S20.E02: 502 (Auditions)

[helenamonster]

Original airdate: 3/6/22

[Annber03]

I'm gonna need these people auditioning to quit mentioning they were just being born or were babies/toddlers when "Idol" began. /feeling old.

I'm rather liking this Leah. I like the singer-songwriter vibe she's got here. 

(Also, I totally forgot about the song "Cowboy Casanova". Been some time since I've heard that one.)

[Bewitched]

Is everyone supposed to be country this year?  Cause that what it seems like.  

[Annber03]

I really liked Mike from earlier, who did that version of "Strawberry Wine". I liked the R&B/soul take on that song, it fit really well. 

This kid with the super deep voice is interesting :p. I agree he should totally be doing announcer/voiceover work, he'd be perfect for it. 

[LexieLily]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

I'm gonna need these people auditioning to quit mentioning they were just being born or were babies/toddlers when "Idol" began. /feeling old.

I feel old whenever we get an Idol alumni's child auditioning! 

[Gemma Violet]

I thought the deep-voiced guy Luke was a lock to get in, but he barely made it.  I agree he'd be good at voice-overs, but I'm anxious to see what he can do music-wise.  I think he could do well in country music.  

I liked the Miss America gal.  She'll go far. 

I hated the whole bit of Katy threatening to put the crown on her head.  She is so exhausting and annoying.

[pezgirl7]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

I really liked Mike from earlier, who did that version of "Strawberry Wine". I liked the R&B/soul take on that song, it fit really well. 

I really liked him but was disappointed that the judges seemed to be pushing him to do country. There was some other singer they did that to as well tonight. Let them sing what they want!

Tonight had a good mix of interesting singers. The girl that sang Adele was great once she opened up her voice. I hope she can handle Hollywood. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm only partway through but this stupid Kelsie and Lionel stuff is making me cry.  I was never even a big fan of "When we were young" but I see it in a different light now.

Talk about making me see a song in a different light!  Lady Gaga's album Artpop that had "Applause" on it was notoriously badly received.  Kenedi, wow. wow. wow.  

I wish Luke and or Lionel joined in singing with Katy that would have been cute to hear some harmonizing.

Unexpected to hear "Genius of Love" by the Tom Tom Club in the background.  That was cool.

How long is a 2 hour Idol audition episode when you FF through the sob stories?  Asking for a friend.

We were doing so well but near the end they threw in one of these singers - Allegra:

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Meowwww]

I liked the deep voiced young guy Luke.  I think he used his notes, thanks Katie.  It’s so incongruous. Ugh. 

[LennieBriscoe]

I have not read any Spoilers whatsoever.

If Platinum Kenedi isn't the winner, I will buy a hat and eat it. You could practically read the cartoon bubbles over Luke's and Lionel's heads: 💭"Please be 18 soon!"💭

Edited March 7, 2022 by LennieBriscoe

[Vermicious Knid]

Superbass Luke was kind of fun, except he goes to Liberty University which is a hotbed of bigotry and intolerance.

Former Miss America chose to do two songs by previous AI winners, than eagerly agreed she could be country after the judges suggested it. I can't decide if she's more fake or desperate.

[Annber03]

9 minutes ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Superbass Luke was kind of fun, except he goes to Liberty University which is a hotbed of bigotry and intolerance.

Yeah, that information made me rather twitchy, too. 

[Gemma Violet]

3 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Superbass Luke was kind of fun, except he goes to Liberty University which is a hotbed of bigotry and intolerance.

I read an article last year that there has been pushback on certain issues from some students there.

3 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Former Miss America chose to do two songs by previous AI winners, than eagerly agreed she could be country after the judges suggested it. 

I hadn't thought of that.  That's a good point.  I still like her, though.

I really wish they would get rid of the sad stories.  I know they're following The Voice's method, but it annoys me that they expect us to vote for someone because they have a sad story.  It should be because they have a great voice.

[peachmangosteen]

I thought the Miss America girl was borderline bad. She reminded me of someone. Maybe Daniele Donato from Big Brother.

Kennedi was great and I liked the guy who sang Strawberry Wine, but if they're gonna push him to be country I likely won't enjoy many of his performances.

Why are judges always SO surprised people from WV can have talent lol?

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

Kennedi was great and I liked the guy who sang Strawberry Wine, but if they're gonna push him to be country I likely won't enjoy many of his performances.

Exactly

[twilightzone]

8 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

I have not read any Spoilers whatsoever.

If Platinum Kenedi isn't the winner, I will buy a hat and eat it. You could practically read the cartoon bubbles over Luke's and Lionel's heads: 💭"Please be 18 soon!"💭

Unfortunately, I can see her being a shock boot.  Remember this is American Idol where the same, bland WGWG prevails.  Look at how much screen time boring Aaron got.  And the Southern Housewives are raving about average Noah Thompson.

[paul4295]

The judges really have to stop telling contestants that they're superstars or the next whatever, because the last 5 or 10 years have shown that almost no one from this show is ever going to have even one hit record, never mind a long career in the industry like Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughty, etc.  If they want to say "You're top 10 material," or something like that, then fine, but otherwise I feel like they're lying.

Edited March 7, 2022 by paul4295

[sempervivum]

3 hours ago, Gemma Violet said:

I really wish they would get rid of the sad stories.  I know they're following The Voice's method,

Yeah, American Idol was doing that stuff many years before The Voice showed up. 

Not a fan of the sob stories, but I'm a sucker for a 'heartbreak voice', so Kelcie (raised-by-grandma W.VA. kid), Aaron (clueless grocery store worker), and Lady K (missing a front tooth) caught my ear. Also liked Mike Parker (tall maybe-he's-country guy), but I think he's going to turn out to be another in a long line of AI's church singers, specializing in runs galore. Christian has a very good voice (obviously trained), but such an old-fashioned style.

Kenedi🙄 is definitely more than a pretty face, but her performance seemed kind of robotic. 

[pezgirl7]

9 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Former Miss America chose to do two songs by previous AI winners, than eagerly agreed she could be country after the judges suggested it. I can't decide if she's more fake or desperate.

I think she just really wanted to go to Hollywood because she also said she can sing anything, and then that's when the judges said she should pick a lane. I thought she was just OK. She seemed a bit shouty. I enjoyed her Disney impersonations though!

[libgirl2]

5 hours ago, paul4295 said:

The judges really have to stop telling contestants that they're superstars or the next whatever, because the last 5 or 10 years have shown that almost no one from this show is ever going to have even one hit record, never mind a long career in the industry like Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughty, etc.  If they want to say "You're top 10 material," or something like that, then fine, but otherwise I feel like they're lying.

Don't forget Jennifer Hudson. 

[DaphneCat]

13 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

I thought the Miss America girl was borderline bad. She reminded me of someone. Maybe Daniele Donato from Big Brother.

Kennedi was great and I liked the guy who sang Strawberry Wine, but if they're gonna push him to be country I likely won't enjoy many of his performances.

Why are judges always SO surprised people from WV can have talent lol?

Yes, I didn't get the hype for Miss America girl either.  When Luke said she didn't sing like a pageant girl I thought, "That's it.  She sings like a pageant girl."  And anyone whose goal in life is to sing as a Disney princess is NOT going to make it as a popular act.

[TheGreenKnight]

On 3/6/2022 at 9:04 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

How long is a 2 hour Idol audition episode when you FF through the sob stories?  Asking for a friend.

About 7 minutes. I don't really enjoy the show until they get to the main stage later, so I fast forward through most of the auditions episodes, only stopping whenever someone starts to sing. If they're bad, I don't listen more than 10 seconds. I didn't like anyone this episode other than the last one who did "Wide Awake."

[scarlettudor]

On 3/6/2022 at 9:03 PM, Annber03 said:

his kid with the super deep voice is interesting :p. I agree he should totally be doing announcer/voiceover work, he'd be perfect for it. 

I really want to hear more from him,

[Bewitched]

12 hours ago, scarlettudor said:

I really want to hear more from him,

I want to hear him sing 'Old Man River' which will probably never happen on AI, but I can hope.

[Koalagirl]

Deep voice guy brought back memories of Scotty McCreary who was only 16 when he auditioned for AI. He’s carved out a pretty good career in country music.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I pretty much FF most of the show except for the singing.  I couldn’t bring myself to watch the whole show as I was fed up watching Katie carry on and on with her silliness.  She acts like a spoiled child.  I too felt the push to country songs.  All the singers were good that I heard.  Miss America’s opera voice in the clip was amazing.  She belongs on Broadway with her range or genres and vocal ability.  

Deep Throat has a one of a kind voice.  Not sure how he is going to excel when it comes to the variety of songs he will have to sing to progress.  Interested though.

[pezgirl7]

18 hours ago, scarlettudor said:

I really want to hear more from him,

Apparently he's pretty popular on TIkTok, after posting a sea chanty video, and AI reached out to him asking him to audition.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/delaware-county-luke-taylor-tik-tok-american-idol-audition/

He formed a group with other TikTok singers called The Wellerman.

 

[redpencil]

4 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

Apparently he's pretty popular on TIkTok, after posting a sea chanty video, and AI reached out to him asking him to audition.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/delaware-county-luke-taylor-tik-tok-american-idol-audition/

He formed a group with other TikTok singers called The Wellerman.

 

I had no idea that was the same kid! I saw that original Tik Tok video back when it went viral and watched it way more times than I will admit to. I'm surprised they didn't mention it.

[LexieLily]

On 3/7/2022 at 3:32 PM, libgirl2 said:

Don't forget Jennifer Hudson. 

If I'm remembering season three correctly, Simon/TPTB didn't like J. Hud (a lot of that was their season-long coronation for a Fantasia win) and only started to claim her post-Idol once she started getting attention from Dreamgirls and got the Oscar.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Finally got through the first two audition episodes. Yay.

Not going to lie, I spent a good 30-45 minutes after the episode trying to figure out what non-novelty, and non-Josh Turner songs that Luke's voice would sound good on. Only thing I came up with is Pearl Jam's Jeremy done in a very different style..

Kelsie reminded me a little bit of the girl from a couple seasons ago (personality & backstory wise) who the judges were really infatuated with but who could not stay in time with the music to save her life. Kelsie I don't think will have that problem. I will say, I much preferred her doing Piece by Piece than Adele because when she "pushed" on Adele (possibly due to Katy's egging her on) she pretty much sounded like an Adele copycat..

Mike Parker & Allegra Miles are veterans of the Voice. Can't really decide if I think either one of them have a legitimate shot at making the live shows or if they are mostly just there to make up numbers in Hollywood.

They kept showing five seconds of Kennedi on all the commercials spliced with Luke saying she could be the biggest idol winner and it was very jarring because I (and PurgatoryMom) didn't think she sounded particularly special in those five seconds. Now hearing the entire GaGa audition I sort of understand his over the top praise a little more. Although towards the end, I thought she sounded a little sharp(?) and I'm not as sold (especially given AI's spotty track record in the later seasons with pretty female auditioners) that she'll even make Top 7 or 8, although it certainly could happen.

The uber lackadaisical kid has an honest to god, emo/pop punk voice. He needs to churn out the greatest hits of Paramore, PATD, "Check Yes Juliet" by We the Kings, "Ocean's Avenue" by Yellowcard, etc. etc.

Edited March 9, 2022 by PhD-Purgatory15

[peachmangosteen]

I might need to rewatch Miss America's audition since so many are commenting on how good she was and she just sounded bad to me lol.

[Gemma Violet]

On 3/7/2022 at 11:25 AM, sempervivum said:

Yeah, American Idol was doing that stuff many years before The Voice showed up. 

I've watched every AI season and I don't remember any sad stories in the first few years, but I could be misremembering.

eta:  I do remember Crystal Bowersox's sad story and a couple of others, and I guess there were others that I don't remember, but it seems like sad stories were fewer and farther between in those days. 

Especially in the beginning (Kelly, Clay & Ruben, Carrie, etc.), it seemed like it was just general back stories, not sad.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Gemma Violet

[Blissfool]

I didnt think Miss America was very good. The judges also didn't think she was as good as she seems to think she is.

UO: I really dislike token superbass guy. Every year I see deep-voice guy as a gimmick and a joke and every year they make it to Hollywood. I just don't see it. Interestingly, I enjoy a man's falsetto, à la Sam Smith, Charlie Puth, and Season 5's Ace Young.

I really liked Kennedi, although I thought Applause was unrecognizable. 

[Ilovepie]

I actually liked this episode a lot.  I haven't watched Idol for a couple years, but this made me glad I'm trying it again. For now at least.....

I liked the good looking guy that sang Strawberry Wine. His voice reminded me of John Legend a little. I also liked the weird low energy guy they said sounded like Owl City. I immediately thought he sounded like the lead singer from Twenty One Pilots. I don't know if that's good or bad.....

Miss America is not going to survive. She's too perfect. She picked pageant-y songs. When they asked her to pick a country song, she picked the most schmaltsy one out there. I think they wanted her to show something different and she picked something exactly like her first song. Just no - she already sounds dated. She is not the next Kelly or Carrie.......however..........

I think Kennedi is great. I really hope she can navigate this and do well - pretty young girls with big voices don't usually do great on this show. But I liked the grit in her voice and her musical choices. The fact that she picked a cool song unlike Miss America bodes well. Fingers crossed she doesn't get chewed up and spit out like so many before her.....

Ok, I hate the sob stories, but man, Kelci got me. She wasn't trying to tell a sad story - it just is a sad story that she is living. Maybe I'm naive, but coming in to her audition in muck boots doesn't feel like an ironic choice, but just what she has. Like, country poor. Talking about her mom and grandma and about grandma wanting her to sing in church, woof - I couldn't take it. Then she sang that song. When she sang I cried. Thinking about her I still feel sad. Watching her and her story made me thankful for the things I have in my life. I don't know why this one got me so much. I just want to hug her.

[ruffy666]

On 3/9/2022 at 6:43 AM, peachmangosteen said:

I might need to rewatch Miss America's audition since so many are commenting on how good she was and she just sounded bad to me lol.

nah, she wasn't awful but she certainly wasn't anything special.  i think the most damning thing for me is the fact that she just has no artistic perspective ("i'll sing whatever you want me to sing!")  i am quite sure there are popular singers today who just do whatever their management team tells them to do but personally that ... lack of conviction? just doesn't work for me. 

[Vermicious Knid]

Quote

Not going to lie, I spent a good 30-45 minutes after the episode trying to figure out what non-novelty, and non-Josh Turner songs that Luke's voice would sound good on.

Oak Ridge Boy's Elvira. At 1:07.