Monday 3 February 2014

American Idol 2014: In The UK At Last!

At last, this is... American Idol...

Meet Marielle who gets the show off to a good start with Grenade. A smart-looking girl with a guitar and nice shoes. Then the show really starts. You are left wondering if we'll see Marielle again or if she was just part of a trailer. In the UK American idol is shown at 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, when most people are doing something other than watching TV. It's on a channel called 5* which doesn't appear in most newspaper TV guides either. I missed the first two shows and I'm supposed to know what I'm doing! Oh dear. Luckily I can catch up - and you can too - on-line via Demand 5. It's free and there are no ads either. Remarkable!

Grey skies and cold-looking people don't show Boston in its best light. Harry Connick Jnr joins Keith Urban and Jennifer Lopez for a three-line panel that ought to be free of argument and they all seem to be able to review well and effectively without descending to some of the antics of some X Factor judges.

We see a chap called Troy being interviewed after his audition but shown before his audition so it's obvious that he'll be through. A funny audition - he's just average and not memorable - and too many jokes about twerking.

The first real potential star we see is Sam, a nice young lad with a sad back story, a grandad and a low voice. He does a great job with Lego House. Nice. We'll see more of him. Another great little act was Stephanie - a 16 year old from Jersey - who had a cool hat and we get treated to huge delays as the judges take an age to say 'Yes'. Her success is quite emotional and she gets followed by Morgan who is just 15 and nowhere near as good.

James sounds drunk. Harry thinks he is the coolest man he's met. His song is his own and might have been OK had he not had three separate singing voices which made it laughable.

Austin has a helicopter mother. He's from New Jersey. Austin Bacario just manages the high notes in Titanium. He could be good with some coaching. Looks like he'll be around for a while and, 18 by the time you read this, he is keen to get to Hollywood without his mum.

Caitlin talks a lot and really quickly. She sang her own song which was pretty nice, something about her grandad dying I think. Bit of a wail but she deserved a space at the Hollywood round. Another very young one at 15.

Keith London had a guitar. Quite a few acts have brought guitars. He does Roar by Katy Perry and gets two out of three, Harry not being so sure.

An annoying chap called Sam says he's going to win the show hands down. He's one of those boring people that you don't want to listen to talking for long. You don't want to listen to him sing for long either. I was worried that he might prove a good singer but, luckily, that was it. Good.

Shanon is one enormous guy. He seems to be confused by Ryan running around a jumoing over chairs for no reason whatsoever. A reasonable voice at the start and then he finds all kind of strange squeaking notes that are in tune as well.

Bikini babe next. She's a cheerleader.  Stephanie Petroneli. With that surname you feel a bit nervous about not giving her a ticket. She looks like a model but the voice isn't great. Smoky, possibly different enough to get her through. It is. Once again, Harry fails her on the voice but Jennifer and Keith give her a chance.

Jacob from Arkansas. Strums a lot. No idea what happened to him.

Now we're in Austin. Keep Austin Weird say the posters!! Duran is a pretty little girl who isn't very memorable. Keith gets to choose again and she's out. Quite a few failures follow. Then I counted about 12 golden tickets being handed out but no idea what they were like.

Savion from Jasper, Texas has ADHD so we know he'll be through. In fact, he's damn good. Maybe the best so far. Another one to watch if he can keep it together doing other people's tracks and not just his own.

Terrica will look great on camera. Justin won't but may get through. Haley is a cute young country girl from a little place in Texas where her dad's a real cowboy.

Madelyn has very nice legs and is a bit older - at least 19. Not so sure about her audition but she was controlled and sultry and made Harry talk about her runs. Not at all sure I liked the look of her boyfriend though.

Viviana plays a ukelele and gets through

Savannah looks nice and sings OK and gets through.

Ben Boone has to be though with a name like Ben Boone.

Another pile get golden tickets. Malcolm Allen did some weird stuff with an air guitar at the start but actually sang well once he got on to the proper stuff.

Some guy cries his heart out. Rollando is really not a great singer at all. So many people come on and just fall for JLo so poor Harry gets well left out but finally Munfarid from Pakistan and Texas, not sure which, comes on as a majot Harry fan. Hilarious reaction from the excellent Harry who picks up Munfarid and it's all too much for me to watch. Lots more through. Hollywood will be packed out this year. 46 so far, we're told.

Part 2 coming soon.


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