It’s not Ex-Con’s fault that whenever I hear that song now, I think of that pooch and his bone. Ray LaMontagne should sue Traveler’s Insurance.
He’s this years Oil Rig Guy.
Me neither, but what I really didn’t like about him was that he didn’t appear to be surprised that he got through. He seemed phony, like he doesn’t want so much to sing as he wants to be on TV. Or to get away from the family for awhile. Or get a job. Something’s off with him.
I liked Scotty Pippen guy and Trouble Trouble guy. Didn’t care for any of the girls.
ETA: Four years for bank robbery with a BB gun, at 15? That can’t be the whole story, can it?
If that’s wrong, we’ll be wrong together. To me the worst of these is the “I’m doing it all for nana” story from the first episode.
They really seem to be scraping the bottom for it too. Asthma? Really? Asthma? Who gives a fuck?
A girl’s parents are split up? That’s supposed to be gut wrenching? Who’s aren’t?
A dude did time for bank robbery? Ok, that’s a little scary, but maybe he’s got weed
A girl had to skip the Hollywood rounds because she had a traffic warrant? Good.
Come on, AI, you can try a little harder than that…can’t you even find a single mom who’s doing it all for her baby anymore? The malls are full of them.
How about an endearing ethnic, or someone with a physical disability…yeah, that’s the ticket. They haven’t had a contestant in a wheelchair before, let’s do that.
Theo (cape and feathers) - So far over the top. He kinda could sing though.
Seth Rollins (autism dad) - not bad. I didn’t like the melisma. Nothing special.
Jermaine Purifor (John Legend-looking guy) - not bad either. Nothing special for me.
Shelby Dressel (nerve-damaged girl) - agh. She has a kernel of talent, but if she’s had lessons, she needs more.
Jay Stone (beat-boxing guy) - I liked his version of “Come Together!” I’d probably buy a studio version of that. I like this guy, and I like his voice.
Janell Wheeler (House of the Rising Sun blonde girl) - nice voice, good look.
Brittany Starr James (curly-haired black girl) - okay.
Kasi Beford (straight-haired black girl) - okay.
Cornelius Edwards (dancer with split pants) - didn’t really get a chance to hear him. Didn’t sound too bad.
Jersey Girls - Bernadette (Blue dress) - not bad.
Amanda (Yellow dress) - not great.
Jared (guy taken out in cuffs) - drunk? stoned?
Matt Lawrence (jailbird) - another singer with a kernel of talent who seems to need some training.
Just for the record, their stories never inspire me. I wish they’d quit telling me their stories. Their stories are almost universally mundane. Or reading the thread, what everyone else said. 
Dio – Traffic Warrant girl is actually quite possibly the unluckiest girl on the planet. She has a severely disabled daughter who was perfectly normal until age two, then got sick and will now require lifetime care. Her father was killed two weeks before the first time she went to Hollywood, the second was the traffic warrant, and her mom disappeared this year at Christmas and is presumed dead. She’s the only AI sob story I feel for, and this is her last year of eligibility so I’m rooting for her to make it.
He definitely had a tic, similar to tardive dyskinesia, that was very apparent when he didn’t ‘know’ the camera was on him (group/room shots especially) and that he was clearly trying to control when he was ‘on’. That’s really difficult to fake, and I have to wonder if it’s medication related (a lot of psych meds have that as a side effect).
It was actually a passable Tiny Tim impression, but who the hell wants to intentionally sound like Tiny Tim??? I figure he was kicked out of the military not so much for a disability, but for DADT. 
AuntiePam… it was probably a combination of small-town judicial process and the premeditated aspect of it. He left a note saying he was going on an adventure, and went and robbed a bank. Even most 15 year olds aren’t that stupid.
ETA: About TrafficWarrantGirl- when she said the Shriners had offered free care for her daughter until she turned 21, I looked over at Mr Kitty and said “And THAT is why I despise every single member of your family who give your uncle even the tiniest amount of grief over being a Mason.” Dumbasses.
Can they please find someone from New Jersey that isn’t trying to play up that stupid fucking “Joisey” (read: Brooklyn/Long Island) crap?
It’s not like the place is nothing but skanky NYC transplants, ya know…
Fuggeddabouddit. You’ll take your regional stereotypes and LIKE it, just like I have to.