American Idol 8: Music in Kansas City

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Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Gossip

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Lovely brunette Casey Carlson won the judges next (and me, too - I just love her name). She also scored four yes votes and a ticket to Hollywood Week. Brian Hettler’s fate would not be the same. This I knew at once from his horrible V-neck (so low cut that even Simon Cowell would not dare wear it) and completely black outfit. He gave a horrible rendition of “Think,” and Cowell was not amused. He pronounced it as a “horrendous outfit” and “horrendous singing,” which pretty well sums it up. I didn’t even think the guy was serious until I saw his disappointment.

This led into a rather sad crying montage. Every year, it seems like more and more fresh-faced singers get past the judges to the golden, glittering gates of Hollywood Week (truly a hellish experience for them and great fun for us, the viewers). But there are still many more left behind, and each one represents a crushed dream.

But let’s do buck up a little. There are about six hundred reality shows they could all try out for instead. So on we move to an odd little scene with Ryan Seacrest and David Cook’s parents. This led into a very short montage of David Cook before we were treated to a series of horrible singers.

The group included James Michael Advance, Billy Vinson, Chris Jones and Deandre Hopkins - all terrible, all off the screen in thirty seconds or less. Just think, the panel had to sit through at least twice that amount with each. Finally Von Smith arrived wearing a weird hat. He was good-looking…but, the hat. He flamboyantly - and very, very loudly - sang Judy Garland and honestly I didn’t care for him. Too shouty for my tastes, and I’ve never been much for men who sing Garland. But amazingly Von won four years votes from the panel and he’ll be dancing his way to Hollywood. I see a career on Broadway for Von.

The Jason Castro montage followed, which could only mean one thing: time to meet the little bro. And Michael Castro, 20, is just as cute and charming as viewers could have hoped - he’s even got that same smile. But…how’s about his voice? Very laid-back and confident, Michael (who also, incidentally, has odd hair) strolled into his audition and just started singing. Quite well, too. Simon called it “good-ish” but couldn’t help but smile at Michael, saying he was never sure if “you Castros” are really “into this” or not. Kara thought Michael had a lot of chutzpa, and I realized I like her. I like the new judge. At any rate, Michael got four yes votes and a ticket to go to Hollywood, much to the delight of the Castro family. And wouldn’t it be great to see him on the big stage?

Matt Breitzke, welder, followed. His voice was very soulful and he quickly impressed the panel, also scoring a golden ticket. Jasmine “Jazz” Joseph came next, a girl with multicolored hair and a very, very intense personality. She was a terrible singer, however.

Next came a string of successes. Cute Jessica Verney, small-town girl, won them over with a Janis Joplin song (very hard to do). Sisters Asia and India broke out a pretty good rap dedicated to Randy Jackson (and perhaps, everyone else who likes food), but only India impressed the judges with her singing voice. Jamar Rogers, whom I found fairly awful and off-key, did something right to get a ticket, and then it all boiled down to Danny Gokey.

He’s apparently BFF with Rogers, and tragically his wife died just four short weeks before the audition. Despite his pain, Gokey displayed great range and tone and very securely sailed into Hollywood Week after finding sweeping approval amongst the four.

To keep the show balanced, a montage of horrible singers followed. Anoop Desai then arrived and immediately impressed me with his back-and-forth banter. His voice was wonderful, too, and though Simon found Desai “geeky” the singer also won everyone over to get his ticket.

Andrew Lang, who had two cheerleaders introduce him and enjoyed an amazingly long audition, did not find approval so quickly. I found him extremely theatrical, a thought Paula Abdul seconded once it was all said and done. Simon only thought it to be “okay” and Lang was summarily rejected. Never fear - he’s bound to have a career on the stage.

I liked Asa Barnes immediately, but cringed for him when he bravely decided to sing Michael Jackson. He carried the tune off with aplomb and couldn’t find a no among the bunch. He’ll also be going to Hollywood. Michael Nicewonder was, by contrast, a terrible singer. Simon Cowell found his songs “a bit gloomy,” and Nicewonder failed to win a single yes vote. Dennis Bringham dreamed of impressing Simon, who very quickly rejected him. Randy voted yes and next thing you know, Bringham walked through the doors with ticket in hand. It’s doubtful he’ll make it past the grueling week of intense auditions.

Kansas City finished with very pretty Lil Rounds, whom I just love. This singer displayed powerful pipes to wow the panel, becoming the last from the region to win her ticket. All in all, 26 singers from the Kansas City auditions will compete in Hollywood.

Idol offered up a few clips of upcoming auditions and the intense Hollywood Week. After many clips of screaming, crying, die-hard drama, one lingering mystery concerning Hollywood Week finally became clear: they’re bringing back group night! Sadly lacking in Season 7, this event will finally reappear to give us the sort of terrible drama we really, really want from our reality.

(You can find all the American Idol 8 posts here.)