Idol Live with Nicole! Auditions Pt.4

Part 4 of the auditions takes place tonight and this time we are in Nashville. They keep saying how great the singers are during the previews for tonight's show, so lets hope they are right!

First is Christine who has the most annoying speaking voice ever. Extremely squeaky, she sounds like a cartoon mouse. She sings "I Hope You Dance" and Randy can't stop laughing. She tells her mom that she got 1 yes and 2 no's. She somehow thinks Steven gave her a yes? Next up are two people who are ex boyfriend and girlfriend. They audition together though for some reason. Rob sings first and picks "What's Going On". Has an interesting tone to his voice. Not bad. Chelsee picks something that I am sure I have never heard before so I have no clue of the title. I liked Rob better. All three of the judges agree to send both of them on to Hollywood. Hmm maybe they will rekindle their romance. I'm sure Chelsee's current boyfriend is thrilled. He looks pretty pissed actually.

Allen, 26, is a tattoo artist. If there actually is a "look" for the American Idol, he is the complete opposite of it. He sings "Simple Man" by Lynard Skynard and it is horrible. Guess we won't have to worry about him being the next Idol. He does have an amusing laugh and he is pretty darn polite though. Next we have a former "Miss Teen USA". Stormy, 19, sings "Father Can You Hear Me". An okay country voice, but its enough to get her a "yes" from both Steven and Randy.

Adrienne, 22, was adopted when she was 2 years old. She is a black girl that was adopted by a white family. She picks "American Honey" and she has a nice country voice actually. I actually really liked her as did the judges since she is off to the next round. She calls her dad to tell him she got through and he asks who is going to pay her way. HA, that's actually a good question that I've never heard anyone ask before :).

Camilla, 28, is a local singing star. She sings a Chaka Khan song and it is not good at all. Basically sounds like she is screaming. I don't know how she won any local singing contests. After she leaves, Steven tells Randy not to tell people they're not good. Randy says he was just trying to be honest. Awww how nice that Steven doesn't want to hurt people's feelings. They do need to be told they're not star singers though. We then get to see a whole montage of horrible, strange singers. Steven apparently changes his tune about telling people they can't sing though. Jackie, 28, chooses to sing a song I haven't heard also, but she actually CAN sing and is on to Hollywood. In a slightly disturbing change of events, she kisses a guy who Ryan (and I) thought was her dad, but turns out its her boyfriend....he's a little old for her.

Latoya, 26, is a recording artist (apparently). She is wearing some formal dress, and she already seems like an annoying diva to me. She brings one cd for all three judges to share. She sings "When I Close My Eyes" and it is not good at all. Randy says her tone is annoying. She decides not to give them her cd, and I am sure they are very heartbroken about that. We are then treated to a montage of three, good male singers.

Matt, 27, is next. His story is that his parents adopted multiple (700 in 23 years) special needs foster children. That's a lot of kids! He looks very hillbillyish,but has a surprisingly decent voice as he sings "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban. Not my favorite, but Steven and Randy put him through.

Last singer of the night is Lauren, 15. Her cousin, who is like her big sister, was diagnosed with a brain tumor three years ago. Her cousin is the one that encouraged her to come audition. She has a great voice, but I can't think of the name of the song she is singing. The judges call her the best of the night and I have to agree with them. The kids sure do seem to be ruling the auditions so far. She of course is on to Hollywood. Aww her parents song is "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" and Steven sings along with her. She actually sings it very well, especially in front of him.

Steven predicts that the winner will be from Nashville. Who knows, he may be right.

Idol Live with Nicole! Auditions pt. 3

Second week of auditions begins tonight. I don't know how many weeks there are, but I'm hoping no more than four! Tonight features the Milwaukee auditions and once again the show is two hours long, so like last week,  I will be only mentioning the people that get through (maybe the occasional really bad one too) in tonights' blog.

Ugh Ryan reminds us that season 8's Danny Gokey is from here. Yippee frickin doo! Not a Gokey fan if you couldn't tell! First up is Scotty, 16, who has been singing country songs forever. He picks "Your Man" by Josh Turner and sings it pretty well since he has the deep voice like Josh does. Steven asks him to sing another song and he picks a Travis Tritt song. He has a great country voice, but I don't know how well he will sound on other genres. Steven drops some interesting analogy and gets bleeped and is surprised that he isn't allowed to drop F bombs on American Idol. Goodness. Scotty gets through!

Next is Joe,19, who is going to school to be a DJ. He and Ryan are pretty entertaining together. He doesn't listen to Ryan's show though since he apparently listens to only country. He chooses to sing a Billy Joel song and it s not good at all. The judges all tell him to stick to being a DJ and not a singer. Horrible singing, but he is entertaining.

Emma, 15, is next and she was only 5 when Idol first came on. These kids make me feel old! She sings "True Colors" and I don't think its all that good, but the judges put her through anyways after she cries and begs. Steven is the only one that honestly wanted to put her through though I think. (Side note: Randy's teeth are REALLY white!). JLo thinks she will be eaten up in Hollywood and she is most likely right.

After three horrible contestants, we meet Naima, who cleans at the amphitheater. She chooses "For All We Know" by Donnie Hathaway and she is pretty darn good. Best of the night in my opinion so far. 

Jerome, 27,  a wedding/ bar mitzvah singer is up next and sings "Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gaye. Little too over the top for me, but not a bad voice. He is on to Hollywood. After getting in the apparently mandatory Justin Bieber mention, we are introduced to the youngins. Thia, 15, sings "Chasing Pavement" by Adele and is moving on to Hollywood. Apparently every other 15 year old that auditioned that day got through also, but we don't see much of them.

Molly, 22, is a Harvard grad and intern at the White House. She apparently loves Obama, but not in a Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton way. When Randy was high fiving everyone before the show, he accidentally hit her in the face. Which they have video of and its pretty funny. She sings "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay". Interesting voice, not my favorite, but not too bad. (Side note: WTF is up with people picking this song?! Seriously how many young people have that on their Ipod playlist?). Randy asks her where she's been during this show. Apparently he forgot that she was busy attending Harvard and interning at the White House.

Ugh Danny Gokey cameo again!! Hailey, 18, auditioned last year and the judges told her to come back. She sounds pretty good singing "Oh Darling" this year and she is off to the next round. Tiwan, 29, sings what I am assuming is called "Twisting the Night Away" and does a decent enough job to join Hailey.

Steve, 27, kinda sounds like Kermit the Frog, but he ends up going to Hollywood. I don't think he will make it very far :). Seems like a nice guy though and I may be very wrong about how far he makes it

Scott, 22, sings a song that I have never heard, but he has a surprisingly good voice. KInda reminds me of Elliot Yamin, with the white boy soul voice.

Alyson, 24, is obsessed with Steven Tyler. I don't see the attraction really, but whatever. She sings "Come Together" by The Beatles and its a'ight. She then sings "Dream On" but says she can't hit the end note. She must not have watched Danny Gokey murder the song during season 8. Steven uses Randy's trademark "pitchy" comment, but she ends up through anyways.

Of course the show has to end with the sad story contestant. Chris, 26, is engaged. His fiance got into an accident in October of 2009 and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He and her mother are now her caretakers. That really is a sad story :(. He sings "Breakeven" by The Script and I didn't like it too much in the beginning, but he gets pretty good as he goes on. The judges ask him to bring his fiance to meet them and it seriously made me tear up! Of course he is through to Hollywood :)

Pretty good show tonight. Gotta say the horrible civil war re-enactor was pretty entertaining too. Probably the funniest one of the night. Off to Nashville tomorrow!!

Check out music from Finding Clyde

So if you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know I love music. I basically like everything, but these guys featured below are pretty darn good. They are also a local band so that makes me like them even more (the fact that the drummer, pictured on the right, is pretty good looking helps too :) ). Check them out and if you like good music, I am sure you will like them. Just click on the songs tab below and take a listen to two of their GREAT hits! Be sure to check back soon, as I will be featuring a giveaway for their cd. Enjoy!!

Idol Live with Nicole! Auditions pt. 2

Tonight's show features auditions from New Orleans. Let me state now that I love the fact that it is only an hour tonight. Can't say I always have the attention span to watch the same show for two hours :). I think tonight I will mention more of the contestants since it is only an hour also. Maybe not though...

Kicks off with a guy named Blake singing at the piano who they then inform us didn't make it to Hollywood. Kind of pointless, but whatever I guess. Next they show a clip of Ryan from Season 4 when they last had auditions in New Orleans. Gotta say, I love looking at old clips of Ryan and how much he has changed (mainly his hair). It seriously amuses me. Doesn't take much to amuse me though :)

First up is Jordan Dorsey, 21. He is a piano and vocal teacher to little kids. Jordan's grandma tells Ryan he looks taller on TV. I wanna meet Ryan in person since people always seem to say this to him. Jordan sings "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and it is pretty nice and smooth sounding. For some reason I am also amused watching Steven sing along with him...told ya it doesn't take much to amuse me lol. Judges loved him and he is through to Hollywood.

After commercial we see clips of the Louisiana swamps. They look kinda scary too me. The gators kinda freak me out :). We are then shown a bunch of bad singers who the judges finally tell no to! After all that is Sarah, who has large lips like Steven Tyler so of course Ryan asks if they are related. She sings "To Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan (I honestly thought it was by Garth Brooks originally, but I am wrong apparently). She is pretty good, but I still love Kris Allen singing this song more than anyone else :). She gets through to Hollywood of course. Jovony, who is in love with Jennifer and also idolizes Marc Anthony, is next. He sings a Spanish song, which if I try to type I will just butcher it. Nice tone, but I have no clue what he just sang. He joins the Hollywood train, but not before opening up his shirt to reveal his nice abs. Randy and Steven feel the need to join him and its nowhere near as nice to look at. If Ryan wants to show his abs, I would be more than willing to take a look, but for some reason he doesn't. WTF Ryan?!?

Back from commercial once again. We learn some fun facts about Louisiana, including that Randy was born in Baton Rouge. Jaquelyn, 24, is up next and not only does she bring some old pics of Randy from high school, she also brings her uncle who was Randy's football coach. Smart girl, that may have earned her some points. She sings "I'll Stand by You" and she may be my favorite of the night so far. The judges tell her she has a powerful voice and I agree. Once again, she is off to Hollywood. Next we have the first backstory of the night, brought to us by Brett, 16. Brett, who strangely reminds me of Blake Lewis mixed with Carrot Top (seriously!), was bullied in school and never invited to any parties as a young child. He wants to tell kids that are bullied to just be themselves no matter what. Good message I guess. After talking about hair products with Steven Tyler he chooses to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. The judges loved him and he joins most of the others tonight as he moves on to the next round.

It now appears that it is time for the bad auditions. Gabriel. 24, tells us that not only does he have a great voice, but he also has an awesome personality and sense of humor. He apparently won a Steven Tyler look a like contest. He is singing "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga. He isn't as bad as I thought he would be, but he scares me a bit since it seems like his eyes roll back into his head when he sings. It gets worse as it goes on though. The judges all tell him no, but he takes it pretty well. Next we get a montage of scary, bad, and creepy contestants.

Alex, 18, is now up. He apparently went to "Idol Camp" when he was 15. Didn't know there was such a thing. He sings "Proud Mary" and is HORRIBLE! I don't think Idol Camp was money well spent for this guy. Jacee, 15, is next. He looks and sounds like he's about 12 though when he talks. He picks "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and he does pretty well with it. His voice kind of reminds me of that Justin Bieber kid that seems to be so popular at the moment. Since I am pretty sure the producers and judges are hoping for a young teeny bopper winner this year, Jacee heads off to Hollywood.

Sob story and pimp spot slot of the night goes to Paris, 23. She got pregnant at 18. When she went to find out what she was having, she was told the baby had hydrocephalus and might not survive. This really is a sad story!! The doctors wanted her to terminate the pregnancy, but she didn't and now she has a beautiful little girl who, although she has some hearing loss, is otherwise healthy. She sings "Temporary Home" by Carrie Underwood and girl does GREAT with it. She is by far my favorite of the night. Hopefully she keeps it up and makes it very far in this competition!

In all, 37 people from New Orleans made it to Hollywood. I actually like that they are showing more of the good singers and less of the bad during the auditions this season. Not a bad first week and I actually like the new judges more than I thought I would. See you all next week!!

Idol Live with Nicole!! Auditions pt.1

Well everyone it is once again time for American Idol!! Last season I guest blogged on my bestie Becca's lovely blog Just Cherish Today every week with a live recap of every performance show and results show so this season I am moving it to my blog since I now have one :). I am going to be honest, I have never blogged about an audition show so this should be interesting. There are way too many people for me to write about during these shows so I will be just mentioning the ones that I like because they are either really good or really bad. Tonight's show will also be the first time we see the new judge panel in action. It will be very strange without Simon there :(. Hopefully they will be better than Kara though, can't say I was a fan of hers at all. So folks here we go!!

Tonight's show kicks off with all the attention that the "potential judges"  got this past summer. Names like Justin Timberlake and P.Diddy were thrown around, but let's be honest people, both those guys are way too popular and successful right now to judge American Idol. Especially when it seems to be going downhill. I wouldn't have minded staring at JT every week though! Of course the new judges are Steven Tyler from Aerosmith and Jennifer "J-Lo" Lopez. I would have actually preferred Bret Michaels (who was also rumored) over Steven, but I'll give him a chance. I mean I have put up with Randy "Yo Dawg" Jackson for nine seasons now, so it can't be any worse than his gibberish right? Can someone tell me why Steven Tyler looks so much like a woman though? Was that Aersosmith song "Dude Looks Like A Lady" about him?? Don't get me wrong, I do really like Aerosmith,but seriously he does look very feminine! Along with the new judges, we also get a new montage during the theme song. I actually like it better so YAY!!

Ryan lets us know that this is some of the best talent we have ever seen, which I am pretty sure he tells us every season...last season he wasn't too accurate. New Jersey is the first stop this season. Let me say this now, I think Ryan Seacrest is pretty hot so I don't mind seeing him often even though he can be annoying at times. Mark my words, the dude is the next Dick Clark!

First up is Rachel, who also auditioned in Season 6 (she wasn't very good then). She sings the ever popular "Hallelujah" (which I fell in love with when I heard it at the end of Season 1 of The OC by the way), and she isn't very good. The judges seem to think she will get better (I don't) and she is off to Hollywood. I don't think she will get too far this season though. Steven really likes the next contestant, Caleb. He is just a'ight for me. Better than the previous girl though. Seems like the judges are sending everyone through. Wonder what Simon would think?? Kenzie, the 15 year old, is next and she is my favorite so far. She sings Carrie Underwood's "Young and Beautiful". She is also going to Hollywood. Next we hear from Achille who is scary bad! Luckily they don't put her through!

Sorry, I know this has been long so far. I promise from now on I will only feature the people I like!

Decent or great singers (in my opinion) of the night:

• Tiffany Rios- Decent voice, but annoying as heck! (She wore a bra or bikini top with stars on the cups!)
• Robbie Rosen- First contestant with a backstory featured! Sixteen years old. Was wheelchair bound when he was a child, he's not anymore. Sings "Yesterday" by The Beatles and he is pretty good, but I'm sick of old songs. Kid needs to sing something current! Look forward to seeing more from him.
• Victoria Huggins- Okay singing voice, annoying speaking voice. She is pretty amusing and entertaining though. Don't think she will make it too far, but she is a cute little thing.
• Melinda Ademi- Backstory #2. Another 16 year old. Her parents are from Kosovo and her dad was a war refugee. Her parents English is pretty clear, yet they still feel the need to subtitle it. Sings some Alicia Keys. Pretty good voice. Seems like a nice girl too. The kiddies are owning the show thus far!
• Devyn Rush- Singing waitress from Times Square. Sings "God Bless The Child" . Not as good as some other contestants from previous seasons that have sang this song, but still good. Needs a little bit more confidence though.
• Brielle Von Hugel- Backstory #3. One more 16 year old. Her dad had throat cancer.  He is cancer free now though. She sings "Endless Love" pretty good for a 16 year old. The kids continue to own the night. It appears we are looking for the next Justin Bieber this season.
• Travis- Another backstory from another 16 year old. His family stayed at a shelter for two or three years. Pretty cute kid and he seems like a sweetheart! His twin brother told him not to waste his talent. No longer in the shelter, but they are still living check to check like much of America. He chooses to sing "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles. Does pretty good with that and Steven tells him to sing something else. He then sings "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. I like this one better than The Beatles song by him. Sweet kid!

Okay there you have it. The end of the first eppy and thus the end of my first recap of Season 10! Sorry if it was too long!!

What do you think of the new judges? Who were some of your favs?? Let me know!!

Motivational Monday!!

So I thought I'd start a new topic for this blog called "Motivational Monday" because lets be honest, how many of us DON'T need a little motivation on Mondays?? If you are a fan of "My 5 Mondays", don't worry they will still be making appearances too. I thought this would be good in keeping with my New Year's goal of being more postivie too. Hope you enjoy it!! Let me state now that I did NOT make the following up on my own either. I remember seeing it a few years back and had to share it with everyone!!

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep ... you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace ... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death ... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If your parents are still alive and still married ... you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful ... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder ... you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Hope this made you all feel a little better!! Have a great week!!

New Year's Goals!!

Happy 2011 all!!! Hope it has been a great year for everyone so far. I thought I would finally post again and share some of my new years resolutions with you. Of course we all make resolutions and if you're like me you normally break them by about March or so. Well this year I am determined to make some of them last the entire year. One in particular that I will let you know more about in a few. Here are the rest of them though, in no particular order:

1. Lose some weight/get more in shape: This of course is a quite common one which most people make and break, myself included. I am determined to start working out again very soon though. The new season of Biggest Loser helps motivate me too :)

2. Try to be more optimistic: I used to be a pretty positive person and I still am a little, but I find myself getting stressed out more lately. I need to not get so nerved by some things, even though I really want to. I need to start making lemonade out of my lemons and stop sweating the small stuff!

3. Go to a Detroit Tigers game!!! I have missed going to a game the last two seasons and I am determined not to miss going this season! I would be incredibly happy to make it to one that Verlander or Porcello pitches, but I will really take anyone as long as I am there!

4. Go on vacation somewhere! Missed doing this last year too. In 07' I went to Boston and NYC, in 08' I went to NYC again and in 09' I went to Vegas. Last year I took a couple weekend trips to other parts of Michigan, but I really want to vaca outta the state this year. I am so down for going to NYC again...or Florida maybe??

5. Make it "up north" again this summer: Here in Michigan, "up north" is the ultimate summer vacation spot. Don't know where "north" actually begins, but everyone seems to go there at some point in the summer. My BFF Becca and I have taken a weekend trip to beautiful Higgins Lake to her family cabin and it is so relaxing and peaceful there. I LOVE it!! Really hoping we get to make it up there again this year :)

6. Blog more!!!! I was so good at updating this thing when I first started it and then I really started slacking. Have no fear though folks, American Idol will be starting again soon so you can count on seeing posts every Wednesday and Thursday with recaps and my opinions on the show. If you are an Idol fan, be sure to stay tuned!!

So for my last resolution I decided this year I am going to donate to a different charity every month. Now I'm not exactly rolling in the cash flow, so it will probably only be $20 or so each month, but that's better than nothing right?? Every year one of the local radio stations has a radiothon to benefit the local Children's Miracle Network hospital and I generally make the monthly plan that they ask for. Last year it was $10 a month so I of course did that and that will be coming out of my account monthly until April, when I will sign up once again. In addition to CMN though, I want to pick a different charity every month to donate to also. I just made this month's donation tonight and it was to the Michigan Humane Society. Now I love kids and I love animals so I will be picking many charities that deal with them, but of course there will be some other ones too. So far on my brainstorming list are Michgan Humane Society (done), World Wildlife Foundation, ASPCA (seriously those commercials upset me so much I have to turn the channel every time they are on!!), St. Jude's children's hospital, USO, Breast cancer foundation, American Cancer Society, and March of Dimes. I'm not sure what other ones I will be choosing yet, but I will for sure try to make all twelve months! If there is any sort of national disaster, I am sure I will be donating to that one too. Feel free to offer me some suggestions too!!!

Well there you have it. My goals for 2011. I really am going to try my hardest to stick with them this year!!! What are some of your goals for the year?? Anyone know of any other organizations I could donate too??