Welcome back everyone. Well tonight kicks off the beginning of the 12th season of American Idol. That's right 12 whole years. It's a lot. But no matter what incarnations it has been through it is still on and we are still watching, we are still listening to the music and we are reading recaps. So I Thank everyone that has read our blog and will continue throughout this season. The audition rounds can become repetitive after awhile so stick with us and we'll get you through it.
They start the show in one of the coolest ways. They had last year's American Idol Winner Phillip Phillips sing his famous song "Home" and then begin the whole experience of the new season by showing us how great most of the past American Idol winners have done and why this show is still relevant. After 12 seasons and a ton of other singing competitions, no other show comes close to the success of this show and I like how they reintroduced the brand to us.
The show introduces us to the Judging panel. Firstly, Randy Jackson, then Keith Urban, next Nicki Minaj and finally Mariah Carey.
The opening gets a little long, but finally after a good amount of time they finally get to the contestants and the whole auditioning process.
Before the first contestants comes in Nicki and Mariah "jokingly" get into it about Nicki's hat.So with that, here we go.
Contestants & More...:
Michael Buonopane, Oh No, he just comes in all crazy. He is too crazy to even really sing and immediately gets a No from the panel.
Nicki and Mariah throw a few jabs at one another, again all "jokingly".
Tenna Torres is an alumni of "Camp Mariah" a camp that you perform and sing at, she was able to sing for Mariah when she was 13 or something. Tenna, pronounced "Tina" was decent, a little theatrical, but given her Idol is Mariah Carey I am not surprised. She is sent to Hollywood.
They show a montage of a few people but we don't know their names. They seem decent, but given that we don't know their names it must mean they don't make it too much further than Hollywood.
James Bae is next and as he said "it'd be a miracle" if he was sent through, because he is dreadful. He wants to "collide" with Nicki Minaj, meaning collaboration. Randy just clearly tells him not to sing. We also learn Nicki wanted to be a City Bus Driver. Alrighty.
Christina "Isabelle" supposedly has and continues to battle weight issues, but that doesn't quite matter since her voice is incredibly beautiful. I don't quite understand why they put quotes around her last name, but other than that she was great. Keith loves her humanity and confidence and so does Nicki Minaj. She is sent straight to Hollywood.
Evan Ruggiero is next. He is a cancer survivor and has a pretty incredible back story, he lost his leg due to the cancer yet he is a one-legged tap dancer, so that is awesome. His voice is lacking though. He sounds better with the guitar than without it but Keith Urban doesn't know if all the star-factor is there yet. The panel also doesn't think he is there yet either, so a "No" to Hollywood.
The next bit is a little odd. Randy Jackson heads down to Staten Island and tells a girl named Jessica Kartalis that she gets to sing in front of the judges panel. So the next second we get to see her with the judges. They ask her to sing an original of hers and she messes it up due to nerves. Nicki Minaj doesn't think that she is ready and neither does the rest of the panel. They tell her to come back next season.
Hailing from Israel is Shira Gavrielov. She sounds interesting, pretty different. Gets a unanimous "Yes" and is sent to Hollywood.
Then on the last day of Day 1 the final contestant of the day is Frankie Ford. I like the pureness of his voice but the nerves catch up to him quick. He regains his composure and sounds pretty nice. He has a little of nuance to his voice. Keith Urban think he has a lot to his voice and his dynamic. Nicki doesn't think he has the best voice of the day but thinks he has a story to tell that needs to be told. He is sent to Hollywood.
Wearing Michael Jackson's wardrobe from the 1980s and a wig that resembles Lionel Richie circa 1974 is Benjamin Gaisey. The leather from his Michael Jackson jacket and pants makes it sounds like he is passing gas the entire time. Honestly if he was it couldn't have been worse than his voice and audition.
Rozanna Sindelman is someone I kinda wanted to like, but it didn't work at all. Although her parents feel that her voice gives them chills I think it is for the wrong reason. Chills in the wrong way for sure. Randy think it was bad and Keith agrees. Not good.
The show then shows a bunch of bad auditions and then a whole bunch of people crying.
To change things up a bit is New Jersey-country girl Sarah Restuccio. She starts by singing a Carrie Underwood song and sounds alright. There is something there, her tone and pitch were pretty on point. Then crazily she sings Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass". Talk about extreme opposites. Pretty cool actually how she can do well in both genres. The panel is confused about which way she will go with her voice, but Nicki thinks that she shouldn't have to choose yet. The panel sends her to Hollywood.
We then get the guy that Idol always puts on, the guy that needs subtitles. They always do this, they find a person that they can almost make fun of because he doesn't speak perfect English. His name is Albert Chang. He cannot sing, and he shouldn't have been put through to this point. He tries and hits some crazy weird high pitch part of the song. I give Mariah and Keith credit for not immediately breaking down and laughing. Especially when Nicki says that he has better range than Mariah.
Then we see a montage of Nicki speaking in a British accent. Yep, she did it, and yes they showed it.
Angela Miller pops up next and explains that she has severe hearing problems. For not being able to hear 100% she sounded pretty great. The judges are impressed. Nicki said that she felt something in her soul. Mariah loved her tone. They send her to Hollywood.
As a 7 time audition round trier outer Brett Holt is back again. The show kind of manipulates the audition a little with what they thought was super funny. But it was kind of lame. Eh, not even worth a mention, it was silly.
The Turbanator, this is what he nicknames himself, and again not sure why Idol on their very first night had to do a gimmicky, unfunny clip piece on Gurpreet Singh Sarin, and how he likes to switch up his turban based on his outfit. It was just a waste of time because this guy actually does have a good voice. Nicki doesn't think he has a stand out voice and Keith doesn't think it is strong enough. Mariah and Randy agree to send him, Keith disagrees, but Nicki Minaj sends him through.
Ashleee Felciano is last of the night. She and her family foster and adopt medically complex children. I am glad that we know that and that she seems to be a great person, and I am equally as pleased to say she does have a very dynamic beautiful voice. I think she can work on her pitch a little but it was really pure and as Mariah said, she has potential. With Ashlee's very large family included, she is send straight to Hollywood.
Best of The Night?
Christina "Isabelle", although I still don't get her last name and the " " around it, I enjoyed her voice a lot. I hope we see more of her.
Final Thoughts:
--We learn 41 people are sent to Hollywood, yet we only see about 7 good ones.
--Sometimes Mariah was combative for no reason, but she does it incredibly under the radar and very passive-aggressively. Nicki Minaj is not a passive aggressive type of person, she is an aggressive-aggressive type of person, so I can see why they are not getting a long already.
--Not a bad first night, a few stand outs, I do hope we get a few more great singers and maybe a little more focus on the good contestants and a little less on the judges, but I doubt that.
Well how did you like Night 1? Do you agree with our choice for Best of the Night? Disagree? Let us know in the comments if you so choose. Either way come on back tomorrow after the next episode of American Idol. So until then, see ya!
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