So far we have only had a couple of good voices, a bunch of terrible ones, and a single crazy breakdown.
And now we have some lady doing a weird Lion from the Wizard of Oz impersonation. She doesn't break down but it's still a memorable performance with a lot of growling.
Next is Stephen Horst (a vocal coach), who looks like a member of the Backstreet Boys. And he's all over the place doing Aerosmith's "I don't want to miss a thing." Paula cracks up at Randy breaking this terrible performance down... and Simon eggs Stephen on. I see a breakdown coming, but there is nothing from our good vocal coach.
Michelle Steingas is up and this is the first contestant I'm betting will make it to the final 24. She's got the look, the personality, and a good enough voice. She reminds me of a not so airheaded Kellie Pickler. Except that she's quitting her job... I hope it's at Burger King and not one of Fortune's 100 best places to work.
Our next contestant, Dayna Dooley, got flown out by her boss to Minneapolis. And boy, did he waste his money. She can belt it out, but trust me, that's not a good thing. Finally, she's headed home without a yellow sheet. Even Jewel couldn't say yes.
Next we've got Matt Sato doing a half crooning, half rocking version of "California Dreamin'." He reminds me of that 16 year old crooner from last season (Will Makar, I had to look him up). I don't like Matt, but everyone gives him a "yes." It sounds like his age, 16, helped.
Rachel Jenkins brings us back from the break, and immediately I'm thinking she's in because of the feel good story they played. Her face reminds me of chubbier Kelly Clarkson. She's not bad but she was a bit off key. And Rachel is in.
Sarah Krueger comes out and her answers seem way too prim and planned. She starts singing and does very well... picking a perfect song for her voice ("Somewhere over the Rainbow"), even adding a few nice interesting changes. Simon puts it well when he said "You have a lot of control over your voice." She definitely has a good chance of making it into the top 24, if not the top 12.
Next we've got a pair of guaranteed breakdowns: Jason Anderson (a singing juggler) and Brenna Kyner (the American Idol superfan).
Jason goes first singing and juggling a devil stick while sporting a creepy stare. As he is being rejected he drops this nugget: "I also dance." After doing a weird tap dance thing, he comes out cursing up a storm like a 3 year old with an adult vocabulary throwing a tantrum. Obviously his mother encourages his delusion by telling him, "You're going to be famous." Riiiiight... maybe if he goes to the top of some watchtower and picks off a few people with a high powered rifle he'll be famous.
Brenna is next and she's awesome singing "Under Pressure." I'm sorry, replace "awesome" with "horrible" in that sentence. Let's just say her 10 years of training and her "degree in vocal performance" have... well... umm... not helped.
And another montage... this time singing Prince's classic "Kiss." Even, our Hollywood bound Perla (the Charo clone) made it into the montage.
Next we've got, Josh Flom, whose dad claims he can "sing like a bird." We'll see about that Pops. Doing a horrible karaoke-like performance of "Had a Bad Day" by Fuel, he seems to think being a rocker means singing with a gruff voice. Randy, even makes a great impersonation of this "rocker-style" voice. He impresses me by quickly learning "Dancing Queen" and doing a great, if short, version of "Copacabana." Finally, Jewel cracks me up by saying "I'm a little worried that you're voice is going to get hurt."
Of course, Josh doesn't make it, but I certainly see his point about singing like Chris Daughtry. Chris' voice was definitely better than Josh's but they both have a lack of "diversity"... a lack which Simon mocked by having Josh sing ABBA's "Dancing Queen."
And with that our first night of American Idol is over!
Of course, we get a classic quote from Simon, about a contestant in the next city, Seattle. I'll just leave you with that:
"You look like one of those creatures that live in the jungle with those massive eyes."
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