S18.E01 : Auditions 1

[MarkHB]

Quote

Hopefuls perform for the judges in Savannah GA, Milwuakee WI, Washington DC, and Los Angeles, including a subway performer from Harlem NY – a garbage collector and a hopeless romantic who encounters her own fairy-tale twist. Luke Bryan, Katy Perry, and Lionel Richie return as judges, along with Ryan Seacrest as host. Bobby Bones returns as in-house mentor.

 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

As someone who thought Alejandro was wildly overrated and propped up constantly last season, they did a great job of almost having me throw in the towel 3 minutes in.

Almost.

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by PhD-Purgatory15

[SassyCat]

 So far it's Mediocre city as far as I'm concerned. Where are the great singers?

[Annber03]

As usual, there's quite a few auditions that were...a lot (hello, Russian lady and that Hunter kid). 

But definitely glad Sam went through. Great audition to end the episode on. She's so sweet. I don't blame her for getting emotional. Hopefully as time goes on she'll get more used to the fact this is all actually happening for her :).

I'm fully on board with Arthur and Louis, too. Arthur's in the vein of a Ray LaMontangne/Paolo Nutini type, which is good in my book, and I really loved his take on that CCR song. And Louis' voice reminded me of somebody else's, too, but I can't quite put my finger on who, exactly.

So yeah. I'm glad they all got through, and I'm interested to see how they'll fare going forward. That Meghan wasn't bad, either. I liked the "Bachelor" host welcoming her to Hollywood, that was cute.  

Sanveria was good, too, but I can also understand some of the critique about her. I could also see her prior experience being an issue for her with some people, since she's already had something of a break into the industry. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I like Francisco 🙂 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

We only had to suffer through two ridiculous auditions in two hours, which I guess is an acceptable ratio.

Camryn: Nice voice, I feel like she's got an uphill battle in what will probably be an extremely crowded "teen girls w/ guitars" lane.

Unless you can prove you were in the hospital, if you get a golden ticket and no-show Hollywood anyway....then that should disqualify you from any further AI auditions.

Arthur Gunn-Excellent mimic of both Dylan and Fogerty. For that alone, I'm okay with him getting a GT. Moving forward, I hope he can start to give performances that don't sound like carbon copies of other artists' performances.

Megan Fitness-Thanks for the chance to cross promote the Bachelor, now she will never been seen again in all of Hollywood week.

Just Sam- IMO, she either faked the inability to get through the Lauren Daigle song for dramatic effect...or she is going to be that uber-annoying contestant that literally breaks down before, during, and after every single obstacle she faces in Hollywood. And the judges will continue to give her passes that become more and more undeserved.

Overall, I'm surprised that tonight wasn't an avalanche of country singers. And if we get a procession of Alejandro wannabees as the audition episodes continue, that will make me a very sad AI viewer.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm still watching .  Arthur Dabesh (Sp?) from Nepal is cool too.

[Suzysite]

I thought Saveria had a great voice, but her mistake was in song choice.   She should have asked if she could do another one.  They let people do second songs all the time... like Arthur.

[Ladyrain]

I miss Simon more now than ever.   Not to scorch the contestants, though.   I'd love to see him stick it to Katy.    She's so over the top.   I few well-placed put downs from Simon would be very welcome.  

And it's so obvious that the show is basically scripted ahead of time, with judges asking 'pertinent' questions of  contestants, to the whole Bachelor thing.   It's fine; it's a show and shows are all about ratings.   But pretending that it's all in the judges hands for each singer is insulting our intelligence.

Don't mind me; I abhor the auditions portions.   More accurately, I abhor the drama and backstories.   Just come in and sing.   As Simon was so fond of saying, "It's a singing competition!"

[Blissfool]

Once again, I've been suckered in. 18 years and counting. 

The garbage man had me in tears.

I liked Francisco.

I liked the not-humble guy.

I liked the Bachelor fan.

I liked Arthur Gunn.

I agree with Lionel and Luke about Saveria. It's weird that they dragged out her "No." I think she might be brought back.

I liked Sam's story, but I didn't like the "Just Sam" thing.

[stcroix]

38 minutes ago, Ladyrain said:

I miss Simon more now than ever.   Not to scorch the contestants, though.   I'd love to see him stick it to Katy.    She's so over the top.   I few well-placed put downs from Simon would be very welcome.  

And it's so obvious that the show is basically scripted ahead of time, with judges asking 'pertinent' questions of  contestants, to the whole Bachelor thing.   It's fine; it's a show and shows are all about ratings.   But pretending that it's all in the judges hands for each singer is insulting our intelligence.

Don't mind me; I abhor the auditions portions.   More accurately, I abhor the drama and backstories.   Just come in and sing.   As Simon was so fond of saying, "It's a singing competition!"

Oh how I miss the Simon Cowell days! These three judges are so over the top--leaping up to the stage if a contestant even looks like they need a hankie, etc. I always knew the show was scripted but there was still that little ''what if?" that accompanied each singer.  Now you know production has done the research thoroughly on these kids/people and put together exactly what they think we want to see.  I hate the backstories-- and yet they still make me tear up!😖

[Ms Blue Jay]

47 minutes ago, Blissfool said:

I liked the not-humble guy.

I thought it was really weird the way Lionel treated him.

[Blissfool]

13 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I thought it was really weird the way Lionel treated him.

I agree. I understand what he was doing, I just found it so against the current culture in which we must encourage and motivate. I guess we should talk people up UNLESS they are too up already, then should shoot them down. 😉

[Prairie Fire]

9 hours ago, Ladyrain said:

And it's so obvious that the show is basically scripted ahead of time, with judges asking 'pertinent' questions of  contestants, to the whole Bachelor thing.   It's fine; it's a show and shows are all about ratings.   But pretending that it's all in the judges hands for each singer is insulting our intelligence.

Agreed! It's ridiculous how these auditions have turned into these ridiculously orchestrated, overproduced set pieces. They should go back to the format from the first few seasons when they had lots of auditions stuffed into every audition ep, but the producers probably figured they need to attract a fanbase for their chosen ones right away.

I liked "Arthur Gunn" (the Nepalese guy) the most. And the judges did him a favor asking him to look at them. That was actually an improvement!

[saber5055]

11 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I thought it was really weird the way Lionel treated him.

The weird part to me was Lionel then explaining himself instead of sending that smart-ass kid home, which is what he deserved. Such a jerk. The kid, not Lionel, who said everything I was thinking.

Big YES to this being so scripted, it's OTT fake. Like that Russian chick just conveniently having her "card" tucked into her shoulder after she was asked to do a second performance. And I totally could have done w/o her profanity-laced rant about how stupid the judges are. We know, we know, you think you are perfect but you sucked. Get over it.

[sempervivum]

I think the harshness with Nick (the guy who walked off last year) is to forestall viewer resentment that he's getting an unwarranted second chance, especially when word gets out that he has an extensive show biz history. Any man who looks like that is almost guaranteed to be cocky, imo.

I really liked Arthur, and it is amazing that someone from such a different world could absorb American culture to the extent that his singing can be compared favorably to the home-grown Phillip Phillips of 2012.

I feel sad for Just Sam. She has a good enough voice, but she needs a lot of training, and she's doomed herself with that scary/ugly neck tattoo. I also fear for her on the increasingly violent subways of NYC.

[Ms Blue Jay]

57 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

I think the harshness with Nick (the guy who walked off last year) is to forestall viewer resentment that he's getting an unwarranted second chance, especially when word gets out that he has an extensive show biz history. Any man who looks like that is almost guaranteed to be cocky, imo.

What's his last name?

[Ms Blue Jay]

Does anyone know what song was playing in the background of Katy's tantrum when they wouldn't put that girl with the eyeliner (Savaria?) through?

Edited February 17, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[sempervivum]

11 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

What's his last name?

Merico

[PBnJay]

I liked Arthur Gunn best. The others that went through I liked too. Agree with the ones that were sent home..

Edited February 17, 2020 by PBnJay

[sempervivum]

1 hour ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Does anyone know what song was playing in the background of Katy's tantrum when they wouldn't put that girl with the eyeliner (Savaria?) through?

I didn't even notice it, because I was so amazed that Katy would wander around in a shiny fringed jumpsuit that made her look 3 months pregnant.

[OLynn33]

On 2/16/2020 at 10:42 PM, Suzysite said:

I thought Saveria had a great voice, but her mistake was in song choice.   She should have asked if she could do another one.  They let people do second songs all the time... like Arthur.

I didn't understand this either. I was waiting for them to say show us another song. And they were also weirdly negative with Lionel saying something like I'm a no for now because I think she needs to do the discovery work. The only thing that Saveria will discover is she didn't fit the narrative.

But continuing with things I didn't understand, fitness girl was not "incredible."

Regarding Nick and whether or not he should have been sent home, he's a hot guy with a strut and look reminiscent of a young Elvis. He also has personal issues which I'm sure will come to light, and talent, he's tv gold.

Edited February 18, 2020 by OLynn33

[ForReal]

On 2/16/2020 at 9:08 PM, Blissfool said:

I agree with Lionel and Luke about Saveria. It's weird that they dragged out her "No." I think she might be brought back.

I had the same impression, that we haven't seen the last of her.

21 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Sam has a good enough voice, but she needs a lot of training, and she's doomed herself with that scary/ugly neck tattoo. I also fear for her on the increasingly violent subways of NYC.

The tattoo is unfortunate. I know tattoo removal can be painful, and I would imagine especially so on the neck area. I wish Grandma had been able to talk her out of that.

[thefog]

My favorite is Arthur Gunn.  So glad to see he's getting a lot of buzz.  He's been called the next Phillip Phillips, who is the last big winner that Idol produced - 8 years ago.  Arthur will make up for Laine "Party With" Hardy.

[Swenson]

I didn't see a potential winner in this episode...... unless it's "The Comeback".....at some point, you had to wonder if there was a switch on his back to turn him off.

[Ilovepie]

On 2/16/2020 at 9:47 PM, stcroix said:

Oh how I miss the Simon Cowell days!

 

On 2/16/2020 at 9:55 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I thought it was really weird the way Lionel treated him.

I thought both of those things - I wish Lionel had just stopped after "I don't like you." That guy is so full of himself. His voice is just ok for him to be that cocky. He needs a dose of reality.

I am a sucker. I loved the garbage man. Not sure he can navigate this craziness, but I'm rooting for him at this point.

I also liked the first girl. She had a good voice and pleasant personality. Is that enough? Probably not, but I liked her......

Overall, I think Francisco has the best shot at top 10 out of this group. Good looking, not too perfect because of the excessive sweating, and a great voice.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I mean, how old is Nick Merico, 20?

I think if a 20 year old's supposed "Cockiness" bothers you that much, it says more about the person being bothered.  Lionel is, what, 70?   And he's made to feel insecure by that?  I find that kind of creepy.  I really couldn't care less if Nick thinks he's the shit, so what?  Just judge the singing, do you like it or not?  It's creepy when the judges try to get too personal with what are relative children.  I just couldn't care less about cockiness in a singing competition.  If the singing is bad, cut him. If the singing is good, put him through, and let America decide.  No need to try to break down his spirits.  It just felt gross to me.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[TeeMo]

I don’t know why I keep coming back for more seasons of this show when every episode ends with me wanting to hit an eject button for Katy Perry’s seat but here  we are.

Lionel needs to lose his routine of getting up to go talk to each contestant close up. It is getting old. They should just move that stupid oval closer to the judges’ table if they want to be closer to the contestants.

I generally find Luke to be useless as a judge but he was very kind to the garbage man which warmed my cold cynical heart a bit. 
 

Oh good Bobby Bones is back as if Katy on her own is not annoying enough. 
 

I preferred when the auditions were grouped together by audition city and we got the narratives of “lots of talent in Atlanta today!” or “so far no one is standing out in Tacoma.” It was helpful to see the judges’ reactions in context of who they had already seen that day. It was also kind of fun to see which contestants were auditioning in the same place. I find the current format that jumps around from city to city and ridiculous Katy Perry outfit to somehow more ridiculous Katy Perry outfit to be less engaging. 
 

I liked Arthur Gunn and that was about it. 

[TeeMo]

I also laughed at Katy pulling back the curtain a bit and seeming to be genuinely amazed that Arthur had just shown up at the audition bus in Wichita with his guitar as if that wasn’t actually the premise of the show for years. Showed just how much this show now really relies on contestants that have been handpicked ahead of time before the auditions and not the masses of people lining up to audition in arenas like the old days. 

[MissSunshine]

Can someone explain to me why they took garbage man outside to sing for people before they would allow him to sing inside? That made no sense?

[limecoke]

Paula Abdul was a dream of a judge compared to Katy Perry and, in addition, while it's hard to imagine an ego bigger than JLo's, I'll take her as a judge any day over Perry.  When you think she can't get more awful, somehow she manages it.  Gack.

Underwhelmed this episode.  If I had to name early favorites...maybe the first girl to audition and the British guy.  Francisco was pretty good too.  

[InternetToughGuy]

Nice to see these threads have some life days after the episode airs compared to America's Got Talent. I hate the episodes airing on Sundays and Mondays, so I watch it later in the week just to imitate the air schedule from years ago. Overall the episode was boring; I don't remember how many good contestants there were last year, but by the Top 40 last year, I thought it was stacked to hell. Going by this episode alone - it's not looking good. The opening segment shows off how well Alejandro "dog whistle" Aranda is doing, while merely mentioning Laine Hardy's career as "taking off". Delicate phrasing of saying it's fizzling out before it started, I suppose. I do hope the attractive and talented young man proves my worthless ass wrong, though.

Doug Kiker - I guess all of the somewhat slanderous use of being from "The South" to indicate low IQ or low class is somewhat true. I just thought this audition and guy was annoying, since it came across as a modern day caveman reacting to being in civilization for the first time. It also went on way too long, especially when you know he's not going to be a fan favorite, unless dentists from all over the country will be voting for him to win the exclusive privilege of performing thousands of dollars in work on him.

Camryn Leigh Smith - I watch the auditions in one hour blocks between two nights, so I pretty much forget how this one went other than she was somewhat cute and rather innocuous. It's rather sad how the definition of a decent contestant is simply not being annoying.

Francisco Martin - Something tells me even though he's studying law in school, any videos of him singing copyrighted music on YouTube will have the pasted blurb claiming fair use, despite it being clearly not. I suppose Katy is using her own modern day fall from grace as the backbone to meaninglessly throw the word "star" around. If he ever becomes an artist, I'll have to record myself breaking a stack of his CDs at a karate tournament.

Hunter Gibson - Damn, he was only 5 more annoying noises away from needing a state mandated autism examination. It's rare a joke contestant is actually funny, since most of them just flap their arms like birds and scream. Also, I'm not one of those people who thinks the music I like makes me tough, since I just spent half of my college fund flying to Australia to see the original Wiggles lineup, but all of these "ROCK N ROLL!!!" guys on these shows always like stuff for teenage girls or old men (or old men trying to pick up teenage girls), so it's even stupider.

Nick Merico - I'm glad to see the man 10 times hotter than me is back to succeed. I know it's just because of his bone structure, but he seems to have resting douche face. I'm also imagining him suppressing saying "huh huh...awesome" in a perfect surfer voice. Other than me voicing my jealousy over his looks, I didn't really get the attitude to which the judges were referring; he just seems boring.

Arthur Gunn - I'm going to assume his name is fake, because it sounds like a foreigner's impression of an American stereotype. Anyways, I thought this was boring as hell. Bobby Bones shows up for 5 seconds, which added nothing at this point, even though his contributions to the show are just saying "how important this performance is" with an overly cartoonish expression.

Alisa Ermolaev - I'm going to identify as a woman for the next 5 seconds just so I can say I want to slap her without fear of reprisal. Issues resolved. Jesus, this was annoying; so much damn yelling. Why does everyone from New York make that sole fact into their personality?

Louis Knight - This looked to be just a regular boring audition until "My friend who committed suicide" - here we go with the stupid drama. If he references this in every appearance from now on, you have to wonder if his friend agreed to die in exchange for half of all career earnings, despite the unfulfillable logistics of such an agreement.

Saveria - I'm Canadian, so I know who she is; I remember all of those commercials and she also had a music video on a kids TV channel here. She also won a meaningless Canadian singing competition, which doesn't seem to have done very much career wise, especially if she only got 1 out of 3 yeses. I thought it was boring. I also thought Katy growing out some more of her hair might work as an antidote for being psychotic and irritating - nope.

Meghan Fitton - I was convinced this was a ventriloquist act, since I was staring at her chest and couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. Anyways, it was alright - again, the rare times I don't find someone grating is enough for them to be decent in my books. I felt like an idiot, since I had bolted in terror out of my house and got halfway down the road before realizing they said Chris Harrison instead of Hansen.

Samantha Diaz - I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day examining her mental processes, since she's willing to go through extreme pain to make herself look like trash with neck tattoos, yet falls to pieces over nothing. Doesn't Lionel referring to himself and the other judge "caretakers" as Aunts and Uncles instead of parents only reinforce the broken home story? I shall utter a gross laugh from my pimple ridden neck rolls when she gets eliminated.

 

Damn this episode was boring, but I always hate the auditions. It's always hard to think of anything to say when every audition reveals almost nothing about their personality.

 

Edited February 21, 2020 by InternetToughGuy

[nemo]

You are funny and the description of some of the contestants was correct. But about Arthur Gunn, I am not so sure you watched the whole part. Because he mentions his real name and where he comes from. Singing comes after that. 

Also, I've seen his interview where he explains the meaning behind his stage name Arthur Gunn. So it's not just something he got out of a name-generator website. All in all, his audition is one of the best american idol auditions if not the best. 

[Neet]

On 2/19/2020 at 2:12 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I mean, how old is Nick Merico, 20?

I think if a 20 year old's supposed "Cockiness" bothers you that much, it says more about the person being bothered.  Lionel is, what, 70?   And he's made to feel insecure by that?  I find that kind of creepy.  I really couldn't care less if Nick thinks he's the shit, so what?  Just judge the singing, do you like it or not?  It's creepy when the judges try to get too personal with what are relative children.  I just couldn't care less about cockiness in a singing competition.  If the singing is bad, cut him. If the singing is good, put him through, and let America decide.  No need to try to break down his spirits.  It just felt gross to me.

They've spent so many years promoting Hollywood Week as intense because it's where everyone has to prove their commitment to hard work and being able to get along with people they might not like to put on a show as a group. Nick's nonchalant attitude about quitting last year and throughout his audition could easily be indicative of not giving a shit about anything but himself and expecting a free pass because that's probably what he always gets.

One of Lionel's endlessly repeated quotes is something to the effect of "this is the entertainment business", which should suggest that he's trying to tell the contestants there's more to it than just being able to carry a tune. Would Nick huffing his own farts resonate with most people voting? If Lionel telling a 23 year old man (who algebraically reverts to child status depending on whoever's speaking to him) to humble himself is too much to bear, there's still Katy's mentorship of yelling and flopping to the floor instead of saying anything useful.

[Ms Blue Jay]

What if he quit because of a family emergency or something ?  Why is that anyone's business?  AI isn't god's gift to humanity.  It's ridiculous.  It's a contest, it's a game show.  These kids don't owe the show anything or an explanation.

Edited February 22, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[scarlettudor]

On 2/22/2020 at 11:24 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

What if he quit because of a family emergency or something ?  Why is that anyone's business?  AI isn't god's gift to humanity.  It's ridiculous.  It's a contest, it's a game show.  These kids don't owe the show anything or an explanation.

You could tell the judges' anger at that guy from the very beginning.  I'd think anyone would have the right not to go to Hollywood if something personal in their life came up.  But apparently not without the undying hatred of AI.

 

[sempervivum]

On 2/17/2020 at 2:06 PM, sempervivum said:

I didn't even notice it, because I was so amazed that Katy would wander around in a shiny fringed jumpsuit that made her look 3 months pregnant.

I'm going to congratulate myself on my prescience, since practically nobody is commenting on this show. Katy Perry is, in fact, pregnant : Perry Preggo

(yeah, I know it was filmed months ago)

Edited March 5, 2020 by sempervivum

[EvaWills89]

I really love Arthur Gunn. He is the best one.

And of course my favorite Katy Perry, she is always so emotional and open, sincere. 

 

Although the episode itself is not as strong as for me. There were episodes much better and more impressive, where literally every participant was perfect)