Well, that was better.
Then again an hours worth of footage featuring crowd shots of Louisville, Kentucky’s Churchill Down and Ryan Seacrest making painful horse-related puns would’ve been better than Tuesday’s awful audition episode in San Francisco. Of course, the show couldn’t help but annoy people by having the episode inexplicably run three minutes long and interfere with anyone who wanted to watch the “Lost” season premiere. (How much you wanna bet that overrun was intentional on Fox’s part? And Fox wonders why everyone hates them?)
So last night’s episode wasn’t great, but then again we’re at the point where we’re more than halfway through the audition episodes, the novelty of seeing horrible singers has worn off and we’re ready for the good stuff, right?
Fortunately, we got a decent dosage of the good stuff last night, including three people who are solid bets for the top 36 (and maybe even beyond) in Brent Keith Smith, Leneshe Young and Joanna Pacitti.
Brent Keith Smith (pictured, left) just sort of LOOKS like a guy who’s already a country music singer, so the fact that he’s got a pretty strong voice is a major bonus for him. I disagreed with Simon in slamming his song selection of “Can’t Get Enough” — don’t worry, Simon, there’ll be plenty of times for this guy to sing the “typical” country stuff once the show’s producers get their hands on him. (This is the part where I ignore Kara’s weird shenanigans during the judges’ mini-argument over Brent when she decided going under the table was a good idea.) I also like that the guy simply walked into the audition space and did his space without any faux-emotional video package.
Leneshe Young should go straight to the top 12 solely for giving us an original song (one called “Natty”, no less!) that wasn’t completely horrible (unless you count this one, which I actually like). Leneshe DID get the “emotional” video package, but she didn’t need it. She was one of the few contestants who actually looked and sounded like somebody who could conceivably be on the charts right now. And isn’t that why we’re here?
Finally, there’s Joanna Pacitti (pictured, right), who’s poised to become one of the more polarizing contestants. It has nothing to do with her singing (which was VERY strong, but kind of unremarkable) and more to do with the fact that she was previously signed to a major label record deal.
I know that some people out there have a big problem with contestants who’ve had record deals in the past and would really like “Idol” to be a search for the next truly undiscovered talent, and I get their beef. Personally, I don’t have a big problem with someone having a previous record deal. The bottom line is that they don’t have a record deal now, and a recording artist, or a wannabe recording artist without a record deal can, in my opinion, be just as sad as the guy who’s been singing in bars for a decade or the mom who put her singing on hold to raise kids.
I liken it to contestants on “Dancing with the Stars” who dubiously have previous dance experience and end up losing to a fan favorite who’s a real amateur and showed great improvement. In the end, resentment from fans who want their “Idol” to be a true amateur will probably end up taking Joanna out the same way backlash about a previous deal hurt Carly Smithson last year.
Besides those three, there were a couple more solid contenders. I liked dueling piano player Matt Giraud, though I wouldn’t exactly say he’s quite as good as Elliott Yamin (or anywhere near). They both, however, DO give out that slightly insecure vibe. I didn’t care THAT much for Alexis Grace, whose fiancé was in the military and Simon called very commercial. I thought she was ok, but the most interesting thing about her was when Kara inexplicably told her to go home and make love to her fiancé.
The rest ranged from mildly-entertaining to ho-hum. The latter category featured Mark Mudd, who we’d all been led to believe was the psycho guy with a gun who threatened the judges. Turns out all the mildly-incoherent dude did was tell the judges to “be careful.” I don’t believe for a second he actually meant to threaten anyone, I just think his brain and his mouth weren’t on the same page at that moment.
Then there was Rebecca Garcia, who was voted “most humorous” in her class and butchered “Before He Cheats.” Kara started laughing because she “assumed” Rebecca’s audition was a joke. I don’t buy this for a second either. You can pretty much tell who wants attention and who’s seriously delusional about their talent and this girl clearly believed she could sing. So for Kara to try to act like she thought the girl was kidding with her audition came off as a bit mean and insulting. Mostly it was a lame attempt at humor.
Then again, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a failed audition as much as Aaron “Woooo!” Williamson’s this year. The dude came in with a bunch of enthusiasm, energized the judges, inspired Kara to almost act out the orgasm scene from “When Harry Met Sally”, and took his rejection shockingly well. Then there was Tiffany Shedd, who said she’d go to college if her audition didn’t work out. Predictably she was terrible, and Paula advised her to follow through on her plans.
See, this show isn’t ALL bad. It’s sending people to college!
So what’d you think of this episode? Is Kara trying to become the loopy judge? Honestly, what is the point of Randy Jackson? Finally, do you see any of the Louisville people making the top 12?
Then again an hours worth of footage featuring crowd shots of Louisville, Kentucky’s Churchill Down and Ryan Seacrest making painful horse-related puns would’ve been better than Tuesday’s awful audition episode in San Francisco. Of course, the show couldn’t help but annoy people by having the episode inexplicably run three minutes long and interfere with anyone who wanted to watch the “Lost” season premiere. (How much you wanna bet that overrun was intentional on Fox’s part? And Fox wonders why everyone hates them?)
So last night’s episode wasn’t great, but then again we’re at the point where we’re more than halfway through the audition episodes, the novelty of seeing horrible singers has worn off and we’re ready for the good stuff, right?
Fortunately, we got a decent dosage of the good stuff last night, including three people who are solid bets for the top 36 (and maybe even beyond) in Brent Keith Smith, Leneshe Young and Joanna Pacitti.
Brent Keith Smith (pictured, left) just sort of LOOKS like a guy who’s already a country music singer, so the fact that he’s got a pretty strong voice is a major bonus for him. I disagreed with Simon in slamming his song selection of “Can’t Get Enough” — don’t worry, Simon, there’ll be plenty of times for this guy to sing the “typical” country stuff once the show’s producers get their hands on him. (This is the part where I ignore Kara’s weird shenanigans during the judges’ mini-argument over Brent when she decided going under the table was a good idea.) I also like that the guy simply walked into the audition space and did his space without any faux-emotional video package.
Leneshe Young should go straight to the top 12 solely for giving us an original song (one called “Natty”, no less!) that wasn’t completely horrible (unless you count this one, which I actually like). Leneshe DID get the “emotional” video package, but she didn’t need it. She was one of the few contestants who actually looked and sounded like somebody who could conceivably be on the charts right now. And isn’t that why we’re here?
Finally, there’s Joanna Pacitti (pictured, right), who’s poised to become one of the more polarizing contestants. It has nothing to do with her singing (which was VERY strong, but kind of unremarkable) and more to do with the fact that she was previously signed to a major label record deal.
I know that some people out there have a big problem with contestants who’ve had record deals in the past and would really like “Idol” to be a search for the next truly undiscovered talent, and I get their beef. Personally, I don’t have a big problem with someone having a previous record deal. The bottom line is that they don’t have a record deal now, and a recording artist, or a wannabe recording artist without a record deal can, in my opinion, be just as sad as the guy who’s been singing in bars for a decade or the mom who put her singing on hold to raise kids.
I liken it to contestants on “Dancing with the Stars” who dubiously have previous dance experience and end up losing to a fan favorite who’s a real amateur and showed great improvement. In the end, resentment from fans who want their “Idol” to be a true amateur will probably end up taking Joanna out the same way backlash about a previous deal hurt Carly Smithson last year.
Besides those three, there were a couple more solid contenders. I liked dueling piano player Matt Giraud, though I wouldn’t exactly say he’s quite as good as Elliott Yamin (or anywhere near). They both, however, DO give out that slightly insecure vibe. I didn’t care THAT much for Alexis Grace, whose fiancé was in the military and Simon called very commercial. I thought she was ok, but the most interesting thing about her was when Kara inexplicably told her to go home and make love to her fiancé.
The rest ranged from mildly-entertaining to ho-hum. The latter category featured Mark Mudd, who we’d all been led to believe was the psycho guy with a gun who threatened the judges. Turns out all the mildly-incoherent dude did was tell the judges to “be careful.” I don’t believe for a second he actually meant to threaten anyone, I just think his brain and his mouth weren’t on the same page at that moment.
Then there was Rebecca Garcia, who was voted “most humorous” in her class and butchered “Before He Cheats.” Kara started laughing because she “assumed” Rebecca’s audition was a joke. I don’t buy this for a second either. You can pretty much tell who wants attention and who’s seriously delusional about their talent and this girl clearly believed she could sing. So for Kara to try to act like she thought the girl was kidding with her audition came off as a bit mean and insulting. Mostly it was a lame attempt at humor.
Then again, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a failed audition as much as Aaron “Woooo!” Williamson’s this year. The dude came in with a bunch of enthusiasm, energized the judges, inspired Kara to almost act out the orgasm scene from “When Harry Met Sally”, and took his rejection shockingly well. Then there was Tiffany Shedd, who said she’d go to college if her audition didn’t work out. Predictably she was terrible, and Paula advised her to follow through on her plans.
See, this show isn’t ALL bad. It’s sending people to college!
So what’d you think of this episode? Is Kara trying to become the loopy judge? Honestly, what is the point of Randy Jackson? Finally, do you see any of the Louisville people making the top 12?
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