Welcome to Hollywood! Now (some of you) get out!
One-hundred and forty-seven singers made it from the national auditions to the Kodak Theatre, where they were informally enrolled in a bootcamp of makeovers and coaching at the start of Tuesday’s Idol episode. The singers also got a little speech from “Copacabana” singer Barry Manilow. His definition of stardom? “Preparation meets opportunity.” You said it!
Then, the singers came whooshing on and offstage like a musical rollercoaster. Some recognizably good voices got put through to the next day: Lil Rounds, 23; Anoop Desai, 21; Jasmine Murray, 16 (pictured left); Rose Flack, 17; Jorge Nunez, 20; Jackie Tohn, 28; Jamar Rogers, 26, and his music teacher buddy Danny Gokey, 28 (pictured right); Jeremy Michael Sarver, 27; David Osmond, 28; Adam Lambert, 26; and Emily Wynne-Hughes, 21.
Emily looked like a goner, actually: She switched songs at the last second and sang terribly — why didn’t she listen to Manilow’s advice about preparation?! — but the judges let her stay, despite their disappointment.
There were a couple of other surprising survivors into Wednesday’s show: Von Smith, 22, highly theatrical in a Judy Garland way (Simon: “Indulgent nonsense … the sort of thing a child would do”); Nick Mitchell, 27, whom Idol viewers know as the eccentric Norman Gentle; and Katrina “Bikini Girl” Darrell, 20, who once again wowed Randy and Simon and vaguely sickened Kara.
(Bikini Girl also gave the best intro of the night, saying, “I’m the next American Idol because … I am.”)
Best flameout: Dennis Brigham, 19, who left in very foul mood and dissed Simon on his way back to obscurity. “For somebody to be so rich,” he said, “your pants are very very cheap.”
Wednesday Idol: Group singing! – Tom Gliatto
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