American Idol 2009 Week 1 Program 1: Phoenix, Arizona
American Idol returned to our screens with two two-hour programs showing auditions from Phoenix, Arizona in the Southwest and Kansas City, Missouri (not Kansas, just to confuse those of us this side of the pond) in the Midwest (central US).
10,000 hopefuls attended the first round of auditions in Arizona. The sob stories and weird comments were out in force, but there was plenty of Ryan Seacrest to keep us happy (though we’d be happier if he didn’t stand quite so close to the Grand Canyon… let’s hope it was chroma key!). Ryan was looking hot in dark trousers and a dark blue check long-sleeved shirt over a dark teeshirt. That’s a very good look on him. Really good. The “this is American Idol” montage at the start was great and we loved the season preview clips, particularly the one where Ryan and Simon are laughing and pointing at something and giving off the ‘naughty schoolboys at the back of class’ vibe.
What a tease — we want to know what they’re looking at! We may have been hallucinating by this point, having realised we have Ryan on our screens every week for the next few months, but it looked like Simon was picked right off his feet for a hug by a giant pink Easter bunny. Bet he loved that!
Arizona Auditions
First up to face the judges was a giant lopsided fro, accompanied by Tuan Nguyen. He attempted to sing Michael Jackson’s The way you make me feel, but we thought it was Bad (sorry…). On the positive side, we’re loving Simon Cowell’s slightly gleeful “Are you disappointed?”. Emily Wynne-Hughes impressed the judges, but a ticket to Hollywood means her band can’t go ahead with its European tour. Randy Madden thought he had the rock star look but didn’t have what it takes, JB Ahfua bagged a golden ticket but wants to change his family, and Michael Gurr was overcome by nerves (we’re feeling generous). Next up, contestants attempted to, ahem, make songs their own with Will Kunick reinterpreting the Tears for Fears classic Mad World, DJ Bradley taking on Celine Dion, and Shawn Vasquez not quite ready to take over from Dionne Warwick. Aundre Carawa, aka X-Ray, hoped for good vibes from ‘Carla’ [aka Kara/Kera/Kaahra/etc — does she have a middle name? Just wondering!] while Simon’s eyes looked ready to roll the second Aundre stepped into the room. Ryan told us that the judges saw through X-Ray (hmmm), and, to our endless amusement, we thought Simon’s “Aundre, Aundre” sounded like the famous cry of ‘the fastest mouse in all Mexico’ [¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba!]. Arianna Afsar came over a bit worthy, but redeemed herself with a good version of Put your records on, getting a golden ticket. We like this kid! Ryan said that nine other golden tickets were given out on day one in Arizona, making a total of twelve for day one.
Day two in Phoenix started with a “not hopeful at this point” from Simon as Elijah Scarlett and his impossibly deep voice entered the audition room. We were hoping for the contestant to surprise everyone with a falsetto, but sadly Simon was right. The next contestant, Lea Marie Golde, brought her song writing book to show her idol Kara DioGuardi. Unfortunately Kara and the other judges weren’t too impressed with her, but we didn’t think the audition was terrible and thought the song was a good choice for her. Her voice wasn’t strong, but we can imagine it’s not too bad with a dance beat. The judges have put through worse before! Stevie Wright was the next contestant through to Hollywood and looks like a candidate for the live shows, but we’re wondering why all the shots of Ryan at this point made him seem a bit reserved with the contestants. We much prefer it when Ryan’s in the thick of the action rather than hovering in the background! Next up, tough guy Michael Sarver got a golden ticket singing Boys II Men, but we didn’t like him so much. The next three contestants were so bad we didn’t even get told their names, but the infamous Bikini Girl, Katrina Darrell, put a smile on the guys’ faces and a look of outrage on the girls’. We loved Ryan’s “catfight!” and Simon’s cartoon claws, but it all came to nothing. Kara doesn’t need to prove herself, so Round 1 to Katrina … but hopefully there’ll be a rematch in Hollywood.
After Bikini Girl came ‘Sexual Chocolate’, aka Eric Thomas, whose mother had promised a new car if he bombed out. Which he did. Bubbly Brianna Quijada doesn’t have the greatest voice, but bagged a golden ticket with a “yes” from Paula Abdul and Simey. The next contestant was Deanna Brown whose tone reminded us of Amanda Overmyer from season 7, though Deanna’s voice was softer and on pitch. Deanna was at the auditions alone, so Ryan stepped in with a couple of slightly bizarre but very amusing ‘family and friends’ reactions. Amateur horror film maker, Cody Sheldon surprised with his soulful voice, getting a positive reaction and a ticket to Hollywood. We think Cody could do well if he gets through hell week.
Towards the end of the Arizona auditions, Ryan introduced us to Simon’s “which three countries…” question (genius! We like that game, but Simon really shouldn’t be allowed to have so much fun with the contestants. It’s a bit like watching a cat toying with a mouse) and the very sweet and — mostly unintentionally — funny Alex Wagner-Trugman, who kinda reminds us of Ferris Bueller, set himself up to be the butt of Simon’s closet jokes and enlisted Randy Jackson for backing vocals. He got through to the next round without a yes from Simon. We like him but we’re not convinced about his voice. Finally, after the ‘worst of Arizona’ auditionees did strange things with Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive, Scott Macintyre impressed the judges and also made it through to Hollywood. Outside, Ryan gave Scott a slightly-awkward high five before telling viewers that twenty seven contestants went through to the next round. I caught ten — did I miss any that we’ve heard sing?
At the first round of the auditions, Ryan was wearing a grey teeshirt and at the judges’ round he wore a dark shirt with dark trousers and white shoes; and blue-grey jeans with a long-sleeved taupe shirt. All good … we like what he’s wearing in the Grand Canyon shots best.
Hollywood tickets
- Emily Wynne-Hughes
- JB Ahfua
- Arianna Afsar
- Stevie Wright
- Michael Sarver
- Bikini Girl
- Brianna Quijada
- Deanna Brown
- Cody Sheldon
- Scott Macintyre
UK Viewing
The first episode attracted 551k viewers on ITV2 in the UK, equivalent to a 2.6% market share, and a further 112k on ITV2+1.
In the UK, Week 2 of American Idol 2009 airs at 20:00-21:00 on Thursday 22nd January and 21:00-22:00 on Friday 23rd January on ITV2.
