Oftentimes, the American Idol auditions can be more entertaining than the actual Hollywood Idol competition. Watching the hordes of people line up outside, the sheer magnitude of it all can be mind-boggling. The best part of the audition process is the unpredictability of it all; the American Idol producers have no idea how good or bad a certain hopeful may end up being. Sometimes you get Kelly Clarkson, sometimes you end up with WIlliam Hung.
With this in mind, the American Idol premiere in Minneapolis, Minnesota last night was something to behold. Typically, you take the good with the bad in the auditions and end up with a relatively equal mixture. There are highlights and lowlights. Unfortunately, last night’s Idol contained far more lowlights that highlights.
Here’s a brief look at what went down in Minnesota:
A great new addition to the show, and a much needed dimension, comes in the recruitment of the beautiful, blonde singing sensation, Jewel. As a guest judge, she gave a much needed balance between the female and male judges. While Simon can be purely, cold-heartedly honest, Jewel (though she does not fear honest expression) finds kinder articulation in which to phrase her critiques. Last night, however, not even Jewel could take some of the hapless atrocities put in front of the judges. Despite the good impression I received from Jewel, it clearly was a bad first day.
Some of the misguided attempts included an opera-singing, robed man dressed as Apollo Creed, a woman (who made a poster for the judges on a floppy piece of cardboard) singing the lion’s theme from the Wizard of Oz (growling and all), and a 16-year old boy who adeptly juggled a stick while ineptly singing his way into humiliation. These were not the worst. No, my favorite came when a droning cowboy bragged about having “what the other contestants didn’t”–that ace in the hole being his “pizzazz”–then proceeded to monotonously butcher Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”
Even if Minneapolis doesn’t provide us with the next American Idol, it did provide us with some solid, sometimes embarrassing entertainment. No matter how bad or hopeless the auditions can be, we know that, eventually, American Idol will provide us with a batch of great upcoming singers certain to capture the hearts of America.
For the full, in-depth recap of the American Idol premiere, see American Idol, Season 6, Season Premiere Recap.
-BuddyTV Staff Columnist
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