TV Review: American Idol Week 2

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

American Idol comes to us once again this week with three hours of auditions from the cities of Greensboro, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. The auditions in Greensboro were much hyped because of the number of American Idol contestants that have done well after auditioning in the city - Fantasia Barrino and Clay Aiken among them.

Only nine contestants continued on past the two day auditions to Hollywood from North Carolina. Eighteen made it passed the audition process from San Francisco. Yes, there was a few that stood out in my mind. Let's first take a look at the Greensboro auditions!

First some highlights:

Kellie Pickler - This North Carolina native was just plain adorable, and she has a great voice. It is a lot country, but she can definitely carry a tune. I was really glad to see her continue on to Hollywood.

Paris Bennett - Seventeen years old, and she has a voice on her that can blow away just about anyone. It's in her genes though as Randy does point out to the audience. I'm calling her my early on favorite to make it to the top ten. She definitely has the voice, and she is another one that is just too adorable for words.

Halicia Thompson - I really liked her too. When she announced her song, I was immediately taken back to the television series, A Different World. I loved the show, the song, and I love Halicia. I don't know if she has the powerful voice to make it past Hollywood, but she definitely deserves a shot.

Stephen David Jr. - Who wouldn't like this guy? Paula sure did. Sure, it broke protocol for the show, but the two of them dancing together was cute. He can sing, but can he sing well without the gimmick? Also, Paula really shouldn't have been pushed to dance with him. If it turned out that he wasn't married, could we say another scandal could have been on Paula's hands similar to the story that broke out last year with Corey Clarke?

Now the low lights:

Shawn De Salazar: Yes, he was kicked off, but I really liked him. Yes, the tux was a bit much, and the poster board too. However, I thought he sung well. I was actually shocked he didn't get at least two out of three to pull him through to Hollywood.

Cedric Robinson - This guy was singled out because he is related to past American Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino. He certainly didn't look like he had any genes shared with her at his audition though. My ears hurt. Let's hope he can sing elsewhere. It might have just been a bad audition.

Rhonetta Johnson - The minute they showed her the first time I knew she was trouble. The dress stood out, the way she walked in singing "just as a joke," and her attitude just screamed she wasn't going to Hollywood. If she was going to come in singing, come in singing well. Blow them away the minute she stepped in if she wanted to do that. She was quite harsh to both Paula and Simon. If someone could give Simon a run for his money on the comebacks department, it is Rhonetta.

As far as the San Francisco auditions go, there was no great stand-outs as far as auditions. We had good singers, but no great singers in my mind. The only two I think have a shot in Hollywood are Katharine McPhee and Jayne Santayana. Most of the focus of the San Francisco audition was not on the singers, but on the interaction between our three judges.

Randy and Paula were stuck on Simon having a bad day. He was a bit harsh on these auditions, but I even found myself agreeing with him on a couple of the auditions. Randy and Paula finally set Simon off, and he leaves with one audition left to go. He just gets up, and then goes out to his limo and back to his hotel. Something tells me we'll see more cat fighting between the judges in Vegas. For all the latest news and discussion, check out my American Idol topic on my forum here.