American Idol: Miami Auditions
This was the first time Idol had been in Miami since Season 2 and apparently, the kooks were just waiting for their chance to embarrass themselves on national television. There was the scary hair guy, the flute guy, poor Richard Valles – who like me, sings through his nose, and then there was Brandon B. What was this guy’s deal? He came running and babbling into the audition room. Good plan dude – let’s totally turn off the judges before you even open your mouth. I knew they were in trouble when he said “the first song I’m gonna be singing.” First? He offended Paula by singing “I’ll Make Love to You” to her, then followed that train wreck up with some weird dancing and a song he wrote especially for the show “I Am the Next American Idol.” Uh, no, he isn’t. Finally, he flipped his hat as Simon said “get him out of here” over and over. Simon and Randy left poor Paula there alone, barely muttering “thank you for auditioning” as he left.
There were some good singers. Robbie Carrico was pretty good as was little Filipina Ramiele Malubay. What a big voice she had! I thought Ghaleb was good, even though Simon said he was the kind of singer he’d like when he was drunk. Pretty Syesha Mercado made it through, Natasha Blach took on Etta James and still won, and Ilsy Lorena Pinot is also going to Hollywood too. Struggling single mother Suzanne Toon, who could actually carry one, was called a sultry singer by Paula and Simon felt she became more attractive when she sang.
But my favorites were the “sisters” – Corliss and Brittany. These two BIG girls were fun. They had great personalities, but I was wondering how their voices would sound. They were both great, but I think I liked Brittany, who looked like she was wearing a necklace made of peanut M&Ms, better. After being told they could go to Hollywood, both planted some big love kisses on Randy and Simon.
Then there was the delusional. This is always sad – the singers who think they are all that, but aren’t. One was meat grnder/belcher Shannon McGough. Shannon had won some singing contests, but Randy said there was no melody. Poor Shannon said she had never been told she was bad and Randy went as far as to say she might be tone deaf. Then, there was Julie Dubela. Julie might have made it to Hollywood except she was one of the top 20 on the American Juniors show and that gave her a bit of attitude. Alright, I am being nice, she seemed to have a lot of attitude, especially for a 16 year old. Simon yawned during the audition and called her precocious (she didn’t know what that meant). He said her whole act was over rehearsed. Randy said her voice was not on point and not ready yet. So what did Julie do? She started singing again. Simon told her to go to LA and become an actress, which offended her because she didn’t feel like she was acting. Even Paula said the poor child had never had anyone tell her no. She said she gave up singing at a Red Sox game to be at the audition. But, she took rejection well. Her parting words were “don’t audition for American Idol. Don’t watch the show.”
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