American Idol S8 San Francisco Auditions 01/20/09

[Ment]

no thread eh? Everyone must be still digesting the Inauguration festivities.


Tatiana Del Torro - annoying laugh from hell. Decent voice, but Simon put her through so he could put the smackdown on this diva later.

Dean-Anthony Bradford - maybe he could have gone thru wearing a bikini but this fashion emergency victim (where do you even buy a jacket like that) was summarily dismissed.

Jesús Valenzula - Once they brought the kids I knew he was thru. Paula and Kara couldn't resist. Randy mentioning Paula's clock-ticking was hilarious. She gave him the 'daggers' lol.


Dalton 'Rubiks Cube' Powell - only a mention because Jimmy Kimmel did a hilarious splice of segment on him and the judges.

Akilah Askew Gholson - this chick is seriously fritzed. All her drawings and talking about singing from the wrong rectum. The screeners should've have checked her med list before letting the judges see her.

Annie Murdoch - Who comes into an audition w/o any idea what to sing and then settles on a song for which she obviously didn't practice. Another example how looks can get you in front of the judges.

Adam 'Who's ColdPlay?' Lambert - great voice tho a bit dramatic, some voice coaching will patch that up. Kara is suffering from not getting a regular booty-call. She was seriously salivating.

Kai Kalma - another human interest/sob story case. Okay voice; will get by a few rounds on personality and all around 'good-guy' vibe.


Of the San Fran group I only see Adam Lambert making it to Final 12. He's got the teen girl contingent in his pocket.

[tivoboyjr]

I was wondering about a thread, too, but thought maybe I'd missed it. Good summary.

That might have been the least memorable audition show ever on AI, which is saying something (and may also explain the delay in getting a thread going here).

The only one that I thought was good enough to last for a while (that was shown) was Adam. Either AI is holding something back for Hollywood or this was just a really lame group.

Technically, I don't think Simon put Tatiana through. He told her she was through because the other three had already said yes to her. She wasn't very good (seems like she would have had no chance the last few seasons) and was a total wack job. Simon was right, though, that she "may be good at other things."

Seems like the people who were advancing were the people the judges felt sorry for, rather than people who genuinely had talent.

[bareyb]

That Del Torro chick has serious problems...How about that "kiss" thing she kept doing? WTH? I guess that'd be her signature move... That was seriously creepy... :D

Oh and she seems to be a pathological liar. She's no way, as big a star as she says, and she's about as Brazilian as I am. I think she made all that stuff up just to get through the door... Just my .02. ;)

[jay_man2]

...
That might have been the least memorable audition show ever on AI....Yup.

[Ment]

That Del Torro chick has serious problems...How about that "kiss" thing she kept doing? WTH? I guess that'd be her signature move... That was seriously creepy... :D

Oh and she seems to be a pathological liar. She's no way, as big a star as she says, and she's about as Brazilian as I am. I think she made all that stuff up just to get through the door... Just my .02. ;)

I thought she said she was Puerto Rican and came to the San Fran audition to 'stand out' or whatever.

[tivoboyjr]

I thought she said she was Puerto Rican and came to the San Fran audition to 'stand out' or whatever.

That's right. And Simon told her they were going to be in Puerto Rico. She then said she wanted to "stand out" or something to that effect.

[bareyb]

I thought she said she was Puerto Rican and came to the San Fran audition to 'stand out' or whatever.

Tomato, Tomahto. Her accent seemed to come and go and I wasn't buying most of anything that came out of her mouth. I don't think she is really from anywhere except California. She probably lives in San Jose and drove up to the city for the audition. I could be wrong though. I googled her name and they are calling her "Puerto Rican". Apparently she HAS done some "naughty" modeling. So that parts true... ;)

[Einselen]

Adam is my pick to go far.

[MickeS]

Akilah Askew Gholson - this chick is seriously fritzed. All her drawings and talking about singing from the wrong rectum. The screeners should've have checked her med list before letting the judges see her.

Yeah she was crazy in the true sense of the word. The folder with all the papers was a dead giveaway even before she went completely nuts inside, that's the stuff I used to remember seeing all the nutcases in the subway sit with, tons of papers that they were frantically going through and reading from. Really sad.

And yes this was a really dull episode. I barely remember it at all.

I did remember who I think Kara looks like, the girl who was in the Sarah Palin porn spoof video, Lisa Ann.

[bruinfan]

it's dull cuz the producers have made a concerted effort to show more real singers and stories and less goofy singers. in my opinion, the only reason to watch the audition shows is the goofy singers. NEVER GETS OLD!!!!

and i'm telling you, kara is a dead ringer for monica gellar.


I KNOW!!!!!

[Ment]

and i'm telling you, kara is a dead ringer for monica gellar.


I KNOW!!!!!

Nah she looks like a hotter version of either Elisabeth Reaser (recently in the movie Twilight) or Jorja Fox from CSI.

[Einselen]

I don't know who she really looks like but she is hot. Each week I watch I am digging her more and more.

[astrohip]

Akilah Askew Gholson - this chick is seriously fritzed. All her drawings and talking about singing from the wrong rectum. The screeners should've have checked her med list before letting the judges see her.
That had to be one of the funniest auditions I've even seen. She was mangling words that don't even exist. And when she started on how she sung from the wrong rectum, I thought I was gonna cry I was laughing so hard.

This is why we watch the first eps. We can meet the good singers in HW, I wanna see the fruitcakes.

BTW, I don't think you can buy that coat, I think you make it from discarded couches.

[That Don Guy]

That's strange - the main auditions were held in the Cow Palace (which, technically, is just south of the San Francisco city limit), but based on the view outside of the windows, the judging was being held in an entirely different part of San Francisco.

I thought she said she was Puerto Rican and came to the San Fran audition to 'stand out' or whatever.
For some reason, the audition cities are not shown in order; San Francisco was the actual first city this year.

That might have been the least memorable audition show ever on AI, which is saying something (and may also explain the delay in getting a thread going here).
it's dull cuz the producers have made a concerted effort to show more real singers and stories and less goofy singers. in my opinion, the only reason to watch the audition shows is the goofy singers. NEVER GETS OLD!!!!
I think this is because the audition shows are now one hour instead of two, and they feel they need to get the "good singers with stories" on the air now (so they don't have to go through everybody's story in Hollywood Week). I don't remember seeing any scenes of singers all doing the same song badly in either the San Francisco or Louisville episodes.

Also, I was part of a Fox-based forum with one of the producers of AI who asked for suggestions - while my suggestion ("Why don't you show somebody going through the complete audition process?") was ignored (you don't think that the possibility that if people see the entire process, they might start questioning why the really bad singers made it through to Simon while a considerable number of better singers did not has something to do with that, do you?), a number of people did suggest focusing more on Hollywood Week and less on the audition rounds.

(And note that, because of a combination of extending Hollywood Week to two weeks and the financial crisis, there will be no Idol Gives Back this year.)

-- Don

[sushikitten]

The audition shows are made for FF. I don't care about backstories, I don't care about interviews, just show me the auditions. I even hate the crazy ones, but will sit through them just to see the judges' reactions.

[Einselen]

That's strange - the main auditions were held in the Cow Palace (which, technically, is just south of the San Francisco city limit), but based on the view outside of the windows, the judging was being held in an entirely different part of San Francisco.


It is not odd at all. I think it is known by most that the auditions at the stadium vs. audition with the judges are weeks if not months apart.

First they fill up the stadium and have many "judges" (aka producers) in which people walk in front of sing and the judge says yes or no (and was clearly we know you don't have to be good to get a yes). Weeks later you come back to a hotel, conference center, Church Hill Downs, etc. and audition in front of the known judges. That includes only maybe max of 300 people (doing the math each audition average 5 min, they do two days at 12 hours each that is 288).

A glaring example of the difference in time is with bikini girl who was blond at the stadium and brunette in front of the 4 judges.

[David Platt]

and i'm telling you, kara is a dead ringer for monica gellar.


I KNOW!!!!!

Other than having dark hair, I don't think she resembles her at all.


http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/oscars/wwd_pre_oscar_party_photos/courteney_cox/wwd.jpg

http://stupidcelebrities.net/wp-content/kara1.jpg

[MickeS]

Other than having dark hair, I don't think she resembles [Courteney Cox] at all.

Yeah I don't see the resemblance either.

[jay_man2]

Other than having dark hair, I don't think she resembles her at all.


Thanks for confirming what I was thinking.

[That Don Guy]

It is not odd at all. I think it is known by most that the auditions at the stadium vs. audition with the judges are weeks if not months apart.

First they fill up the stadium and have many "judges" (aka producers) in which people walk in front of sing and the judge says yes or no (and was clearly we know you don't have to be good to get a yes). Weeks later you come back to a hotel, conference center, Church Hill Downs, etc. and audition in front of the known judges. That includes only maybe max of 300 people (doing the math each audition average 5 min, they do two days at 12 hours each that is 288).
I read somewhere that they get through about 60 singers per day.

Also, you left out a step. After the stadium auditions, there is a preliminary audition in front of the executive producer (it used to be Nigel Lithgow, before he left the show to concentrate on So You Think You Can Dance?), who decides who gets sent through to the judges. Usually, as part of this step, each singer is required to sing a specific song (this may be limited to the "bad" singers) while standing in front of the same backdrop that appears when you sing for the judges - this allows them to be edited so that it looks like the judges have to hear a considerable number of bad versions of the same song (usually, they air in the two-hour episodes, but not the one-hour ones).

-- Don

[Einselen]

I read somewhere that they get through about 60 singers per day.

Also, you left out a step. After the stadium auditions, there is a preliminary audition in front of the executive producer (it used to be Nigel Lithgow, before he left the show to concentrate on So You Think You Can Dance?), who decides who gets sent through to the judges. Usually, as part of this step, each singer is required to sing a specific song (this may be limited to the "bad" singers) while standing in front of the same backdrop that appears when you sing for the judges - this allows them to be edited so that it looks like the judges have to hear a considerable number of bad versions of the same song (usually, they air in the two-hour episodes, but not the one-hour ones).

-- Don

Looking at the waiting room at the hotel it looks like a few hundred, but you never know where people could be hanging out, sitting, waiting at, etc. I just did probably best case of the number they can do, I doubt they do 12 hours, probably more like 10 or so hard to tell.

Good point, forgot that intermediate step. We have seen it a few times already this season.

[bruinfan]

Yeah I don't see the resemblance either.

not courteney cox... monica gellar... difference..

and kara on AI, not on a press photo...

i can't find any pics.... i still think it's there... the resemblance.. whatever..