At first I thought it was sort of a jip that the New York and Puerto Rico auditions were forcibly crammed into one hour.
Then again, I’m biased. I’m from Puerto Rico and I was hoping it would get the full “Idol” production the way a metropolis like Jacksonville already has. I also felt that New York HAD to have a lot of great undiscovered talent to offer, right?
Of course, after actually watching the episode, I understand the decision. If THAT’s the best that New York and Puerto Rico really have to offer, then they deserve to be shoved into the same episode. (They could’ve thrown in the poopy San Francisco auditions too while they were at it.) Featuring Puerto Rico and New York also makes sense given that there are probably just as many Puerto Ricans in New York as there are in Puerto Rico.
It’s just a shame that the show doesn’t appear to have found the potential Latin superstar it was looking for, the closest we got was Jorge Nuñez (pictured, right), who sang “My Way” in Spanish and “What a Wonderful World” in English. I’d definitely stop short of calling him “brilliant” the way Randy did, and his voice is definitely more generic-sounding in English, but he could potentially corner the Latin market if Hispanic viewers decide they want a Latin Idol.
Then again, his competition from San Juan was pretty weak. Let’s be honest here: Monique Garcia Torres got through because she has an adorable little brother who has all the charisma and confidence she needs. (Trend alert: People will start bringing their cute kids/siblings to auditions next year.) Meanwhile, I actually like Patricia Lewis Roman a lot more than the judges did. The problem was that she committed an unforgiveable sin on “Idol” and tried to sing Whitney. Personally, I thought she sounded very strong, but the judges are right in that, no matter who sings, they’re going to pail in comparison. Despite her unfortunate song choice, I felt like she should’ve clearly (not barely) been put through.
The other shame of Wednesday’s audition is that we had to wait until the very last audition episode to see the funniest train wrecks (saving the best of the worst for last). Or at least the funniest INTENTIONAL train wrecks.
It’s one (cruel) thing to parade delusional hopefuls out there who have no idea they can’t sing, and it’s another to put through attention-whores whose shtick ends up falling flat. However, I thought Joel Contreras and Nick “Norman Gentle” Mitchell were both genuinely funny attention whores.
Contreras (pictured, left) had me as soon as he started his impromptu scream-o song about an oblivious guy making ice cream. I didn’t care for the jumping into walls or cars, but his Guy-Pod thing (including surprisingly genuine clicking noises) was a nice touch. The icing on the cake was the lion puppet and a quick rendition of “Circle of Life” (I’m down for any “Lion King” reference), though Simon wasn’t nearly as amused.
Norman Gentle, on the other hand, was probably trying too hard with the Richard Simmons-lite act (headband and too-short shorts) and his “Ryan and Simon” are gay joke is about two years too old, but I thought he was amusing too. I don’t remember a contestant dipping his toes into both audition categories (complete disaster and serious audition) so successfully. I agreed with Kara that he was entertaining and didn’t have a shot in hell in the competition. The difference is, to me, that means I wouldn’t have sent him through. (I’m glad these audition episodes are over since Kara lost credibility with each one.)
The rest of the New York auditions weren’t that much better. The standout was definitely Jackie Tohn, who brought a husky, strong tone to “I’m Yours” that kinda made Jason Mraz sound like a wimp. However, I worry that Jackie might be another one of those “Is she good or is she just different” contestants. Her second, original song was more encouraging.
There was also Melinda Camille who had some vocal problems on “Feeling Good”, but thoroughly delighted the judges with her positive energy and tales of nude dancing, so they let her through.
After sprinting through three more successful, encouraging auditions (who needs to see those, right) we got the return of Alexis Cohen, who apparently did NOT go into “actressing.”
She came back with a softer look which made her look considerably less like Willem Dafoe. Unfortunately, she also came back sounding even worse than she did during her unsuccessful audition. After her failure to do “Like a Prayer” justice, we just knew it was only a matter of time before her next meltdown and she didn’t disappoint, giving Simon the middle finger. I bet a lot of people who meet Simon feel like doing that. In the end, I didn’t enjoy Alexis’ appearance as much as I did the first time – the sequel’s rarely as good as the first.
So what’d you think of this episode? Did you wish we had seen more of New York and/or Puerto Rico? Are you glad audition season is over? Finally, who are you looking forward to seeing again at Hollywood Week?
Then again, I’m biased. I’m from Puerto Rico and I was hoping it would get the full “Idol” production the way a metropolis like Jacksonville already has. I also felt that New York HAD to have a lot of great undiscovered talent to offer, right?
Of course, after actually watching the episode, I understand the decision. If THAT’s the best that New York and Puerto Rico really have to offer, then they deserve to be shoved into the same episode. (They could’ve thrown in the poopy San Francisco auditions too while they were at it.) Featuring Puerto Rico and New York also makes sense given that there are probably just as many Puerto Ricans in New York as there are in Puerto Rico.
It’s just a shame that the show doesn’t appear to have found the potential Latin superstar it was looking for, the closest we got was Jorge Nuñez (pictured, right), who sang “My Way” in Spanish and “What a Wonderful World” in English. I’d definitely stop short of calling him “brilliant” the way Randy did, and his voice is definitely more generic-sounding in English, but he could potentially corner the Latin market if Hispanic viewers decide they want a Latin Idol.
Then again, his competition from San Juan was pretty weak. Let’s be honest here: Monique Garcia Torres got through because she has an adorable little brother who has all the charisma and confidence she needs. (Trend alert: People will start bringing their cute kids/siblings to auditions next year.) Meanwhile, I actually like Patricia Lewis Roman a lot more than the judges did. The problem was that she committed an unforgiveable sin on “Idol” and tried to sing Whitney. Personally, I thought she sounded very strong, but the judges are right in that, no matter who sings, they’re going to pail in comparison. Despite her unfortunate song choice, I felt like she should’ve clearly (not barely) been put through.
The other shame of Wednesday’s audition is that we had to wait until the very last audition episode to see the funniest train wrecks (saving the best of the worst for last). Or at least the funniest INTENTIONAL train wrecks.
It’s one (cruel) thing to parade delusional hopefuls out there who have no idea they can’t sing, and it’s another to put through attention-whores whose shtick ends up falling flat. However, I thought Joel Contreras and Nick “Norman Gentle” Mitchell were both genuinely funny attention whores.
Contreras (pictured, left) had me as soon as he started his impromptu scream-o song about an oblivious guy making ice cream. I didn’t care for the jumping into walls or cars, but his Guy-Pod thing (including surprisingly genuine clicking noises) was a nice touch. The icing on the cake was the lion puppet and a quick rendition of “Circle of Life” (I’m down for any “Lion King” reference), though Simon wasn’t nearly as amused.
Norman Gentle, on the other hand, was probably trying too hard with the Richard Simmons-lite act (headband and too-short shorts) and his “Ryan and Simon” are gay joke is about two years too old, but I thought he was amusing too. I don’t remember a contestant dipping his toes into both audition categories (complete disaster and serious audition) so successfully. I agreed with Kara that he was entertaining and didn’t have a shot in hell in the competition. The difference is, to me, that means I wouldn’t have sent him through. (I’m glad these audition episodes are over since Kara lost credibility with each one.)
The rest of the New York auditions weren’t that much better. The standout was definitely Jackie Tohn, who brought a husky, strong tone to “I’m Yours” that kinda made Jason Mraz sound like a wimp. However, I worry that Jackie might be another one of those “Is she good or is she just different” contestants. Her second, original song was more encouraging.
There was also Melinda Camille who had some vocal problems on “Feeling Good”, but thoroughly delighted the judges with her positive energy and tales of nude dancing, so they let her through.
After sprinting through three more successful, encouraging auditions (who needs to see those, right) we got the return of Alexis Cohen, who apparently did NOT go into “actressing.”
She came back with a softer look which made her look considerably less like Willem Dafoe. Unfortunately, she also came back sounding even worse than she did during her unsuccessful audition. After her failure to do “Like a Prayer” justice, we just knew it was only a matter of time before her next meltdown and she didn’t disappoint, giving Simon the middle finger. I bet a lot of people who meet Simon feel like doing that. In the end, I didn’t enjoy Alexis’ appearance as much as I did the first time – the sequel’s rarely as good as the first.
So what’d you think of this episode? Did you wish we had seen more of New York and/or Puerto Rico? Are you glad audition season is over? Finally, who are you looking forward to seeing again at Hollywood Week?
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