Brittanny  Zika – She sang The Story by Brandy Carslile – She had a foretelling dream that she sang on stage with Sara Barellies, and then it (supposedly) happened.  She is quirky and slightly awkward, and that is actually ok.  Her voice was sort of interesting, but these soft, smooth voices sometimes get eaten up in Hollywood week.

Jermaine Jones – Superstar by Luther Vandross – dude is six foot eight and a half (don’t take away his half!)  I am just looking forward to seeing him standing next to Ryan!  He has a silky smooth voice with great control.  But it reamains to be seen if he fits into the casting mold this year…

Brittany Kellogg – You’re No Good by Carly Simon – She is recently divorced and a mom of twin boys.  Love her for singing Carly Simon!  Her voice is great and soulful…I’m rooting for her to do well.

Romeo Diahn – He is a refugee from Liberia and sang a soul-ish reggae-ish number.  I love his spirit, but like Jennifer said, I fear that he will get eaten alive trying to sing other genres.

Naomi Gilles – She sang some Steven Tyler Cryin.  And she is good!  The classic idol big voice will do well in Hollywood.

Jessica Phillips – Again by Faith Evans – It seems as though we are ending with sob stories this season!  Her boyfriend had a stroke, and she has been acting as caretaker.  Her voice was just ok, but she has a huge amount of soul and spirit.  But how she fits into that Idol mold remains to be seen.

My favorite tonight was Brittany, mom of twins.  I am always partial toward the older contestants because I feel life experience along with talent really makes a well-rounded contestant, so I always root for a good late-twenties contestant!

Well, that’s it for Portland!  Tomorrow we (finally) finish the auditions in St. Louis.

On an idolreview.net note, there are BIG changes coming.  I have been working hard on version 3.0 of this site, which should go live sometime within the next week.  Just a few more tweaks left!  New features and content just in time for Hollywood Week.

Skylar Laine – She has a maw maw and paw paw…she also sang hell on heels. She’s ok, but she might be a little too Lauren Alaina…

Baylie Brown – She was grouped with Antonella Barber back in season 6! I sort of remember her, but she has gotten way better.  She has some potential to do well.

Kristine Osorio – She is a newly single mom and at age 28, she is the oldest that can enter. I am rooting for the older contestants because as cute as all of the young and chipper 15 year olds are, the older kids come in with a bit of life experience–always a good thing in my book!

Cortez Shaw – This guy sang Adele, and was a bit manic, as Simon would say.  He had some chops in there somewhere, but I imagine Hollywood week will eat him alive.

Ramiro Garcia – The obligatory sob story, this guy was born without ears. He sang Amazing Grace, and was just ok.

Ugh, this was an uninspiring episode…Hoping next week brings more excitement…

Jenni Schick – Heartbreaker by Pat Benetar – She is ok, but her outgoing personality grates on my every last nerve.

Curtis Gray – Yesterday – I like his voice – he has decent control and a soulful sound. He could go far, if he doesn’t get drowned out.

Haley Smith – Tell Me Something Good – OO I love her! plus, points for the vegetarian. She would be great singing carole king or carly simon. Can’t wait to hear more from her.

Shelby Tweten – Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood – This girl is one to watch, too! Wow – they are getting some good contestants! Plus, she has the best last name for a twitter handle!

Jairon Jackson – He sang an original tune, and it wasn’t half bad! And he was so excited he ripped his yellow ticket and broke a light fixture.

Angie from Delray Beach, FL – sang some crazy show tune where she nearly flashed the camera, and nearly got sent home, but at the last second snapped herself into shape and busted out a great rendition of Blue Bayou. She is pretty good! I can’t see her making it out of Hollywood week, but she does deserve to get a shot.

Tonight I was a big fan of both Shelby and Haley.  Lets hope these girls bring some success to the idol stage!  Tomorrow we move on to Houston…

Ashley Robles (26) – Sang Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You – She loses points for choosing this song, and having zero originality in the interpretation. But I think she has some potential, so I hope we see her again. But please, someone help her with the clown blush! That looked terrible on camera.

Jayrah Gibson – He sang a beat box-ish song (did he say this was an original?), so like Jen said, we will have to see how he is with more melodic songs.

Aubrey Deckmeyer (20) – Feelin Good – Her voice was ok, but she seems a little too ditsy for my liking…

Aly Shields – She was on Ellen, she raps, and sang Corrine Bailey Rae. Total canon fodder. This girl will be out during round 1 of Hollywood week.

Kyle Crews (19) – Angel of Mine by Monica – This guy is pretty good! There is a whole lot of natural talent there.

Jane Carrey (24) – She sang Something to Talk About which is a fab choice of song…but her voice was just average. However, she is Jim Carrey’s daughter. We’ll have to see how far they want to take this celeb father thing…

Jason Hamlin – Midnight Special by CCR – I like this one! Keep that Git Fiddle playin, buddy. Johnny Cash was a great way to end that audition.

My faves from tonight were Kyle Crews and Jason Hamlin. Two great (and totally different) male voices. Yay for the boys!

53 people were sent to Hollywood! Not bad, San Diego!

I guess we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled times for rounds two and three this week Wednesday and Thursday. Until then…

Tonight’s audition episode kicks off in Savannah, GA.

David Leathers Jr. (17) – He sang some Century 21, He sang some MJ, and he kind of rocked it out!

Gabby Caruba (16) Sunday Morning by maroon 5 – She has a lot of soul in that little body! I am a big fan of hers.

Shannon Magrane (15) – Feeling Good by Etta James – She was pretty good, but she needs a little refinement.

Amy Brumfield (24) – Superwoman by Alicia Keys – She lives in a tent. I like that she is a little different, but I’m hoping it all ends differently than the kid who lived in his car…

Stephanie Renae (15) – Inside Your Heaven – She has potential, but like Randy says, she needs some coaching. Waiting for Debra Byrd to get her hands on this one and she can get the guidance she needs.

Schyler Dixon (16) – Break Even by the Script – She is pretty good, and I think she is kind of mad her brother stole her spot light – and rightfully so! I actually thought she was better than he was…

Lauren Mink (25) – She sang Country Song – she is just ok, but people will like her story.

Ashlee Altise (28) – The inventor of the joy hop sang some Beatles, and honestly, she wasn’t half bad! I want so see her sing without the schtick…she could be good!

WT Thompson sang Boondocks and Randy said he will get eaten alive. This is a very true statement, but he quit his job for this, the least they can do is buy him a plane ticket to the west coast.

Brittany Kerr, the NBA dancer, looks freakishly like Carrie Underwood…except taller and in tighter jeans. She doesn’t really sound like her, though.

Phillip Phillips, Jr. – He doesn’t have the best voice, but he can jam out with a guitar!

Savannah sends 42 people to Hollywood. My favorite audition we saw was Gabby Caruba. I think she has some serious raw talent that can be fostered through this Idol coaching process.

I also have hope that there were very few bad auditions tonight, which will make my generally dreaded audition episodes bearable.

In other news, I am now the proud owner of a DVR…I am welcoming myself to the world of modern technology, where I can pause to write down names and fast forward through commercials. Woo to the Hoo.

See you again tomorrow, when we head to Pittsburgh!

#impeachnicole

But this is all old news, and tonight we get to hear the Pepsi choice song that was mysteriously pushed back from last week.  Spoiler alert: America sucks at choosing songs.

1. Marcus Canty		I’ll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men – I suppose I can’t fault him for song choice, so I guess I’ll fault America.  FAIL America.  Fail. And the performance?  The dancers?  Not a fan.  It all just drowned out the mediocre vocal stylings.
2. Chris Rene		Fly by Sugar Ray – Chris is never good doing covers.  And of all the covers to do, this was one of the lamest choices.  The performance was weird, the staging was weird.  America can’t choose the songs.  Lesson learned yet, xfactor?
3.Melanie Amaro		Hero by Mariah Carey – Again, and America fail on the predictable song choice, but a flawless performance nonetheless. The weird minor chords on the first verse were ineffective at “changing up” the song, and felt like a half-hearted rearrangement, as they progressed into the original major chords as the song went on.  It could have been arranged better.  That said, I’m not sure it could ahve been sung any better, even by Mariah herself!
4. Josh Krajcik	+1/2	Come Together by The Beatles – Look, a song choice not from the mid-90s!  Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.  I do like this song, and I like this song for him, but I didn’t love the arrangement.  Maybe it was the grim lighting or Josh’s fighting face, but something felt off.
5. Marcus Canty		Careless Whisper by George Michael – I kind of liked the spin they put on the song–mixing some GeoMich with some dance beats.  Didn’t love the production so much, but I disagree with Simon that it was horrific.
6. Chris Rene		No One by Alicia Keys – I loved the first half of the song with him at the piano, and when he got up from the piano I would have loved if he would have busted out some of his own lyrics or something.  But no…the rest of the song was heavy on the backup singers, and off key singing.  Bleh…this could have been so much better.  But he does get props for the first half!
7. Melanie Amaro		Feelin Good by (most recently) Michael Buble – I mean, it isn’t my fave that she has ever done, but she is always amazing.  I do appreciate this song choice more than the predictable song, but I guess I just don’t love the song in general.  That said, she better effing make the finale
8.Josh Krajcik		Hallelujah – I loved this performance, and I don’t even particularly love this song. Nice work, Josh!  The piano was played with soul, and the interpretation was emotional and spot on.  I loved it…really!

Best of the night was Josh’s Hallelujah.  I can understand why he was pimped.  Marcus was the worst of the night and most definitely deserves to be sent packing tomorrow.  If I can rank the remaining performers it would be:

4. Marcus

3. Chris

2. Josh

1. Melanie

Chris and Josh might swap, but I’m not sure.  Chris has had more brilliant performances than Josh, but Josh is much more consistent.  However, if Melanie doesn’t win the crown it is serious blasphemy.

And remember to follow me on twitter for unedited, off the cuff comments.  @idolreview18.  (Not that this entire website isn’t unedited and off the cuff. )