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When I first sat down to talk American Idol, I had just the worst migraine, which was caused by the auditions in Los Angeles that aired last night.
No, I’m not kidding. The L.A. auditions were by far the worst auditions that I have ever taken the time to sit and watch. I seriously want that hour of my life back.
This is season 10 of American Idol. I expected better than Thursday night’s episode. I guess I should have known better.
Before I get ahead of myself, let’s talk about Wednesday night’s auditions in Austin, TX. Even though the episode was so much better than the L.A. auditions, there were only a couple singers that I would consider being actual contenders in this season’s competition. Those singers are 21-year-old Jaqueline Dunford from Scottsdale, AZ and 19-year-old Casey Abrams from Idlywild, CA.
Jaqueline Dunford auditioned for the show with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Nick Flint. Dunford, who sang Duffy’s “Mercy” was in my opinion the best of the female singers in the Austin. She took that Duffy song and really in the ridiculous words of Randy Jackson, “blew it out the box.” I really like the tone of her voice, and appreciated her demonstration of vocal control.
My other favorite from Austin, Casey Abrams sang “I Don’t Need No Docter” by Ray Charles. This dude can sing. And scat. I love it! I am sensing a trend with the male singers with the soulful, raspy voices this season, but Abrams infused his audition with so much personality, that he set a nice tone for himself going into “Hollywood Week.”
The L.A. auditions episode that aired Thursday night was hands down the worst episode of Idol I’ve ever watched, and I’m saying this as someone who watched the train wreck known as season three in its entirety.
The one contestant worth mentioning is 23-year-old Tim Halperin from Fort Worth, TX, who sang “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5. He had a really good audition. Tim nailed the higher notes in the song, which isn’t an easy task to do.
I feel like the L.A. auditions were a complete joke and a huge waste of time to watch. And while I didn’t personally care for Idol last night, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe tweeted some of his thoughts on Twitter this morning.
“Bad talent but I enjoyed the SHOW. Idol has always been about the best and the worst talent. It’s the bland I dislike, celebrate the bad!”
He’s got to be joking, right? Because for the past nine seasons, I was led to believe that Idol was about the search for a superstar. Leading up to the premiere of season 10, all we were hearing from the producers and judges were how they were looking for the next superstar.
I don’t want to celebrate the bad. What happened to the days of telling the bad auditions to pick a new hobby and move along? I don’t think that this is a part of the show that should be glorified.
And Nigel may have enjoyed the “SHOW” last night, but the “SHOW” was awful. I really think that the producers need to realize that the goal is to keep their viewers and not give them a reason to throw in the towel and quit watching before the semi-finals.
Cut out the antics, Idol! Show me the talent!
Alright Idol fans, let me know what you thought about this week’s auditions in Austin and LA. And are you as happy as I am that the “Hollywood Week” round is almost here?
