Brett Loewenstern – FOX
American Idol season 10 is now two episodes deep. Last night’s episode took the gang to New Orleans to find some big talent, and while the episode was packed with contestants grabbing up golden tickets to Hollywood, we’re still not all that blown away by anyone. So far, we’re still totally #TeamDevyn from the New Jersey auditions.
That’s not to say we didn’t catch fuzzy warm feelings for at least a couple of the contestants shown last night. we did — one carrot-topped outcast in particular. Jennifer Lopez also caught fuzzy warm feelings. in fact, she caught fuzzy warm feelings so great, she found herself covered in “goosepimples” more than once, and even shed a few tears. Ah, it’s beginning to look a lot like Paula.
Through the tears and singing, Steven Tyler remained kick-ass awesome, and Randy Jackson remained, well, Randy Jackson.
But enough of that. Here’s what we thought of some of the Hollywood-bound New Orleans talent.
Jordan Dorsey: First audition of the night. Jordan is a musician and gives the kiddies in his community piano and voice lessons. That’s usually the set up for someone really terrible, or someone knock-it-out-of-the-park awesome. Jordan was neither. he definitely wasn’t bad. His rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” was smooth and controlled, and we kinda liked the jazzy switch up, but he didn’t blow us away. Doesn’t matter. he gave J.Lo “goosepimples all over [her] body.” And with the other judges less bumpy but equally thrilled, Jordan got his golden ticket to Hollywood.
Sarah Sellers: Sarah is a fellow music blogger. love! Automatic brownie points for her. but when she started singing, we immediately remembered something Fantasia said during Hollywood week in season three: “my lips are big, but my talent is bigger.” same can be said for the luscious-lipped blonde with the sultry voice. “You had me sold from the second you laid eyes on me,” Steven told Sarah. Didn’t make much sense, but it was a good thing.
Jovany Barreto: American Idol season 10 has a “Situation” of the Cuban Mike Sorrentino (of Jersey Shore) variety on its hands with Jovany. He’s is a total Marc Anthony stan (which makes Mrs. Marc Anthony, J.Lo, a goddess in his eyes) who showed off his voice with a shouty rendition of a Luis Miguel tune. he also created the night’s most cringe-worthy moment when he decided to show Jennifer his studly abs, and was joined by Randy and Steven who both flashed some belly. Yuck.
Jacquelyn Dupree: Jacquelyn is the niece of Randy’s high school football coach. Cue awkward photos of a young Randy and a reunion with said coach. when all of the gabbing was over, Jacquelyn had her moment to audition. She chose “I’ll Stand By You,” but it was pretty clear she was singing the Carrie Underwood version. She mimicked Carrie right down to the country twang. She has a good voice — you have to have a good voice to be able to successfully copy someone as amazing as Carrie — but she needs to find her own voice. This is something Simon definitely would have picked up on. Sigh. three yeses.
Brett Loewenstern: We’ve already started the #TeamDevyn fanclub, but the guy we’re in love with the most so far is definitely Brett. the 16-year-old curly-haired ginger was bullied as a kid for being different and turned to music as an escape. After an all-too-long chat about how he keeps his red mane conditioned, he performed an OMG-amazing version of the Queen classic, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Fabulous,” Steven said. “That’s the way you nail an audition,” Randy told Brett. And more goosepimples for Jennifer. Bet those bullies are feeling stupid now. Brett’s off to Hollywood! we hope he’s around for a long time. #TeamBrett!!!
Jacee Badeux: Jacee was built up by the pre-commercial tease to be one of the auditions we’d have to see to believe. the 15-year-old looks like a husky 12-year-old, speaks with the soft voice of a 12-year-old, but (and here’s where we show how shallow we are) surprisingly, he sings with the poise and confidence of someone much older. still, we’re not nearly as blown away as the producers probably thought we would be. Jacee is talented, but he’s far from a Susan Boyle-ish epic surprise. he kinda sounds like Justin Bieber if Bieber could evoke emotion in his voice. but the judges ate his audition up and handed him his ticket to Hollywood.
Paris Tassin: the final contestant of the night was also the one with the biggest sob story. Paris is a young mother raising a daughter with hearing loss. Her little girl is her inspiration and her reason for auditioning. Tears! As if that wasn’t sad enough, she chose Carrie Underwood’s tear-jerker “Temporary Home” to sing. J.Lo was a teary mess watching the performance. (Acting? Who knows.) Here’s the thing about Paris: she suffers from the same copycat syndrome Jacquelyn suffers from. She has a powerful voice, but she mimicked Carrie too much. Doesn’t matter. three big yeses for Paris!
In all, 37 people were given tickets to Hollywood. Idol is back next Wednesday in Milwaukee.