So many of these auditions seem to have Katy in the yellow and black dress with the matching eye liner. It's like all the best ones just happened to be when she wore that outfit. There is quite some fun to be had watching her clothes change throughout the series as the editors have mixed and matched a lot.
Here's the fourth audition show and we start with Jessica Whitely. She stands out because of the black and red with bright and bold lipstick. She auditioned seven years ago so you might expect some change over the years but, surprisingly, this first act is very annoying. Let's move on.
Jacob Moran is not an obvious Idol winner but he comes across as a nice person. The three judges clap his performance enthusiastically but he seemed pretty average to me. I don't know what I missed that they heard in the room. I guess we'll find out in a later programme.
Elyssa Raghu made the Top 24 last year. That would have been enough for most singers and has to be an impressive achievement on its own. This girl, however, is one determined person. For me I do feel she is just a bit too 'organised' with so much effort having been made to get further this time. She's taken lessons for this and that and no-one can deny that she not only sings well but looks gorgeous. I feel that I would prefer a natural talent and, perhaps, with the right choice of songs and a genuine, rather than practised, interpretation will win over voters' hearts in future. I actually found some of her audition a bit tuneless in places too. The plaudits and praise were all a bit too much. Yes, put her through but that's enough.
Colby Swift says that a prayer got him here. He hails from Midfield Texas and that does seem very much to be pretty much the middle of one big field! I guess they probably need God out there as there's no-one else to talk to for miles. He's an all-American movie ranch boy and does good ol' Country with passion. Not related to Taylor, apparently.
Evelyn Cormier is 19 going on 30. She does Wicked Game and this is an interesting and natural audition. A different contestant but I am not sure how much appeal she'll have.
Ashley Hess is a bit older at 27 and you expect something good from this girl. She is the best so far, with a nice personality and seems genuinely surprised at the enthusiastic reception, especially when the three gather round her piano as she does another number for them. Nice. Watch out for her.
Gaba is a strange name and she used to be Elizabeth Gaba but now is just Gaba for some reason we never understand. She's a great singer and comes across as pure, natural talent as she stands there in a torn boiler suit with little make-up or effort at self-promotion. Whilst she's good the panel really are OTT and go on and on which is beginning to get a bit annoying. I accept that the show wants to be positive - and I am glad that we don't see many of the failures - but so many acts cannot be so good to warrant so much time spent telling them.
Peach Martine is some contrast to the previous act. She has made a lot of effort to make herself look good and, annoyingly, seems to be good at absolutely everything. Not only does she have 13 A star qualifications but she's a cheerleader and knows how to stand and sing and impress. She's almost robotic and her version of Zombie almost sounds like a record with a scratch but all credit to her for the choice and interpretation. So, yes, you can't help but admire the girl but it seems that she regards success as something like a test and she has worked out how to pass it logically. We will need some emotion - genuine, not acted!
Luke turns into the show's guitar tuner for several acts which is quite amusing but also good to see.
Dalton Elliott gets a very, very long intro with his little kid and all lines about the dad doing the right stuff. He's an OK singer but not great and not really justifying all that initial time. On top of that we get an enormous family afterwards and that takes ages to clear. There's a lot of this going on.
After a weird bloke doing just noises - and I have no idea why they even bothered to include him - we meet Katie Belle. She's a model and an actor and says she has expensive taste. She is attractive, for sure, and does the Beatles' Golden Slumbers. It's nice but not brilliant. You have to smile as Luke swoons when she goes to shake his hand. This is America being far more free and less diverse and all that. I love it. There's no way it could happen on the BBC or ITV these days as everyone is so ruddy careful not to show any feeling at all and certainly won't fancy young girls. Katie is just 19.
Lauren Engle is a bit different. She's 27 and her husband died recently so we get another long and emotional trailer for her. She sings her own song about losing him which is really very good.
The final set of auditions follows. So now I imagine that, by the end of this show, if not already, we will have seen the next American Idol!
Jade Flores is the first up - an experienced singer in good Country style.
Jacob O'Brien is a slightly strange all-American boy with flags and a cap and he comes across as just a little thick, if pleasant enough. You tend to think that here is someone who believes God made the world and that it's all flat too. He is 18 but really does look closer to 48. He is quite mad about America and, whilst you shouldn't knock a patriot, he is slightly embarrassing. He has an original song too called I Love My Country in which earth rhymes with prefer. It's not great. He says that if people don't like the way he does things then they're not living the American way. Lionel bravely thinks that he's not good enough. An odd audition.
Christiaan Padovan is one good-looking young fellow. He comes from a smart part of town. He lives in 'The Hamptons' and Luke asks whether 'rich ladies loaded up on wine want to hit on you?' He's a decent character, despite all the comments about his looks, and takes it all in a good way. He is, more importantly, a decent singer - a good one after a lot of very average guys. The panel ask him to bring in the girlfriend. She is a good singer too and I was even wondering that they'd put her through too. This was a nice, genuine, audition.
Ryan Hammond was raised in church. A very, very long introduction again. Way too long. He is a very good singer and does a Sam smith number better than Sam Smith did it.
Chloe Channell has a famous chap called Billie Dean on guitar for her. He has written several big hits for other artists as well as having a good number himself on the Country charts, and she has also worked with Kenny Rogers. A well-connected young lady, indeed.She's only 16 but puts on a very confident and competent performance. We'll see her again.
Emma Kleinberg has yet another very, very long intro.She gives us her own song American Privilege which is interesting and quite a brave thing to do on this sort of programme. She delivered it well and deserves another chance but I'm not sure how far she'll go.
Zebulon Spencer is another older contestant at 27 and very good, strong Country singer. Although I thought he struggled with some high notes, Luke was very impressed and said this had been his favourite Country voice in the whole show this year and last. You do have to wonder just how much more positive they can get! It is all a bit much.
Jorgie is 23 and comes with The Jorgies as his band. It seems that this is how he comes out as being gay - on this programme. Luckily it is shown several months after the actual audition so he will have had time to tell his parents. He tries an impression of Katy which doesn't work and I am about to think he's a gonna when he does the real audition number which is an original song. Nicely done and an interesting guy.
Nick Merico is 22 and already has had a career as an actor in a Nickelodeon show. He can also sing really well and does Back To Black well. This guy could go a long way and I would expect to see him in the Live Shows.
Lady Mapo looks very scary in black with black lipstick and nasty facial piercings. That fooled me when she turned out to be last year's winner, Maddie Poppy! A very good bit of make-up there. Then we also get the runner-up Caleb who0 supports a friend who didn't know he'd be there! It's good ol' boy Country stuff. Surprisingly, Jared Summers gets a no. I thought he was bound to get through. Maybe that was why Caleb left the panel when the voting started.
The very last audition, not only that we see but actually the last one for the panel is Jackson Gillies. He has a skin condition which marks his appearance in places and you kinda hope that he'll not only get through but get some help from the amazing people they have in the background with make-up and cures for this and that. He comes across as a really nice bloke and you just hope he'll be good. In fact he's better than I had expected. The first singer with what I'd call real soul in the series that I can recall. He sings Make It Rain - an ideal song for this fellow. A nice way to end the auditions.
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