PANTZ ON THE GROUND!!

Last night’s AI One-Hour Show (thank God it was only an hour!!) with auditions from Chicago could easily have been called the ‘Gong Show’ or ‘The Windy City Freak Show’! It truly was one of the most disappointing auditions ever, and the talent level from that city’s 12,000 contestants, yes, I said 12,000 (most of any auditions yet this year) was just terrible! Only a bakers dozen, or should I say ‘Lucky’ 13 folks (Yes…again, that’s ONLY 13 out of 12,000!!!???) got tickets punched to Hollywood…..incredibly BAD #’s to say the least!

Of the 13 moving on, I don’t think AI even did the show justice by showing us enough of them, only seeing 8 of the 13, and the last three contestants ticketed were for all of 15 seconds each, but….from what was shown…..here’s my thoughts:

• Katelyn Epperly-19 year old, good looking girl from a broken family, and she’s doing this for her mom. I didn’t know the song she did, ‘Syrup and Honey’ by Duffy, but she sounded great none the less, and had great range with her voice. I think she has ‘IT’ and will go far, a lock for the Top 24!
• Charity Vance-16 year old from Arkansas who sings for her parents' home salon customers and thinks she's honed her skills there. She looks good and has much energy, but has a ‘small’ voice according to the judges, and she gets 4 yes’s. I think she has the personality to stand out in Hollywood, just not sure she has the pipes.
• Angela Martin- 28 years old who returns for her third audition! She has a daughter with special needs whom we met in Season 7; since then, Shriners Hospital contacted her to offer help caring for her daughter. Her father passed away just a week before Hollywood that season as well. Last season, she made the Top 50 and then had to miss a day of auditions due to a court date for a traffic violation….ouch! So, as we're reminded several times, she has some unfinished business….and she does very well, singing ‘Just Fine’ by Mary J Blige. Great song choice and she was definitely better than any performer so far in the auditions that I’ve seen. Cousin Greg, ‘Eddie Idol Wanna’ Be’, chimed in ‘Top 10 for sure!’….and I’d have to agree with him!
• John Park- 20 year old Asian Student who Shania had the hot-trot for! :-0 Good looking kid, eye candy for the ladies, but doesn’t have a good enough voice to go very far.
• Paige DeChausse—21 year old, nice girl, who had a horrible asthma attack when she was 15 and nearly died. She sings some Sam Cooke, and I think she sounded pretty good. Simon thinks it's a little too much about her, and uses my favorite Simon word….indulgent, & votes no. Shania and Kara vote yes, but Randy isn't sure. The ladies urge him to vote YES! This girl could have some health issues during the competition that may affect her performances. If she can battle through those, she could make the TOP 24!
• Justin Ray- 20 year old from Indiana. 15 seconds of face time singing ‘Hurt So Bad’ but sounded pretty good. Called his mom on the cell after the show to tell her he was going to Hollywood. He’ll be calling her shortly after he gets there to tell her he’s on his way back home too!
• Keith Sample- Guitar playin’ musician who sounded pretty good vocally in the little bit of time he had. Cousin Greg chimed in again, ‘Sleeper’ he says….and I agree, Dark Horse for the Top 24.
• Marcus Jones—18 year old ‘soulful’ guy from Gary, IN….not sure on this guy, has some pipes, but the jury is still out on this kid.

Bottom line….Overall a VERY WEAK show, and no Adam Lambert types for me to pick out from last nights contestants…but it was refreshing to see Shania Twain be opinionated, yet very refreshing and full of energy! I’ve always liked her, and she still has the great personality with the great looks to go with it.

Fast Facts: Next to San Francisco last year (12), last night was the LOWEST # of tickets (13) given to Hollywood in the history of the show auditions.

Idol Chatter: Anyone see Adam Lambert’s video from his appearance on Oprah’s Show? Lambert looked good and sounded great doing his newest single (3^rd one in the Top 100) called ‘If I had You’….catchy tune that’s a hybrid between a dance hit and a power ballad…..sounds odd, but it works!

OK…..so Chicago wasn’t ‘my kind of town’, and tonight it’s off to sunny Orlando, FL……a great place to hopefully have more winners than losers! Until tomorrow…..Eddie Idol……OUT!