American Idol hits up Omaha, Nebraska tonight and my expectations are not high. I'm not saying this because I'm cynical, it's just that we haven't seen a whole lot of talent per audition episode this season and I'm starting to get worried. I don't know much about Omaha (I hear it's very flat), but I'm hoping for an influx of great Midwestern singers tonight. It'll also be interesting to see if any of the names leaked on the Top 24 list show up in audition form tonight. We'll be here throughout the hour giving live updates as the episode rolls along. Feel free to offer your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Nice. Some Bright Eyes plays in the background as the episode begins. Omaha is, apparently, famous for their corn. Good work, Omaha.
Paula's plane is delayed, so it's only Simon and Randy for the start.
Chris Burnheisel is an effeminate teenager from Nebraska. He actually uses this sentence: "American Idol is, like, the biggest life alternating change in my life." He brings in a bunch of pictures of him and Kelly Clarkson which were taken...he doesn't say. He starts crying once he starts talking about the great opportunity of auditioning on Idol. He sings "Since U Been Gone." Whoa, he's actually 24 years old. And, he sucks horribly. He also does a handstand mid-audition. This guy is a nut job.
Jason Rich comes from a town of about 500 people. Stout, Iowa. He's nervous - seems normal, though. He forgets the lyrics to the song. He starts about four different times and finally gets it. The thing is, he's quite good. Big voice, maybe a little too big. They send him to Hollywood, grudgingly.
Paula shows up! Uhh...hooray?
We get a montage of people forgetting lyrics. Bleh. This is kind of fake, because Idol makes bad singers sing songs that they've chosen.
Rachael Wicker is a tom boy and we see her arm wrestling a bunch of people. She's apparently won six arm wrestling championships. She's got a pretty good, pure country voice. Simon says that she sings like she's been doing it for 50 years. Randy doesn't like her half-yodeling. Simon says no, the others say yes. She arm wrestles Paula on the way out.
Sarah Whitaker is a big time goth lady. She used to be a professional wrestler. She is freaky. Her name was Lady Morgue. She shows off her trademark laugh - it's incredibly frightening. She's an awful singer too. Simon talks about how bad Omaha has been so far. Ryan busts in afterwards and jokes about why they didn't let Sarah through. Simon then makes him come in and take Paula's judges chair. Paula takes Ryan's role outside.
With Ryan judging, Samantha Sidley comes in to sing. She's a shy little 22 year old and she sings Norah Jones. And she sounds almost exactly like Norah Jones. Ryan likes the singing, but has an issue with her shy performance. Simon rails on Ryan for his judging, then orders Paula to come back. Sidley gets the golden ticket.
Elizabeth Erkert and Michael Sanfilippo get some brief screen time and are sent through to Hollywood.
Sob story time: Seventeen year old Angelica Puente and her parents had big issues and now she lives with her grandma. She says her dad was very strict. She cries about how he used to be her best friend, but they just argued too much. She has a big voice, but she hasn't grown into it yet. She sings out of tune, going sharp on the high notes. Randy and Simon agree that she was mimicking the Celine Dion song she was performing. Paula and Randy say yes, and she's heading to Hollywood. Afterwards, Seacrest calls her father on cell phone and breaks off the good news.
Daughtry gets some Idol love, and Seacrest introduces a bunch of rocker wannabes who auditioned in Omaha. David Cook, from Tulsa, is next. He looks like he'll be able to sing. He's quite confident. He's got a mohawk, with some red highlights. He sings "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. He sings it slow, though. It's a little weird. All the judges really like him - they want some more performance from him though. He's through.
Weirdo of the night: Johnny Escamilla even says that he's one of the weirdest dudes you'll ever meet. He wears a sparkly gold jacket. Paula lets loose a massive hiccup. He sings "Shout" and it's bizarre. He does a little soft shoe routine with a lot of jazz hands. Simon says he hated everything about it.
Idol chooses to go with some Steeler's Wheel for the crappy sing-along of the night. It's almost as painful as Michael Madsen cutting that dude's ear off.
One last audition: Leo Marlowe. He sings "A Song for You" by Leon Russel. The judges all really like him. He's good. Nice guy, nice voice. He's goin' Hollywood.
All in all, 19 people from Omaha are going to Cali.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of FOX)