Katy Perry dissed a girl, and she liked it
| Arts & Entertainment |
By Samantha Leigh Kelley
Los Angeles produced an astonishing 11,000 people to audition for American Idol, yet the two day audition period was only fruitful for a measly 22 contestants. This seems to be a growing trend; we are hopeful to see amazing talent, are pretty much let down. Not to mention the disappointment in the guest judges. I can’t wait for Ellen DeGeneres!
(Photo: Guest Judge Katy Perry disses friend and fellow judge, Kara DioGuardi, more than once during American Idol's auditions in Los Angeles.)
Moody pop star Avril Lavigne was the guest judge for day one. She appeared to be allergic to the word ‘yes’ as she was only shown uttering it once. Simon said, “I love the fact that we have the official devil on the show.” That’s bad, coming from his mouth.
Neil Goldstein claimed to have an I.Q. of 158, and although he does seem like the smart type, his intelligence clearly let him down this time. He sang ‘Rock and Roll Dreams Come True’, by Meatloaf. As Simon tried to rip away every piece of dignity the kid had, Neil attempted to manipulate the judges into giving him a golden ticket. As he steadfastly refused to leave, Simon asked if he’d like to walk out on his own, or be walked out by security. Neil finally took the hint and took his exit. Goes to show you that just because you’re a genius it doesn’t mean that you always have the best ideas.
Jim Ranger is 27 years old, and like many Idol hopefuls he has a lot of things going on. He’s a pastor, and is happily married with three kids. He sang an original song, with wild cadence. But Little Miss Lavinge projected some of her own issues onto Jim---she didn’t believe he could handle the rock star life being a married pastor with children. This has never been an issue on Idol, in fact this is the kind of story American Idol Judges normally eat up. With Avril’s divorce and the hold up on her next album, produced (and delayed) by her soon to be ex-husband (Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley), she appeared downright jealous. Jim did receive a ‘no’ from Avril and three ‘yeses’ from the other judges. So we will be seeing him later on, and find out if he can really juggle it all.
Mary Powers was a motherly (not so spoiled) version of Avril. Her eight year old daughter adored Simon---she loved his negativity; plus, her life dream was to meet him. If Simon had given mommy the boot, I wonder if her feelings may have changed a smidge. She sang Pat Benatar’s ‘Love is a Battlefield’. Of course Avril loves looking in the mirror, so Mary’s was the only ‘yes’ to come out of her mouth. Mary made it through with four ‘yeses’. And her daughter’s life dream came true. She met ‘Mr. Negativity’ himself. Simon asked, “Are you sure she’s not my daughter?” and she skipped out of the room grinning ear to ear.
LA was packed full of Adam Lambert wannabe’s. Even though I’ve known people in the music industry similar to Adam, why would anyone think it’s a good idea to dress exactly like him? That’s an automatic ‘no’ as soon as you set foot in the audition room. At least show you possess some creativity!
It’s day two in LA, and Katy Perry shows up, complaining and sitting on her high horse. She may have kissed a girl and liked it, but she certainly was ‘turned off’ by Kara. The whole day their claws were out, but Katy was the first to scratch. At one point Perry even threatened to throw her coke in Kara’s face! That woman really does run hot and cold.
23 year old Andrew Garcia grew up in a home where both of his parents struggled to give him a better life. They grew up in Compton and couldn’t raise him the same way they had been raised. Andrew felt that this audition could change his life. And it very well might. Simon loved, loved, LOVED him! He said, “You’re a genuinely good singer. I’m glad I met you: I really like you.” Andrew deservedly heard four ‘yeses’.
The final audition slot in LA was taken by Chris Golightly. Chris was in foster care since he was only 18 months old. He said he’d been in over 25 foster homes, and music is always where he felt the most secure. Ryan empathized by saying “Music is where you can stay for a long time.” Chris replied with, “Hell yeah!” You can tell singing is something Chris has done a lot. He sang ‘Stand by Me’, and although it was a little overdone (understandably so), his voice was beautiful. Randy said, "I like you, man, there's something very interesting about you." Kara proclaimed him to be one of her favorite auditions of the day. But Simon thought he would just end up in some boy band. Then ‘Confrontational Katy’ actually said to Kara, “This isn’t a lifetime movie, sweetheart. He has an amazing story, but you have to have talent!” Looks like Simon was joined by two devils in Los Angeles. Simon Cowell gave him a “yes, with a little y”, as did Lucifer (I mean, Katy Perry). Randy Jackson and Kara Dioguardi gave Chris two ‘yeses’ (with a big y). Whether capitalized or not, a yes is a yes. Chris is on his way to Hollywood.
Wednesday’s auditions will be in my home state of Texas! It’s true that everything is bigger in Texas. So hopefully the G.R.I.T.S. (Girls Raised in the South) and Lone Star’s talent will be bigger, too. Joe Jonas and N.P.H. (Neil Patrick Harris) guest judges. I predict Joe may be a tad boring, but any one who’s seen the ‘Harold and Kumar’ movies know, that Idol in Dallas should be unpredictable and entertaining!
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