Okay, so i'm done watching the audition rounds for American Idol Season 9 (i.e. this year) and i have to say that i'm pleased enough with the talent on display...although if you interview so many thousand Americans, you'll obviously hit some gold.
But the person that really stood out for me (in the audition rounds only of course) is Jermaine Sellers. Go watch his audition video! There was (what i think was) an off-tune moment in the first verse at the word "is", but after that it was pitch-perfect and smooth-sailing for him. His voice has great tone quality - perfect for his genre of music. And he went up into head voice and down into chest voice so smoothly and effortlessly at the end. That was amazing. Even if he was cheating by using that "R&B style" of moving from note to note to hide his voice breaking, it still shows that he has great skill.
I think he's the one to look out for, but of course anything can happen. Especially if one of the other contestants become really creative while Sellers descends into singing typical R&B songs which would get boring. Then again, he made an awesome song selection in the auditions with an R&B interpretation of Joan Osborne's "What If God Was One of Us".
The other people in the audition round that stood out for me were:
Andrew Garcia: He sang Sunday Morning and he was great (although he DID have an off-tune moment at the start, similar to Jermaine Sellers). His voice sounds really nice, and although i think his accent sounds a little misplaced, it also kinda adds to his uniqueness. His singing isn't as cultured as Sellers, but Garcia is still a great natural singer.
Didi Benami: She sang Hey Jude. I think she's got a lovely and very unique voice. Her range is very good, could be slightly better, but she makes up for it with her strong and clear singing voice. At first i thought she sounded country (which i don't really like), but then almost immediately it started sounding like...i dunno, a mix of country with jazz. And she has this err 3/4 Canadian 1/4 British accent to her singing voice which makes her stand out a lot to me. She's also pretty and she's quite modest, so she's got the whole package.
Aaron Kelly: Had a bit of country twang when he started singing which i didn't really like. But he had a smooth voice with good control, great range, and apart from that country twang, i'd daresay he's better than David Archuletta. Actually, to be purely objective, that country twang is probably what makes him better than Archuletta, since Archuletta sounds a little too Disney to me. And hey, Archuletta was 2nd two years ago - that tells you how far Aaron Kelly could rise if he chooses the right songs.
Charity Vance: My favourite female contestant! And my 2nd favourite contestant overall. She's got great range and a very nice voice. Her voice came across to Randy as "small" but all of them could recognise her singing style as unique. Which was how i felt too. And i kinda sensed that she had a voice which could go well with a type of music that i like listening to. Or it could be just her choice of song. Either way she sounded great. A pity, however, that she apparently didn't make it to the top 24 (unlike those contestants mentioned above). Still, i wish her all the best in her music career, and i'll buy her CD if she ever produces one.
Special mention for the audition round goes to Andrew Fenlon, who apparently was just acting the whole time. But i thought he was awesome! Hahaha his singing was good; not a fantastic range, but he had good tone quality and a voice that could do jazz and oldies very well.
I don't think that Fenlon wanted to stay in the competition, so it wouldn't make a difference if Kara hadn't thrown a hissy fit. Still, i would've voted him in if i were a judge on that show. I agree with Simon; Fenlon's character grows on you. And that is even if you didn't know that his "impatience" was intentional. Fenlon may seem psycho to some, but i personally see similarities between him and Captain Kirk in the latest Star Trek. He's a guy who doesn't listen to authority, apologises like he never means it, and he's a little argumentative. But this disregard for authorities and pushy attitude is what allows him to save the day. And the way he sang his song was awesome - like he was really down in the dumps! Hahaha he got me singing the song to myself every now and then for the next few days.
And that's the end of my American Idol audition round commentary...i hope to hear some great performances a few weeks from now!
