‘American Idol’ recap: Fire On the Bay
Wow. Last night, American Idol laid the sob stories on as thick as a Ukranian accent on a pink-sweatsuited, surely battery-operated Mail-Order Bride Bratz Doll. (We were all thinking it!) From multiple fire victims to an Adam Lambert impersonator with Tourette’s, Aspberger’s, a dad who died of a drug overdose, and a baby who may or may not be wearing a diaper right now, the San Francisco auditions kept us on a pile of ashes and needles waiting for the next “most emotional moments of the season.” You could almost envision Nigel Lythgoe licking his chapped lips with delight after a pre-commercial teaser announced, “My life…took a turn for the worse.” PERFECT.
Read more at EW
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American Idol Recap: Golden Gateway
Police lights flash. Sirens blare. Medics rush toward the twisted wreckage of a totaled car. Firefighters sprint into a burning building. Colombian guerrillas wreak havoc in a small rural village. This…is American Idol? Yes, it is. Or rather, this…is American Idol…misguidedly dipping its toe into the reenactment business.
Read more at TV Line
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More Idol recaps after the JUMP…
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‘American Idol’ San Francisco Auditions: ‘Summertime’ Singer Leaves Judges Speechless
The City by the Bay, however, didn’t disappoint. If anything, tonight’s round of contestants had some of the most moving backstories of any I’ve seen in previous seasons.
But first there was lovably delusional Inessa Lee, whose hot-pink track suit and disturbing footage of her in the shower crowned her Wednesday night’s Creepiest Contestant. Shockingly, the Ukraine native’s tonally curious take on Air Supply’s “All Out of Love” didn’t win over Steven Tyler, though he was amused.
Read more at THR
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Waah! ‘Idol’ sob stories sing their way to Hollywood
It’s hard to remember the last “American Idol” auditioner who got the hard sell from the producers and editors that James Durbin did in Wednesday’s reel of the San Francisco auditions.
Durbin’s father was a bass player, but he died of a drug overdose before his singer son got to know him. To make things worse, a young Durbin was diagnosed with Tourette’s and Asperger’s syndromes, and was picked on as a child. He was lucky enough to meet a girl and fall in love, and now is the father of a baby. And by the way, he’s unemployed, and there are times he can’t even afford to buy diapers.
Read more at MSNBC
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Idol’s Last Audition City: San Francisco Treats
After last week’s lackluster Los Angeles “American Idol” auditions, some of the worst in the series’ 10-season history, I was seriously hoping for a rebound in L.A.’s sister city by the bay. After all, according to show insiders, many of L.A.’s finest actually auditioned in San Francisco, before Los Angeles was added as a last-minute audition city. And with San Francisco being the final audition stop this season, it was make-or-break time for “Idol.”
Read more at Reality Rocks
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THOUGHTS AT AMERICAN IDOL AUDITION’S END
First big thought at the end of the American Idol Season 10 audition tour is thank God that’s over. I appreciate the importance of the auditions in the structure of Idol. If the show didn’t go out into the nation and find these people, the whole narrative of taking someone from nowhere and making them a star wouldn’t function. Nonetheless, it feels like work. It felt like work. The sob stories grate on me. The cruelty part I don’t find fun. The comedy bits I don’t find particularly funny. Even in the best of seasons, it’s my least favorite part of the Idol journey.
Read more at Idol Inferno
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‘Idol’ Recap: Boy, Have I Got a Sob Story for You!
After last week’s Los Angeles debacle, Seacrest teased that they just might be saving the best for last when it came to “Idol” auditions. Don’t get too excited. We didn’t find any Carrie Underwoods.
The opening scene of a sobbing contestant should’ve warned us. In a trend that is becoming increasingly annoying, tonight’s trip to San Francisco seemed more about tragedy than talent.
Read more at The Wrap
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‘American Idol’: They Found Some Heart in San Francisco
After a disastrous outing in Hollywood, the “American Idol” gang wrapped up the audition phase of the show in the City by the Bay, which, as they noted, produced a Season Eight finalist in Adam Lambert.
History could well repeat itself, considering some of the contenders strutting their stuff before the judges tonight, which featured several unique talents with intriguing back stories, including a Colombian beauty who left that violence-torn country with her family to move to America, the survivor of a gruesome car accident, a young singer whose house burnt to the ground and a rock belter with Tourette’s syndrome who lost his bassist father to a drug overdose.
Read more at Fancast
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American Idol Auditions: San Francisco Recap
The last stop on ‘American Idol’s’ audition tour proved to be a redeeming one. After a spotty run from coast to coast, it looks like the odds are in favor of season 10’s winner coming from the San Francisco auditions.
Over 9, 000 showed up to audition in the city a mere 500 miles outside of the elusive Hollywood. And a good number of tonight’s featured contestants made it through. Not surprising though, considering the amount of ‘Gong Show’ throwbacks we’ve had to sit through this season.
Read more at TV Squad
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“Auditions #7”
Even with the best talent and most entertaining judges, would it be possible for Idol to maintain momentum for four weeks of audition episodes? I think not. That’s one improvement the show failed to make this season, cutting down the number of tryout episodes that just get tedious with time, but fortunately, tonight’s stop in San Francisco was the last of them, and tomorrow, we finally get to Hollywood Week.
Read more at the AV Club
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‘American Idol’ San Francisco auditions: We watch so you don’t have to
“American Idol” opens documentary style. A pretty blond sobs and runs her hand through her hair as she walks briskly away from the auditions in San Francisco.
“I thought I had it! I thought I was going to be famous!” she sobs.
“How am I going to go home and tell my mom I didn’t make it?” she wails as a hand-held camera follows her.
“Do you have a message for the judges?” a producer asks her.
Read more at Washington Post
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‘American Idol’ Season 10, San Francisco Auditions: TV Recap
Golden ticket hopefuls from the Golden Gate gave it their best shot on this, the last week of Idol auditions.
First up and out: Ukraine-born, belly-dancing Inessa Lee who insisted the judges missed out on the best thing in Hollywood when they showed her to the door. But all agreed that while she filled the room with cuteness and youth, she came up short on melody and voice. She didn’t set the tone for the night though — a stream of yeses quickly followed.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal
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‘American Idol’ San Francisco audition recap: has Adam Lambert met his match?
“Idol” saved a strong city for last. It’s San Francisco, the city that brought us Adam Lambert two years ago (he auditioned there, though he was from San Diego.)
That was an allusion to James Durbin, an early immediate favorite and Lambert-ish singer who I couldn’t help but like despite the heavy back story push by “Idol” producers. In this case, his tortured background feeds into his singing style and his heart. That is not a bad thing.
I was also a big fan of Stefano Langone and Emily Ann Reed.
Read more at AJC.com
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San Francisco Auditions – Boo Hoo, I Waste Too Much Money On Post-It Notes
In San Francisco, the first audition is also the best audition: Inessa Lee from Ukraine. She looks to be 12 years old, is completely delusional about her talent level, and she films herself in the shower to put it up on YouTube. I love her! She bounces about and then does an OK version of “I’m All Out of Love.” The judges don’t think she has the talent to make it to Hollywood, so she talks in a baby voice to try to get them to change their minds. When that doesn’t work, she bounces out of the room, gives Seacrest a canned answer, and makes her husband stroke her hair in the elevator as she says, “See this eyes, this is the most beautiful thing they have ever seen in their life. They missed out.” This girl is phenomenal and that was a good way to start the episode. More of that please.
Read more at Vote For The Worst
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‘American Idol’ Recap: Auditions End With Poverty, Car Accidents, Guerillas
To say James Durbin hasn’t overcome obstacles is like saying there aren’t enough “Idol” audition episodes. The 21-year-old’s estranged dad died of an overdose back when James was a sleep-deprived wee lad, and now he’s living with Tourette Syndrome and Asperger’s and a wife who compulsively covers their tiny apartment with inspirational Post-It notes. (That last thing might be the most difficult to deal with, honestly.) Oh, and he has a baby who crawls around diaperless, leaving a trail of tears and baby droppings in his poverty-stricken wake.
Read more at MTV
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American Idol Stains It’s Golden Tickets With Tears
The San Francisco audition episode of American Idol‘s 10th season was the last one before Hollywood Week began, and oh boy was it a doozy. There was crying everywhere, and not just because the hangover from last week’s awful Los Angeles episode was persisting! Among tonight’s contestants were a refugee from the Colombian drug war, a woman who lost her house in a fire, a possible mail-order bride who decided to pair lace socks with Skechers Shape-Ups. But perhaps most importantly for the show, it crowned its successor to Season Eight runner-up Adam Lambert—not too long after it had heralded this season’s Kelly Clarkson, the 15-year-old Lauren Alaina. The differences? He’s slightly younger, has less control of his voice, and instead of spending his last few years making his way around the Los Angeles cabaret scene, he’s been dealing with the many crappy things life has handed to him. (Similar hair, though!)
Read more at PopDust
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Paul F. Tompkins Recaps American Idol’s San Francisco Auditions
Welcome to the final night of auditions! The judges have their work cut out for them tonight, as we are in San Francisco, America’s most nonjudgmental city! (Provided you do not live anywhere outside of San Francisco.)
The show begins with a fake-out cold open that’s supposed to be hilarious, but isn’t. It’s gross and dumb. I cannot bring myself to put into words what I saw, partly because I have dignity and I’m assuming you do, too. But I also want to punish people who tell me they read these recaps without watching the show. I don’t care if I am getting paid $15 a word, you don’t get everything handed to you.
Read more at New York Magazine
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