AI Commentary - Doing a Little and Doing a Lot in Memphis

No matter how you look at it, tonight's auditions were very different than last week's. Mostly in the fact the people didn't seem to be as delusional, which of course left less room for any cruelty, warranted or otherwise. And at least two of the auditioners seemed to be the exact opposite of many that auditioned last week.

Jason "Sundance" Head got his unique name from his hippie parents, and his dad had a hit record himself in 1965. Roy Head's Treat Her Right reached #1 one on the charts that year. Sundance always figured fame would come his way as well, and didn't even try too well in high school, yet here he is at 27, still waiting for his big break. And while everyone else is walking around talking about about how much the judges are going to like them, and what's going to happen once they get to Hollywood, Sundance is saying they won't be prepared for him, and will probably kick him out, calling him a smartass.

Yet, as Sundance walks in for his audition, he talks about his incredibly lucky year, marrying his longtime girlfriend, expecting a baby on Christmas day, and getting to American Idol. Simon thinks it's a little premature, and sits back to listen to Sundance singing Stormy Monday. Honestly, I look for the person that gives me chills every year. Sometimes there's more than one, and sometimes I struggle to find just one. This is my first chill. He was terrific. Simon thinks he's one of the best voices this year, and says he'd be shocked if he didn't make it to the finals. The last time I heard Simon make predictions like that was Carrie Underwood. He's going to be fun to watch.

The other one that isn't walking around smacking of I'm so great is Melinda Doolittle, a professional backup singer. Asked why she's in the background, she says just likes her space there, in the background, while she does her thing, and the leads do their thing. She also says she's had to sit on her hands all day to stop them from shaking from her nerves. She sings For Once In My Life, and is incredible, although, wow, she has no confidence. You can see it in her body as she's crouching down waiting to see if everyone is going to like her. The judges overwhelmingly approve of her, sending her to Hollywood, and I don't know if she can make it that far without confidence in herself, but it would be great if she could. Maybe she needs to change her name to DoALot.

Then we have the contestants that go right back to delusional. Travis McKinney can't stop talking about how much emotion he's going to put in his song. He's singing for his girlfriend, because they once had problems, but are now on solid ground. He predicts he'll be the first to single-handedly bring emotion to American Idol. I've seen some pretty powerful emotion these past five years, so rock on with your bad self, there, Travis. And while he's got some great emotion, his explosive dancing is oddly placed, and his singing just isn't good. His girlfriend just might not thank him for that.

Christopher McCain keeps talking about the girl that got away, and he's one that's already on people's lips as a possibility for the cruelty of the week award. His wife cheated on him, he took her back, and she left again anyway, yet he has a mad crush on Paula. He sings Footloose, complete with the dancing to the silent musical interludes. Simon tries a crack at him about his wife leaving because of his singing, but Randy shushes him. Instead, Simon says he is reminded him of a guy getting drunk at a wedding. It was obvious, at least to me, that this was his attempt at getting back at his wife, and it seems to have backfired, as he leaves without a ticket to Hollywood and without Paula.

The interesting look of the night goes to Sean Michel, as even he calls it a cross between Osama Bin Laden, Jesus, and Fidel Castro, but I'm calling it Ben Affleck that needs a shave. He's apparently homeless and says he thinks we all are in some way. Maybe he means spiritually or something, unless he's living in the tents on Apprentice. He sings a little Johnny Cash, and is ... interesting. I wouldn't walk away saying wow, he's got some chops, but he can sing, and he's interesting. He makes it through, and the bets are on whether he'll keep his interesting look, a la Taylor, or get the Idol makeover, a la Clay.

Another interesting look is Janita Burks, saying she thinks the judges will look at her and think she's well put together, innocent, aggressive, and really sexy. I think she might have one of those four, as she's in a skin tight dress that is so low cut, one wrong move, and we'll be calling her Nip. She sings Disco Inferno, and Paula has to tell Janita to watch it while she bends forward at the waist. As Simon jokes that she was a "handful," she does not make it through, as she didn't sing well. This is a case of someone thinking they can get through by titillating the judges. It worked against her.

I'd like to tell you all about Timika Sims audition, but she was so drone, it's hard to remember anything other than her droning and staring at the camera, as she struggled to know what to say. Next!

Frank Byers, aka Franks and Beans, was the complete opposite. He's a college cheerleader and coach, and the judges were shocked that he was over the top. Hello? He's a cheerleader! His whole design is to get people on their feet! After he's ejected, he gets Simon on his feet as he goes out to tell the cheerleaders that came with him to shut up. Of course, he adds in he's not being rude. Of course!

For the heartwarming moment of the auditions, we have Philip Stacy, whose wife went into labor and delivered their baby while he was away at the auditions. He wants to sing Let's Get It On, joking that it's the last thing his wife wants to hear. Instead he sings, My Girl for his wife and daughters, but should have stuck with his first instinct, as the judges didn't like it too much. He switches it up to the other song, and they like it more, getting him through to Hollywood, but he should have started out with it to begin with, and used his humor on them.

Randy asked for a cigar, but Philip was unprepared. I think he should have asked Castro.

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