Aspen, Colorado certainly had its share of kooky characters. If you were looking for sheer entertainment value, tonight was your night. All the bad audition loving viewers got a more enticing dose they've felt missing thus far (I will happily digress on this point myself) but they saved the most entertaining of all for last. Still, make no mistake about it - there are a few gems bound to get lost in the shuffle - for now. That will change over the next few weeks.
1) Jenni Schick - 24 - Sterling, VA (Elementary School Teacher)
"Heartbreaker" - Pat Benetar
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
The 24 year-old elementary school teacher had a kissing list in which "by chance" happened to include Steven Tyler, Adam Levine (of the NBC rival The Voice), and Ryan Seacrest. The list was also supposedly the same for her boyfriend's. The only reason why I knew she'd be a serious contestant vocally speaking was because of her listed profession. Had it been anything else, I would have figured she'd be a classic Idol train wreck. She got her wish, kissing Steven Tyler after nailing her audition and getting a golden ticket punched to Hollywood. She will be one to watch over the next couple weeks when it comes to interacting with the other contestants. I do wonder about her job security after her appearance; showing up with what appeared to be her family probably will only carry her so far in regards to the Sterling, Virginia school system.
2) Curtis Gray - 28 - Spring Hill, FL (Server)
"It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday" (Boys II Men)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
Curtis was another one I wasn't sure how was going to go down but he had a pretty decent audition. The song choice surprised me, and they showed him quite groggy at 6 A.M. as he prepared to set off for his audition. He got three fairly affirmative "Yeses" but I'm not quite sure at this point what his music audience is; females will love him but guys in bands don't tend to do Boys II Men.
3) Richie Law - Somebody really needs to tell Scotty McCreery that he's already won. Oh wait...that wasn't him? I swear the Twitterverse lit up over the amusing similarities. He was part of a quick montage that also feature the next two liste singers but I also wonder if he's just too similar to really get too far this season. Otherwise, we'll have a country-styled shouting match Lambert-Durbin style where people stupidly feel they are supposed to take sides as opposed to just being able to like both. Here we go again. Not sure it will be nearly as long of a debate this time around though. Too bad for that though; Richie actually has a very nice voice.
4) Devan Jones - 26 - Aurora, CO (Hotel Clerk)
Briefly shown but Devan has been one of the singers from this year's crop I was hearing some buzz on and had noticed quite a bit of social media activity from. They are definitely setting him for latter rounds and he will certainly be one to watch as his voice was definitely one to remember going forward.
5) Mathenee Treco - 25 - Centennial, CO (Dance Instructor)
"Hey Jude" (The Beatles)
Rounding out this week's "they're all thru" montage was 25 year-old Mathenee Treco. He gave a rather rousingly exciting rendition of "Hey Jude" that even got the noted Beatles-junkie Aerosmith frontman tapping along.
6) Tealana Hedgespeth - 19 - Loveland, CO (Color Guard Coach)
"Bring Me Some Water" (Melissa Etheridge)
Steven - No Jennifer - No Randy - No
7) Haley Smith - 18 - Orem, UT (Housecleaner/Busser/Meat Packer)
"Tell Me Something Good" (Rufus & Chaka Khan)
The free-spirited neo-hippie easily won over all three judges as the multi-employed 18 year-old (no wonder so many people are currently out of work - she has all the jobs) gave a rather openly acknowledged throwback flavor to the competition where she happily embraced the feedback that she was straight out of the 60's and 70's and all I can say is, "Thank you!" We need much more of her ilk and I can't wait to follow her journey the rest of the way. She is definitely one to watch. I will definitely be blogging about her some more as soon as I can.
8) Alanna Snare -22 - Fort Collins, CO (Bartender)
"Jolene" (Dolly Parton)
Steven - No Jennifer - No Randy - No
9) Shelby Tweten - 17 - North Mankato, MN (Student)
"Temporary Home" (Carrie Underwood)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
The 17 year-old bipolar high school student with the thick Minnesotan accent got unanimous passage thru to Hollywood. The young and wholesome North Mankato teenager was accompanied by her mother, both in person and in the montage, and I must imagine that even if she turned 18 by the time she flew out for Hollywood Week that her mother still traveled with her to ensure that she stayed properly medicated.
10) Jairon Jackson - 19 - Denver, CO (Host)
"So Hard" (Original)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
It's always ballsy to sing an original composition at one of these auditions but Jackson showed artistry and marketability as someone who could be a legitimately current recording artist. Proving he had a very smooth and gentleman like personality with his attitude towards music and life in general, the judges correctly identified him as someone with the proper (and deservingly) confidence to advance to the next round of the competition.
11) Angie Zeideman - 25- Delran Beach, FL (Waitress)
"When You've Got It, Flaunt It" (The Producers)
"Blue Bayou" (Roy Orbison & Linda Ronstadt)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
I must admit that when I saw Angie walk in, I wasn't sure which way this was going to go. Was she too silly looking and eccentric to be one of the more serious auditions or was the Lady GaGa worshiping waitress just what was in order. I don't know how far she'll get once they get to Hollywood but I think they have a really interesting artist on their hands.
12) Magic Cyclops - N/A - Davenport, IA - Air Guitarist
"
(3 Implied "No's")
Where do I even begin with this? The Spinal Tap-channeling satirist wasn't able to channel the sense of humors from the judges which made we wonder why they even air the bad auditions if that's the case. It was like they were completely unaware that the show likes to highlight awful auditions but the one time they get someone humorous on that is clearly in on the joke, they just can't seem to lighten up. Giving the judges a choice between Jimmy Buffett (purposely botched pronunciation omitted) and Neil Diamond of all people. Personally, I think it's hilarious that someone draped in a patriotic Kid Rock-Axl Rose hybrid look could keep such a straight face once in the room and it's so ridiculously disappointing that the judges couldn't have played along better. Look at it this way though; we know he'll be invited back for the live finale of this season. We can all hang our hats on that.
I liked this episode a lot. There was a lot of interesting talent and a few potentially awesome standouts. Haley Smith was probably my favorite of the night of all the serious acts but I really liked Jenni Schick (although I wonder if she'll still be employed by the end of the week and she is very over the top), Shelby Tweten, and Devan Jones. Angie Zeideman advancing far would be a very pleasant surprise but there's still so much time to go before we can really get a clearer idea. Until then, we have plenty of water cooler fodder to digest with tomorrow night still to come.
31 Golden Tickets Total
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