Wearing a red silk minidress and black hat combo that was straight
out of the '80s, Dana Moreno sang
a screechy version of "Through the Fire" by Chaka Khan.
She said that she would take direction, and tough judge Simon Cowell
pointed and quipped, "That's the direction I want you to take:
right and right."
Kaneswa Finnie, 16, showed up in a cute plaid sundress and had a perky
outlook. But her
flat, muddy rendition of "Caught up in the Rapture of Love"
by Anita Baker got a no from the judges.
If anyone was sure of her chances, it was Julissa
Veloz, a 19-year-old beauty queen who announced she wants to be
the first Latin Idol winner. Wearing her tiara and sash, she
offered up a
surprisingly good version of "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston.
Despite some flat notes, she handled the key change nicely. After some
initial hesitation from Simon, she secured four yesses. Her Web
page, though it features some Latin-flavored demo songs, is considerably
less professional than Sharon Wilbur's. You would think that before
you were about to be shown on national television, you might fix the
broken links on your home page!
The very sociable Darin
Darnell danced into the lobby with fellow auditioners but got really
upset when a newfound friend was cut. He was so distraught that he was
crying uncontrollably during his
own failed audition. For those who don't recognize him (as I didn't),
he was already on a reality show, VH1's I Love New York, where
he went by "Ace" and was eliminated in the first show.
Fresh-faced blonde Naomi Sykes compared herself to Mariah Carey, which
Simon interpreted to mean she was "a talented looney." She
brought in a friend, Samantha, who hugged Randy and then was goaded
by the judges into sitting on his lap during the competition. To make
things even weirder, Paula sat on Simon's lap, and Kara called Ryan
over to sit on hers. With six eyes on her, Naomi squealed
through a version of "Loving You" by Minnie Ripperton,
with everyone eventually singing along. When she cried at not making
it, all the judges but Simon hugged her.
Next, Jasmine
Murray, who comes from a large family and wore a stylish red asymmetrical
shirt, performed
"Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. Despite a few bad habits,
such as audible breaths between phrases, she demonstrated potential.
Simon called her cute and commercial, and she got four yesses.
Physics student George Ramirez looked straight out of the '70s with
his scraggy beard and striped button-down shirt. He sang
a very whispery, off-tune version of "Walking on Sunshine"
by Katrina and the Waves, shaking his head the whole time.
The very beautiful Anne
Marie Boskovich showed up wearing an oversized button-down denim
shirt over a white tank top. After she sang a brief phrase, showing
potential, Simon chided her for her fashion misstep and asked her to
come back a little more put together, so she ditched the denim shirt,
had someone apply makeup and borrowed a beaded necklace and put on different
shoes.
From the twinkle in his eyes, I think Simon was only stringing
her along and expected her to knock it out of the park when she gave
her
full audition, of "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat. She got
her Golden Ticket and was easily my favorite of the night. However,
she might have seemed to be a wallflower, but she's actually been working
professionally for years, according
to the Internet celeb site, Scandalist.
The clean-cut Terence
"T.K." Hash, who failed to impress when he auditioned
the previous year, did
a soul version of John Lennon's "Imagine," with lots of
added runs. Randy told him he changed it up too much, and he received
a no for Simon, but he got three yesses and a ticket to Hollywood.
Last of the evening was guitarist/singer Michael Perrelli, who sounded
good as long as he had his guitar with him but panicked when he learned
he couldn't play it during the audition. Crying, he sang
a nasal version of Third Eye Blind's "Jumper." After the
judges turned him down, he continued to be very upset, crying. It's
a good thing he didn't make it, because there's no way he would have
been able to handle the pressure. Simon advised him to get a job and
put a band together on the side, which might be a good path for him.
He's already writing songs and putting them on YouTube, such as this
Snickers parody.
Tonight: Salt Lake City
More on American Idol:
Musings
on American Idol Season 8
