There were no cute kids, cuddly dogs or cut-off bikinis at the American Idol auditions this week but the first episode of the Hollywood rounds still delivered on the controversy.
Changing things up, the Idol wannabes were sent to "Idol bootcamp," for the first time before hitting the Hollywood stage. They received special sessions with voice coaches, were mentored by Barry Manilow and even got makeovers by the Idol glam squad.
Here began controversy #1: Stylist Sabotage.
Nathaniel Marshall can be Exhibit A after wearing a brown, beige and black plaid shirt, under a turquoise t-shirt and an orange striped tie. To add to the ensemble, he sported two rings in his ears, two more in his face, and then topped it all off with an 80s-workout-video-style headband.
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Rose Flack aka. Exhibit B, wore ill-fitted jeans, an ill-fitted dress (that looked like it was made from Fraulein Maria’s curtains) and no shoes — they probably didn’t fit. Unlike Nathaniel, Rose skipped the earrings but she did rock a pink hat that she probably stole from the pigeon lady in the park.
And then there’s Jackie Tone who borrowed from Rose’s fit theme with a mini-skirt made for a 5-year-old. You wouldn’t have any trouble telling if she was coming or going thanks to the double sided tiger on her mesh (yes, mesh) shirt. And to pull it all together, Jackie must have whipped out her bedazzler to deck out her sparkly gold fanny pack, because there’s no way that was purchased in a store.
The only thing more surprising than these three making it past the stylists is the fact that they made it past the judges. Nathaniel sang a song about ships, Rose called herself out for not having "that great of a voice," and Jackie sounds like a 92-year-old smoker.
The only explanation: the outfits were there to distract the judges from the mediocre singing. Well played, stylists, well played indeed.
With all the wardrobe diversions going on, I couldn’t wait to see what Katrina Darrell was going to pull off. But the infamous "Bikini Girl" kept it classy this time around with a hemline that still left a few things to the imagination – including how she made it through AGAIN.
Still, it doesn’t look like "Bikini Girl" will be hanging up her g-string anytime soon, as is evidenced by her latest photo spread. (Which we encourage you to visit RadarOnline.com to see!).
Nor did her new duds keep her from resuming her old habit of slobbering all over Ryan Seacrest’s face, which couldn’t be more inappropriate on either of their parts.
But there was nothing inappropriate about Jorge Nunez and Danny Gokie, who got through the old fashioned way: by singing their hearts out, and doing it well.
These two are forces to be reckoned with along with Anoop Desai, David Osmond and Jamar Rogers. Because despite the camera time controversy may score you, nothing beats the ability to give someone chills with the power in your voice. And considering there were 100,000 auditions and 147 Hollywood hopefuls to choose from, the fact that not a single girl from Tuesday’s episode had that effect, might be the biggest controversy of them all.
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