Click for the American Idol 14 Top 24 Spoilers and DISCUSSION

What kind of talent will we find in Minneapolis tonight? Let’s find out! The answer to that question? The land of Prince and The Replacements yields very little in the way of talent.

Idol is NOT finding great talent in these small cities. While Nashville and New York delivered, it was snoozeville in Kansas City and ESPECIALLY Minneapolis.

The only decent singers tonight were Hannah Mozrak and  and Mark Andrew. (ETA: Vanessa Andrea, the stay-at-home mom who sang “Some Kind of Wonderful” was the most interesting singer of the night. How did I forget her? I think I was brain dead by the end of the show). While Hannah had a good voice, she was pretty generic. Mark is interesting, but not all that striking. NOTHING tonight compared to the best of New York City, where singers like JAX and Hollywood Anderson had me riveted. Bleh.

What will New Orleans bring tomorrow? Harry has already expressed disappointment in his hometown talent, saying there were few native singers bringing any regional flavor to the proceedings. So, I’m not holding out much hope. Sigh.

The judges have all enthused about the talent found in San Francisco, which gets TWO hours next week. FINGERS CROSSED. Remember tomorrow: First one hour Thursday show!

Shannon Berthiaume – 17 – “House of the Rising Sun” – When she was a kid, she would sing after having a bad day. Shannon SWEARS she hasn’t had much experience singing in front of people. You can tell she’s nervous–she’s got that bug eyed look of someone about to jump out of her skin. She says she likes to sing songs with a lot of soul. Welp. She’s literally SCREAMING House of the Rising Sun. Girl is going to BUST A BLOOD VESSEL if she’s not careful. Harry digs the way she spontaneously interprets her performance. “The most raw talent we’ve seen” says Keith. Jennifer says, “She’s got a lot of attitude.” Wow. I thought she was really inexperienced and raw to the point of NOT READY AT ALL. Not getting why the judges put her through – 3 yeses.

http://youtu.be/FRDKLkDkvFM

Kemil Casey – 19- “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson – Hopeful brings a gold plated microphone into the audition room with him. I smell a joke contestant dead ahead! Yep. He’s ridiculous. With a whiny, nasally voice and goofy dance moves. He can’t be serious. This is a moment I might advocate Harry interrupting him. But he doesn’t. “That was oddly entertaining,” says Harry. He likes his “guy off the street” deal. Harry. That was an Idol staple before you came along. Jlo says, “You get what you’re supposed to do.” She thinks he has a future in show business? What? We get to see Harry’s 14 year old girl impression. Bonus.

http://youtu.be/KGjaEa35d6A

Harry eats Kettle Corn in his sleep. Fun Fact.

Morgan Ovens – “Hand in Pocket” by Alanis Morissette, Gabrielle Noe’l “Lovesong” by The Cure and Courtney Guns – “Independence Day” by Martina McBride – Quick montage of three very different singers. 3 yeses.

http://youtu.be/ZeUGbtCpm6g

Vanessa Andrea – 25 – “Some Kind of Wonderful” by Grand Funk Railroad – Her husband is in the military. She has THREE kids! Keith Urban was her first concert. She kinda has a crush on him. She’s using her scarf as a guitar strap. It’s rather stylish. She does a great job buttering up the panel before she sings–name checking their work with plenty of compliments. She begins to cry as she talks about her husband. She’s a little wild, this woman. She should take a minute and maybe a few deep breaths. She calms down once she sings, however. And she’s good! Classic country with a rock edge. She reminds me a little of Roseanne Cash. She’s confident with great tone and attitude. She calls her husband. They deliver their yeses to her husband on her phone. Before she leaves, she compliments both Keith and Jlo on their butts. Vanessa is so bubbly! – 3 yeses.

http://youtu.be/WgxYsAjFJWQ

Zach Johnson – 20 – “Don’t Close Your Eyes” by Keith Whitley – This dude is dressed like crap. What’s with the k mart hoodie and baggy jeans? He’s also very silly. Harry asks for a high five. Zach is bouncing off the walls. And then he opens his mouth to sing. I was not expecting him to sound like that! He actually has a really beautiful radio-ready sounding voice. He needs to develop his own style, though. Harry loves his energy and spirit. He tells him to lay off the country accent when he sings. He’s right. His phrasing is really affected, like he’s copying his favs. Harry wants to hear him sing in HIS voice. Keith likes his voice, although Zach’s overall deal is problematic. Jlo wants to hear him sing without the accent. The second song is a little better. But he’s got some bad habits he needs to break. They stop him mid song, to hand him a golden ticket. Zach mentions an upcoming concert date for Keith that he plans to attend. Keith promises to say hi, but Harry doesn’t believe it. Sure enough. We see a video clip from said concert. Keith even brought Zach up on stage! Cool. – 3 yeses

http://youtu.be/24fRKiIRbb8

Aaron Bissell – 17 – Breathy, warbly tunesmith is a self-admitted coffee house singer, giving Harry the opportunity to deliver more of his beloved *ahem* shtick!

http://youtu.be/CWs14mXBSVE

Cindy Jo Scholer – 26 –  “Crazy” by Patsy Cline – She loves to hunt, fish, mostly with a bow. She just shot a bear bow hunting. She takes the confidence of shooting into her performances, she says. She’s got the wilderness schtick down to a T. Harry wonders how much of all that is really her. She promises that she’s the real deal. Her performance of the Patsy Cline classic would have been so much better if she’d modulated the high notes some. She literally screams the high notes. But she’s got a good voice, with potential, otherwise. She admits that she started too high. Jlo felt like she lost the melody trying to show off. Keith advises her to lose the theatrics. Harry digs her voice, he notes that she yelled a lot of it. Jennifer says no. Keith says yes. Harry also says yes, but with reservations. She killed a bear last weekend! Harry holds up a load of golden tickets. “As if I’m going to say no!” – Jlo says no Harry and Keith say Yes

http://youtu.be/zRtFs-iHZeY

Some dude came in dressed as a bear. The panel couldn’t stop laughing.  “You couldn’t have come in at a better time. That girl would have shot your ass,” quips Harry.

Is Matt going to Hollywood or Home? He yells “Hold On, I’m Coming” as the twitter hashtags to vote flash at the bottom of the screen.  As Minneapolis has been full of screamers–all advanced to Hollywood–I say…WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD!

And YEP. Matt advances to Hollywood!

Jacob Tolliver – 20 – “Whole Lotta Shakin Going On” by Jerry Lee Lewis – He’s currently playing the understudy for Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet in Las Vegas. So he does his Jerry Lee Lewis impression for the judges. Well. That was amusing, but useless. Harry notes that the mimicry will not win American Idol. Jacob says he wants to be his own artist. Keith calls him a chameleon. Well. That’s one way to put it. Jacob goes back to the piano and sings “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith. Hm. I don’t like this at all. Now he’s doing an Elvis impression, badly. It’s the weirdest Sam Smith cover I’ve ever heard. He’s a much better piano piano than vocalist. Inexplicably, he gets 3 yeses. He’ll last a minute in Hollywood. – 3 yeses.

http://youtu.be/L7kh9GYGSyk

Hanna Mozrak – 16 – “Somethings Got a Hold on Me” by Etta James – She’s the first decent singer to walk through the door tonight, to be honest. But even she isn’t special. A decent soul voice from Hanna, especially for how young she is. Keith calls it “fantastic.” Keith says, “Amazing.” OMG SHE’S ONLY 16!!! – 3 yeses.

http://youtu.be/WRXgZG-n0xc

A montage of NOs is next. SADS.

Mark Andrew – 29 – “Soulshine” by The Allman Brothers – You won’t hear it in his intro package, but Mark Andrew was a The Voice 4 contestant, making it ALL THE WAY to the Battle Rounds as a member of Team Shakira. He’s a first time dad! Right at the end of the age limit, he’s feeling very last chancy. He’s a foreman in the family landscaping business. So it appears he’s not pursuing a show business career, presently, despite his prior singing show experience. Keith asks for another song. He sings “Be Like You” without his guitar. He was good when he sang “Knocking at Heavens Door” on The Voice. He’s real good here too. Very soulful, nice tone and great phrasing. “I really dig you,” says Harry. After Mark leaves, Harry declares that he wished he could have critiqued Mark on the beat–which he demonstrates. Harry accuses Jlo of stealing his dance moves. They dance together. “You was looking at my junk, wasn’t you,” accuses Harry. Heh. – 3 yeses.

http://youtu.be/UOFaG35sK5U

That’s Minneapolis. Ho hum.