By M. Giant
is Reed Grimm, the kid from Wisconsin who's been his family band's Chris Partridge since age two. Again drawing from the visual arts from his song choice (you may recall he entered with the theme from Family Matters), he's singing the apropos "I've Got a Golden Ticket" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It's all jazzy and scatty and not entirely well-advised, but he gets a standing ovation from the crowd in the auditorium.
is Travis Orlando, who didn't make it past round one of Hollywood week last year. Alas, he's still homeless and abandoned by his mother, but at least he's been practicing. "Season Eleven is my year, "he tells us, as though that's not a terribly sad thing to say. He sounds okay, though.
Phillip and Reed are moving on, but Travis is told, "Not this year." Ouch. "I gotta go back to nothing, nothing at all," he tells us tearfully. Well, there's always year. And the . And the .
Cue the montage of emotional ejectees, including Ramiro Garcia, the man born without ears; Wolf the rockabilly mechanic; and Steven-kissing blonde Jenny Schick. They were just a few of the 68 losers who got the boot on Day One.
On to Day Two. The judges are relaxed and banal as always when they arrive, but the contestants are nervous, with the notable exception of Adam Brock, a Barenaked Ladies-looking dude who sang "Stormy Weather" in Pittsburgh so well that I don't remember him at all, even with the aid of a flashback. He'll be missing his baby daughter while he's in Hollywood, but he's sucking it up and singing "Walking in Memphis" at Jennifer's request. He sounds pretty amazing.
Then it's on to Jane Carrey, who, as in San Diego, may or may not have been allowed to walk right in at an appointed time rather than waiting with everyone else. After she sings a CCR song, it's decision time for this line, and Jane's part of the group that steps forward, while Adam stays where he is, and it's the back row that gets to stay. So Jane's done, although she did get further than she would have done if her last name didn't have two Rs in it. She's pretty bummed about it, but she tells us she talked to her dad, who, after all, knows a little something about rejection, particularly after nobody went to see his last half-dozen movies.
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