American Idol: Omaha Auditions

Welcome to Omaha, Nebraska! The town so big that they wrote a song for American Idol called "Omaha, Nebraska!" (well I don't know if that's a fact, but I'm sure it's the last time I'll hear that song!) Also the town where Randy wears Dorothy Red Shoes and Purple framed glasses, the town where Paula must've had an all night binge event the night before...because she finally returned to her TRUE FORM! Drunk (or hungover, jury is still out), Hiccupping, and just flat out BIZARRE! We saw Ryan and Paula switch roles in a historic Idol moment. We saw a bigger Kelly Clarkson obsessessee than myself! (i really hope people don't think I'm THAT weird!) We saw Fake Wrestlers, Arm-wrestlers and lots of small small town talent. And for once, we actually saw almost 50% of the people that got in!

That doesn't really mean that I got any more into it. Let's face it...we're still in the auditions and we're in the 3rd week! So, let's just get right to who got in and get ready for tomorrow!

• Jason Rich - 21 - From Stout, Iowa (500 people) He'll be most known for singing a song called "When You Say Nothing at All" and for at least the first 5 minutes of the audition, not being able to say anything at all! This has to be the first time I saw an auditioner forget the lyrics but STILL make it to Hollywood. He was pretty good after he finally got going. But forgetting lyrics this early? Not a good sign for Hollywood or even past that.
• Rachel Wicker - 23 - Paula showed up (looking hungover) just in time to arm wrestle this 6-Time Champ. Rachel is ready to hand over her belts for a shot at super stardom in the music biz. Unfortunately for her, Randy couldn't get over her half Yodel (which he accused all country auditioners of having). I call it the Carmen Rasmusen disease! Anyway, besides that, her rendition of Leanne Womack's "Don't tell my heart to stop loving you" was pretty good (granted...I won't admit to have heard the real version or know how to actually spell her name!) We'll see what the future rounds have in store for the arm wrestler!
• Samantha Sibley -22 - (Ryan judged this one for Paula until she drunkenly opened the door and gave her 2 cents) Samantha gave Norah Jones's "Don't Know Why" a shot. The judges were looking for more showmanship (a common theme tonight). I can't get on board with her because even though she sang this pretty well, these bluesy low voice singers always get overshadowed by the heavy hitters in the competition. I just don't think she has the chops to stay in there!

We got quick clips of the following folks

• Elizabeth Erkert - 19 - "Heard it through the Grapevine" she was good I guess.
• Denise Jackson - 17 - Yet another Fantasia clone...yippie!
• Michael Sanfilippo -19 - Kinda had a preppy surfer thing going on. But he sang okay. I dunno didn't see enough to judge him

Back to the full-on stories!

• Anjelica Puente- 17 - Best part of this audition was hearing Simon trying to pronounce her name. Seems pretty straight-forward to me! (ang--a-leeeeee ka?? PooooEEENT?) Anyway, we got the sob story of how her dad is very strict and probably wouldn't support the whole Idol thing...so she moved out of the house and played Martina McBride for him and then he broke into tears and paid for her trip. (I made up half of that just so you know!) All to hear Angaaalleeeeeka whip out a carbon copy of Celine's "Power of Love" Oh well...as annoying as she was, she still sang the hell out of it. So we'll see if she can find her own voice in this competition!
• David Cook - 24 - Bartender/Musician - David, inspired by Chris Daughtry's success decided he'd give idol a shot. I thought he really had a good voice. He took on Bon Jovi (or Billy Joel???)'s "Living on a Prayer" Judges brought up performance issues again. Whatever, put a band behind him and he'll be fine. I think he has top 12 written all over him....which is good since David thinks he has Top 1 written all over him. Wouldn't go that far just yet. But we'll see!

Caution: Paula just hiccupped! Wow...they really let her on camera like that??

• Leo Marlowe - 23 - We opened up with a guy from a town of 500 and closed with Leo from a town of 200. Self-proclaiming that he's the most popular guy in town. He took a page out of Elliott Yamin's audition book and gave "A Song For You" a shot. I liked this guy too. But for a popular guy he did seem a little bizarre to me. I guess we'll just see how later rounds go with him. The judges really liked his voice and the fact that he's a nice guy And while Paula wasn't lying on the table, she decided to stand up with 2 arms up and screaming TOUCHDOWN!!!!! Crazy...if this is how Paula looks when she is edited....can you even imagine what she'll be like when the cameras go Live? I can't wait!

So we saw 9 of 19 people that got in. Not too shabby. I'm still not seeing anyone that is blowing me away. But some of these guys (Leo, David) I could see sticking around for a bit. Well, one more audition city to go! Good ol' Miami Florida! Then finally...we're going to Hollywood! (the only episodes worse to blog about than the auditions!)

Anyway, as always..hope you enjoyed my rants and see you tomorrow!