So Olivia Newton-John is guest judging this week, and Paula seems to be done with her family obligations.
And the first dog and pony show, complete with added sound effects, is Martik Manoukian. Fuh-RIIIIIIIIK!
Sholandric Stallworth. For some reason, I thought he was going to sing that very well; I think it was his talking voice that deceived me. It was not good.
And then there’s the parade of people in Halloween costumes. Yawn.
I really liked the New York auditions. Can we have another night of those?
Marianna Riccio. Oh good grief. They made it sound like she was going to be great because she has a show biz background and her mom was in show biz, and it was amazingly bad. Oh dear no, not the beg. They don’t realize how awful it is when they beg. And she went and got her mom to talk to the judges.
And now it’s the parade of little Ollie Twists. Please sir, they want some more. Please, Simon, I want a pistol.
Alaina Alexander is absolutely beautiful. Appearance-wise, I say she has “It”. She’s the first one of the day who can hit two consecutive notes on key, but wow, she’s singing a terrible song and getting pitchy, dawg. How do these people pick their audition songs? They’re letting her through based on looks and an okay audition. I think they should have made her sing a second song.
Phuong Pham has a sad story about an unsupportive family who doesn’t want her to do music and doesn’t think she’s pretty enough… and she starts with this awful gyrational dancing jerky… thing. Maybe if she wasn’t doing cartwheels while she sang, her notes wouldn’t all get forced back into her lungs. Simon keeps calling her Pong. He asks how to pronounce it, and she says Phong, and he repeats it back Pong. I don’t know why he asks for pronunciations if he’s then only going to pronounce the names wrong anyway. Maybe it’s time for a hearing aid, Simon. She’s not a video game. Oh no. And when they’re playing her out, they play the awful forced Taylor Hicks AI song! I do prefer the Weird Al version.

Brandon Rogers has been a background singer for Anastasia and Christina Aguilera. He’s singing “You Were Always on My Mind”. He has a good tone, but he’s getting pitchy in quite a few spots. If he were a cruise ship, I would be a little seasick. But the judges are all over him. They love him like Joe Biden loves Barak Obama. I believe Olivia Newton-John might even have remarked about how clean he is. I think he will be good, but again, I heard that a lot differently than the judges did, and I did not get the flittery chillywoos like Paula and Olivia did. Simon said best of the day. Okay.
Brian Miller got knocked out in Hollywood week last year and is back this year. Based on the voice and the adorable boy looks, I’d say yes.
Sherman Pore, 64, is singing a song for his lady who just died of cancer (“You Belong to Me”), two days before the audition. Their project was getting signatures for his petition to audition for AI, and he thinks that lifted her spirits while she was fighting the cancer. Even Simon doesn’t give him a hard time and asks to shake his hand when he’s done singing.
And OF COURSE I’ve got big ol’ tears in my eyes. That was sweet.
Cavett and Darold are all over each other and are both auditioning. I have so many comments I could make. I won’t. Anyway, two notes out of her mouth, and I’m sure she won’t make it, because wow, I… just can’t comment. Because if I say what that sounded like, y’all will think I’m commenting on her appearance, and I’m not. And she’s singing about going down. That’s highly inappropriate, and now she’s flirting with Simon and winking and licking her lips, etc. And Darold is no better. They’re made for each other. Two peas in a pod.
Eric Mueller is the last contestant of the day, and his falsetto is so high that only Justin Timberlake could hit that… if someone kicked him in the gralls!
Oh. AT&T is a sponsor of American Idol. I guess we can’t watch it anymore. Sorry, y’all.
Next week it’s San Antonio.