American Idol Auditions In Memphis

January 23, 2007 |

American Idol was in Memphis Tennessee this evening to audition the masses. With Memphis producing the likes of B B King and Elvis we were sure to find some singing talent here, right? Frank Byers started off the evening getting barbed by a usual Simon insult saying it was “Over the top, cabaret.” Simon uses that word, cabaret, a lot. I wonder if there’s some background there? Regardless of the Simon insult, Frank wasn’t good enough to go on.

Then came the unintelligible trio of Timika Sims, Chris Rivera and Alexis Partee. The most striking thing about these three in a row contestants was that you couldn’t understand a word they sang and poor Timika Sims was so nervous she sounded like she was speaking another language.

The most promising stand out was a bluesy singer named Jason Sundance Head son of singer Ray Head. He belted out a soulful Stormy Monday to the surprise of all the judges and received the best comment from Simon so far, predicting he would be amazed if Sundance didn’t make it to the finals. Simon also commented that Sundance, “blew Taylor away.” Let’s not forget Simon rejected Taylor Hicks, proving he doesn’t know the public as well as he thinks.

The weird audition of the evening came from Paula Abdul fan Christopher McClain who did a rendition of Foot Loose that was made even worse by his choreography. A weird looking character that the judges let through to Hollywood was Fidel Castro look-alike, Sean Michel. I wonder if the judges just let some people through for entertainment value.

Others heading to Hollywood from Memphis include Danielle McCulloch, back up singer Melinda Dolittle (another good Stevie Wonder rendition) and Philip Stacey who I think will be out on the very next round along with Sean (Castro) Michel. Not to worry about Sean though, Cuba might be in need of a dictator soon.

Of course, we couldn’t end the evening without at least one person thinking they could do an Elvis song. The honors went to Robert Lee Holmes butchering Elvis’ Burnin’ Love. The judges slapped Robert with a good dose of reality, something many wannabes are in dire need of.

Tomorrow evening we’re on to New York.

Alan

Tags: memphis auditions, unintelligible trio, jason sundance head, taylor hicks, sean michel, fidel castro