Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Tonight, American Idol heads to Hollywood, where we should expect to see contestants falling to the wayside.  And not just because they’ve been eliminated.

Over the next week, we’ll get to see which of the Idol ladies can beat the long odds.

We might be reintroduced to the fairest Idol of them all, NBA dancer Brittany Kerr (10 things you should know about her here).

We’d better meet some new faces.  Because, by my count, there are an awful lot of the rumored top 60 we haven’t seen for the first time yet.  (Profiles of all of them here).

And with the pre-show Idol Chatter links out of the way, it’s time to get down to business.

Please, Idol, please be as entertaining as the first two episodes of The Voice.

The first contestant we hear from is Johnny Keyser, the good-looking guy from Florida. He’ll sing “Dreamin’.”  And he’s not going home on day one.  Very, very good vocal.

Next up is jokester Heejun Han, singing “How am I Supposed to Live Without You.” He might not have Johnny’s self-confidence, but he does a wonderful job as well.

Johnny and Heejun make it.

Elise Testone just turned in a wonderful bluesy vocal. Hey, Hallie Day of Baltimore might be the real deal. And Baylie Brown is one of the country ladies most likely to make the semifinals.

We get introduced to Jen Hirsh, a wonderful singer from California, who will sing “Up to the Mountain.” Wonderful tone to her voice. So she’s the first new face we’re introduced to in Hollywood.  Looks like Lauren Gray is going to hang around, too.

I feel bad for these young ladies whom we’re seeing for the first time and it doesn’t turn out very well.

Phillip Phillips, the guy from the pawn shop is up next.  Not as good as I remember him from the audition.

Reed Grimm, who’s been performing most of his life is up next, singing “I Got a Golden Ticket.” More of a jokester than I’d prefer, and that wasn’t my favorite vocal either.

Travis Orlando, the guy with the hard-luck story, also gets some screen time, but he’s heading home. Also heading home are Ramiro Garcia, Wolf Hamlin and Jenni Schick. If you weren’t aware, Wolf has an excellent single out on iTunes.

New contestant number two is Adam Brock, who says he’s been told he’s got a “large black woman” trapped in his body. This sob story about missing his daughter seems quite exaggerated. He’s singing “Walking in Memphis.” A little overbaked, but pretty good.

Jane Carrey’s turn.  She’s not a novice either, having performed with her own band. Find out more about her here. She seemed a little nervous, but over all that was pretty good. But not good enough. She doesn’t make the cut. The odds against the girls really are tough, something like 16 to 1 on making the semifinals compared to 9 to 1 for the guys.

One of those begging for another chance was bartender Linda Williams, who split the judges in the Galveston auditions.

Now we get to the teen row, featuring Shannon Magrane singing “Fallin’.”  Very impressive for someone so young.  And David Leathers Jr. singing “Because You Love Me.”  Not as impressed as the folks in the audience. Jessica Phillips, the gal whose boyfriend is recovering from a stroke, also does well.

 Creighton Fraker just slayed “Somebody to Love.” Erika Van Pelt sounded very good, too.  Not as impressed with Aaron Marcellus.

Jeremy Rosado and Lauren Mink are featured next.  Lauren sounded OK on “Alone;”  I did not like Jeremy Rosado’s “Superstar” at all.  And the show ends with a girl falling off the stage.