Wednesday, January 15, 2014

American Idol: Season 13 Auditions, Hollywood and Maybe More!

Welcome back Idol fanatics!  The show is returning to much more positive buzz due to a promising judging panel.  I'm actually looking forward to this season a little more than I have in recent seasons.  But, my available time for extracurricular activities continues to shrink!  We currently have a 2 year old running around the house and we're about to add baby #2 to the mix late April/early May which happens to be right smack in the middle of the live shows!  So, let's take this season on a week by week basis as always!  Per the past several years, I will leave this post up to discuss the auditions and Hollywood rounds and whatever other pre-taped performances might be coming our way.   And I'll still plan on writing up some brief posts for the live performances (maybe not those initial semi-final performances but we'll see if they deserve some kind of write-up!).  In the very best case scenario, there probably won't be a recap the week my baby girl is born and surely the remaining readers of this blog would understand that!

But, like I said, we'll play it by ear.  Enjoy the start of this show and keep your fingers crossed that the changes made to the show's panel and format are for the better!  See you in the comments!

6 comments:

Mike V. said...

1/15 Premiere (Boston/Austin) - Already 100% more entertaining than last year. Great chemistry with the judges and you can tell the new producers gave the show a bit of a makeover. It focused big time on the talent and less on the wannabes. Most of the people that didn't make it could still carry a tune, but they showed what distinguished the really good singers from the average singers. Loved that they played up that no one knows who Harry is. He was hysterical!

Anyway, the talent was decent too, not that I can remember anyone at this juncture. We should point out that letting people play guitar in the auditions gives them a bit of an advantage. There was one guy that probably wouldn't have made it if he wasn't playing guitar. The Katy Perry "Roar" guy. The one guy that did "Lego House" (Ed Sheeran) sounded amazing. I think we need to be prepared to be handing the Idol Crown back to a male playing a guitar because we saw many of them and the ladies love to vote for their "axe" men/boys!

But, it's a good sign that I'm actually looking forward to the show again. My comments will still be brief or non-existent until the live shows start! But feel free to post comments here if you want to discuss the earlier rounds!

Leslie said...

Had to tune in last night! Really like the chemistry with the new judges. Yes, Harry was hysterical from picking up that one guy to talking music tech stuff which Jennifer knew nothing about and the running gag about just who he is or the mother loving him.

Mike V. said...

Yeah the whole "Pentatonics" discussion was hysterical. I think I vaguely remember that from my piano lessons back in the day. lol

It really was just a more fun experience than its been in awhile. I'm sure I'll suffer from audition fatigue eventually, but supposedly they're speeding some rounds up this year.

Apparently there will be a "rush week" after Hollywood that will get us into the live competitions more quickly. We'll see!

Mike V. said...

1/16 Austin/San Fran - Nothing really to report. Didn't realize we were getting another 2 hours but they kinda just flew by. The show is definitely still entertaining in day 2. There were some pretty decent singers, but I can't remember any of them off the top of my head! (always a good sign) I remember the twins thing which is an Idol staple. Obviously, only one was getting through! The guy they ended with wasn't very good, and of course he was bizarre. The girl that came back from last season was really good.

Of course, as time goes on I'll start to remember names and form better opinions! I do like the whole graph they're putting up at the end of the episode to show where the contestants are coming from and how many there are. It really reminds you about the show's title and how it spans the whole country. But, they better show some Hawaii and Alaska love, that's all I'm sayin! lol

Mike V. said...

1/22 Detroit - Entertaining couple hours of TV with a few standouts, that I ironically can't think of right now. I had already seen the last girl's audition before. It must've been the video they leaked out in the fall to show how the judges were getting along. The guy that came back from last year was really good but totally agreed on the guitar thing. It was so prominent in his performance that I'm not sure how he'd do without it. The 26 year old with 4 kids (!) was really good too. I thought the first girl, Keri (?) was pretty awesome too. Some funny bad auditions too. They've gotten back to the element of surprise with that because they don't show them as often. So, when they do happen they're hysterical. Though, the twins that came in with their weaves on, it was hard to imagine that would be good. And it was satisfyingly awful!

Mike V. said...

1/23 - Atlanta - The Majesty girl, bizarre name, awesome singer/musician. Liked the judges' critiques that they know within a nano-second if they're any good. Sometimes, that's absolutely true. It's a presence thing. Still enjoying the new season. Not tired of the auditions yet! lol