American Idol - LA Audition Rounds
Jan. 27 2010, Published 1:42 p.m. ET
The American Idol audition rounds continue to chug along. Tonight, they stopped in Los Angeles with Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry joining the judges’ table. The theme of the wannabe singers this go around seemed to be parents wanting to make a better life for their kids and ministers. Yes, you read that right -- ministers. American Idol is now a spiritual and holy place!
Day one kicked off with Avril Lavigne and it was pretty ho hum. Those that made it through included Jim Ranger, a married, father of three who’s also a pastor. He wrote his audition song -- always a gamble. Avril is skeptical that Jim can handle a family, church responsibilities and a music career but they let him through anyway. Mary Power -- a rocker chick with an eight-year-old daughter whose own idol is Simon Cowell -- emulates Pat Benetar and makes it through too.
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Of the bad on day one (and the bad were truly bad) was the geeky, mullet wearing, philosophical (though he made absolutely no sense) Neil Goldstein. He claimed to be 19 (he definitely needed to add about ten to that number), sang Rock and Roll Dreams Come True by Meatloaf... and refused to accept that he was not going to the next round... until Simon asked if he wanted to be escorted out. You gotta give him credit for his moxy!
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But, the real fun started on day two when Katy Perry took her place on the judges’ table. First of all, the cattiness and tension between Kara and Katy as they constantly butted heads was simply reality TV at its best. Katy actually put Kara in her place on more than one occasion!
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Those that made it through to Hollywood on day two, however, were talented and had interesting stories. There was Andrew Garcia -- son of former gang members who's trying to make a better life for his wife and child. He actually blew Simon away. Tasha Layton, another minister, was a pleasant surprise for the judges. But the most heart wrenching was Chris Golightly. He had been in over 25 foster homes since he was 18 months old. He sang Stand By Me and it was good -- but didn’t really impress Katy and Simon. He barely made it through -- and wouldn’t have if Simon and Katy were the sole deciders.
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The best (of that worst that is) was Jason Greene. He sang I Touch Myself and made Katy feel dirty. His writhing on the floor, naughty dancing and blatant way that he made the judges uncomfortable was a reminder of why sometimes it’s worth sitting through the audition rounds!