Thursday, January 23, 2014

AI Season 13- Jan 23, Atlanta Auditions


6:43 am... assorted parents waking up assorted groggy auditioners... also a cheery mama waking up a sleepy Ryan Seacrest. Mama Ryan is pretty darn adorable.

We're in a limo, with three judges and wee Ryan squeezed into the back seat. JLo is wearing a tight, white knit top. Her hair is in a really pretty updo and her makeup is perfect- she's flat-out gorgeous tonight.

First up is a girl with curly hair and a really unfortunate headband dotted with huge flowers. Majesty Rose is 21. She's wearing a gingham shirt and red pants, and she's playing a denim painted guitar. And guess what? Majesty Rose is good. Really good. Good enough to forgive her for the headband.

Jesse Cline is 19. He works as a night shift gas station attendant. He squints as he plays and his voice has not a lot of power, but he's in.

Alyson Ragona has pink hair and a cat shirt, and she's playing a ukulele. And she's terrible.

Chris Medina, 23, has dark hair, a white shirt, a cowboy hat, a guitar, and most importantly, a cute doggie. I don't think he sounds very good, but the judges like him. I blame the dog.

Kristen O'Connor is a nurse tech. She's wearing a camo shirt over a white tee, dog tags and leggings. She also has a hankie tied around her wrist. She's not my style but the show loves her kind of voice.

Emily Piriz is 17. She's wearing a black and white dress that looks more like a short nightie. She sings sorta jazz (though she didn't call it jazz, and therefore did not invoke the HCJ wrath). There's a spoken interlude. Sigh. But the judges love her.

Ben Briley is 24. He's sturdy, wearing a ball cap and a blue shirt. He carries a guitar, but he sings a Capella. His voice is kind of bluegrassy. I like it. So do the judges.

Nika Nashae is a 24 year old student. She's wearing a dress with a tube top that looks like it's made from an actual innertube. She sings Natural Woman, and I think she murders it (not the good kind of murder), but the judges are deaf tonight. They send her through.

Jordan Brisbane is a confident, chunky 15 year old student who likes to cook. Confident enough to wear turquoise shorts. He sings Bruno Mars and his runs are a little ridiculous (*anooo-ooo-ooo-pause-ther man*) and HCJ wisely calls him on them. But he gets 3 yesses.

We're reminded that Phil Phillips also came from Georgia, which segues to PP Clone Sam Burchfield. He's dressed the same, right down to the flip-flops. I expect him to sing something growly but he surprises everyone by trotting out "I Wanna Be Like You" from Jungle Book... yeah, that Jungle Book, the one with Balou and Mowgli. This performance is different, and unexpected, and totally fun. I love it. HCJ says no, but the others put him through. After Sam leaves, HCJ predicts that Sam won't last. The last time a judge made that kind of prediction, it was Simon Cowell... talking about Taylor Hicks.

BTW- it must be a different day now, because JLo is wearing a blue print top and her hair is down but sort of French Braided on top.

Jessica Meuse is 22, but she looks 30. She has pink and brown hair and heavy makeup. She sings an original song- it's not terrible, but it's also not great. The judges like her.

You Guess: nerdy guy in a red shirt and glasses sings terribly. I hope they send Jared Cotton home.
Finally, I am right.

Travis Hunter-Brown is very weird. Also some other unnamed auditioners.

Lauren Ogburn decided to wear a statement costume- she has a headband tied around her forehead, a six-shooter necklace, red white and blue boots, and a tank top. She sings Fancy, the world's best song about a mother pimping out her daughter. For some reason, JLo gets goosies. HCJ tells her that she's trying too hard with all of the accessories. She goes through.

Commercial side note: all of a sudden, Greg Kinnear looks a lot like Dave Barry.

Previous eliminees Neco Starr and Caleb Johnson try again. Neco goes home, and beefy Caleb (with longer hair now) moves on.

Bria Anai is 15 and she looks 25 (sort of a trend tonight). She is wearing sparkly purple pants and matching sparkly purple lipstick. Her black, stretchy top has streamers down the back. Someone needs to tell Bria that having a *momager* is not a good thing. She sings Adele, and it's not at all to my taste, but the judges love her.

So 44 kids from Atlanta got the nod, and the total (including the show I haven't watched yet) is 163.

Next week: Salt Lake City

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