A little late in posting, sorry about that folks, but I was so taken aback by the actual appearance of talent in the most recent foray into Texas tunes that I had to sit in astonishment most of today!

Where Aspen was the city that taste and talent forgot, it was proven last night that definitely everything IS bigger (and better!) in Texas! Even the judges themselves seemed to be more/actually aware of the true singers they had in front of them this time around and weren’t just passing out golden tickets like so many 5cent candies.

What I take from this experience is (sorry Nowheresville) that Idol REALLY needs to hit the big cities more often. While I love San D and the hills of Colorado, those aren’t place you go to for talent: those are places you go to drink ;)

Baylie Brown – “Bed of Roses”

I’ve decided to split this into my favorites versus the idiots today. First on my list is Baylie Brown: re-auditioner from 5 years ago who bombed it at a loss of the words which is truly the biggest mistake to make I think in this competition. Anyway, she did: “Bed of Roses” which as much as I’m loathe to admit I do secretly really love and she did a killer job. A much older and more put together singer, Baylie hit the high notes real well this time around and added some much needed country kick to represent her neck of the woods.

Cortez Shaw – “Someone Like You”

Another top choice for me is Cortez Shaw. Though clearly MUCH too young for me, it’s clear to see that this guys looks are NOT going to do anything but help come voting time so long as he makes it past all this audition stuff. He did the back story just right and brought in his sexy blue collar appeal to match a “raised by a single mom” history that will hit the heart strings of every young lass that calls in 18 times a night ha. I’m a sucker for anything Adele these days (yup, I’m one of those girls from the SNL skit that use this song to cry out the pains of the week to haha), so his speeded up version of “Someone Like You” was dead on the mark. He’s someone to watch out for for sure.

Kristine Osorio – “One and Only”

Back to the girls, there was the made-for-tv, mother of three, jobless sad powerhouse singer Kristine Osorio who murdered the audition. Newly divorced and ready to become a star (yes, we do have to question priorities sometimes with these solo moms, sorry I have to say it), she was as good as any divas we’ve had on the show in a while so definitely another great star on the rise I’m banking.

Skylar Laine – “Hell On Heels”

To counter her was Skylar Laine: the girl’s boy with voice that made you forget she’s into dead animal heads I think she was awesome and I mean come one, that name was MADE for posters haha.

Ramiro Garcia – “Amazing Grace”

The sad storyline of the night award definitely goes to Ramiro Garcia who made the slight predictable choice to sing “Amazing Grace”. But, who cares if it’s an easy go-to song so long as it’s well done and it really was in his case. A bit of a ruffian, his “no ears at birth” and post-surgery brilliant singing story will launch him into the camera’s view as I’m sure we’ll be getting many a close up come group work to see how patient and sweet he is with the rest of the singing divas. Him I see making it not to the end, but far enough to remember his name for sure.

As for the bad, I’m only gonna focus on the two worst that I saw: Linda and Alejandro Cazares. The first girl was just ridiculous. I’m guessing Tyler is still reeling from hearing loss to due his American Anthem performance recently of equally screechy awfulness so he had no clue how terrible this rando chick was- at least Lopez was there to try and stop the madness! Next was Alejandro who’s… larger than life appearance was NOT backed by his performance and butchering of one of my favourite bands right now: Paramore. Thank GOD the judges got the wax out and said an much-needed no to this sad sack who knew deep down he never stood a chance. Ah well, win some and you eat some!

All in all it was SUCH a better experience than the past auditions and hopefully a display of the direction the show is going. Continue to hit those big cities Idol cause I’m sorry to say but that’s where talent congregates. It very nice to actually start paying attention to some of the names on the bottom of the screen as we are definitely gonna be watching these possible contenders come the second round!

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