Why? Why don’t you watch the audition rounds of American Idol? Do you know what you do by flicking the audition rounds from your schedule, treating them as throwaway fluff?
Sure … there are going to be the “Lady We’re Not Together Anymore”s, sung at “the bottom of my heart” as Dewone Robinson of Atlanta, GA did the other night. Yes, you’re going to get the clowns and the flotsam and the jetsam and the clueless. It’s all part of the show, you see.
But there are also the Jermaine Sellers in the pack, don’t forget. They are few and far between, but they’re there for the viewing and for the appreciating. There are the Scott Savols (Remember him? From Season 4? Do I need to remind you he ended up being a 5th place finalist?) … the Mandisas … the Gokeys.
Remember Taylor Hicks, whose own personal audition was nothing less than mesmerizing (see the video below)? His Sam Cooke was spiffy good, but it didn’t win over the judges completely. And then Paula (*sniff* I’m gonna miss Paula….) asked for a snippet of something else. WowZah. That did it right there. A crackin’ version of Stephen Foster’s Suwannee River that left you shaking your head that it even came out of Hicks. And then you realized: Damn … this dude is good.
See what you’re missing? On things such as Hicks’ initial effort alone you must not dismiss the auditions. You don’t get diamonds in the rough like that when you head to Hollywood. You don’t get the opportunity to see someone and say to yourself “Hey … I like this dude/gal. I wonder how far he/she’s gonna go?” and then root for them from the get-go until their final curtain call — whether they make the cut, get nixed from the Final Four, or scratch and scrape right up to the nerve-wracking showdown.
So, here’s to you … yes you, reading this and wondering if you really should have caught this past week’s episodes. Because you deprived yourself of Vanessa Wolfe of Vonore, TN.
What? You didn’t see Vanessa Wolfe from Vonore, TN? Really? Well, there you go….
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Jan 14, 2010 @ 13:30 EST5EDT
Okay … okay ….
Here’s the Vanessa Wolfe audition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmArAKlvhQ&feature=related
Sorry…..
I can’t stand to see people humiliate themselves in public. And the good ones, we’ll see later. No need to ruin the surprise.//
I respectfully disagree with you, tw111.
Not on the humiliation point … but on the “good ones we’ll see later” front.
Some of those “good ones” don’t make it to the finals. The auditions are the only chance you get to see them.
And the bad ones that do make it through? Need I mention Megan Joy … ???
Seriously. My sister can’t watch the audition shows because she feels so sorry for the deluded. I have a bit of a tougher skin, possibly from having to audition myself for several things over the years. If you can’t take the heat…The entertainment business is beyond brutal, (just watch Chelsea Handler’s round table for a taste of what I mean) and bad feedback is a given. Sometimes it’s better to know the truth, so you can “move along.” Having said that though, Kara and Mary J. Blige didn’t have to act like a couple of giggling 7th graders. But I digress. Overall, I agree with you Michael…the auditions are one of the savory pieces of the American Idol pie!
Tara:
Yes … Mary J. did.
Else … how else was she supposed to get knocked down on the notch pole in my book?