Clumsily set on a Navy aircraft in San Diego, California (the producers stupidly planned this because jets could be heard flying over throughout the entire auditions), the episode provided a few interesting acts, albeit predictably set to the "Top Gun" soundtrack. Below is a quick recap of what happened.
1) Jennifer Diley - 19 - Columbus, OH (Sushi Waitress)
"The Real Me" (Jessica Simpson)
"Hero" (Mariah Carey)
Steven - No Jennifer - No Randy - No
The 19 year-old bombshell was there for one reason and one reason only. Ryan Seacrest certainly enjoyed perving her, a rare showing of boorish behavior on his part, but as amusing as it was it still just felt so unnecessary.
2) Ashley Robles - 26 - San Diego, CA (Insurance Account Manager)
"I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
The 26 year-old single mother predictably made an impression on Steven Tyler but she also earned a warm reception from Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez as well. With J. Lo's "On The Floor" playing her out. I found her to be very solid although I have to imagine Steven and Randy were a little too distracted by Ashley's beauty.
3) Jayrah Gibson - 26 - Los Angeles, CA (Artist)
"Shake Your Moneymaker" (Original)
"Just Friends" (Musiq Soulchild)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
Gibson not only wowed Jennifer Lopez with an original composition of his about her but he clearly has put all his eggs in one basket with the show as well. Yet another case of someone perhaps not being very practical with his life but at the same time he has already shown his determination to the three judges enough to at least begin that process.
4) Aubree Dieckmeyer - 20 - San Clemente, CA (Receptionist)
"Feelin' Good" (Various)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
Her lack of music (or even just musical) history aside (she referred to it as the "Michael Buble song"), or her inability to remember which reality show she was on (she initially said America's Next Top Model), I found Aubree to be hilariously endearing. Randy did say that she loses "a little power in the upper range" so we'll see if she advances very far or not but she does ooze charisma and charm. Would she be too polarizing for women in the live rounds? Probably. The female-driven voting audience of the show loves to punish women they view as physically and personally threatening to themselves but once you peel back the layers of silliness from her audition, you quickly realize she's a stealth talent in this competition.
Ali Shields - 19 - Lodi, CA (Student)
"I'm Getting Paper" (Chris Brown)
"Like A Star" (Conne Bailey Rae)
Wow. Her 15 minutes didn't expire on The Ellen Show. She had written a song about her and then Ellen "spontaneously" brought her out down from the audience to interview about the song she had written. The former Idol judge gave Ali her first taste of show biz - and apparently she liked it. Her first kiss supposedly was with Mike Posner; her second with Usher. I'm still far too cynical to not be skeptical; she is, after all, like Aubree, a very cute young woman and the idea that she had never kisses anybody is too unbelievable from where I stand but regardless, it seems like her real agenda is to make it in Hollywood in some other capacity than a singer. Still, her "ghetto dance" (as Randy called it) was quite amusing.
Kyle Crews - 19 - San Diego, CA (Student)
"Angel of Mine" (Monica)
Steven - Yes Jennifer - Yes Randy - Yes
Dressed rather oddly and perhaps not the ladies man he fancies himself, the judges were quite vocal about not expecting much when he walked in the room. Then he sang Monica's "Angel of Mine" (which in itself was an interesting choice for a male teenager), and he blew away all three judges. I found his voice to be quite interesting and dark horse material and if even half the amount of the young girls he's fond of trying to pick up were to pick up their phones to vote for him, then he could emerge a surprise frontrunner.
Jane Carrey - 24 - Los Angeles, CA (Waitress)
"Something To Talk About" (Bonnie Raitt)
Yes, the last name is correct. And yes, she is the offspring of the world's most famous pet detective. And yes, she works as a waitress. Determined to try to make the best of her lineage and the best of her attempts to make a name for herself, Carrey decided to audition for American Idol this year. She already has a band, The Jane Carrey Band, and while her voice has come across so far more as respectable than stellar, her YouTube videos and other audio recordings do project a stronger voice than it would appear on the surface. Jennifer Lopez recalled her while she was working with Jane's father on In Living Color, one of the greatest sketch comedy shows of all-time, of which Jane reminded Lopez that she was all of two years old at the time. Afterwards, they had Jane call her father on the phone following her successful audition with a proud father declaring that the world was about to find out how talented his daughter is. For more on The Jane Carrey Band, please don't hesitate to visit her official Facebook page.
Jason "Wolf" Hamlin - 24 - Livermore, CA (Mechanic)
"Midnight Special" (Credence Clearwater Revival)
"Folsom Prison Blues" (Johnny Cash)
Unlike Jane, Wolf's father passed away in February 2010. The 24 year-old Livemore, California mechanic kissed Ryan Seacrest on the cheek as a favor to all his female friends (and in right in front of what appeared to be his own girlfriend) but is unique voice and musicianship provided another unexpectedly pleasant surprise. I'm not sure he will be able to advance too far in the competition but it'd be a shame if he didn't at least have a rather respectable run.
There were definitely some characters from this audition city and no, Jane Carrey was not one of them. Her temperament was exceedingly different from her father's, perhaps quite deliberately so, but while she provided the biggest name so to speak, there were some notable talents advancing out of San Diego. Still, the one glaring omission is Jessica Sanchez. She was very briefly shown showing her golden ticket to her family and entourage, but she's definitely going to be a force. The other big omission? Season 10 almost-Top 24 hopeful Deandre Brackensick. Look for a deeper run this year from him as well. That's it for now but Wednesday Night starts it up again.
53 Golden Tickets Total
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