Home > Idol Chatter > Archives > 2008 > February > 13 > Entry
Hooray for Hollywood
At last, a night of decent singing. Yes, there were some clunkers, but even they were almost good.
I know they are working very hard to make us believe the talent is better than it has been in previous seasons, so they showed us more really good Hollywood auditions. But assuming those are the ones that make it to the 24, we should be in for a real treat.
I also was impressed with the little bit of deliberation among the judges that we got to see at the end. It seemed that if the contestant didn’t have a chance to win it all, that person was dismissed. Perhaps they learned their lesson with Sanjaya last season. After all, every time Simon complained about people voting him through, I kept wondering why they had let him into the top 24 in the first place. I really can’t believe he was the 12th best guy available last season.
A few of the contestants who really caught my attention:
David, who sang an arrangement of “Love the One Your With” — He showed some real musicality by slowing down the opening, then bringing it up to tempo. The originality made that song (not one of my favorites normally) worth listening to.
Amanda, the rock ‘n’ roll nurse — Her throwback style on “Light My Fire” was really neat. I contend that she will go much farther than Gina last season and possibly farther than Chris Daughtry. I can also see her slowing it down to do a really edgy arrangement of standards.
Another David, the 16-year-old who sang “Heaven” — What a pure, innocent sounding voice! And yet he had a great feel for the song, the passion and depth required to pull it off. We haven’t had a guy that young able to do that in previous years.
Seisha, whose voice was almost gone, yet she pulled off an amazing rendition of an Aretha song — Wow! If she can sound that good hoarse, imagine the possibilities. I was reminded of Kelly being hoarse in season 1, yet pulling off stunning performances.
And finally Carly, who has been much ballyhooed on several web sites for already having had a recording contract and blowing it — OK, she might not deserve this chance, but she did make the most of it. Whether you approve or not, you’ve got to admit she sounded pretty good.
My final thought: I was really glad they eliminated that stupid group song round. I never understood the point of that in the auditions. Nothing in the competition phase revolves around singing harmony or singing with a group, so why was that critical for auditioning? I liked the way they handled things this year much better.
I haven’t ever peaked at the spoiler list of the top 24, so I’m eager to see who makes the cut tonight!
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