American Idol 9 – Dallas auditions
Feb 1, 2010 That's Hot
The DVR ate this one, too, but I was able to view it later on elsewhere. Good thing, as I was looking forward to seeing Neil Patrick Harris as guest judge. 
- Cowboy Stadium. Ryan is greeted by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Randy and Simon contemplate Richard Simmons and Clint Eastwood as potential guest judges, and Kara discusses Neil’s aspirations of shattering the dreams of thousands of contestants.
- Dallas has brought Idol Kelly Clarkson in the past, but a lot of chaff to go along with the wheat as well. Julie Kevelighan was substantially less than impressive during her Season 1 audition, but has had 8 years to work on it since. She’s improved, but still isn’t up to Idol par.
- For the love of God, STOP SINGING. When you’re told to stop… STOP!!!!!
- “I should have taken a deep breath first…” No, you really just shouldn’t have auditioned. That would have been best.
- Lloyd Thomas has a little bit of dance in his step… and a lot of song in his voice. Easy ticket to Hollywood.
- SHOWDOWN!!! Last week gave us Kara vs. Katy, while today we get Simon vs Neil.
- Kimberly Carver tries what very few successfully pull off, but makes it to Hollywood with an original composition on a 3-1 vote; Simon wasn’t as impressed with the jazz stylings as the rest of the panel.
- Dexter Warren has a winking problem, but is convinced he’s the next Idol. I’m, however, convinced he’s the next karaoke idol, at best.
- Montage of folks who didn’t make it, which is a large number considering how many show up.
- Neil hints in a chat with Ryan that the ratio of noes to yeses is a lot more balanced than he expected, which leads me to believe that the number of people who go before the panel is a rather small percentage of the 11,000 that showed up.
- Erica Rhodes used to be on Barney and Friends. The panel has her sing the Barney song before her audition. Frankly, I thought she did better with the Barney song than her audition, but it’s good enough to get her through.
- Dave Pittman has fought Tourette Syndrome, but gets through pretty easily to Hollywood. Nice singing voice!
- Day two brings another judge in Joe Jonas, a fourth Jonas brother in Randy Jackson, and some colder temperatures in the room. No, not a cooling of emotions or tempers, it’s literally cold.
- Todrick Hall is the “warmup act” for day two, as Ryan puts it, with another original composition about his audition. A little “cutsie” to use Simon’s word, but he still gets four yeses.
- Aa part of a montage of golden tickets, Stephanie Doulong gets her shot at stardom.
- Meagan Wright has her little brother Dawson with her to push her on. I was concerned about her key, but she sings really well and gets her four yes votes, along with a assist on a tease for her family from Ryan.
- Vanessa Johnston is “super optimistic” and seems to be having some fun leading to her audition. A consistent key and a knowledge of all of the lyrics would have been better bits of luggage to bring with her.
- Christian Spear is an 8-year leukemia survivor at only 16. Her Etta James song was a ton better than Vanessa’s ahead of her, and gets through to Hollywood without a hitch.
One set of auditions to go, Tuesday night in Denver. “Lost” beats it for the live viewing, though, so I won’t be covering Denver until later at night. Catch ya next time!
