Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2009 > December > 22 > Entry
‘Idol’ auditions in Dallas to air Jan. 26
“American Idol” will air the Dallas auditions taped last summer on Jan. 26, according to a news release from Fox today.
Other key dates for the season include the semifinalists being chosen on Feb. 17 and finalists announced on March 11.
New judge Ellen DeGeneres, who replaces Paul Abdul, joins the show on the Hollywood episodes beginning Feb. 9.
After the jump, read Dale Roe’s report from the “Idol” auditions in Dallas.
What (besides a good fried food joke) would possess anybody to don a chicken suit and spend several hours outside on what amounts to a concrete grill in the nearly 100-degree Texas heat? That’s one of the things I wondered about as I watched “Chicken Man” try his cluck at becoming the next “American Idol” on June 26. He joined a young woman dressed as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” (complete with ruby slippers), a couple of faux Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders (the auditions were held at the Cowboys’ new stadium in Arlington), about 9,995 others and Quatrele Smith.
Smith, an 18-year old from Oklahoma, wore tight white pants (with blue underwear on the outside), a bright green Oscar the Grouch T-shirt, strings of white pearls, doily gloves and an Afro wig (with a pink bow) and had large, white, feathered angel wings strapped to his back. Oh - a life-size cutout of his “inspiration,” Zac Efron, accompanied him.
Could he sing? Who cares? Smith is the byproduct of the loosening of “Idol” standards eight seasons in. Several years ago, he wouldn’t have stood a chance to get beyond the audition stage. This past season, however, a couple of gimmicky hopefuls were passed through to Hollywood.
Let’s be honest: 20-year-old “Bikini Girl” Katrina Darrell got through on the basis of her body. “Idol” judges Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, the latter famous for reminding contestants that “this is a singing competition,” couldn’t resist giving the marginally talented (and barely clothed) singer a golden ticket despite - or because of? - the horror her shameless strategy inspired in female judges Paula Abdul and Kara DioGuardi.
Nick Mitchell, 27, advanced as alter ego “Norman Gentle” (an obvious but still hilarious shout-out to Beyoncé Knowles’ “Sasha Fierce”). Mitchell wore a red headband and flashy lamé shirts with short shorts and sang over-the-top renditions of showstoppers such as “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.” He was finally cut, but not until the same round that saw winner Kris Allen, runner-up Adam Lambert and last-woman-standing Allison Iraheta move into the final 13.
There was never any chance that Darrell or Mitchell would win, so why even pass them through?
“It’s no big secret that we look for people who, say, aren’t as good a singer as the next person,” explains supervising producer Patrick Lynn. “Along the way, we like to fill in the gap, as it were, with, you know, as we say, ‘people who have a passion for singing.’ Are they bad singers? I don’t really classify them as bad singers, because good entertainment to me is good entertainment. And some people that have sung in the past that hadn’t been considered that good a singer I think are a lot of fun and I consider those people good entertainers.”
So, counter to Cowell’s claims (but in support of his actions) Lynn admits that “Idol” is primarily an “originality” competition. But what is originality?
“If I could describe for you what originality is, we’d be able to advertise for it and get it,” Lynn said. “But originality is just something you know when you see it. And people with passion are a part of that. That’s why we go looking for people that have a passion for singing. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not.”
Elgin’s Candice Nickel, who drove to Dallas for the auditions, has a passion for singing, but not in the way “Idol” uses it as a synonym for “awful.” With as good a voice as others we’ve all seen get that golden ticket to Hollywood, Nickel might have been passed over in favor of a “passionate original.” She auditioned alongside a big, chubby guy with a plaid shirt and pants pulled way up, passing himself off as the ultimate geek. When it was his turn to sing (each hopeful gets up to 30 seconds before an “Idol” producer) he began to croon operatically, but not seriously. “It was like a yodeling contest,” Nickel laughed. “He was hysterical.” But when he was the only one in her group who advanced, she thought, ‘You’re freaking kidding me.’
But “American Idol” isn’t really kidding anyone. What Geeky Yodeling Guy knew - and Nickel learned - is that the program is a highly choreographed reality show and, eight years in, it needs to find ways to attract and maintain viewers.
“Primarily we’re looking for really good singers, and let me tell you, that’s hard. So when we find one, we’re excited about it,” Lynn explains. “But we’re also looking to put together a really good show.”
Cue the Chicken Man.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: American Idol
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.