Thursday, January 23, 2014

American Idol 13: Detroit Auditions

Welcome back to the second week of American Idol. Our next stop is Detroit where we get to see more talented people and I'm actually shocked. You see, the last two episodes have been pretty spectacular so I figured that there has to be a bad episode somewhere, but I was so relieved to have enjoyed even more the Detroit auditions.

I actually saw a couple of people I think could make it far and one who might do some serious damage in the competition. Indeed, this episode was one of the strongest audition cities yet as Michigan provided some impressive talent. As for the judges, they were still pretty fantastic! I would usually groan at this stage as I find it mostly uneventful, but audition phase this year has been amazing.

On thing though, Marialle Sellers got some serious pimpage from American Idol. She opened the season and now she closed the Detroit episode. Not sure why as I find her good but not great. I've seen better in the last three episodes. But I digress.

Here we go!

Keri Lynn Roach
Radioactive / I'd Rather Go Blind
Her version of Radioactive was absolutely sublime. The choices she made with the melody and phrasing won me over instantly and her tone was lovely. Not sure why she needed to perform another song without a guitar, which was also nice, as she already proved her worth during the first song. 7.5

Malaya Watson
Ain't No Way
The vocal control was actually pretty impressive. Malaya is precious, and fiercely talented. I think she could go far in this competition if given the right material. 7.5

Bryan Watt
So Small
Damn! Bryan can sing and he had some serious soul in him that's pretty compelling to watch. There was also an easiness to his delivery that's very refreshing. If he makes it to the live shows, kiss another girl winner goodbye. 8

Jena Asciutto
Rolling In The Deep
This Adele ditty was an interesting and daring song choice, and her talent is natural, but it’s raw and it really needs to be refined if she has any hope of moving to the deeper rounds. Her tone is very different though, which can immediately separate her from the rest. 7

Melanie Porras
Fever / Wanted Dead Or Alive
Confident, present, and absolutely powerful. Melanie could be a contender! She’s very charismatic, or maybe she’s not good at all and I’m trying to find an excuse to keep staring at her. It’s a possibility. Haha. But seriously, this audition was very good and it's always a good thing that she reminds me so much of Haley Reinhart. 8

Jade Lathan
You Know I'm No Good
The vocals were very impressive! Her delivery was very natural and unique, and honestly, I thought she was refreshing to watch. She was authentic and could easily stand apart from a pack of other singers. 8.5

Sarah Scherb
The Way
Solid in tune and has an awesome vocal quality, although I’m not sure if she has the edge to go much further, but we'll see. She has enough star quality to her that I like and I can get on board with that. 7.5

Sydney Arterbridge
Loving You
Strong voice, but generic. She’d be eaten up and forgotten in the later rounds. Simply put, she’s too normal - minus that high note, I guess. 6.5

David Oliver Willis
Too Close
David is a return contestant, and went all the way to the Las Vegas round. He was cut, I believe unjustly, but now returns to conquer. I love everything about him. His guitar strumming was fantastic, he has a rich tone that's incredibly beautiful, and there's power to his voice. If America is ready to advance a singer like him, he could go very deep into the competition. 8.5

Brandy Neelly
Wanted
Since Season 11, I knew Brandy has some potential. I could see her personality and comfortable country voice taking her a long way in this competition. She was polished, very prepared, and vocally superior to most country singers we’ve seen so far this year. 7

Ethan Harris
You'll Think Of Me
Strong voice. Distinct tone. Interesting choices. He needs to work on his performance skills and come to Hollywood ready to fight, because while the voice is there, there's something about him that seems fragile if that makes sense. 7.5

Ayla Stackhouse
Wings
What a strong and controlled voice! Wow. Ayla's voice is solid, all registers are firing strong, and she really created some strong dynamic moments. Indeed, her ability to switch registers was seamless. 8

Eric Gordon
Perfectly Lonely
While his voice is nice with a beautiful character to his tone, it didn't blowing me off my feet entirely. Still, he's easy to ears and all he needs to do now is stand out from the mix. 7

Ryan Nisbett
Angel
Slightly above average singer. Very little emotion or thought in his performance and it sounded a little theatric and loud. I felt like singing was something that he liked to do as a hobby, but didn’t really have that much of a vested interest in pursuing it professionally. I maybe wrong, but I digress. 6.5

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Melanie Porras is who I think she is, then I agree that she sounds like Haley Reinhart... when she talks. However, the difference between Melanie and Haley are night and day when comparing their singing voices...Melanie actually sounded good.

That being said, I do agree with you 100% about the judges... they are really enjoyable to watch this year. By far the best panel of judges AI has ever had. The 2 guys are hilarious.

I already have a couple favorites, and (surprise, surprise) they are people who you didn't score particularly high. But I come to expect that from someone who write their blog as fact instead of their opinion.

DAM said...

When you say write as fact instead of an opinion, which FACT are we talking about? Your FACT? Let's be real here. Everything is going to be SUBJECTIVE because everyone is all really talented (Fact), but which ones were really good will depend on the listener. You may call it opinion, but that's what it is. Thank you.

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