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Home > Blogs > Reality Bytes > Archives > 2007 > January > 17 > Entry
‘American Idol’ in Seattle…the rain was not the only horrible thing!
With absolutely no deference to the rainy weather, Seattle may have seen their last American Idol audition show. Pitiful. First Minnesota then this? Only 14 go on to Hollywood from thousands of hopefuls.
Ranking pretty high on the weirdness scale was Jennifer Chapton, aka “The Hotness.” She confidently announced to the judges that she was ready to get her “sing on.” Honestly, I have a hard time feeling sorry for people like this. They continue singing even after they have been told to stop…she was just obnoxious. These are the ones we love to hate. Simon may be insulting, he may be rude, but rarely is he wrong!
Stay at home mom Amy Salgado took a leap of faith, against the advice of her husband, and went to Seattle to “try to” sing like Christina Aguilera. Amy tested Simon’s patience when begging for one more chance after sipping some water for her dry throat. Unfortunately one more sip wasn’t going to help Amy. I guess she should have listened to her hubby after all.
Darwin Mishka Reedy, student and novella writer, brought her fuzzy blonde hair and out of the lines ruby red lips into the audition room ready to be sexy. She even choose a song by the ultra-sensual Pussy Cat Dolls. Who knows why but before she started, the judges asked her mother to step in. These two could have been twins with the only difference being the scary hair. Same red lipstick, same eye make-up, same bad teeth. Given the “ugly” look and awful singing, I thought the judges could have been much meaner to her. Some people just shouldn’t try bringing sexy back by going without a brassiere. Yuck!
Third time was a charm for Thomas Daniels who had been before the judges before…twice in fact, for two other seasons. Actually, I don’t know how he didn’t make it through. I can’t imagine him being bad enough in the past to have missed Hollywood. I actually agreed with Paula Abdul on this one. Beautiful voice. I look forward to hearing more of Thomas.
On a side note, why in the world would people bring their dogs to an audition? Now I’m an animal person but that seemed kind of strange to me. But then again, I’ve never had a dog so small that I could stuff it in a handbag. Nor would I. Stuff it in a handbag I mean. What do they do when it has to go?
Melissa “Carlene” Stavros strode in confidently with pink fish-net stockings on her arms and legs (what was that?). But it didn’t take long after she sang for her to admit that she sounded kind of like a goat. I hate to break it to her but I’m afraid even if she would have sounded like Christina Aguilera herself (she sang one of her songs), Simon still may not have put her through.
I really enjoyed Seattle beat-boxing champ Blake Lewis (oh my goodness I agreed with Paula again) with spiky blonde hair. He was a little over-the-top but he was pretty talented. And what about that proud tearful father? Aaaahhhhhh, I love these parts of the show.
With their family in tow, brother and sister Shyamali and Sanjaya Malakar traveled together to Seattle for the audition. Nineteen year old Shyamali sang Summertime and did it quite well. Simon was a little hesitant, but the other two liked her enough to send her Hollywood. Her brother had to have been nervous after all the hoopla when his sister got through. But it didn’t show. In fact, I thought the brother Sanjaya was better than her, as did the judges. I guess growing up with a classical Indian musician rubbed off on both of them. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these two.
Singing Unchained Melody, Simon’s favorite song, Nicholas Zitsmann was very tense. In fact, his eyes looked like they may pop out of his head towards the end. As pittiful as he was, I was a little surprised that they were as tough on him as they were. “Bloody hell, non-human and terrible.” Poor guy. I felt badly for him afterwards. He actually looked more stunned than upset.
In my humble opinion, the last contestant of day one, 28 year-old Rudy Cardenas has the Venezuelan “it” factor. Those deep dimples (I’m such a sucker for dimples)…and his deep brown eyes were just as pretty as his voice. Simon was grumpy and held one bad note against him. Personally, I think he has the perfect blend of adorable and sexy. Thanks to Randy and Paula he’s on to Hollywood and I can’t wait to see how he does. This one might be my new Ace!
While there’s a short break between day one and two, I want to remind everyone about our Online Idol contest. Get out of your chair or off your couch and make that audition tape you know you’ve been dying to make ever since season one. Click here to learn how.
Day two in Seattle was much sunnier but unfortunately still brought more than a few nutty contestants. Kind of like newly acquainted Kenneth Briggs and Jonathan Jayne. It’s actually sweet how supportive they were of each other after meeting in line at the auditions. I personally think it was far crueler to tell Kenneth how awesome he is (as Paula did) than to be honest with him. Although telling him he looked like a monkey was a bit over the top, even for Simon. They were much nicer to his new friend Jonathan for some reason. Needless to say, Hollywood will not be seeing Ken or Jon.
Hair dresser Eric Chapman loves his salt and pepper Taylor Hicks look because it helps him with the ladies. He had a horrible audition, but the really odd thing was when he went to put some kind of product in Simon’s hair. I was amused by the onslaught of body guards that instantly came out of the corners to whisk him away. After all, you know how dangerous hair product can be!
Six foot seven inch Anna Kearns belted out a little Aretha Franklin…very loudly. I didn’t think she was all that great. Certainly nothing special, other than her very tall stature, but they sent her to Hollywood anyway. I swear I was thinking the only reason they put her through was because she would look ridiculous on stage with the other potential Idols. Then the door closes behind her and Paula says just that. I would be very surprised is she survives beyond Hollywood. Actually, unless she wow’s me, I think I would be downright shocked. But then again, we did have Chicken Little last year.
Jordan Sparks was just adorable. At sixteen she was sweet and beautiful and wholesome and even though she definitely has some fine tuning to do, she has great potential. I hope she makes it through Hollywood week so we can see the affect that a vocal coach would have on her. I’m holding back a little, but I may even predict that she makes it into the top 12. Maybe.
Saving the worst for last…we have Steven Thoen “Big Red.” He admits that he’s not a big fan of the show, only seeing a couple episodes, but somehow thought his red hair might get the judges attention. But only rarely have I seen all three judges so openly crack up at a contestant. Not a one of them could contain themselves when he starting singing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. My, oh my.
Well, I cannot imagine that Memphis, Tennessee will disappoint us as much as the great states of Minnesota and Washington did. After all It’s the south. People sing a lot in the south. It may be a lot of country music, a lot of Elvis, but if it’s good, who cares?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: American Idol
Comments
By Alvin
January 20, 2007 11:27 AM | Link to this
If the producers really wanted to find talent, they could have. They just wanted freaks for the show.By Ken
January 20, 2007 4:25 AM | Link to this
American Sleazeball Idol… it’s called “attack against the person” … it’s inexcusable, the Kenneth Briggs treatment - so, the judges were entertained by mocking the disabled - great sport - it speaks for themselves. There is a difference between being honest about a contestant’s talents (or lack of) and mocking the person as a person. Are they so desperate for ratings? I won’t watch it anymore.By Larry
January 19, 2007 7:41 PM | Link to this
I love the way Idol depicts the Seattle area as tone deaf morons. This is the city that brought you the likes of Chris Cornell,Jimi Hendrix, Ann and NancyWilson of Heart, Nirvana, Alice in Chains,Pearl Jam, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse. Oh I am sorry that they don’t compare 2 the greatness of Clay Aiken, the Vegas lounge singer Taylor Hicks and Kellie pickler. Idol is a bunch of mediocre singers who sell records because of weekly national exposure and not really based off of much talent.By Sue
January 18, 2007 10:27 PM | Link to this
This years Idol so far as been a big joke. I’d be ashame to get up there like some of those people did, knowing I couldn’t sing. I sure hope things change or this years show will be a flop.By Jenet
January 18, 2007 6:38 PM | Link to this
What a couple of nights! At times I laughed along with the audience and other times I felt so darn sorry for the contestants. The guy from Salt Lake. What a goober. But could he have been seriously trying? How sad for the way Simon treated him. I actually was quite liking him in the end. If he was not just a fake, he had more guts than 75% of us. And I bet his Mom was proud. Serious contenders? The brother and sister from India. OMG…awesome. I will enjoy watching them as they progress through the nest stages. And what about the last guy? Hot! Yep, I need to remember his name. He’s a looker and a watcher. Till next time…Denny Crane, now it’s your turn!By Heather
January 18, 2007 10:44 AM | Link to this
The show has always shown more bad than good in the early stages of the season. That’s how they draw people in. At the end of each episode, they’ll show who they gave a ticket to - probably to make you wonder how they sound and make you want to keep tuning in. I have a hard time feeling bad for too many of the bad ones. They choose to go on the show and they know how the judges are. And most of them have family members that KNOW how awful they are, but don’t want to tell them. Do I think the judges should be cruel when it comes to their appearances? No. But, their voices are fair game in my opinion. As far as the good ones last night - I loved the brother and sister - they were adorable. I don’t know how far they’ll go, but they both seemed like very sweet kids. My other favorite was Jordan Sparks - too cute!By Kim
January 18, 2007 8:58 AM | Link to this
Yep - I’ll be honest - part of the reason I watch those auditions is because I’m amused by some of the characters that think they have talent. And yep - the producers let them through intentionally because they know that is part of the reason we watch. Let us remember that most of these folks have seen American Idol (I don’t believe the ones that say they haven’t watched) adn they know what it’s about and they are CHOOSING to go on - it’s not like the producers are pulling them off the streets and telling them they have talent and encouraging them to try out. I find it interesting to see how comes out to these things,and I want to see a good cross-section of the folks who show up. However - all that being said - I do think that they are getting WAY too heavy handed with the “no talents” and I agree with the comment yesterday that they aren’t letting us see enough of the Hollywood-bound folks. I also love picking my early favorites and trying to guess how they’ll do and how’ll they’ll evolve and to compare their different styles. And obviously the show isn’t always about making fun, because the ratings hold even after they have gotten through the initial audtions. We all also like seeing someone get the chance to live their dream - and our chance to help decide who it will be. I loved Rudy too, Kelle - and I love the brother/sister pair - especially the brother. That boy has some potential - what a cutie! He reminded me of a young Donny Osmond - tee hee! I am already looking forward to seeing what they can do in Hollywood! Bring on Memphis!!! Show us some southern rockin’ soul baby!By Zach
January 18, 2007 8:10 AM | Link to this
At least be honest with yourselves. The reason American Idol continues to air horrible people is because it gets ratings. Plain and simple. 37 Million on Tuesday night.