American Idol Auditions--Kansas City, Missouri

Part Two of the FOUR HOUR, TWO NIGHT EXTAVAGANZA!

Let's see how shallow tonight's talent pool is!



Kansas City, here we come! Missouri, not Kansas.

Jason Castro is here, supporting his brother.

Chelsea Maquardt has friends who lie to her. She thinks she’s good; she’s not. She’s sharp and flat alternately, but the judges comfort her by telling her that she is pretty. She says she picked the wrong song. Yeah, that’s what it was.

Ashley Anderson mixes up her words but can sing. She bores me at the beginning but comes to life as the song goes on. She’s likeable and goes on. Could be a keeper.

Casey Carlton sings effortless and seems to sparkle. I don’t know is she can sing with the big dogs, but I like her (I’m sure there’ll be some big dos soon, right?).

Montage of bad singers…

Von Smith has a white hat and a great range. He sings “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” and he can blow. He teeters on the edge of yelling at me (a pet peeve of mine), but he is good. This kid is GOOD. If he doesn’t fall into the trap of always belting, he could be a contendah!

Jason Castro’s brother Michael is auditioning. The Castro family dinners must be fun… and filled with a mysterious haze. He has been singing for 20 days? He’s got a cool vibe, but I don’t think he’s in this for the long haul.

Crazy montage…

Welder with a family, Matt Breitzke, sings one of my favorite songs of all time, “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Not bad; not great. Middlin’. Nice song choice though. Judges aren’t unanimous, but he’s through.

Jessica Furney screams at her grandmother and sings Janis. She has a grit to her that is nice, but the whole sound isn’t there for me. There are moments where she backs off that sound weak. I don’t want her to scream at the whole time obviously, but it just seemed like the volume was being turned down at the ends of the phrases. Ambivalent am I.

Two rapping sisters, India and Asia, come in and the judges vote India through and not Asia. Asia is so supportive of her sister. Pretty cool. India won’t last long though.

Jamar Rogers, bartender, belts out “California Dreamin’,” but it was overkill. If he dials it back, he could be good, but man, is he a lot of voice. He’s through, so who knows?

Danny Gokey, music teacher, is dealing with the recent passing of his wife. He sings great! I like his voice quite a bit! One of the best male voices I’ve heard.

Both friends are through. Danny will last longer.

Anoop Desai has a nice soulful voice, and I like him. I don’t know if he’ll be a keeper, but one can hope.

Andrew Lang has cheerleaders as an opening act. His voice wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t wonderful. Tears abound when he gets rejected.

Band director Asa Barnes sings Michael Jackson and he is in the pocket. There’s something about this guy that makes think he’s going far. Lock it in. He’s a keeper.

Michael Nicewonder teaches us why it is important to listen to your mother. If your mom says you can’t sing, she’s trying to protect you from being humiliated on national television. Kids these days.

Dennis Brigham dreams of Simon’s praise, but gets a yes from everyone but. He seems a very, very, very, very, very raw talent, but he will be quite emotional when he gets cut early in Hollywood.

Mia Conley, Sleeping Beauty, should have kept sleeping.

Lil Rounds sings Stevie and does a great job! She will easily be a top singer in this competition. I’m sold. Judges pour tons of praise on her, but I think it’s deserving.

Some good talent tonight.

26 go to Hollywood from Kansas City.