Auditions Part 4: Aspen

Gotta admit last week was one of the best first weeks of American Idol auditions in a really long time. I think the focus on really good performers, rather than the continual mockery of terrible contestants really made the show more cohesive, made it more legitimate. I know they have to pepper in some bad auditions in there, some ridiculous moments, but having the majority of the episodes focus on the good, rather than the bad really made a difference in the first week.

Now we are in the second week of auditions and we'll see if we can find a few more potentially good contestants. The show is in Aspen for the first time ever so that should be fun, I guess, I mean I'm not in Aspen they were, so it doesn't affect me, but there ya go.

As a side note we've added a new section to this blog during audition rounds called "Um, Really?", this is a section where we will pick one contestant who probably didn't deserve the golden ticket but got one anyway. This is also a way for us to see later on if we were right in our thinking or if we just look plain foolish because they ended up being so good. It's a win-win for all. So with that let's get to it:

I've Got A Golden Ticket(Going to Hollywood):

*Jenni Schick(24). Um I didn't really like her whole shtick, sorry couldn't help the pun. But I really didn't, the whole thing about how Steven Tyler is on her "kiss list" and that she wanted Ryan to give her a kiss. She settled for just Steven this time, on the lips in fact. Given he is recently engaged he probably should have went for the hug or cheek kiss, but that's his problem I suppose. Either way she's a little loud, a little crazy, but the judges want to see her and her high energy again.

*Curtis Gray(28). He has some voice, nothing too unbelievable in my opinion, at least not yet. J.Lo thinks he is good looking and has a great voice. I guess so, we'll see, either way he is on his way to Hollywood.

*Haley Smith(18). Weird, really terrible start, but she grooved a little towards the middle. Steven loved it a ton and feels honored to be near her voice. Um, I don't get it. Didn't enjoy, but the 3 judges loved it. She's different, which I do like, so we'll see with this one. 

*Shelby Twarren(17). Recently diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, she feels American Idol has given her something to believe in. That's a pretty cool statement. What's even cooler is that she has a really decent voice. Definitely not the strongest ever, but it's sweet and has a nice tone to it and when she went to the high notes she hit them really perfectly. Loads of potential, we'll see her a lot I'm thinking.

*Jairon Jackson(19). His voice seems pretty solid. Singing his own song is maybe not the best idea, but he sang it pretty well. Nothing hugely special, but not bad at all. But in his excitement he completely tore up his golden ticket, and destroyed one of the lights so that's kinda funny. We'll see how he does in Hollywood.

*Angie Zeiderman(25): A spectacle indeed. Inside of the mess of showtunes and Lady Gaga-ness lies a little tiny voice. "She's in her own world" says Randy. True is true.

And The Rest(Also Going to Hollywood):  Richie Law, Devan Jone, Mathanee Trecco and 22 others.

Bye Bye Bye(Going Home):

 *Tealana Hedgespeth(19). Twin sister, living in her sister's shadow, it's an interesting story. As J.Lo told Steven though, "If you ask her for another song, I'm gonna kill you". That pretty much sums up this sister. Not good, really not good. Good try, she looked cute, and seemed like she had the energy, but voice was just not there at all.

*Alanna Snare(22). Too bad with this one. She had it all going until she opened up her mouth. As Randy said he "likes her as a person", but singing just ain't her thing.

*The Magic Cyclops(?): "The Bearded Lady", "The English Iowa-in", the "Soul-less Wonder",  but mostly just "Crazy Crazy" guy. Jennifer actually asked this guy to sing two different songs. Randy excused himself to go to the bathroom and get out of the audition, I wish I left to go to the bathroom at that point too. Although I can see the entertainment in it, I didn't find it too funny. Plus 5 minutes on this kind of audition is a bit too much 

Um, Really?(If We Could Take a Golden Ticket Away):

Haley Smith. Just didn't get the love that Steven was giving her. I get that she is very retro, and doesn't sound like anything around right now, but just because it's not around doesn't mean that's a bad thing. If she can control those high notes and stay in the middle range of her voice she might do well, but her audition just was not good at all.
**Bonus Pick**: Angie Zeiderman. Yea, that was a strange one. That's all I'll say on that one.

Best of The Night

Shelby Twarren. For sure she was the best of Aspen. She has a really interesting background story, and a great look and voice to back it up with. She is definitely the standout of the night.

Final Thoughts

 *By far the weakest of the past audition shows, the talent was pretty middle of the line. Only a couple of standouts, don't know if I saw the American Idol in this bunch. You could tell that there wasn't much talent based on the amount of bad audition montages, which was two. The other episodes only had one montage. Plus there were more bad auditions than they have had in previous episodes. I believe the previous past one hour episodes only had one bad audition, this episode had 3. That says a lot. 


So there ya have it hope you enjoyed. If you want to read our past blog entries you can check it out in the archives to the left of the screen, if you want to hear our Podcast it's on the right side of the screen. Lots of things, but most of all come on back tomorrow when AI will be in Houston. See you then.