ABC/Eric LiebowitzAmerican Idol is back again. The show debuted its second season on ABC Sunday night with a two-hour premiere chock full of — mostly — good auditions.
Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Luke Bryan all return to the judges’ table to impart their wisdom and hand out tickets to Hollywood.
Here are some of the highlights:
The memorable
The auditions get off to a running start in Lousiville, KY with Walker Burroughs, a 20-year-old from Alabama. He plays piano and sings “Love Like This” by Ben Rector. Katy thinks he’s “top 10 material” with Ben Folds/Billy Joel vibes. He also scores points with Lionel for delivering an impromptu performance of “Hello.” He gets three yeses.
This season marks the first time auditions have ever been held in Idaho, and the talent doesn’t disappoint. Idaho is known for potatoes so it only makes sense that we meet “potato chip girl” first: 23-year-old Johanna Jones from Las Vegas. She flips burgers at In-and-Out, eat potato chips to warm up her voice and — what do you know? — she can actually sing. She gets a unanimous yes.
Tyler Mitchell, 26, brings a little country to his New York City audition. The Louisiana native impresses Katy with his 6’4 stature and wows all the judges with his strong rendition of Vince Gill’s “Whenever You Come Around.” He even gets Luke to harmonize with him. “Literally a star is born,” Katy says. It’s three yeses for Tyler.
Margie Mays, an uber-perky Meghan Trainor-like 25-year-old who burps when she gets nervous, charms the judges during her frenetic audition. As Katy point out, she can go from “totally insane to totally pro.” Margie gets two yeses, but a no from Lionel. She’ll be bringing her high energy to Hollywood.
The biggest surprise
One of the night’s biggest surprises is Myra Tran, a 19-year-old from Vietnam who’s only been in the U.S. a year. She sings “One Night Only” by Jennifer Hudson and blows it out of the water. When she tells the judges she’s in a choir at school, Lionel replies, “No, you ARE the choir.” She’s on to the next round.
The tear-jerkers
Kai the Singer, a 19-year-old from South Carolina, grew up in and out of shelters with a family that was struggling financially. Her back story has everyone in tears by the end and her sweet soprano voice gets her through to Hollywood.
The final contestant of the night is a heavy one. Nick Townsend, a 26-year-old from Nebraska, opens about how two of his brothers took their own lives. The story moves the judges and Luke personally connects with him, having lost two siblings himself. Nick sings an emotional rendition of James Bay’s “Let It Go” and gets his golden ticket.
The worst
The show only gave us a small taste of the bad, but the worst audition of the episode goes to Vokillz, a 24-year-old from Buffalo, NY who identifies as a “mystic death creature vocalist.” He performs an original song called “American Creature,” and Katy and Lionel hide under the table until he’s done. He only gets one yes from Katy, and she says it’s only because she didn’t want him to murder her.
The rest
The other Hollywood tickets go to: 24-year-old bisexual Uché, who trades his gospel roots for a more secular style; 23-year-old Laci Kaye Booth, a country singer with a unique voice who reconnected with her estranged dad over music; 17-year-old Nick Rogers, who gets three yeses even though he can’t name a Lionel Richie song; and Tiffane Le May, 20, who re-boosts Lionel’s ego when she walks in holding his album.
American Idol continues Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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