The American Idol Season 8 judges round wrapped up this week in Kansas City MO. Contestants chosen in this final round compete in the Hollywood Round coming up before the end of the year. I’ve got a clip here from the local FOX affiliate, and in it, the judges divulge their final thoughts on this season’s auditions.
Salt Lake City is mentioned by both Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell as a city with strong talent. “There were a couple of people…girls I saw in Salt Lake City who I like…they stand out to me,” says Simon, “One girl with tattoos I liked.” Randy rattles off Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Puerto Rico as cities that were “hot.” Interesting that Randy mentions Puerto Rico, considering only 300 would-be contestants initially showed up there to audition.
Will the next Idol come from Salt Lake City, Phoenix or Puerto Rico? Or will a contestant come totally out of nowhere and take the prize?
Not coming out of nowhere–his brother made it to 4th place Season 7–is Michael Castro, Jason Castro’s little brother. Both make an appearance in the FOX clip–Jason accompanied Michael to his Kansas City audition in front of the judges as morale support.
No word yet on whether Michael advanced to Hollywood…
thanks for the tip, mila!
Watch the video clip after the JUMP…
Autumn - No prob! I did also did not intend to hurt the feelings of Clan Castro. Perhaps it shows my elderly 40something misunderstanding of the young ones.
I did not think two good looking young men could separately reach the same decision to wear their hair Like That !!!!!!! :eek_wp:
Shows what I know. Good luck to the young man. I certainly enjoyed Jason on the show.
Michael has always, or at least since the beginning of Jason’s AI journey, had that type hair. It’s certainly not something that was done to copy Cook.
Call me crazy, but all this video tells me is Mcas got in front of the judges, which I think is partly just for the entertainment factor. I don’t think we can assume much beyond that.
It would be a shame if people thought that Michael was copying Cook’s hairstyle since Michael had his hair like that long before Cook. I like the red, but I also liked the blue, purple and blond that he has had in his hair. Michael is definitely his own person.
Jason has never publicly said anything negative about the show or about anyone on the show. He just did not let the harshness get to him. Apparently he viewed the experience as an overall positive one. Michael witnessed Jason’s experience and apparently he felt that he should give it a shot since he loves music. Whether or not he makes it, at least he tried. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If AI doesn’t work out, he can always just continue his college education. (Or he could do cage fighting full time. LOL. Hope not. It looked painful, but damn…)
“”Come to think of it, Jason often seemed like he didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t let it get the best of him last year, so maybe his brother is blessed with that same ability. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m just surprised any sibling would want to walk in their brother or sisterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s shadow.”"
I dont think it is in Jasons shadow – it would be sad if Michael held back and did not try just because his brother already did. Jason has always said that Michael had the better voice than him. I am excited for Michael and the family and hope it works out well for them. Of course Jason is there with him, they are very close and I think that whole family is blessed in the way the interact and seem to love each other so much.
Michael is the only reason I would ever watch that show again. I had been planning to ignore it. I might just tune in to hear Michael sing.
AI is all about casting and controversy. Michael certainly has the hair-do for AI, and his good looks and photogenic quality will get him a long way. He already has a built-in voting fan base. I bet he’ll have the highest votes of anyone on the first night of voting. While other people are still gathering a following, his following already own 2 cell phones and are dialing with both hands.
I’m not saying every single one of Jason’s fans will vote for Michael, but I believe the family has a lot of support, and a lot of people will rally right out of the starting gate.
I have the impression Michael is going to be more along the same singing style as Danny Noriega.
Jackie just turned 13 years old in July. She is a good singer. She sang with Jason on one song at an appearance before he was on AI. She’s very smart and very sweet.
I love the way they support each other. They all seem to actually have a good time being together.
If Michael is on the show, I will watch and vote. I will probably stop when he leaves unless someone else grabs my attention quickly.
Here’s some old pics/vids of Michael with the blue streak in his hair – maybe Cook copied Michaels look?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrXCqzpH-8Y
“Michael certainly has the hair-do for AI, and his good looks and photogenic quality will get him a long way. He already has a built-in voting fan base. I bet heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll have the highest votes of anyone on the first night of voting.”
Good looks, check. Hair do, check. Built in voting fan base because they like your brother, check. Talent, who knows. Sorry, but I don’t like those reasons to root for Jason’s brother to advance. More like reasons why he shouldn’t.
I don’t think MCas is the first Idol sibling to try out. I’m pretty sure Fantasia’s brother did, and there could be more. Time will tell how far he makes it or if he’s any good. I can’t say if I’ll vote for him or not. I’ll judge him on his own merits if he makes it that far.
If he did make it to Hollywood, he’d be smart to try to get a couple of gigs under his belt in the meantime.
No we sure cannot assume any more than that, and I havent be able to find out anything further on him passing the judges round or anything.
Yes, Ricco Barrino tried out for Season 7, I believe. He didn’t make it past Hollywood. So far, other than the horrendous Brittenum brothers, who auditioned together (what a waste) and Jessie and Becky O’Donohue (only Becky was on the show), those are the only siblings I recall.
I think being Jason’s brother definitely helped to get him in front of the judges, but I don’t think it will be much more of a benefit to him. Getting in front of the judges is enough to carry the story to teevee. I think he’ll have to advance based on his own merit from there. I do hope they show his audition because, as a Jason fan, I’m interested in hearing his brother sing.
If he is good I will vote for him not just because he is Jasons brother, but, I will give him more of a chance than I did Jason at the beginning. I didnt start voting or really paying attention to Jason until after SOTR. So, in that way being Jasons brother is a good thing, but after that he is all on his own. Geeesh – listen to me, he might not even make it that far!
STUNNING complexion, stunning smile, gorgeous exotic eyes, sexy speaking voice…..stuuupid hair. lol.
Wonder whether he’ll make it to or even past Hollywood. If according to Jase, Michael is the better singer, this will be V interesting.
Suddenly I’m interested in the show again. :rolleyes_wp:
I’m a little surprised that Michael would follow so soon after Jason. Of course, he’s getting publicity, but think he might have a better chance of being judged on his own, if he waited. The Castros really do strike me as such a great family, so supportive of each other, and happy to share in each other’s activities.
I hope — as some have said — that Michael’s music is different enough from Jason’s so he won’t be compared too much to his brother. I’d like to see him flesh out his own identity.
I’ll be interested to see how Michael fares. I expect to see him in front of the judges on the strength of his name alone. Hope he’s good enough and different enough to go the rest of the way on his own.
Chris Sligh’s brother auditioned last year, but just made it to the judges rounds.
Michael plays guitar too. Must be a Castro requirement since he, Jason, his dad and his five uncles all sing and play the guitar. LOL.
He really has been great with fans who have met him or talked with him online. That’s one reason that lots of people already like him for himself, not just because he’s Jason’s brother.
He also plays the uke, lol. Any guitarist could though I assume.
& I think the drums….I remember reading something about Jason giving away his drumkit to him – or something? Probably got my facts wrong. Alas, he cannot play piano. Jason has him beat
I don’t know much about Michael aside from the fact that he cagefights, has thick skin, is hilarious in a blunt, snarky way and usually quiet at first around new people. No idea what his singing style is like. Hopefully he’ll make it past Hollywood.
In an online conversation, Michael said that he liked to sing songs by The Used because he could hit the notes the singer hits. I think that they are a rock band but I don’t listen to rock so I have never heard them.
I saw the video of Michael with his uke. He had so much fun playing Jason’s that he bought his own. LOL. I didn’t know that Jason played the piano. Cool.
It will be interesting to see which musical style Michael will choose.
Am I the only one that notices how nasal he speaks? Would sure hope his singing voice could get past that. His hair “style” is horrible imo and makes his nose look longer, but maybe AI can do something about the hair. I covered up his hair in that picture with my hands, and it did make an improvement. Dunno. At this point, I just can’t get excited about Michael, even if he is Jasonnn’s bro.
Now that you’ve pointed it out JudyOhio, I hear it.
& agreed: awful hair. It’s so…….parrot.
The first time I ever saw a shot of Michael, I thought “ughhh, POSER” but he did grow on me for some reason. Have a feeling he won’t make it too far though.
Yes, I thought the same thing. I will be interested in seeing how well he sings.
I loved [sic] Randy on the Larry King Show. Jason coming in at #1 in the poll made my day.
Good to hear from you sumidol.