Audtion Rounds Part 3 (Milwaukee)

Here we go another 2 hour American Idol, Audition Round Part 3 is underway and we are in the glamorous Milwaukee, Wisconsin. No American Idol winner has ever come from Milwaukee and other than the Brewers and that Laverne and Shirley took place there, I don't know much about Milwaukee. Tonight we will see what it has to offer. So let's get to it.

How Were The Contestants?:

*Scotty McCreery is the first contestant up and is 16 years old. He is all about country music. He has a very deep voice for a 16 year old. The judges want to tell if he has a range so they ask him to sing a peppier song. Steven Tyler goes nuts and says something about a duck, meaning he thought he sounded beautiful, I guess. And through he goes.

*Joe "K-100" Repka wants to be a radio personality, he confuses the judges a little with this kind of persona. When Joe's mother is asked if she sings she says she is tone deaf, then they cut to Joe's audition. After trying a couple(unadvised) times it is a definite no.

*Before Emma Henry walks into the audition room we see her driving her family around in a car. She is 15 and has her permit. I didn't know you could cross state lines with a permit, but different states have different rules. In the audition room she sings, and sings with not a lot of power, but there may be something there. J.Lo feels she can build on her voice, even if it's not there yet. J. Lo doesn't put her through, but Steven agrees and Randy gets a bit guilt tripped after Emma starts to cry and puts her through. Despite putting her through Randy said she will get swallowed up in this competition, and I think she will also.

*We then get a batch of delusional contestants. We need a good mix of ridiculous to balance out the very good.

*Naima Adedapo, we see a story of her being part of the cleanup crew at a Milwaukee summer concert venue, and not ever part of the actual concert. She has a strong voice, very controlled. She looks unique and as Steven Tyler says "She's all That". All 3 judges put her through.

*Then we get another batch of crazy contestants. One that sang a bad version of "Jenny From The Block", and the other in which Randy mentioned should sing in the car only with the windows up.

*Jerome Bell, a wedding singer has a tremendous voice. He can sing at high levels and then can go deeper when needed. He has some decent energy and the judges eat it up. They put him right through, very quickly.

*They then show a montage of a batch 15 year olds. The reason behind dropping the age limit was due to Justin Bieber, another reason why I dislike Justin Bieber. Just kidding...maybe.

*15 year old Thia Megia starts singing and has a strong voice for a person that young. She has a nice personality as well. J. Lo feels that she is the total package, Steven Tyler likes her a lot and they all put her right to Hollywood.

*They then show a montage of all the 15 year olds that walked in, and as Ryan Seacrest said "they all walked out with gold". Every 15 year old that auditioned made it to Hollywood.

*Molly DeWolf Swensen just graduated from Harvard, works at the White House and accidentally got punched in the face by Randy as he was slapping five with some of the contestants in the waiting room and missed Molly's hand altogether. Although she got hit in the face it was pretty entertaining. She has a very rich deep voice, but is really sweet and she makes it to Hollywood. I think I'll remember her as the girl who got hit in the face by Randy but if she makes it through different rounds maybe we'll forget that. Actually, that's something that kind of stays with you.

*Haley Reinhart is a cute girl and has an interesting voice. It's a little pitchy, but she supposedly improved from last year when she auditioned, so on she goes to Hollywood.

*Tiwan Strong has a generic kind of voice. I feel I have heard it before, nothing too too special, but he also goes to Hollywood. Outside, on of his family members has a charley horse from jumping up and down and Ryan has to help massage it out. It's not as dirty as it sounds.

*Steven Beghun is a huge guy and is an accountant/auditor. He actually has a sweet voice and his voice goes high which is surprising. All 3 judges put him right through.

*Vernika Peterson, she starts to sing and messes up and says it's because "the lady was looking at her", meaning J.Lo. What a way to start. Once Vernika restarts we realize she does not have a voice. Lopez straight out says that she isn't right for the show. She questions that she wasn't chosen due to her weight, and then Randy ill advised starts to name some of the Idol winners who weren't extremely thin when they won. Never a good idea Randy, never a good idea.

*Albert Rogers III, not to be confused with Albert Rogers II, the first note was okay, but then from there it went all downhill, and quickly. He gets 3 no's.

*Scott Dangerfield, he has a pure voice and a real "Wow" factor. He gets put through to Hollywood very quickly. As they said "don't judge a book by it's cover', because this guy doesn't look like he has all the qualities of a mega superstar, but J.Lo calls him one of her favorites.

*Green Bay Packer fan Megan Frazier really loves the Packers, like really loves the Packers, but really has zero voice. Just incredibly weird.

*Alyson Jados and Steven Tyler are kindred spirits. She loves him, and he kind of loves her. She has a great personality and a very nice voice. Steven Tyler joins in on her singing Dream On, which is really cool. I think she has a decent voice, Lopez likes the quality of her voice, Lopez puts her through, Randy Jackson says no, Steven Tyler has the deciding vote and although he thinks she is a little pitchy he puts her through to Hollywood.

*Last contestant of the day is Chris Medina. He has a touching story of his fiancee who got into an accident. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and is very incapacitated and it's one of the most emotional stories I have ever seen. He starts to sing and it's very compelling. It's not the best audition I have ever seen, but with the emotional story and a decent voice I'd put him through. The judges agree and they bring his fiancee in to say yes. Very emotional stuff.

How Were The Judges?:

Steven Tyler has elevated my like into almost love because he is all kinds of good crazy. Steven Tyler is getting a bit better with the honesty and not sugar coating it when the contestants are terrible. It's definitely not Simon Cowell mean, but it's at least honest.

Jennifer Lopez is starting to identify the crazies from the good. She can tell right away if they are just kidding around or are legitimately there because they deserve to be. Although the guys crack up, she stays stoic and tries to give respect to the contestants. I definitely like this about her. She doesn't play around with them, if she doesn't like it she lets them go pretty quickly.

Randy Jackson always goes with the sob story. If one judge says "yes" and the other says "no", he tends to go with "yes". This kind of thing goes back to past years and other judges as well. I remember last year Kara and Shania Twain begged and pleaded for Randy to put someone through, and even though he was hesitant he eventually succumbed to it. Randy is the senior member of the judges table, at this point he needs to learn to put his foot down.

How Was The Show?:

53 Milwaukee contestants make it through to Hollywood.

Unfortunately, we have learned that if you have borderline talent, and cry and beg and plead you will get through almost all the time. I don't like this at all. I know they don't really care how many people go to Hollywood because they will get rid of them later, but if they don't care then why should we? The show loses some respectability and credibility when they let someone they know won't win go to Hollywood.

Although I believe that the 15 year old contestants are decent, I do think that the judges might have been advised to put more in than they might want to just so the producers can say that their decision to lower the age was a good one. They don't want to make it look like they made a mistake, so they let them in even if they are borderline. That's just a theory, it may be wrong, but if it's right then that's kind of messed up.

2 Hours is still a bit too much for an audition round, but for some reason this episode went quicker than the first 2 hour show. It might have to do with the fact the judges are getting more comfortable and maybe we the audience are getting more comfortable with them.

Please join us back here tomorrow January 27th for more audition rounds, this time from Nashville. If you like the blog please come back and if you don't, please don't tell anyone that you don't. Either way hope to see you back here at I'dol Be The Judge tomorrow.