Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tonight, American Idol does Nashville, which should mean we’re in for a helping of country music.

Should, but does it? Spoiler sites indicate that some of tonight’s best include gals who sing R&B dance tunes and soulful blues.

I’ll be keeping an eye out for them, as well as seeing whether or not the upbeat mood on the judging panel continues through another episode.

I mean, really, Simon Cowell used to act as though it was a chore to earn millions by listening to aspiring singers pursue their dreams.

You don’t get the sense that Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez look at their judging roles as a chores. Heck, they seem to be having fun. Even after some of those awful auditions we saw in Milwaukee.

Rob Bolin & Chelsea Oaks: Ten minutes into the show we meet our first Hollywood-bound contestants, a used-to-be-couple who have been singing together for three years, who still sound great together, and who sound pretty darn good separately. Don’t know if love will re-blossom, but that duet of “To Love Somebody” was pretty special.

Stormy Henley: Steven Tyler just voted with his eyes instead of his ears again. He greeted the former Miss Teen USA, the very attractive gal named Stormy with a “uh-ooh” and a “wow,” then ignored a very pitchy version of “Father, Can You Hear Me.” And somehow got the supposedly tougher and meaner season 10 version of Randy Jackson to agree to send the vocally-challenged beauty to Hollywood.

Adrienne Beasley: This adopted daughter of white farm parents blew the judges away with her soulful voice. And seemed rather shocked by her success seeing as how the ticket to Hollywood brought her to tears.

Jackie Wilson: She’s one of the blues singers I had heard about, and sure enough, the 28-year-old bar manager and singer with what Steven Tyler called “crazy vocals” is Hollywood bound. I wasn’t quite as taken with her as the judges. But she sounded great after the parade of losers who came before her in tonight’s episode.

Paul McDonald, Danny Pate, Jimmie Allen: We hear brief snippets from all three of these male singers. All three are Hollywood-bound. Danny seemed to get the most enthusiastic reaction. I’ll have to see if I can find more samples of his vocal ability and provide them later.

Matt Dillard: This 27-year-old is an unemployed former foster child who says he could help lots of people if he can make a success out of music. He gets a hesitant yes from the judges. My granddaughter is assisting with taking notes tonight. Her advice to Matt: “Change your wardrobe. And shave if you’re going to wear that.” Couldn’t have said it better.

Lauren Alaina: And Idol ends the night by introducing us to yet another 15-year-old, Lauren Alaina, who was inspired to sing by a cousin named Holly who once suffered from a brain tumor. The judges proclaim Lauren as the best contestant in Nashville; Steve Tyler proclaims “we’ve found the one.” And she did sound great on both songs she sang, including Aerosmith’s “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” The best yet? Well, I’m not so sure of that. But, again, Idol seems determined to go young in season 10.