Auditions - Jacksonville

OK, I've made a decision. I'm not going to try to recap every single moment of these audition shows, because it's tedious, it's time-consuming, there's way too much filler, and frankly, I doubt anyone enjoys reading a minute-by-minute recap anyway. I'll mention each televised auditioner and give a few thoughts, but getting down every last detail is pointless.

Tonight we're in Jacksonville, home of the NFL's Jaguars, to see if anyone here has the talent to be the next American Idol. Only three more audition shows to go, and am I ever glad! Who did we see tonight?

Joshua Ulloa, Beverly Hills, FL - "Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gaye. Embraces similarities to Justin Guarini, has a decent voice and a funny personality, adding sound effects and such to the song. Unlike every other contestant possessing a personality who's tried out this year, he actually gets through. He'd be a fun addition, but I don't see him getting far on this show.

Sharon Wilbur, Jacksonville, FL - "Superstar" by The Carpenters. Has a Shih Tzu (hey, Hurley from "Lost" [hearts] those!) to make the judges love her. Has an OK voice, but the cracking rasp and weird pronunciation of certain vowels annoys me. That might sound hypocritical coming from a Brooke White fan like me, but the sound just didn't appeal to me. I don't see her doing very well based on that, but she seems like a sweet girl with a personality that could grow on me. She gets through, but she's upstaged by Kara and Paula fake-kissing. There's something weird going on between those two. It'll be nice when Paula gets kicked off the panel after this season and we don't have to deal with that crap.

Dana Moreno, West Palm Beach, FL - "Through the Fire" by Chaka Khan. Bad, and not in a funny way. Showing this audition was pointless, even if they did spend less than a minute on it. It's a no.

Kaneswa Finnie, Jacksonville, FL - "Caught Up in the Rapture" by Anita Baker. Annoying, nasal voice. They have to bring in her mother to tell her to stop enabling her daughter's overconfident tendencies. Another no.

Julissa Veloz, Orlando, FL - "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston. The Latina beauty queen. Voice sounds potentially good, but she misses several notes. Has annoying accent in speaking voice. Paula walks away when she doesn't get to give her opinion before they take a vote. Seems like a staged moment. She gets a yes eventually and they play Buster Poindexter's "Hot Hot Hot." How fun and campy. If she makes it to the voting stages I see her getting annoying very quickly.

Darin Darnell, Houston, TX - "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" by Boyz II Men. Fun and energetic, seems like a nice guy. Suddenly, his friend that he made in the holding room doesn't get through and he starts to cry. Once again, this whole thing seems staged. Now he's oh-so-crushed and has to fight off tears during his audition. He doesn't have anything resembling a strong voice and can't sing on-key. He gets a no, and good riddance to this staged crap.

Naomi Sykes, Tampa, FL - "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton. Her friend is Randy's biggest fan. Who knew Randy had fans? She compares herself to Mariah Carey because she can hit super high notes. Well, she's right about one thing. She hits the high note in the song (off-key, but the range is there), but the rest is just half-spoken melodic talking. She cries when she gets her well-deserved no.

Jasmine Murray, Starkville, MS - "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. Youngest of six children, has three sisters. I wonder what it's like being her brother? He's surrounded by women! Her mother had toxemia when she was pregnant with Jasmine, so Jasmine is a total miracle! Awww. She's cute, and actually very good. It's a yes. She seems like another possible contender, though I'm not sure I'd vote for her.

George Ramirez, Jacksonville, FL - "Walkin' on Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves. Weird, bearded physics guy. Has a low, almost whispery tone. He gets a no, as it was obvious he would from the beginning. "Walkin' on Sunshine" is later revealed to be the city song, so they obviously edited that in to make it look like he auditioned with it.

Ann Marie Boskovich, Nashville, TN - "Bubbly" by Colbie Caillat. She sucks up to Kara by singing a snippet of one of her originals that she heard her perform in Nashville. The judges tell her to come back and make herself look like a star. She changes her clothes, hair and makeup, which takes away from her girl-next-door appeal. Her voice is good, but not very distinctive. It's a yes.

T.K. Hash, Concord, NC - "Imagine" by John Lennon. He reminds me of Eric Arceneaux vocally. Good voice, and seems like a nice guy to boot. Copies stuff from David Archuleta's version of "Imagine" from last year, which Paula notices too. Of course, David took it from someone else too, so it's not really "his" version. T.K. tried out last year and got rejected, but this year he gets through.

Michael Perrelli, Orlando, FL - "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind. He's a guy who plays the guitar, and he gets overwhelming stage fright when he can't play it. He has a decent voice, but it's too mainstream alternative rock for me. He seems like any other busker with a guitar, but he really, really wants this opportunity. Instead, he gets a no and a stern lecture from Simon. He cries outside afterwards. Good luck, dude. I won't be buying your album if you do make it.

That was actually a decent audition episode. We saw some people who were mildly interesting for a change, and no one dragged their kids out as a cheap ploy for votes. Being only an hour long was good too.

Tomorrow it's off to Salt Lake City. That's Mormon country, so you know we're going to see a ton of super-nice people. I predict that someone I vote for this season will be introduced at tomorrow's auditions. See you then!