We start tonight with a montage of The Chamber and some of the people who have already been through it. And tonight, they'll be doing the same thing in Omaha! Which I guess is the only thing they could think of to say about Omaha.
Ryan chauffeurs the three judges in one SUV limo, so it's nice to see the show trying to reduce its carbon footprint for once, even if it does result in tired banter (it does). University of Nebraska student Quaid Edwards is starting things off, and it just so happens that his mom is a country singer who used to tour with Keith Urban when she was in something called Jolie & the Wanted. He goes into the audition room and fortunately Keith remembers his mom, otherwise that would have been a little awkward. He sings "A Change is Gonna Come," without entirely blowing away the judges. He's good looking and Jennifer likes him, though he doesn't hit all the notes in those runs he does for no reason. Keith tells him that runs are for when you feel it, and Harry hasn't even started in on him yet. In fact, Harry tells him that he's headed in the wrong direction. Quaid impresses them by listening to them, so now they have an excuse to give him three yeses and avoid pissing off Keith's former coworker. Who comes into the room for a hug or two from Keith before they exit to a huge celebration outside. Keith remarks that Harry's room sounded like that the night before, and wonders why. "Do we have time?" Harry asks.
Ryan attempts to chat with Simon Hauck, a 17-year-old with too much cowboy hat and not enough mustache. His audition song is "Sold" by John Michael Montgomery, which Jennifer loves, but he's not good. is a girl who asks the judges to sing her "Happy Birthday" and gets a no, which apparently starts a streak of them. "But your work directing Argo was phenomenal," Harry tells a Ben Affleck lookalike.
is Madisen Walker, a 15-year-old from Ankeny, Iowa. She does a workmanlike version of Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats." Keith says there wasn't anything to make it stand out, but then she's only 15. Harry says something about American Idol being the only show to produce megastars, apropos of nothing. Jennifer gives her a yes, and after some thought, so does Keith. I'm starting to think they're letting some people through just so we can remember them when they can come back in a future season
Alyssa Siebken, 20, from Fremont, Nebraska comes in with a solo-acoustic version of "No Hands" by Wocka Flocka Flame, not the one by Ani DiFranco. Jennifer makes an oblique allusion to Jonathan Coulton's "Baby Got Back" cover having already gone to where Alyssa just went, but she was impressed with her breath control, at least, and gives her a yes. Harry's a no, but Keith wants to see what she does and gives her a yes. So now she gets to go out and take that "victory selfie" she arranged with Ryan before going in there. Which will probably be the high point of the competition for her.
Tyler Gurwicz, 25, is doing his part to bring Adele back around to played out again. He's not bad, exactly, but he's not quite right, either. Harry says he doesn't know where he'd put him in the competition, which isn't really his problem. Keith adds that he looks angry when he sings, but Jennifer liked that. She gives him a yes, and Keith a no, which gives Harry pause, but he says no, even though he likes him. The bottom line is that Harry doesn't think he can do anything else, which isn't really a fair assessment based on one data point. But then Tyler's left standing there stumped all the way into the ads, so maybe Harry's right after all. Again.
But after the ads, Tyler does something pretty different at the last possible second. Harry starts talking about the "long-term arc of American Idol," which again isn't his job at this stage, and then Tyler comes out of the room looking downcast -- until he waves that ticket he got after all. Inside the room, Harry calls it his first slip in judgment. Sure of ourselves, aren't we?
Montage of the judges interviewing, talking about people who beg and certain "characters," like a guy who impersonates presidents. And that segues into Tyler Marshall, 23, who's got a passionate version of "Proud Mary" that seems like exactly what the judges have been missing today. Harry says they don't want to waste his time…because it was great. He gets though easily, and happily, and very, very loudly.
A very un-Omaha-looking kid comes in and says he's going to sing "Stand By Me." Harry dad-jokes that, no, he's got to sit behind the table, but C.J Jones deadpans right back at him, "No, get over here," and Harry's impressed enough to actually do it. He stands there stiffly until C.J. starts singing with a soulful voice, whereupon Harry's got to start dancing. He doesn't even mind when C.J. skips a beat, though he obviously doesn't let it pass without comment and acts like it's forcing him to dance like a white guy. Which he does, and C.J. gets his golden ticket, so it's all good.
Dajontae Lenear, 16, from Minneapolis, has a crush on Jennifer Lopez going in, and she says he's the cutest thing she's ever seen. He acts thrown by it, but pulls it together enough to do a decent job with his audition. Dylan Becker, 17, from St. Louis, is also doing a good job. So they're both going to Hollywood like shit through a goose.
Paula Hunt, 20, is an Air Force band singer, which is, as it turns out, a thing that exists. She sings "All I Can Do Is Cry" by Etta James, in a way anyone could believe. And then she tells a story about her mom who had a recording contract but lost her voice to MS in 2007, which is just frosting on the frosting at this point. They all like her, and Harry even likes the way she does runs. Yeses from all three of them, duh, even though Keith is apparently the only one whose music she likes.
1 2 3 4
Andrina Brogden is 18 and from Fargo, and she hopes to put North Dakota on the map. What better place to do that than in Nebraska? She goes in and sings "Halo" with a nice voice and a bit of range, but also with what Jennifer thinks is a bit of fear. Harry thinks she's better than average but not strong enough for Idol. He's on his own there, because Keith disagrees. He and Jennifer both say yes, so she gets her chance to go to Hollywood.
Speaking of the Dakotas, the kid is from Sioux Falls and claims to be a singer and a square dance caller. He overlaughs at Harry's joke about square dancing being like domestic abuse and then sort of sings "On the Road Again" without ever unslinging the guitar on his back. The judges are struck dumb, and when he comes out empty-handed, his dad looks at his back to make sure he didn't have a golden ticket tucked behind him. He needn't have worried.
Time for just a few more auditions. Is it me, or did they go faster this year? Whatever the case, Casey McQuillen, 21, sings a lovely version of "Skyscraper" and goes through easily. And finally, Tessa Kate, a restaurant-patio singer (and cruise ticket sales person) who works in Branson, comes in with her guitar and a somewhat plodding version of "Folsom Prison Blues" that picks up for the second verse. Also, this is probably the last chance I'll get to mention something: we've seen not only a lot of guitars this round of auditions, but a whole lot of those wireless Snark™ tuners clipped to their headstocks. Those things have gotten really inexpensive in the last couple years, so I recommend you get one. Even if you're not a musician.
Anyway, back to Tessa Kate. The judges are having a great time with her. Harry compares her to Barbara Mandrell on TV in the '70s, when he got busted kissing the screen, by Harry Connick, Sr, if you can believe it. Jennifer tries to make a compliment out of comparing her voice to that of a chipmunk, and Keith liked it too. He says yes, Harry gives her an unreserved yes, and she's in. Like the last person shown auditioning wouldn't get through. In fact, she gets the last ticket of the season. So the tally by state for the evening is one each from Vermont, Massachusetts, Arkansas, and South Carolina, with 17 Midwesterners bringing the Omaha total to 21, and the overall total to 212 people who are going to Hollywood. Starting week, already. Can you believe it? I think this is the first year the auditions actually could have gone a little longer without me wanting to kill myself.
1 2 3 4
Speaking of Hollywood, Ryan tells us that it'll be full of shocks and twists, including something to do with an airplane hangar, but none of them will rival Keith's new haircut. I guess a dude with a Keith Partridge 'do can only spend so much time with a short-haired handsome man like Harry Connick, Jr. without needing to do something about it.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis- based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at m.giant[at]gmail.com.
1 2 3 4