It's been an arduous, often painful four-week journey, but we're finally finished with the season 7 auditions of American Idol.  As my compatriot John outlined earlier today, there has to be a better way to do the auditions and the Hollywood round.  Ten hours of auditions is simply way too much.  But, as is bound to be the case, there were some highlights that didn't involve terrible singers.  Today, I've chosen my four favorite auditions from the past month of American Idol.  I suspect most of you will disagree with me on the favorites.  That's fine.  I've put them in random order, so don't read anything into their placement below. 


Michael Johns

Michael is a 28 year old music industry veteran, he's been a member of two unsuccessful bands.  Normally, I have a hard time with ringers who are brought in to audition, but in Johns case I like it.  His voice (a credible white soul singer) is much for conducive to pop recording then with a band.  I can't imagine Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye or any great soul singer fronting a rock n' roll band.  Watching his audition again, I think he was far and away the best male we saw over the course of the auditions.  He had an air of professionalism that just wasn't apparent anywhere else.



Pia Easley

Pia reminded me of Tracy Chapman.  Her voice wasn't that low, but it bluesy, with great control.  Her persona (orange mini-mohawk, baggy pants, no-nonsense demeanor) is something new, and something Idol could use more of.  Because she only used the lower register of her voice, it's possible Pia might struggle in Hollywood when forced to use her upper register.  The ability to sing epic ballads is a necessity come Hollywood, and we don't know if Pia can do that.



Kady Malloy

Kady is a chameleon, as she displayed in her audition.  She does vocal impressions (her Britney Spears is impeccable) and I suspect Kady is more comfortable imitating another person than she is being herself.  However, if she can infuse enough of her personality into all of her performances going forward, her ability to mimic could be huge.  Think about it: once singers reach the top 24, they have to tackle a new genre every week.  With Kady's talent to become different people when she sings, who is more prepared for Hollywood than her?



Amanda Overmyer

Amanda is a real wild card.  In her audition, she displayed the near-impossible ability to perform a credible Janis Joplin.  She has a monster rock voice, something we have seen little of, ever, on American Idol.  Amanda isn't like the quasi-rock of Gina Glocksen last year, she's in her own league.  It will be important to see if she can tone it down for softer and slower songs.  If she shows the ability to adapt to different material, Amanda could very well be the female Daughtry, as Paula Abdul proclaimed during her audition.




-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)