’t want him to sing another song.

16-year-old Arianna Afsar founded Adopt a Grandfriend, which puts on a performance for seniors and keeps them company. She sings Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae. She should be able to get far.

Elijah Scarlett is 22 years old, he’s from Phoenix, AZ, and… he’s 22 years old. Let’s see if the Barry White voice works for him. He sings My First, My Last, My Everything. Simon’s lack of hope for this audition was spot on. Paula suggests he do voiceovers for movies with monsters in them.

Lea Marie Golde has far too much pink on, which fits quite well with her excessive perkiness. She says she’s a cross between Hilary Duff and Madonna. Whatever that is. She’s also Kara DioGuardi’s biggest (only) fan. She sings Every Time We Touch by Cascada. Doesn’t sound that bad, but she might want to stick to writing.

Stevie Wright got her name from Stevie Nicks. She sings At Last by Etta James. Simon wants her to be more selfish, but she’s definitely good enough to go to Hollywood. Kara says that’s her favorite so far, and Paula compares her to Kelly Clarkson.

Michael Sarver is a roughneck on an oil rig, apparently the fifth most dangerous job in the world. He’s hoping to make a difference for his wife and kids. He sings a Boyz II Men and does well. Randy appreciates it more when he’s closing his eyes, but he is a likeable guy with a good voice.

Katrina Darrell, the bikini girl who’s already gotten more than her share of attention, sings Vision of Love by Mariah Carey. Simon and Randy don’t hear a note she sings. Kara wants to turn it into a sing off. Katrina tells her she’s not any better. Kara suggests that she might have more success if she didn’t bother with the bathing suit next time. Before she auditioned, Katrina warned Ryan she was going to kiss him if she got through. So he hid. She found him anyway, though, and she manages to plant one on him.

Eric Thomas has an even dumber nickname than X-Ray. He calls himself Sexual Chocolate. He sings Stevie Wonder’s Ribbon in the Sky. They’re not impressed, but apparently his mom will buy him a car because he didn’t make it.

A perky Brianna Quijada sings Let’s Hear it for the Boy by Deniece Williams. Simon tells her that her personality got her in there. She follows this up with Killing Me Softly, but Simon’s not any happier with this performance. Despite that, he agrees with Paula and lets her through.

Deanna Brown finds some strangers to be her family during the audition process. She sings Otis Redding’s Sittin on the Dock of the Bay. Her unique voice stands out to the judges.

Cody Sheldon loves making horror films. Shocker. He sings Wonderful World by James Morrison. The judges are pleasantly surprised.

Alex Wagner-Trugman (what’s up with the hyphen?) taught himself to sing in a moldy closet. He’ll sing Baby Come to Me by James Ingram if Randy sings the chorus. This song worked until Randy joined him. Simon didn’t like the audition and calls Randy ridiculous. Paula and Kara put him through to Hollywood.

Scott Macintyre was born almost completely blind, which is a driving force behind him wanting to explore music. Having entered college at 14, he hasn’t let his disability hold him back. He sings And So It Goes by Billy Joel and easily gets through to Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of American Idol 8 episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Simon Will Break Ties

I was wondering how they were going to handle a tie on American Idol 8 now that they’ve pointlessly added a fourth judge. I figured that they were just going to let people go through with two votes. Yes, that is enough. As long as one of those two votes is Simon’s. Paula Abdul said on the Johnjay & Rich radio show that Simon Cowell will cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie.

Kara DioGuardi Joins American Idol as a Judge

I’m attempting to come up with another adjective to describe this story, but I keep going back to pointless. Apparently, what we were missing the last 7 seasons was a fourth judge. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi has joined Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, and Randy Jackson at the judges’ table.

“We are turning the heat up on ‘Idol’ this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges’ table,” said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. “She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America’s most successful songwriters. We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show.”

“We had originally intended for American Idol to have four judges,” said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. “We’ve seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers.”