Episode Report Card Jacob Clifton: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Take Seattle To The Zoo
By Jacob Clifton | Season 6 | Episode 2 | Aired on 01.16.2007
Outside, Ryan's talking to the brother, Sanjaya (17), a floppy haired hipster child, and trying to play the rivalry card, all, "Your mom says you're the better singer," and then when he almost gets smacked by the door again, telling Shyamali ("I don't wanna create an awkward moment here," he lies) the same thing. They ignore him and hug, and Sanjaya goes in. He's very soft-seeming and small and you worry. Randy asks if he's better than his sister, and he replies sweetly that he doesn't think so. At least he's being honest, they agree. Paula takes one look at his giant grin and bouncy ways and pronounces him the wrongly accused shy one. He gets into his song, Stevie Wonder, with a quickness, and sounds great. Simon listens quietly before pronouncing him a better singer than his sister. He is, but she's cuter, so it's okay. Simon says that she has the stage presence, but he has a better voice. They yell and clap and scream.
Outside, Shyamali is listening and worried, since they loved her but didn't cheer for her, and he comes out cheering just as Ryan's asking if she's bitter about the applause. I swear to God the lack of sun is turning him into a dick this week, starting shit way more obviously than usual. You can't usually see the seams quite this easily. This time it turns out super ugly, also: Ryan asks Sanjaya who the judges liked more, and he awkwardly smiles and says he's not answering the question. Closeup on Shyamali wigging out and sad, and then the two of them being adorable in the interview booth. I'm sure they'll find some way to make this gross, on down the road. I am pulling for them both.
"Thought it couldn't get worse?" Ryan says. Fabulous. Meet Nick Zitzmann (27), who's from Midvale UT, which is "near the Salt Lake City area... let me try that again, because it is not near the Salt Lake City area, it is in the Salt Lake City area." I love this kid, I really do. Like you want to protect him and beat up some people for him. Weird software engineer crazy nerd with glassy eyes and a very inappropriate affect with strange clearing of throat and closing of eyes and long blinks and shaking and a generally overwhelmed air. If he weren't from Utah, I would say this is one of those medical issues we get pissed about, but you cross Utah with home-schooling, how bad medically does it need to be to be like this? I cannot say. I am thumbs up on Nicholas, though. He explains that he's mostly self-taught, and that he's singing "Unchained Melody" because it goes "from heeere [high and scary] down to heeeere [low and scary], and a bunch of notes in between. And I can hit all those notes." He dances crazily without blinking in the interview booth, and then he's telling Ryan how his coworkers encouraged him to try out, even though they've never heard him sing a note. Which is how you know you're the Charlie Gordon and ought to stay at home. Ryan wishes him luck but is weirded out in a dickish and silent fashion. Inside, he stands in this really weird Scarecrow-like half-akimbo with one hand on his hip like he's in Li'l Abner or something, and tells them he's "anxious, but doing well." That's not going to last.