Thursday, January 28, 2010

American Idol: LA'

Idol comes to Los Angeles and with Hollywood just around the corner it just wouldn't be right if we didn't produce some outstanding Idol standouts!

Mary Powers rocked it out with Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield". Not bad! Plus Idol needs another Rocker Girl. Can you say Alison Iraheta! Besides, her 8 year old daughter idolizes Simon...

Andrew Garcia sings Maroon 5's Sunday Morning and was awesome! Escaping the traps of the gang lifestyle in Southern California, his parents moved away and now Andrew has this opportunity to do something with his musical talents and create a better life for his own family. He received the highest praises from all 4 judges. Go Andrew...

Tasha Layton sings Joss Stone's, "Baby Baby Baby". A personal Assistant by day and minister by night, Tasha moves on to Hollywood! I thought she was pretty good.

Chris Golightly, the contestant who lived in 25 foster homes sings Ben E. King's "Stand By Me". He's through to Hollywood with two small "y's" from Katy and Simon and two big "y's" from Kara and Randy! Something tells me that Katy and Kara won't become best buds after Idol. :)

I thought Avril Lavigne was okay. I thought her hooded jacket with the ears was cute. :) Katy Perry was cool!

A total of 23 out of 11,000 moves on to the Hollywood rounds from Los Angeles. And I'd have to say that Andrew Garcia is my fav.

Next night, Idol heads to the Big "D" - D.A.L.L.A.S. And here's how I saw it...

Lloyd Thomas, a dock worker and father of two, sings Stevie Wonder's, "Overjoyed" and was very good. I really liked his personality too.

Todrick Hall, who appeared with Fantasia in The Color Purple sings an original song that he wrote incorporating the personalities of the judges. I thought he had a good voice and was very creative.

Maegan Wright walks in with a "Break the Rules" top on and sings Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love". She sort of stood out to me too. I'm not sure if she'll go all the way but I liked her uniqueness.

Erica Rhodes, a grad student and former "Barney Kid" actor enters the audition in black leather and a whip and sings En Vogue's, "Free Your Mind." She was not bad but I wonder how she'll do without the gimmicky leather and whip in Hollywood?

Christian Spears, a 16 year old leukemia survivor sings Eta James, "All I Could Do Is Cry". She was very good and gets a "...a full house" of yes's from the judges and moves on to Hollywood.

And my final standout, Dave Pitman sings another one of my favorites, Sam Cooke's,"Bring It On Home". Dave was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at the age of 9 and you can see signs of his condition except when he sings. I thought he had a great voice and I hope he does well in the competition.

The guest judges in Dallas were Neal Patrick (aka Dougie Houser, MD) and teenage heartthrob Joe Jonas. Of course, since Idol showcased the "supposed" tension between Katy and Kara during the LA Auditions, they had to equal that with clips to showcase the "supposed" tension between Neal Patrick and Simon. Sometimes they try too hard to spice things up.... :) Well, a total of 31 hopefuls from the Dallas auditions move on to Hollywood. And I'd say I have a three way tie for my favorite, Meagan, Lloyd and Christian are my favs.

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

6 comments:

  1. Hi Kathy, thanks for the great in-depth review. I think my favorite of the two nights was dock worker Lloyd Thomas; I absolutely loved his voice!

    The snappish stuff between the regular and the guest judges was kind of silly. You are right, sometimes they try too hard to create drama.

    I'm just about ready for this part to be over and move onto Hollywood week so we can hear more from some of these people. Oh, wasn't it funny the way they showed all those Adam Lambert lookalikes who have auditioned this year?

    Countdown to Elizabeth's arrival...two days. Woo hoo!!!

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  2. Hi Annie, I'm ready for the final group performances too. The only thing I enjoy about these auditions is trying to guess who makes it to the final group. I've read that the final group list leaked out and I'm trying to avoid seeing it. :)

    That was pretty funny about the Adam Lambert look a like clip. I'm not surprised. :)

    Yes, whoo hoo on two more days. I'll try to get to TJ's for those treats. I have a feeling she'll like them too. Thanks so much for the tips and have a great day today.

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  3. I'm trying to avoid the spoiler leaked stories too. I saw something about how one of the Top 24 was kicked off because his father had leaked the news that his son had made Top 24, but I didn't look at the name to see who it was.

    Forecast is for 10-12 inches of snow in NC this weekend! I went to the grocery store on my way home from work today and it was crazy. Everyone is stocking up to get prepared to be snowed in. I kinda hope it happens!

    Have a great Friday - what time do you pick Elizabeth up on Saturday?

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  4. Hi Annie, wow, kicked off! That's too bad for the contestant since it was his father that got him kicked off. I hope it's not one of my favorites.

    10-12 inches of snow is a lot. I don't blame everyone for stocking up since the roads will be bad. It does seem kind of exciting to have all that fresh snow. This has been a pretty rough winter for all of you on the east. We had 5 days of straight rain last week and I don't remember that happening in LA in years.

    Elizabeth's owners are bringing her to my house. They told me that they will call me on Saturday to get directions. I'm not sure what time they plan on coming but I have a feeling it'll be sometime in the afternoon. I'm pretty excited and can't wait!

    Have a great Friday too and hope all goes well with the Snow weekend.

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  5. Thanks for summarizing this so succinctly, K! I agree with all of you (Annie too) about the casted 'drama' of the tensions between guests and judges; I am now about ready for the show to begin. The personal stories are more of a highlight this time around than prior years. And, while I find them heart-tugging, some of these contestants voices are not as impressive as what they have endured in life. That isn't meant to sound harsh, but I wonder what success they feel by being chosen to go to 'Hollywood' and then get turned away after their first audition there.
    Anyway, I also thought Lloyd Thomas' voice was great - and a great song selection (the ever popular criteria) for him. My fav was Maroon Five crooner, Andrew Garcia. Now, can you explain how or why Doogie Howser was judging a music contest? Hope you have a love filled weekend filled with warm purrssss....m

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  6. Hi M, thanks so much for your comments. Looks like we are all liking 1 or 2 of the same contestants. I think Lloyd and Andrew should do well in the Hollywood rounds and possibly go to the top 24. Or at least I hope that they do.

    Some of the judges have not been that great to me. I really loved Shania and Mary J. but was "eh" with Dougie Houser, Katy Perry was my least liked judge. Most of the comments by the guest judges captured at least by the editing team on Idol have been really minimal. Yes, no, I'm sorry... so I never thought I'd be saying this, but I sort of miss some of Paula's lengthy comments. :)

    It is difficult when they make it to Hollywood, only to be rejected once they get there. Maybe what drives them is their hope and dreams and the feeling that they would regret it for the rest of their life if they didn't try. The thoughts of fame and money could be a good incentive too. :) The Hollywood rounds are hard for me to watch because they do get devastated with the rejection. But the hardest part is when they reach the top 24 and then get rejected at that point. It's like the closer they get the harder the rejection becomes...I have to switch channels during some of the results shows.

    It's all very interesting...

    Hope you have a great weekend too. I think mine will be purrrrfect! :)

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It's me Trekcapri (aka Kathy). Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment.