American Idol, Night 2 Auditions

The second night of American Idol (AI) auditions opens in Kansas City, Missouri. Jason Castro from season 7 is at the audition with his little brother. It will be interesting to see if Michael Castro (age 20) is as different a singer than Jason as they are different in looks. No dreadlocks on Michael.

First up was Chelsea Marquardt, age 20. She is very cute, and bills herself as "I am always shocking people with my big voice". Nothing could be farther from the truth, and Simon says she sounds "like cats jumping off the Empire State Bldg. and the sound it would make before it hit the floor." She gets 4 NO's.

Next was Ashley Anderson who says she will be singing a Leona Lewis song that was co-written by Simon Cowell "Footprints in the Sand" but then sang the wrong word in the lyrics - she sang FOOTSTEPS - and the judges stopped her and called her on the mistake. She corrected it and gave a good performance. Ashley gets 4 YES's.

Next came a commercial for American Idol featuring David Cook.

Casey Carlson is next singing "A Thousand Miles".. I thought she rushed through the song, but all the judges were pleased and passed her on to Hollywood.

The buildup for the next contestant was, well, too good to be true. Brian Hettler bills himself as having a big voice, studied classic opera and practiced singing hours and hours each night to get admitted into a conservatory - which apparently he didn't get into because he then quit music for 2 years. Brian also compared himself to Josh Groban. Brian sings an Aretha Franklin song which was simply unrecognizable to me. He sound more like he was channeling Elvis in freaky way. It was awful. Simon hated the whole audition and the other judges agreed. No golden ticket for Brian.

A montage was shown of crying, angry and otherwise disappointed losers. It was rather embarrassing the way these people act. Are they delusional? And one gal literally just kept screaming like someone had died.

Deandre Hopkins was next singing "Amazing Grace". It was amazingly horrible and she is amazingly tone deaf. NEXT.

22 year old Von Smith says he has a weird vocal range. He chooses "Over the Ranbow". He has a false start, tries again and then sings way too big - but then it turned into something rather nice if not powerful once he gained control of his nerves. He is a very interesting singer and the 4 judges send him thru to Hollywood.

Next up is Michael Castro, who admits that he just started singing 3 weeks ago. He decided that if Jason can do it, so can he. Some sibling rivalry is evident in the pre-audition footage. Michael says Jason is sort of 'girly'. Michael says he will sing "In Love with a Girl" by Gavin DeGraw. Paula says "not bad", Simon says he is "goodish", Kara says "you are a ballsy dude" and Randy also likes him. Michael Castro gets 4 YES's. Big brother Jason is "blown away" that his brother can sing.

And then the truly bizarre. Vaughn English wearing a weird yellow suit sings a nonsense song about, you guessed it, a banana. Ba-bye.

Matt Breitzke says he sings and plays guitar since he was a small boy. Matt sings "Ain't No Sunshine". He has a really nice voice - very soulful. Randy doesn't like him and says NO. Kara disagreed and said Matt has natural talent and says YES. Paula loves his tone, and says YES. Simon says "I agree with.......the girls! and further states that Matt was really good and has heart and ambition. Matt gets a golden ticket to Hollywood.

Next was Jasmine Joseph who had 1/2 purple 1/2 pink hair. She sings "Over the Rainbow" and is just horribly pitchy all over the place. My own husband says "She sounds like she is sitting on a box of nails!" The judges never said one word. They shook their heads and Jasmine turned and walked out.

Jessica Paige Furney is the next contestant whose back-story is told. She apparently lives with her hard of hearing grandma in some town billed as the Capital of the Wizard of Oz. She seems timid and quiet. She says she will sing Janis Joplin's 'Cry Baby" and she belts it. The judges are surprised and pleased. They send her to Hollywood, and by the way, Happy Birthday to Jessica. What a great present - going to the Hollywood round of AI.

Two sisters Asia and India are next up. They perform an original song "Cookies" and dedicate it to Randy. It was not good. Then the girls perform independently. Asia is turned away, but India gets to go to Hollywood.

Jamar Rogers age 26. Jamar has the strangest Mohawk ever. He sings "California Dreaming" too loudly and over sung to the point of getting pitchy. Yes amazingly, he gets a golden ticket!

All through this episode 28 year old music teacher Danny Goky(sp?) is billed as having a very sad story. Turns out, his wife died of a heart condition 4 weeks earlier and he is still grieving the loss. He considered NOT auditioning, but decided he would so that America can get to know his wife. He keeps his emotions in check and sings "I heard it through the Grapevine" Paula says Danny is soulful, Kara said "I am a fan!", Simon liked him and Randy declares "HE is the best we have seen!"

Anoop Desai is next, and is billed as a master music student. He sings "Thank You" and is really good, despite looking and dressing, well, geeky. He gets lots of tips from the judges and he is off to the next round in Hollywood.

Next was a montage of losers and geeks singing "Signed, sealed, delivered" They also showed a quick montage of extreme contestants: weird clothes, gimmicks, pets, ninja's. All the weirdness from nights one and two. Ugh.

Enter Andrew Lang singing "My Girl". He was very theatrical and gets a resounding NO from the judges.

28 year old Asa Barnes is a band director at a middle school. He sings "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson. Though contestants usually bomb singing Michael J. - Asa does a respectable job and gets 4 yes's from the judges.

Michael Nicewonder is the next contestant. He has obviously bleached hair in a chili bowl cut. He is wearing a medal around his neck that he won in elementary school for "best vocalization in music class" and stuck to the back is a fortune cookie fortune he likes. His mother doesn't think he can sing and he is at the audition to prove her wrong. He also states he is related to Hank Williams Jr. Michael sings two original songs - one to his mother and one for his grandmother. Both are just awful and the judges send him packing. He cries like a baby. I think he better get in some therapy. And soon. To say this audition was weird is a total understatement.

19 year old Dennis Brigham sings "With You" and suitably impresses all 4 judges. My husband and I were NOT impressed. Hmmmm.....

About 90 seconds of video was dedicated to Mia Conley age 27. She was sleeping in every single second right up to walking in for her audition. She might as well have been a nightmare. She was singing "Loving You" and she was just awful. She vehemently disagreed with the judges rejection and told them that "God will get you for not picking me". Sheesh.

The last contestant may have been the very best one. Lil Rounds, a mom of 3 kids and whose family was displaced by a tornado in Memphis steps up. She sings Stevie Wonders "All I Do" and is fantastic. Kara really likes her and says that she is a mixture of Fantasia and Mary J Blige. Paula loves her. Simon thinks she is fantastic and Randy says Best so far this season. She is a HOT ONE" Lil is humbled, awed, excited, etc. She may definitely be one to watch the rest of Season 8.

In the end, 27 people in Kansas City are put through to Hollywood. Next week they visit Louisville KY and Salt Lake City. Additional audition cities are San Juan, New York, Jacksonville and San Francisco. Clips following say that in the end 147 people will make it to Hollywood and that"Hell Week" is the most dramatic one ever.