Adam Lambert ~ Youve come a long way, baby! ♥ American Idol recap: New York City Auditions The judges go to Jennys old block to find some NYC performers. ~ TV Recaps EW Where are we tonight? We’re in New York! So it’s sure to be weird, and god willing, less snoozy than last night’s episode. We’re already off to a good start, because we kick off in front of J.Lo’s old home! And the man who lives there now has no idea who she is. Keith is out tonight, and Adam Lambert joins us in his place, apparently the first Idol to ever appear at the table. I’m not an active Adam Lambert fan, but as he’s introducing himself to the crowd, I’m immediately reminded of how much I enjoyed his personality during season 8. (And, like his style or not, you can’t deny that the man is wildly gifted.) The first to welcome us to New York is a gentleman named Sal, possibly the most “New York”-y man whos ever appeared on television. He’s in a suit, he’s got that old time-y Frank Sinatra accent, and I’m wondering if he’s an actor because his performance is presented as such a caricature. That said, Sal appears to be a real contestant, and he’s going to serenade us with “Fly Me to the Moon,” which is actually called “In Other Words,” a fact that Harry bets Sal doesn’t know. But he does know it, so Harry owes Sal $100. Somebody put Sal man in a remake of Guys and Dolls quick, please. He’d be quite the Nathan Detroit. Sal Valentinetti, who I am shocked to learn is only 19 years old, has a beautiful voice! It’s not mind-blowing with power or range, but my dad would buy his album right now. J.Lo and Adam like him, but Harry says he shouldn’t go through because he “couldn’t win American Idol,” which is ridiculous because Harry puts through all the people who will never win this show. Oh, well. Sal is fun, and Im looking forward to watching him be on TV. #IdolLovesNY Here’s a gentleman who is holding a teddy bear. He’s a sharply dressed fellow, but I’m confused by the presence of the bear, whose name is Mr. Crispy. You know, security blanket, etc. That’s fine, but I don’t know why the bear is in the audition. You gotta get a gimmick, I suppose. Anyhow, our new gentleman friend, J. None, sings “My Prerogative,” which just makes me want to listen to the Britney version. J. None is grooving away though, and he’s got a solid voice. Bear and all, he’s through. Sidenote: Harry is acting as a ventriloquist with the bear and says in a squeaky voice that Adam Lambert is so handsome. To which Adam said, “I’m really not into bears.” So the winner of tonight’s episode is Adam Lambert. Jax from Long Island is next. Her father is a retired firefighter, injured during 9/11. We get an emotional segment on the family, how much this girl loves her father, and it of course makes us cross our fingers that this girl can sing. When Jax starts singing behind the piano, she surprises me more than anyone else we’ve seen this season. I get the chills a little, honestly. A heartfelt, quiet version of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” is something I would like to listen to on my way to work tomorrow. Her crystal-clear voice is so lovely, it distracts me completely from her sequined sweatshirt and camo hat. It’s also worth noting that Jax is 18, beautiful, and humble. She is American Idol gold. We meet Johnny Arco, a violinist who was arrested for playing his violin (which apparently is priceless, or something) in the subway. It’s amazing to think that people can be arrested for such a thing. New York is awful, actually. Stay away. This poor guy spent 20 days in jail because of this! Anyway, Johnny Arco is singing Radiohead, and he definitely spends his time in Williamsburg. Interesting performance, interesting guy, has some quirky talent, but has no place on American Idol. The judges know that, and Johnny knows that. Nice meeting you, man. Apparently the Idol producers just decided to hang out in the subway stations of Williamsburg while they were in town. It’s not a bad idea, I suppose, but I’m doing a bit of an eye roll over here. Oh well. Subway performers are the best, so bring ‘em on. Najah Lewis, a 20-year-old glammed up subway performer gives us a pared down version of “Payphone.” These New York ladies are all about slowing some fast songs down tonight! Najah is good, a no brainer for the judges. I suspect we’ll see plenty of her at Hollywood Week. Shi—yep, Shi is her name—is rockin’ some Jennifer Beals hair and has serious jitters. Shi pulls it together though, and is really doing her best Amy Winehouse impression. Thats nice, I suppose, but I think I’ll just listen to Amy Winehouse instead. Harry: It really sounded like an Amy Winehouse impression. Love you, Harry! Love you and your crooked little face. But, the judges are contemplating letting her through. Let me just remind you all of something: At the start of this season, the judges all pledged to find SEASONED PERFORMERS, not cutesy kids with great raw talent, which we got last year and which made for a terrible season. If they let Shi through—she almost burst into tears before she even started singing, she was so nervous—it’s just proof that they’re repeating their mistakes, and failing to deliver on a promise. Adam says no, because he’s clearly intelligent, and J.Lo and Harry let her through, because they NEVER LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES. I am so disappointed. Adam should seriously be in charge—he’s not a softy, he knows what’s up, and he says no to a LOT of folks. As he should—this is a competition, remember. I can’t even talk about the gentleman who sang Queen and should NOT have gone through but, as Harry said, “hustled the crap out of Adam Lambert.” So forget everything I just said about Adam Lambert. Three cute blondes—one with a great voice, two with okay voices—audition and all get through. Sigh. Also, producers, did we have to do a package on three similar looking blonde girls? Hmmmm? Come on. There’s a cockroach in the audition room, Harry says! Upon further inspection, I can tell you with confidence that it is not a full-grown cockroach. Don’t be fooled, non-New Yorkers: The bugs here are much bigger than that little precious thing Harry just stomped on. Coming at us with a whole lot of personality, fascinating clothes, and killer hair is 18-year-old jazz and voice student Qaasim Middleton from Brooklyn. Oh, Qaasim is good and fun. He’s got his bit down, knows his voice, his style, and the judges are captivated. He scats a little, beatboxes a little, does some popping and locking. My god, put him on the live shows. If we could fill this season with people like Qaasim and Jax—confident, charismatic, and likable performers with unique points of view—we’d be in great shape. No disrespect to white girls from the suburbs who sing in their high school choir (which is basically a description of me 10+ years ago), but you’re not all going to be stars because you got a solo in the Hairspray medley. And you shouldn’t all be on American Idol. NEXT: Time traveling with Adam Lambert. On a lighter note, Harry asks Adam to audition for him, and Adam agrees to recreate his first appearance back on Season 8. They run the clip of Adam’s original audition and cut back to his present-day singing. I know the show is doing this to prove that it can produce stars—he may not be toppin’ the charts but he’s a working, successful, busy-as-shit musician—but it just shows that they’re not finding that kind of talent anymore. Adam Lambert can SING. Hopefully Adam Ezegelian, our next contestant and hopeful toy designer, will prove that wrong. He’s drawn caricatures of all the judges while he was waiting—Keith’s looks like “an imaginary character that lives under my porch,” says Harry—and then starts to sing “Born to Be Wild.” His performance makes me giggle because it sounds like Jack Black in School of Rock. I’m so sorry, it sounds exactly like Jack Black. Which is not to say that it’s bad, but, like the characters Adam just drew for us, it’s a little cartoonish. Thank god Adam Lambert asks him to sing something else. Adam Ezegelian sings some Jason Mraz and is no longer a cartoon. Beautiful tone, pitch. Total surprise. Song choice is everything, singers! See you in Hollywood, young sir. Leather pants is next. Love the leather pants this kid is wearing. Music producer Travis Finlay was supposed to go to the Berklee College of Music but couldn’t because of his family’s unexpected financial issues, so we know at once that he is incredibly talented and has a story. His voice is fantastic—it’s rich and soul-shaking, and not one that we’ve heard yet this season. On top of his fantastic voice that is moving me to tears a bit, Travis is a natural performer, incredibly handsome, stylish, young, whole package. New York, New York. Next up is a hipster couple! They kissed in the chamber. Yanni G, 23, has pink hair and is holding a Solo cup. She sings the Cups song and does the Cups thing, which would have been awesome if she were Anna Kendrick and had done this spontaneously, but instead all this tells me about Yanni is that she loves Pitch Perfect as much as the rest of us that can also do the Cups thing. (I can.) She’s great, has a sweet voice, but it kind of begins and ends there. Boyfriend Nick is up next. Nick Fradiani wears a beanie and a chambray shirt and sings “In Your Eyes.” It’s always uncomfortable when people audition in pairs because one person is always, always better, and Nick is that person. He’s excellent. We’ve got plenty of his type so far, but Nick has a strong voice and is, to be frank, more marketable and handsome than the other singer-songwriter dudes. The pair emerge from the audition room, Nick with a ticket, Yanni without one, and it’s bittersweet. Rather than celebrate his own success, he can’t stop talking about how great Yanni did, so every girl in American (who is watching this show) just fell in love with him. He wins. Our final contestant for the night is charmer “Hollywood” Anderson, who sings an original song titled “My Best Friend” about a girl he fell for in college. Adorable. The song? Good. Anderson? GOOD. His voice is so unique, I honestly can’t even begin to describe it. At one point J.Lo says “Can we just record this tomorrow?” The judges are beside themselves with this one, and we will be seeing plenty more of him. He’s fantastic, lovely, likable, talented—checks every box. Harry calls it the best audition of the season thus far. WOOO. Anderson. I’m thrilled. No disrespect to Kansas City (totally going to visit that place soon), but I am SO thrilled that we spent the evening in New York. Clearly I’m biased, but these two hours were just what we needed: diverse, exciting, loud, heartfelt, and bursting with talent. My faith in this show has been restored. I wrote down five (five!) names tonight: Jax, Najah, Qaasim, Travis, Anderson. Looking forward to the next time we see them. As for you, readers, see y’all in Minneapolis. Source Link ~ tinyurl/mynwv4l Photo Credit ~ American Idol publicity
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 06:38:09 +0000
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