Friday, January 18, 2013

American Idol 12: Chicago Auditions

Welcome back to the second episode of American Idol Season 12. Our next stop is Chicago where we get to see a cluster$%#@ of crazy judges. Seriously. This panel is deliciously ludicrous, I actually love it. Haha. Keith Urban is shockingly funny and I find the whole Mariah-Nicki feud quite entertaining. I could do without any of that nonsense, but I digress.

I think this panel has some palpable chemistry and for me, I saw Mariah and Nicki’s "playful banter" as just that - plain and harmless playful banters. Yes, there maybe a bit of animosity between the two, but I don't think it's something life threatening or what have you.

Of course, I have to see the Charlotte auditions where the actual blowup between the two happened, but for now, I think this panel is oddly appealing and possibly the best mix on American Idol.

As for the contestants, I thought the talent was certainly better than last night - there were a handful of good singers in this mix and the overall episode was entertaining. Oh, and the intro was hysterical and there's a Haley Reinhart (!!!) special participation. Haha.

Let’s see how the contestants did in Austin, shall we?

MacKenzie Wasner
Whenever You Come Around
MacKenzie has a very authentic country voice, but the problem I have with her was the fact that it's awfully generic. I mean, if she stands next to the other upcoming country blondes, she will just get lost in the mix. 6.5

Kiara Lanier
The Prayer
Is it possible to have TOO MUCH vocal control? True, I cringe whenever a singer's pitch goes berserk, but I didn't think someone can be too controlled that it almost sounds strange. I can see the potential in her, but I just wasn't a big fan. 6

Stephanie Shimel
Dream a Little Dream of Me
Parts of Stephanie's audition were weak, but I sort of like her. Her tone sounded beautiful, her phrasing was decent and she actually reminded me of Megan Joy. A bit mousy and soft-spoken, but whatever. 7.5

Gabe Brown
Gimme Shelter
This was the day Gabe decided that it was his best interest to shout at America! What have we all done to you to deserve this? Haha. Not a fan. He does have that rock tone because of that grit, which to me sounded a bit forced, but my ears were just bleeding. 4.5

Isabelle Parell
Baby It's Cold Outside
Wow! Say what you want, but Isabelle impressed me BIGTIME. The texture of her voice was fantastic, she has a jazzy tone that's quite lovely, she's beautiful, and quite adorable. Not sure how far she can go - well, of course I know - but we'll see. 8

Griffin Peterson
Washed By The Water
HELLO THERE, MR. GRIFFIN PETERSON! Haha. I admit, his vocals were pretty mediocre, but I understand what Nicki was saying, girls would really go to his concert - or a gig maybe if this wouldn't work out for him. He's a beautiful man with a perfect set of white teeth and decent voice. He's a serious threat once the show allowed him to enter the voting rounds. Just watch. Oh, and Nicki Minaj was hilarious when she said "Bieber don't do this to me!" HAHA. 6

Curtis Finch Jr.
God Is Able
Oh God! No disrespect to Curtis' talent - I think he's good at what he does - but after last season's obsession for standing ovations care of Joshua Ledet, I just can't handle another one this season. We already got Jacob Lusk in Season 10 and Joshua Ledet in Season 11, do we need another one who's undeniably talented, but drags us to church every freakin' week? Not religious by any means, so I'll pass. Haha. 6

Mariah Pulice
Let It Be
Eh. Inspiring sob story, but her voice just wasn't strong enough to compete. Bland and soulless. Sorry. 5.5

Brandy Neeley
Your Cheatin' Heart
While I'm not exactly a big country fan, I actually enjoyed Brandy's audition. She had a nice vocal dynamics with a pretty impressive range. She just looked effortless while singing. Very nice. 7.5

Josh Holiday
Back At One
Josh sounded good, looked nice, and the way he belted those high notes reminded me of Season 4's Anthony Federov. His transition to falsetto sounded weird though, and he seemed like a potential fodder no? 6

Courtney Williams
Who's Lovin' You
Not sure if I liked her tone, which sounded like she's on helium, but I thought she had a good set of pipes. Too bad, we saw a short snippet of her. 6

Andrew Jones
Knock On Wood
With such a left-field song choice, I thought he sounded solid. And just like his airtime, that's all I have to say. Haha. 6

Clifton Duffin
Superstar
Hm. I thought Clifton has a nice deep voice and he can sing really well, but he's more like a Luther Vandross than a Ne-Yo. If he can prove to be more current than his actual song choice, then let's talk. For now, I'm not sold yet. 6.5

Johnny Keyser
Try A Little Tenderness
Yikes! Why do I feel like he sounded worse than last year? I enjoyed his previous audition, but this one was a little overwrought and underwhelming. I mean, this was the most "white" version of Try A Little Tenderness I've ever heard. Jessica Sanchez' version had more balls, grit, soul and whatnot than him no? 6.5

Kez Ban
No Strings/Wandering
I love when these off kilter contestants walk through the door and impresses the judges. Kez was pleasant surprise. She's interesting, quirky and pretty hilarious. Her singing was also quite nice and there's a cool quality to her voice. Plus, that conversation with Ryan Seacrest at the end had me rolling. Can we have her for a few more episodes? Please? Haha. 7.5

Lazaro Arbos
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Sue me, but I'm sort of numb with all the sob stories. I seriously don't mind it, but there's no need to make such a big deal about it. Angela Miller from yesterday talked about her hearing issues and that was it. Plus, without the backstory, Lazaro is jsut an above average singer. Ok. I'm a terrible person and probably would go to hell. Sorry. 6.5

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree... Kez and BRandy took this episode... Brandey is sexy and she's a Lauren with a much, much stronger voice. She reminded me of Lauren in so many ways, especially her soft singing voice. Kez is purely entertaining as Nicki Minaj's way of judging. Sorry for the haters but I really enjoyed the panel now that Nicki is there. She's just crazy in an entertaining way.

Garry

Anonymous said...

also, your not mean or evil for honestly commenting about Lazaro's singing... it's true, he has an average voice. His voice is pretty decent in low notes but when he reached the chorus, it became all nasal... So yeah, his sob story got the judges impressed...

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