We’re back with the second part of the American Idol 2014 premiere performances! The judges wrapped up the Austin, TX auditions and move on to San Francisco, CA on Thursday night. Previously, on the American Idol season 13 premiere episode, we saw some really great performances form Boston and Austin. We were pleased to enjoy even more great talent and more delightful fun from the American Idol judges on night two!
We start off with a brief flash-forward to an upcoming kick butt audition of a guy singing “Make You Feel My Love” by Bob Dylan. The judges are loving it, especially Jennifer Lopez. They want to know where he’s from and that starts our show tonight back in Austin, TX once again.
Our first audition from Austin tonight is 27-year-old American Idol 2014 hopeful Jesse Roach. She has to wait a bit though because the boys are late to the audition! Jesse has a soulful, raspy voice that all the American Idol judges seem to like. We think she’s good, but probably not Top 10 material. She wins a Golden Ticket and we’re on our way.
Next up is a quick montage of other Golden Ticket winners, including Steven Curd, 18; Anna Melvin, 22; and Ryan Clark, 22. All three of them are through to Hollywood and we wish we’d gotten to see more of them!
Siblings Jamiah Malik, 15, and Quiandra Boston-Pearsall, 17, are up next in front of the judges. Quiandra says if her brother gets through and she doesn’t, she’ll support him all the way. The auditions are aired side by side and we see the judges vote, but not who they vote for. After a commercial break, we find out… Quiandra is through, but her brother didn’t make it.
Look at this! Do you remember this lovely lady form last season? It’s Megan Miller and the last time we saw her on American Idol, she was auditioning on crutches! This time she’s standing firmly on both feet and it seems to have given her the extra edge she needed. She’s through to Hollywood after a fab rendition of “Last Night” by Carrie Underwood.
Now we have Grace Field, who talks too much we think, and acts way too bubbly. She tunes her voice to her PHONE BTW, which is just weird to do in front of the judges. They aren’t so impressed and she goes home with no Golden Ticket.
Another montage of Golden Ticket winners ensues, including Austin Alvarez, 26; Eric Wood, 28; and Spencer Lloyd, 18. Spencer is one of our favorite contestants we heard in the pre-season spoilers. Spence is not only quite handsome, but we really like his voice, although he doesn’t sound quite as good on Colton Dixon’s “Never Gone” as he does in some of the videos we’ve seen of him online. He still gets a Golden Ticket though.
Marion Lindsey, 27, has been in the Army for six years and didn’t have a chance to try out before. He gives a sweet cover of “A Change Is Gonna Come” and the judges are all over it. Easy Golden Ticket!
Oh no, here comes the requisite horrible audition of the night. Rick Rowling (not his real name we’re sure!), 28, is just awful. He tries to tell bad jokes and even attempts to do a Randy Jackson impression. And he Rickrolls the judges by singing “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley.
Now here comes someone who actually does a pretty decent impression. T. K. Hash, 28, reminds the American Idol judges of President Barack Obama. He promptly pulls out an impression of the Commander in Chief, bowling over the judges with laughter. He also happens to be a pretty stellar singer and earns a Golden Ticket for his rendition of “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” by Fall Out Boy.
We have a brief audition bit from McKenna Dennis, who performs “When I Was Your Man” for the judges. We always think it is weird when a girl sings that song. She gives a very nice rendition though and she’s through to Hollywood.
Ah, we’ve been waiting for this one! It’s the first ever second generation American Idol hopeful. Tristen Langley, son of American Idol season one finalist Nikki McKibbin, auditioned last season, but didn’t make it onto the show. He performs “Santeria” by Sublime, but not all the judges are feeling it. Harry thinks he wouldn’t get through if Nikki wasn’t his mom. After a bit of discussion and some critiquing, Jennifer and Keith say yes and Tristen finally wins a Golden Ticket. Mom is proud!
Another video montage of singers ensues and we can’t catch them all. We do see Taylor Stearns, 21, who performs “I Won’t Give UP” by Jason Mraz, and earns a Golden Ticket. Some others get through, some don’t, we don’t know their names at this point.
Now it’s time for some country with 23-year-old LJ Hernandez. He’s out for vengeance against his ex-fiance, who told him he sucked and would never make it on American Idol. Sadly, it turns out the ex was pretty much right because he does a terrible job of singing “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain. It’s no votes all around.
John J. Fox, 20, is a worship leader in Magnolia, TX. He gives the judges a very lovely, if somewhat bland, rendition of “To Make You Feel My Love” by Bob Dylan. We’d like to hear him sing some more before we make a judgement call, and apparently so do the judges. Golden Ticket for John!
The judges tell Ryan Seacrest that Jesse Roach is one of their favorites so far tonight. We see the judges play around, talk about The Bachelor, etc. We really love this panel! Now it’s time to move on to the San Francisco auditions, which apparently aren’t going to get a lot of time this year!
Seventeen-year-old Rachel Rolleri messes up a tiny bit on the guitar while performing “Stay” by Sugerland, but we forgive her. So do the judges, who are quite impressed by the performance even if they do talk and laugh through half of it. She snags a Golden ticket.
Oh dear, it’s another montage of contestants and we struggle to catch everyone as they fly by. We have Athena Williford, 20; Remi Wolf, 17; and M. K. Nobilette, 20. All three ladies are quite good, and we are especially fond of M. K. Nobilette, who also goes by the names of M. K. Nobilette and EmKay Brazil.
Next up is Emmanuelle Jay Zidor, 24, with a performance of Whitney Houston’s “I Believe In You and Me.” We’re surprised at his song choice because we happen to know he WORSHIPS Beyonce, but maybe they couldn’t clear one of her songs for him, LOL. The judges are adoring Jay and he is in tears and going nuts as he grabs his Golden Ticket.
Caitlin Johnson, 15, gives the judges an okay performance of “Good Feeling” by Etta James, even though none of them seem to believe she’s actually 15. Harry actually gets pretty funny by inventing a whole new background for her based on what she looks like. Harry says no, Keith says yes, and J-Lo decides to go with Keith and send Caitlin to Hollywood.
Now up is Ronald Reed, 23, who is very nice on the guitar, but not so much on the vocals with his performance of “For You.” The judges tell him it’s going to be a no and Ronald totally loses it all over the place. He freaks totally, mumbling J-Lo’s name all the way out the door before he collapses in a dramatic fashion.
Singer/songwriter David Luning, 26, is up next and we really enjoy his audition, as do the judges. Keith is afraid he’ll get nuked in Hollywood Week, but they all think he is unique and should get a Golden Ticket.
Oh dear, it’s twin sisters! Selena Moreno and Sierra Moreno, 22, compete against each other for the affection of the judges. Selena performs “Try” by Janis Joplin. Sierra sings “One Plus One” by Beyonce. It’s hard for us to decide who is better, but we lean toward Selena. The judges apparently agree and send her through, while her sister gets sent home.
Now we have Briana Oakley, 17, and we’ve been looking forward to seeing her return to American Idol. We don’t think she should have been cut so early last season. The judges chatter during her audition, a very bad habit they have. But she doesn’t care and kills her performance of “Stay” by Sara Bareilles. Love her! So do the judges and it’s a Golden Ticket for Briana.
Our last performance of the night comes from “sound healer” Adam Roth. He looks like he escaped from some kind of “peace and love” commune. We get another hilarious bit with Harry when Adam practices his “healing” on him. Adam pulls out the way overdone “Hallelujah” and does not make us love hearing it yet again on a reality TV show. It isn’t terrible, but we’re so over people doing that song. Harry says no, Jennifer says yes… and after Adam “heals” Keith, he decides to go with J-Lo and give the guy a Golden Ticket.
And we’re done! Oh, except for a whole lot of contestants singing “Roar” by Katy Perry and Ryan Seacrest telling us we’re up to 79 Golden Tickets so far this season.
Thanks for visiting with us and be sure to join us next week for more of our American Idol live recaps!