'American Idol' Recap - Auditions #2

With two hours of American Idol there’s a lot of auditons to get through. And a surprisingly high number of actually genuine vocal talent to book! Gone are the days of humiliating Idol auditions which made the show famous in the Paula/Simon/Randy days. Nope, we’re on a new track with real talent and real judges who understand music and seem like nice people to book.

Because of all the auditions, I’m just going to go into detail about my favorite five of the night in order of their appearance.

Garrett Miles
The best thing you can say about this blind 25-year-old’s rendition of a Creedence classic is that it was totally authentic. In a night with a lot of somewhat store-brand generic performance, this rendition of this song couldn’t have been done by anyone else. With an original music sense that’ll stay with him no matter what he sings, Garrett’s one to watch this season.

Clark Beckham
I usually agree with Keith but I thought Clark’s take on “It’s A Man’s World” was dripping with passion and fierce originality. Besides, his vocals were pretty on-point – sweet and bluesy, controlled yet gritty.

Cody Fry
I’m currently serving as a musical director for a local production of “The Wizard Of Oz” and therefore I’ve heard “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” more times over the last few months than any sane person should have to. So it’s a testament to Cody Fry’s folky take on the tune that I actually really enjoyed it. It didn’t quite measure up to Ingrid Michael’s similar cover but Cody showed a really wide vocal range and a soulful music talent.

Savion Wright
I actually remember Savion from last year and am so glad he came back. This time around, when Savion says that he “wants to win it” I totally believe he could take home the time prize with his liquid gold smooth voice and easy, captivating stage presence.

Jess Lamb
Finally a skilled musician who have paid her dues. With a vibe that’s both Sara Bareilles pop and old school soul, she’s the whole package.

Others who got a golden ticket were: Andrew Annello (whose fine voice was overshadowed by a sloppy presentation), Loren Lott (who was super cut and had good stage presence but overacted like drunk night at karaoke), Trevor Douglas (whose science-geek-meets-alt-rocker persona shows musical potential if he finds more melodic songs and doesn’t overdue the falsetto), Piper Jones (who I’m worried about given that a lack of backstory generally means lack of Idol tenure but who producers might want to consider for the upcoming “Color Purple” revival), Kelley Kime (who had an adorable daughter and a nice bluesy tone), Gina Vanier (who is a total badass, plain and simple), Alex Shier (who sounds like every other busker on the streets of Nashville), Hector Montenegro (whose really nice rock vocals seemed far too detached for the intense “Too Close”), Sarina-Joi Crow (whose staccato run at the end was fierce but seems a bit forgettable, as least so far), Zack Kaltenbach (who messed with the melody too much and was too pitchy to be given a golden ticket), Naomi Tatsuoka (who I wasn’t prepared to like but who won me over with her raw, albeit wildly uncontrolled, vocal talent), Jhameel (whose acoustic take on a hip-hop song would be been super hip and cool ten years ago) and Lovey James (who, despite being vocally on-point, sang with an affected, breathy quality that felt fake, fake, fake).

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