'American Idol': Aspen Auditions

By Maxine Nelson, 25th Jan 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/3z9uxqrk/
Posted in Wikinut>Reviews>Film & TV>Music

Wednesday night (January 25) auditions took place from the Rocky Mountains of Aspen, Colorado. One of the best things about this episode wasn't so much the talent, but the spectacular scenery.

First Time Idol Comes to Aspen
Jenny Schick and Curtis Gray
Haley Smith, Shelby Tweten and Angie Zeiderman
The Parade of Awful Ones Not Worth Mentioning
SOURCES:

First Time Idol Comes to Aspen

Rocky Mountains

The judges continued on with their search of talent in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. This time "American Idol" visited Aspen known for its upscale ski resorts catering to the jet set and famous celebrities.

Not exactly one of the better episodes as we were treated to a fair number of bad auditions. At least one of them was entertaining. Only a few of the good ones stood out. We saw a lot of beautiful mountains, rivers, aspen trees, and rustic western mining architecture throughout Aspen. There were a few standouts from the good, the bad and the ugly.

Jenny Schick and Curtis Gray

Aspen, Colorado

A music teacher from Sterling, Virginia was up first. Her energy seemed a bit forced and staged to be believable, though her singing voice was good. Schick’s version of Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker” was a bit karaoke as Simon Cowell would have said if he were still a judge. She got to kiss her idol, Steven Tyler, at the end describing his lips as soft.

Gray has a five-piece band and his audition truly impressed the judges with “It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” by Boyz II Men. This was by far one of the best talents of the night. Another delightful audition was someone’s take on “Hey Jude” complete with the chorus line “Na, na, na, na, na, na ,na hey Jude.”

Haley Smith, Shelby Tweten and Angie Zeiderman

Aspen trees

Nature girl Haley Smith, 18, lives in a log cabin back in the woods. Even though she ironically works in a meat department she’s a strict vegan. She looks and sounds like someone from another era, say the hippies of the 1960s and 1970s. The judges said she has a “hippy vibe” going on. Smith was the most impressive talent with her folk rock version of a classic R&B song “Tell Me Something Good” by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan. Tyler was honored to be in her presence, because she made that song her own.

For her audition Shelby Tweten sang Carrie Underwood’s “Temporary Home” that had JLo tear up. Tweten is bipolar, though singing is excellent therapy for her. Performing a show tune complete with rolling around on the floor is, as she puts it, Lady Gaga’s wannabe best friend, Angie Zeiderman. Randy Jackson made it clear he does not like Broadway and other musicals with its trademark vibrato sound. Thankfully the judges have a change of heart when she sings “Blue Bayou”, originally by Roy Orbison and covered by Linda Ronstadt.

The Parade of Awful Ones Not Worth Mentioning

John Denver Memorial

Now we come to the inevitable bad auditions. It had to be too good to be true in thinking we would not have them this year. Obviously they saved these kinds of untalented or delusional or both for one of the mediocre episodes, which was in Aspen. The first ones featured twins. One is mega-talented while the other lives in her shadow. Guess which one auditioned? The shadowed one who screamed her way into what she called singing.

A waitress/bartender butchered up Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” She works in a restaurant that serves none other than “Rocky Mountain Oysters.” No, this is not the kind from the ocean. Last but not least was Magic Cyclops. His audition was quite funny, especially when he sang “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffet (pronounced “buffet” as in a variety of foods in the French way). Unfortunately he lost all his humor and characterization as a British rock star copycat when the judges walked out on him with his confetti trick. Not a smart move, Magic.