S16.E01: Auditions

[mishap]

Well, this is probably silly to everyone, but that kid who said he hadn't kissed a girl yet, said it was because he had never been in a relationship yet.  I don't know if he had really strong feelings about this, but if he did, maybe he wanted his first kiss to be someone he was in a relationship with and not Katy Perry.  Well, he seemed super flustered about it and it wasn't much of a kiss, but not sure I'm digging how Katy thought she made his day, because now he can say his first kiss was Katy Perry.  It probably did thrill him to death.  And I don't think it messed up his audition because he just wasn't that good.  But anyway, I'm not going to like this, if Katy assumes she's everyone's fantasy girl.  

[Silver Raven]

6 minutes ago, mishap said:

Well, this is probably silly to everyone, but that kid who said he hadn't kissed a girl yet, said it was because he had never been in a relationship yet.  I don't know if he had really strong feelings about this, but if he did, maybe he wanted his first kiss to be someone he was in a relationship with and not Katy Perry.  Well, he seemed super flustered about it and it wasn't much of a kiss, but not sure I'm digging how Katy thought she made his day, because now he can say his first kiss was Katy Perry.  It probably did thrill him to death.  And I don't think it messed up his audition because he just wasn't that good.  But anyway, I'm not going to like this, if Katy assumes she's everyone's fantasy girl.  

He seemed pleased afterwards to tell somebody that she kissed him on the lips.

[Jillybean]

I would rather have the 16-year-old boys lusting after 33-year-old Katy than 48-y-o J Lo any day!  And I say that as a 48-y-o woman myself. That always seriously creeped me out.

[ichbin]

I was initially impressed when Katy did not give the guy from the Congo a positive vote based on his back story, because seriously, I don't know what Lionel and the other judge were hearing.  

I suspect once they go to Hollywood that the majority of the finalists are going to be contestants who haven't been showcased on the audition shows.  Out of everyone shown in this first episode I wouldn't be surprised to see Alyssa in the top 10 though. 

[marketdoctor]

I'm late to this party, but I thought the guy who was going to buy a llama was surprising, until he said "well, I'm going to buy a bunch of them."  Which is good, because llamas are a pack animal.  Also, I liked his singing.

I was surprised at musical theater girl's reaction to being rejected--I wonder how much of that was an act, and how much was just lack of awareness.  (Rejection is a very common part of performing, so her reaction seemed implausible, but not unheard of.)

They seemed kind of heavy on 16-year-olds compared to previous years, though my guess is some of the now-21 and up crowd tried to apply on the last season of Fox, so I'm not sure.

I wonder if they're taking a long view with the little girl getting the golden ticket for 2026 or whatever.

[SnarkyTart]

So far it's watchable.  As a longtime fan of The Voice, that show is experiencing the worst season of auditions in its history.  Going into the last of 6 weeks of auditions, there hasn't been a single contestant yet that I cared to hear anything more from.  That's a first for me.  So I was pleasantly surprised this first week of auditions on AI to already have at least two contestants I'm interested in hearing again: Rhagu and Alpaca Wig Boy.  And there were at least a couple more who were as good or better than any of this season's contestants on The Voice.

I was pleasantly surprised by the new judges' panel too.  I was anticipating Katy Perry with dread, fully expecting her to rival the "Me! It's all about me me me!" of JLo.  I found Katy to be entirely likable as a judge, at least so far, and not showing the diva tendencies of JLo, Mariah, or Nicki M.  That's encouraging!   I'm not a fan of country music, so didn't know anything about Luke Bryan.  I also found him quite likable.  Lionel was just kind of meh for me, but that's a huge improvement over some of the judges who've been on this show.

As always, way too many back stories, way!  But that critique is somewhat neutralized by the lack of joke auditions that had begun to dominate the last few seasons of the original American Idol auditions.  Actually, there were only two last night that I recall - emo worm-burping guy and wannabe Broadway girl who couldn't fathom that she didn't get a ticket.   

Onward!

Edited March 13, 2018 by SnarkyTart
Oops. Luke Bryan is NOT Luke Perry.

[susannot]

I'm pleasantly surprised.  I like the judges, and there have been some excellent vocalist.  The kid who followed cute Trevor from New Orleans was AMAZING.  Trevor was good too but he was mostly a dreamboat as Luke said and Katy whimpered.

[holly4755]

no, I do not believe that Katy is producing anything, I believe there was the up fronts  rapidly arriving and they needed a name to announce at them to get the show picked up by all stations in the ABC network.  

Katy is hard for me to warm up to, she has a reputation for not being on time. As for Fergie, I can not unsee her peeing on herself at the billboards years ago. 

[scarlettudor]

I thought the auditions were much better tonight.  But in some of them, Katey had the black wooly worm on her arm again...

[Mystery]

5 hours ago, SnarkyTart said:

 I'm not a fan of country music, so didn't know anything about Luke Perry. 

Okay, that made me laugh. I didn't know anything about Luke Bryan, either, so I had to look him up. I made it through the beginning of his Wikipedia page: "He began his music career during the middle of the first decade of the 21st century" and then, baffled, I decided that I don't care that much. He reminds me of Wil Wheaton, I think it's the way his eyes almost disappear when he smiles. 

Edited March 13, 2018 by Mystery

[Sharonana]

This revision of AI is not holding my interest. This show has seen better days. Simon, Paula and Randy just cannot be duplicated. Time to let sleeping dogs lie.

[MarkHB]

I was amused that, when they were in Times Square, the scrolling marquee behind Ryan's head was advertising Marvel's Inhumans on Fridays. Subliminal much?

[BogoGog24]

I really quite liked the premiere episode. Considering that the last few seasons were pretty meh, it has been gone for a couple of years, and is now on a different network with different judges, it felt really like the same Idol. I was surprised at how much I liked Katy as a judge, although the live shows will be the real test to see how both contestants and judges fare. I remember Nicki seemed like a great judge in the edited portions but was deplorable in live shows. Some contestants have meh auditions but perform well in the lives and vice versa. Not sure how I feel about Lionel or Luke as judges, both are nice and insightful. But I like that Katy had some real criticisms and in fact I liked that all 3 of them knew how to give constructive criticism to the contestants who needed work without sounding cruel. 

 

Catie Turner (Hyper Nerdy Girl) - She is probably most tolerable in small doses, but overall I did like her. I too am a nerdy girl so I appreciate the producers choosing someone like her to be on the show, apart from the stereotypical pageanty types they always pick. Her original song was pretty good and relatable. She could dial back the antics just a bit.

 

Congo Guy - It was so scripted to bring him back into the audition room and give him a ticket. The judges had it right the first time, they should not have sent him through. He just mumbled everything. 

 

Maddie Poppe (Rainbow Connection) - I wish they had shown her full audition but I guess she didn't have an interesting enough backstory. Thought her audition was great and interesting song choice too. 

 

Koby (Broadway screamer) - Clearly a joke auditioner and set up by the producers. Considering they showed clips of her in musicals, I can't quite believe she is really as horrid as she sounded here. She probably can sing, but the producers put her up to performing badly on purpose for the sake of the joke (she has commented on the YouTube version of her audition and claims it wasn't a joke). Either that, or she was so desperate to impress that she way overshot the song choice.

 

Harper Grace (Bad National Anthem Girl) - She redeemed herself really nicely from her bad national anthem. I give her credit for taking that experience in stride, as dealing with such negative comments like that at 11 years old had to have been difficult. Her original song was decent and kind of cheeky and clever, very Miranda Lambert-ish. I don't think it was quite as good as the judges thought, but good for her age and if she teamed up with professionals she could produce some really commercially viable music. 

 

Layla Spring (girl with the sister) - She shouldn't have been sent through, period. If she hadn't brought her sister in, I don't think she would have gotten through, honestly. There was no way the judges were going to tell her no in front of her sister. I'm sure she thought bringing her sister in would help her, but I think all it really did was make people remember her audition more for the sister than herself. She's going to get eaten alive in Hollywood. She just doesn't seem ready. She's a nice girl with a pure heart, but that's exactly why she doesn't belong in Hollywood. She seems like she'd be naive. And aside from all of that, her vocals were just underwhelming. I'm surprised she even made it to the judges round. Everything about her reminds me of a Carrie/Kellie Pickler type contestant, that country bumpkin who just sings in her room, but she doesn't have their vocal talent. She could benefit from some training and more experience and come back in a couple years. She and Congo Ron were the ones I would have taken tickets away from.

 

Guy who was kissed by Katy Perry - I actually didn't think his vocals were that bad. But Katy screwed him up by kissing him, he probably could have done better if she hadn't just made him all nervous. I didn't think that was fair. They should have at least let him sing another song. 

 

Nico Bones (Worms guy) - Obviously a joke auditioner, seemed like bad acting to me or something. I totally think he was recruited by producers to perform badly on purpose. 

 

Noah Davis (Alpaca wig kid) - Totally unexpected. His singing voice sounds so different from his speaking voice. He played piano nicely and his voice is so recording-friendly. He reminds me of Jordan Smith from The Voice. Hope he goes far. He might have been my favorite of the night.

 

Daddy's girl - Her voice is quite good for 15. I don't know that I like her as much as everyone else, but she is definitely one of the stronger teens they put through. Way better than Layla.

 

Russian X Factor guy - Another unfair joke auditioner. In the comments of the YouTube version, people have linked his audition for X Factor Russia. It is phenomenal! He has chops for days. I don't think asking him to sing badly on purpose here was fair at all and it gives the wrong impression about his true vocal ability. What a shame.

 

Zach Frank Sinatra Harry Potter Sock Guy - I think he just did a really good impression of Sinatra. They should have asked him to sing something else because if this is all he can do, he won't go far. He reminds me of John Stevens, but John was better. I don't think this kid knows who he is yet as an artist. He is just a nice and goofy adorable kid who can kind of sing. He admits he hasn't been singing for long, nor does he have any experience or training. He won't make it past Hollywood Week. That being said, I did like him a lot. I have a soft spot for nerds. He's really adorable and memorable. It was really cute how he brought everyone socks. 

 

Dennis (Hole in the guitar poor guy) - He was good, but I don't really get the fuss over him to be honest. If no one knew his backstory I'm not sure people would have liked him as much. He just seems kind of average to me. 

 

I agree with others they wasted so much time on backstories. I especially hate it when they spend a lot of time introducing us to a contestant who doesn't make it through. I don't like hearing sob stories before I hear someone sing. Congo Ron would have never been put through if not for his backstory. 

I thought it was really awkward and strange how they interspersed clips of the contestants talking with each other, gushing over Katy or when Noah was awkwardly trying to make excitable chatter with Nico Bones. It seemed very forced and scripted. They tried to make the contestants look like they were best friends with each other when they've literally never met. I don't know, it was just weird and awkward and I didn't get the point.

Overall I really liked the premiere and am excited to watch the rest of the season. I would have revoked Congo Ron and Layla's tickets and given them to Katy Perry Kiss Boy and Russian X Factor guy. 

[ForReal]

16 hours ago, Mystery said:

Okay, that made me laugh. I didn't know anything about Luke Bryan, either, so I had to look him up. I made it through the beginning of his Wikipedia page: "He began his music career during the middle of the first decade of the 21st century" and then, baffled, I decided that I don't care that much. He reminds me of Wil Wheaton, I think it's the way his eyes almost disappear when he smiles. 

I'm in total agreement. I kind of dismissed him because, country. He was likable, though, and I also thought he looked like Wil Wheaton!

[Mu Shu]

On 3/12/2018 at 10:15 PM, holly4755 said:

no, I do not believe that Katy is producing anything, I believe there was the up fronts  rapidly arriving and they needed a name to announce at them to get the show picked up by all stations in the ABC network.  

Katy is hard for me to warm up to, she has a reputation for not being on time. As for Fergie, I can not unsee her peeing on herself at the billboards years ago. 

What? 

[Blissfool]

On 3/12/2018 at 2:18 PM, LexieLily said:

 what threat of a lawsuit Idol could have on their hands in the future if that family hangs on to Dixie's Hollywood ticket valid in [Whatever Year It Was] and Dixie comes back expecting to get through.

I'm sure the parents will hold on to the ticket and come back with it in 2026. AI will use it to promote the season. Dyxie will go to Hollywood where she will be eliminated immediately.  Of course, that's all if AI is still on the air 8 years from now, which I hope it is because I can't get enough of it. In its absence, I've tried to get into The Voice, but I just don't like it. 

 

The reboot: felt like old times to me. I liked the mixture of good and bad auditions, the backstories, Ryan talking with the contestants, and the judges. I guess Katy and Luke being the silly kids and Lionel being the reprimanding father figure is the dynamic they're going for. I didn't even get mad at that clip where Lionel walks over to Luke and tells him sternly, "if they're not ready, don't let them through." 

[Iju]

it was just boring. i watched with my family and we watched like 40mins then shut it off. i just don't find the judges appealing and i know ritchie by name only, i don't know a single one of his songs. i remember when me and my family were so into the season with phillp phillips. good times. that was the last good juice they gave.