Tonight’s fast paced Hollywood round was pretty damn entertaining! My favorites tonight were: Brett Loewenstern (impressed me more than his initial audition), Rachel Zavita and Robbie Rosen. Chris Medina didn’t impress me tonight. James Durbin reminded me of Siobhan Magnus–a powerful singer with no sense of finesse or control. He’s going to have difficulty in the competition, I predict.
Next week are the Group rounds, and that’s always good for not only some great singing, but tons of DRAMA. Really looking forward to that…
As always watch out for my videos, and after the jump, check out a photo gallery preview.
Hooray for Hollywood! The auditions are behind us, and now we move on to Part 1 of the Hollywood rounds. Stick around as I live blog an hour of tears, backstabbing and melodrama!
Countless dreams will be tested as we start this epic journey! Randy: “The talent is better than ever this year! Jlo and Steven tell hopefuls to go home! The number of contestants have been doubled this year! Two times the drama! Two times the talent!
327 singers arrive in Hollywood (well, actually Pasadena) These kids got to bring it hard or FORGET ABOUT IT says mean Randy.
Randy takes over for Simon as he scares the crap out of the hopefuls with his opening remarks.
The contestants come out in rows of 10. No Feedback. Sudden Death.
Brett Loewenstern – 16 – “Let it Be” – “I’m shaking in my pants right now.” Take a deep breath says Jlo. We get a recap of his sob story. Kids picked on him. His performance is very nice. Soulful, throaty and heartfelt. – VIDEO
The entire line sings. Symphony and Brett are through. the other 8 contestants are gone.
Rachel Zavita – 23, Thia Megia – 15, Casey Abrams – 19 – sail through to the next round. – VIDEO
Victoria Huggins – She’s the southern (annoying) pageant queen. She says she’s ready! “I’m going to stay for awhile, ” she says. She’s got a big voice but she’s sooooo pageanty. No soul, baby. VICTORIA IS CUT. Stage mommy sitting in the audience IS NOT HAPPY. She and her 11 BAGS HEAD HOME. BUH-BYE. – VIDEO
James Durbin – 21 – the high-functioning autistic from San Francisco IS CRYING AGAIN. Paris Tassin – 23 – She’s the hopeful with the hearing and impaired child. Paris shouts a dull version of “My Heart will go On”. James SCREAMMSSSS his way through “Oh Darlin.” DIAL IT BACK PLZ. Stormy Henley – 20 – the beauty queen takes the stage and proves that Randy and Steven were thinking with their d*cks when they advanced her. Golden child, Lauren Alaina – 15, wails her way through “Unchained Melody”. Lauren, James and Paris are through.See ya Stormy! So much suspense. NOT. Stormy basically says she couldn’t help that she sings like ass. – VIDEO
Chris Medina – 27 – of the brain-damaged fiance sob story is next. Of course, we get a recap. He sings and is just a’ight. But damn we ain’t done with that backstory yet! Chris you’re through to the next round! MORE CRYING. – VIDEO
GROUPS ARE THE NEXT ROUND.
We’re nearing the end of the day 1 auditions. NERVOUSNESS. Steven gives the kids a pep talk. Hollie Cavanaugh – 17, Jacee Badeaux – 15 – and Robbie Rosen – 16, are next.Jacee sings “Broken Road” in his sweet counter tenor. Robbie sings a soulful jazz tune. Beautiful falsetto. Hollie’s voice is BIG BIG in her upper register. All three are through! – VIDEO
Steven Beghun the accountant is next. Randy looks like he’s going to pass gas as he watches Steve. Not a good sign. He’s cut. Go home and crunch some numbers, Steve. Gosh. You’re boring. – VIDEO
Hitting the road: Sarah Sellers, Jacqueline Dupree and Heidi Kazam. “I have nothing, nothing, ” says one of the rejected.
162 hopefuls auditioned on Day 1, 163 on day two.
Day 2
Ryan checks in with the contestants backstage.
People forget the words! Go off pitch! Painful.
Rob Bolin – 23 and Chelsee Oaks – 23, the couple from CMT’s “Duets” are next. They didn’t get back together. They’ve got them bunked with the “happy couple” Nick Fink – 19 and Jacqueline Dunford – 22. TMZ outed them as a fake couple. Rob saunters his way through “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. Chelsee’s got a beautiful tone. They both make it to the next round. Nick sings “New Shoes” and he sucks. Jacqueline is way better. Ryan teases a “shocking” result after the break. I’ll be the judge of that. – VIDEO
Jacqueline moves forward. Nick does not. THAT WAS NOT SHOCKING. Nick begs for a 2nd chance. He knows it’ll get him some extry TV time, just like the fake relationship did. Ryan’s like a regular couples’ therapist. – VIDEO
Scott McCreery – 17 – sings the tune that got him through Hollywood. Scotty plays it safe. The audience loves it! Jackie Wilson – 28, also sings her audition song. So does Jerome Bell – 27. LAME. They are all through! Of course. – VIDEO
Oh noes. We won’t believe what happens next, after the break.
Tiffany Rios – 21, the Snooki wannabe, sings like she’s passing a stone. Travis Orlando – 17, is the dude whose family lived in a shelter. He’s not very good. Inexplicably, Tiffany is through–probably because she’s good TV. The mediocre Travis is cut. It’s back to the Bronx. Sads. – VIDEO
Also moving on to the next round: Clint Gamboa, Julie Zorrilla, Naima Adedapo, the Gutierrez brothers, Paul McDonald, Emily Ann Reed, Stefano Langone and Ashley Sullivan. – VIDEO
168 contenders get another shot. The next round is GROUPS!!!! Hooray.
