American Idol 2024 Auditions 3 Recap
American Idol season 22 continues tonight for a third week with auditions from the judges hometowns Leesburg, Georgia (Luke), Tuskegee, Alabama (Lionel) and Santa Barbara, California (Katy) plus Los Angeles and Nashville. Judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan along with host Ryan Seacrest will introduce a new crop young hopefuls. Who will snag that golden ticket to Hollywood? Or better yet, will a hopeful earn one of THREE Platinum Tickets?
American Idol 2024: Full Season 22 Schedule
American Idol 2024 Auditions 3: Meet The Contestants (Photos)
American Idol 2024 Spoilers: Top 24 Season 22 Contestant List
American Idol 2024 Contestant Preview
Reminder: Comments on this post are a SPOILER FREE ZONE. Do not spoil outcomes. Keep spoiler discussion confined to specific spoiler posts.
Max Dasher – 18 – Rock Salt & Nails by Utah Phillips
ABC previewed this audition last week HERE. Max sings an old country music standard with an authentic voice. But Luke notices that he’s nervous and uptight. He gives the young singer a few pointers on how to loosen up. Katy calls him sparkly. Max has potential, but is still young and green with a few rough edges that need to be polished up. He seems to still be figuring out who he is as an artist.
Luke suggests that he “breath and calm down.” Lionel compares him to the 50s actor, James Dean. Chances are, Max has NO idea who that is! Fun fact: Max and his sister, who is waiting outside with Ryan are related to the Duck Dynasty family. Sis is next.
3 yeses
Laela Dasher – 20 – Angel from Montgomery by John Prine
Laela sings with an interesting trembly tone. Like an old woman who lives in a holler. She doesn’t quite know what to do with her hands though!
Katy is looking for more volume. The judges want a song together. They oblige with a lovely rendition of “Rivers and Roads.” They are both young, raw and worthy artists, full of potential. Lionel calls them “magical” separate and together.
Katy says no to Laela. Luke and Lionel say yes – 2 yeses and 1 no
American Idol has a history of casting siblings. The drama comes when one is eliminated first, usually at an early stage i.e. one gets cut in Hollywood, while the other moves on to the voting rounds.
The crew celebrates Katy’s birthday with a tiny pink carnival dedicated to Katy. There are rides and prizes. And a dunk tank. See ya Ryan! Enjoy that cold plunge.
Scarlett Lee – 26 – Clown by Emeli Sande
Scarlet made it all the way to second place on the final season of X Factor UK in 2018! Here she is auditioning for Idol, all the way from London. Scarlett loves Katy, and is auditioning in her hometown, Santa Barbara. A singer doesn’t finish second in another big singing show without possessing the goods. And indeed, her tone is throaty and full and she brings emotion and a big range to her performance.
The judges give her a standing ovation. “Your trip was worth it!” says Lionel. Luke thinks she has a “vibe.” Katy said, “That is one of my favorite songs! It’s so vulnerable. You do have a vibe.” Katy calls her fun and funky and describes her personality in a way that speaks to Scarlett. “Your soul is shining through,” she says. She believes girls all over will be rooting for her. 3 yeses
Donahue Diaries – I Want You to Want Me by Cheap Trick
Donahue teaches guitar at the School of Rock. He’s very energetic, coming in hot–too hot like a joke contestant. He sits at the piano and sings “I Want You To Want Me.” He’s screamy and pitchy and omes off kind of corny and crazy, like a player at one of these double piano bars, or a cruise ship singalong. Luke says the vocals are not up to par. It’s a no – 3 nos
Next, it’s a montage of NOS as the judges try to coach them.
Nick Connors – 22 – Easy on Me by Adele
Nick brings along a good friend to accompany him on guitar. They are both from Pasadena TX. Nick has a big social media following and has gone viral a few times, starting at 12 years old. Nick sings with a beautiful tone, nice phrasing and just a hint of rasp.
Luke thinks he leans on falsetto too much. Katy wants to hear more, but louder. He tries to follow her instruction, but he winds up straining his voice and losing control. He’s doing fine without her coaching! Luke says he has “magic sauce,” but needs coaching. Katy thinks he has a God given talent, but needs to fight harder. Lionel loved it. “Big things are coming for you.” Katy believes he has the potential to make the Top 24. 3 yeses
Jennifer Jeffries – 17 – Change My Ways by Jennifer Jeffries
The young singer sent in a video to audition, not expecting to get noticed. But here she is, in front of the judges in Lionel’s home town. The high school student is the youngest of 9 kids and has been writing songs since age 9. The Starkville, Mississippi hopeful is like a hothouse flower. She has little experience, but regardless, she’s a songwriter with the potential to become a fully realized artist.
“I was not expecting that voice,” says Luke. Katy notes her “unique grit” and her raw sound. She sings like an old soul. Lionel loves her uniqueness. “I can hear that diamond in the roughness.” 3 yeses
Kimi – 25 – Heal by Tom Odell
American Idol previewed this audition earlier. Watch HERE. The singer watched American Idol on his computer with his mom. He’s from Kosovo, Albania and was born right after the war there. Because his mother was diagnosed with PTSD and Multiple Sclerosis, Kimii never had the opportunity to hear her sing. Relatives say he sounds just like her. Eventually, he moved to America alone to follow his dreams.
Kimi is overcome by emotion as he sings the emotion “Healing” which he says represents his inner child. He’s a VERY serious person. His tone is very pretty, and his phrasing is nuanced. But by the end of the song, he’s crying. He apologizes. “We’re in the dream,” says Katy, telling him not to be sorry. Luke calls his voice “cool” but thinks he’s too proper and technical. Katy asks him to sing again. He sings “Love in the Dark” by Adele. He’s a little pitchy. I’m not sure he’s improved? Either way, he’s a good enough singer to advance. “You’re close to being a bada** singer,” says Luke.
Katy suggests Kimi call his parents. He gets them on the line. PULLING ON THE HEARTSTRINGS HERE. Mom is pretty low key for having Katy Perry surprise her. Next, Kimi sings a song in Albanian for his mom. MORE TEARS. With his parents still on the line, the judges deliver Kimi 3 yeses.
Luke is outside the audition room, singing with a hopeful. When he comes in, Katy has vitamins waiting for him. It’s a literal IV bag of liquid vitamins. A medic comes into the room and sets him up. Weird.
Aniston Pate -20 – Hummingbird by Aniston Pate
And actually, Aniston is the gal who sang with Luke outside. She’s thoroughly confused by his IV hookup. I mean, who wouldn’t be. By day, the Texan drives a John Deere tractor. Entertainment Tonight previewed this audition a few days ago. She has an old school sound, which is why the judges compare her to Dolly Parton. Aniston has a similar sweet bell like tone.
She explains that she wrote the song with her best friend. Luke has a few suggestions for the lyrics. But he loves it. Lionel says half way through listening to her audition he was, “Is that you Dolly?” Katy compliments the songwriting. But she thinks her vocal could use some work. “Hummingbird” is about her mother, who is waiting outside to hear the verdict. 3 yeses
Avery Guinn – 21 – Wayfaring Stranger
Avery plays the accordion for the judges. It’s kinda creepy. He finally settles on the piano, and sings in a very deep voice, like count dracula. It’s a horror show special. 3 nos
Avery’s audition sets up another montage of nos.
Madai Chakell – 22 – I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry
Madai works as a Broadway actress. She demonstrates her ability to do many different voices and accents. Her regular voice, however, is very smurfy. She’s personality plus, but her singing is all over the place. She lacks breath control and is pitchy in parts. Katy suggests she try “Happy Birthday.” She wants some vocals. It’s better. But she’s still putting on too much of act.
Katy thinks she has a good voice, but needs to strip it back. Lionel wants her to be in charge of all the characters. Luke doesn’t think she’s ready yet. Lionel and Katy say yes, Luke says no. 2 yeses, 1 no. It’s enough to advance to Hollywood.
CJ Rislove – 22 – “The Astronaut and the Rock Star” by CJ Rislove
CJ lives in a refurbished school bus which he describes as a “rolling studio.” He brings homemade cookies for the judges. OH Look. The Lucky Charms mascot runs into the frame. It’s an advertising tie in…and pretty annoying. The audition becomes very spontaneous. The judges ask him to sing a song he wrote the day before called “The Astronaut and the Rock Star.” It’s very 70’s era Elton John. Not bad for an unrefined song.
Katy compares him to EJ, and Billy Joel. “It’s got the ingredients,” she says. Lionel thinks he’s magic and a clever lyricist. They decide to visit his “home” which is parked out in the lot. They take a tour and are impressed. Tik Tok is full of people doing the van life thing. Just take a look. Some of the setups are really impressive. 3 yeses
Kyra – 23 – Up to the Mountain by Patty Griffin
Kyra is a stay at home mom. Her mother, Tyra, was a bluegrass singer, but addiction derailed her deram. She’s sober now. The singer is FINALLY in front of the judges, after auditioning 5 years in a row.
It’s interesting that it took her so long to get on the show. She’s a talented singer. It illustrates how luck and right place/right time plays into getting on these shows. Kyra sings with a strong, raspy voice and can hit impressively high notes. Her intonation and phrasing are excellent.
Why did it take so long? Katy wonders. “It was great. You were a little bit unrehearsed…but you have a huge voice in there that needs some shaping.” Katy sees that she lacks confidence. Luke loves the cry and volume in her voice. Lionel says, “No fear…she is not going to let this door close, not one more time. You fought your way into this thing.” 3 yeses
Will Moseley – 23 – Gone for Good my Will Mosely
Will, from Hazelnut, Georgia, played football in college. Playing on the offensive line meant being hit. A lot. He received 3 concussions in the span of two seasons. The long term consequences scared him, so football ended for him. Eventually, he turned to music.
Lionel had to run for a plane. He says YES halfway through the performance. His raspy voice is well worn and his songwriting solid. Luke hops on the piano to play along. Still, the judges facetime Lionel to add a few remarks. 3 yeses
NEXT WEEK! The Academy Awards air on ABC, so no American Idol. The comedy Abbot Elementary gets the post-Oscars spot Idol has had for several years in a row.
Idol returns Sunday, March 17 with Auditions part 4.
