'IDOL' WATCH: Chicago Auditions

After two very successful audition dates in Boston and Atlanta, "American Idol" made its way to the Windy City. With the largest attendances as yet, "Idol" came to Chicago with high expectations. 5-time Grammy winner Shania Twain served as guest judge for the 12,000 hopefuls and Chicago looked to be a promising stop on the long road to Hollywood.

Yet, the city seemed to fall flat when it was time to step into the audition room. Sending only 13 contestants home with golden tickets, the pickings were slim in Chicago.

Likely the high point of the day was the reappearance of Angela Martin. Angela was seen on "Idol" in both season 7 and season 8 and was sent through to Hollywood both times. After being sent home from Hollywood in season 7, Angela looked to be riding high when she was selected to the top 50 in season 8. However, she was forced to miss the next day of competition due to an outstanding warrant for a traffic violation. Angela came back again in season 9, singing Just Fine by Mary J. Blige and the judges were again impressed with her talent, with Kara noting that she "listened to criticism" and came back strong. Angela received four "Yes's" and made it through to Hollywood for the third time.

Another standout was 16 year old Charity Vance, the bubbly blonde who sang a very personal rendition of Summertime from the Gershwin musical, Porgy and Bess. With an interesting quality to her voice, Charity impressed the judges straight away who "couldn't believe she was 16." Simon was especially taken with her rendition of the piece, saying it was a "great version...unique to you," and passed her through to Hollywood.

Several contestants thought they would leave their mark on the judges with a wide array of unique performances, including everything from juggling to any number of costumes. After an amusing montage of some of the more outrageous performances to the tune of Kander and Ebb's Razzle Dazzle, fittingly from the musical Chicago, many singers were given a full set of "No's" and left rather angry with the judges.

Many of the more ridiculous performances had the judges wondering where Chicago's talent was. Amy Lang left them cold after an entertaining performance of Dr. Feelgood by Aretha Franklin, beginning the song with a dramatic fall to the floor. Brian Krause's performance of Tiptoe Through the Tuplips by Tiny Tim seemed rather odd and the judges were forced to ask him if he was serious about his performance. Curley Newbern's high pitched performance of This Woman's Work by Maxwell has Simon asking, "Do you find when you sing at home a lot of animals show up?"

John Park of Northbrook, IL helped end the longest stretch without a golden ticket thus far on the auditions. A smooth baritone, Park sang I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know by Donny Hathaway and surprised the judges. After a playful critique from Shania Twain (where she told Park he had "a nice bottom end"), the judges gave him 4 "Yes's" and pushed him through to the next round.

Overall, much of Chicago left "Idol" in the dark, but the bright spots really shined through. Although "Idol" left the city handing out the fewest number of golden tickets thus far, Chicago looks as though it will be well represented in Hollywood.

The next episode of "American Idol" airs Wednesday, January 20th, at 8PM EST on Fox, and follows the Orlando auditions with guest judge and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth.

"American Idol" is a reality competition to find new solo musical talent, created by Simon Fuller. It debuted June 11, 2002 on the Fox network and has since become one of the most popular shows on American television. It is currently the #1 TV show in the Nielsen Ratings and is one of only three that have been #1 for five consecutive seasons. The cast of "Idol" includes judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardio, and Ellen Degeneres, and host Ryan Seacrest.

The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nation-wide auditions, and subsequent viewer voting. Through telephone voting, America has chosen past winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, and Kris Allen.

Several "Idol" contestants have been seen on the Broadway stage, including Barrino (The Color Purple), Hicks (Grease), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Diana DeGarmo(Hairspray), Josh Strickland (Tarzan), Tamyra Gray (Rent, Bombay Dreams), and Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer, Rock of Ages).

"American Idol" airs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights on Fox at 8PM EST.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.