Jorge
Nunez in Puerto Rico was equally confident when he auditioned with
an
operatic-sounding Spanish version of "My Way," demonstrating
nice range. Paula Abdul asked him to sing in English, so he sang "What
a Wonderful World." Kara DioGuardi liked the Spanish song better
and what's more, criticized his pronunciation. Simon defending him, saying
they're in Puerto Rico to find someone with a Spanish accent. Jorge got
four yesses and a Golden Ticket to Hollywood.
Next up was Jessika
Baier [SITE HAS MUSIC - if you can call it that], who brought her
own pink-and-black fan club. She auditioned in Puerto Rico, despite
living in Michigan, financing the trip through sponsors who paid for
her and nine family members to attend. She has sung in the Rose Bowl
and participated in 700 singing contests, winning many of them. I'm
not sure how good her competitors were in those singing contests, but
her
shrill version of "I Surrender" by Celine Dion won no
prizes from the judges. In response to her assertion that she can sing,
Simon said, "I can swim, but I'm not going to win 10 Olympic medals."
Heartbroken, she was turned down.
Earth child Melinda
Camille showed up with her hair in a very short buzz cut. She was
barefoot in a salmon-colored halter dress, and talked to host Ryan Seacrest
about happiness and positivity. She performed
a sunny version of "Feeling Good," showing great control.
Randy Jackson said she has a pleasant disposition and a nice voice,
and Kara compared her to a vitamin boost. She got four yesses.
Female rocker Jackie
Tohn has been singing since she was a little girl, along with her
dad, who played piano. She later learned guitar. She looked a little
bit like a '70s singer, with a dated haircut and striped V-neck. Her
version of "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz started out really
rough, so she sang a second song, "I'll Do It All." To me,
it sounded like she was singing out of her range, but Paula liked the
huskiness and Paula called her unpredictable. Even more unpredictable,
the glass behind them used for sun-shielding fell down during the judges'
assessment. She got four yesses.
Jackie joins the ranks of contestants with former entertainment careers.
Check out her
Wikipedia page, MySpace
page, Web site,
and various YouTube
videos.
The judges also had to deal with Mike
Perlman, who thought he'd get his 15 minutes of fame by showing
up as a
hair metal dude and doing air guitar. Clearly, all he wanted was
attention, as he's a prospective actor whose acting reel is on
YouTube, though it primarily consists of attempted comedy and bad
fighting. Here's him
in a very similar outfit to the one he wore at his audition, lip-synching
to Queen, which is much funnier than his acting reel. He's also a member
of a comedy dance troupe, 123
Party. No surprise, though, given that he's a comedian/actor and
not a singer, he was turned down.
Another would-be comedian, Joel
Contreras, showed up in Puerto Rico, calling himself a Rockero Loco,
which he said translated into "Crazy Rocker." He showed up
with a lion puppet and carrying a giant cardboard iPod, which he performed
behind. That aspect of his audition was far more entertaining than his
pinched singing. Simon ended the audition, saying, "I can't
listen to this anymore," saying the whole act was "excruciatingly
bad." He got four nos and left the audition room screaming, "I
got a no!"
Nick
"Norman Gentle" Mitchell showed up wearing a red sweatband,
shiny disco shirt, khaki shorts, and black socks. He performed
"And I'm Telling You" and then "Amazing Grace,"
showing some potential but getting very silly near the end. While Simon
said no, the other judges voted to give him a Golden Ticket. (There's
a full play-by-play of his audition here.)
Sixteen-year-old Monique
Garcia Torres brought her 9-year-old kid brother, Christopher, who's
very funny and charming. She turned
in a sweet version of "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes,
wearing a modern-looking red dress. Both Randy and Kara agreed she's
not quite ready, but Paula and Simon were willing to give her a chance,
partly swayed by the urging of her younger brother. Simon cautioned
her: "These auditions were very old-fashioned but it's a yes,"
then added, "Thank Christopher."
Then everybody's favorite freakazoid, Alexis
Cohen, made a return appearance. Idol fans might remember
her as the contestant who showed
up last year as a rocker in Philadelphia, wearing glittery eye makeup.
This time, she was wearing a modern dress and heels, apparently striving
for a fresh-faced look. She said she's changed, but as her
vibrato-heavy rendition of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" demonstrated,
she hadn't changed where it counts. Simon told her that she'd gotten
worse, and Kara added, "You were better when you were you."
After striving a few seconds to be polite, she gave them the finger
with both hands and swore all her way out the door.
Can't get enough of her? She's got some originals on her
MySpace page, where she claims she's a "writter." There's
also a very funny video there by a band who wrote a
song based on her rant after the season seven auditions. Also, she
now has a metal band, All
Ryzing [SITE HAS WHAT PASSES FOR MUSIC], self-described as "3
creative artist's who are influenced by Heavy Metal, illuminating any
stage with sound."
The final contestant of the night was Patricia
Lewis Roman, who looked very contemporary and sang
the Whitney Houston hit, "I Wanna Dance with Someone."
Simon said she wasn't good enough and critiqued her "crazy song
choice." Kara said, "You can sing." She sang another
song in Spanish, which convinced Randy to give her another shot, and
she got her Golden Ticket.
Next week: Hollywood!
More on American Idol:
Musings
on American Idol Season 8
