# American Idol 1/22 auditions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583 "2008-01-22T22:50:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/41 "2008-01-23T15:20:38Z")
I liked the vocal paralysis kid, too. The breathiness in his voice gives him individuality and I’m guessing it’s due to remaining effects of his paralysis. On the other hand, maybe I’m just partial because my labrador retriever had a similar condition. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/42 "2008-01-23T17:37:12Z")
[QUOTE=drm] I think my favorite so far is the Vocal Paralysis kid. Nice voice. [/QUOTE] Anyone else watch him and think, “I think we’ve found this year’s Sanjaya!”? 😃 Dollars to doughnuts says his story is total BS. Funniest to me was the Russian guy who sang Engelbert Humperdinck’s “The Last Waltz”. Close second: the Mexican with the mime. The guy with the nails was just sad. The girl who brought her sister was just meh. I don’t see her getting past the next round. Ditto the tattooed girl. Speaking of which, one thing confused me. She said she came to this country 10 years ago. How could she have visa trouble 2 years ago? She auditioned in Vegas, which is only a 4-hr drive from Hollywood. I don’t see how a visa applies here, unless she didn’t have a work visa. And if that’s the case, how was she here for 8 years? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/43 "2008-01-23T17:45:26Z")
This wasn’t as much fun as last week’s offering. I’ll see if there is another one on tonight… ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/44 "2008-01-23T17:48:19Z")
Do visas need to be renewed periodically? Maybe she failed to do that, or maybe she didn’t have a job, or wasn’t in school, or whatever the requirement is to stay here legally. Or maybe she’s lying, and she just chickened out. Speaking of BS, I think the Mariah Carey girl knew she was no good but knew she’d have a better chance of screen time if she acted like she thought she was. Her comments about not being one of those people who get laughed at sounded pretty phony. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/45 "2008-01-23T17:55:42Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] “Against All Odds” should be banned on Idol. [/QUOTE] You know what I hate? I hate when someone proposes to sing a song, and then uses the lyrics to sing any melody they want. This was a good example-- there are no screeching Mariah-notes in Against All Odds! ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/46 "2008-01-23T18:08:47Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] “Against All Odds” should be banned on Idol. [/QUOTE] Ditto “Unchained Melody”. Haven’t seen anyone do that this season (though I missed the Dallas show), but every year several people try it, and fail miserably. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/47 "2008-01-25T05:19:47Z")
[QUOTE=Drain Bead] I think Carly is this year’s contestant that everyone wants to knock down a peg. She did really annoying things with that song–slowed it down too much, huge runs, and got squeaky at the end. Plus, her husband looks like a bad mugshot and she draws on her eyebrows with a pencil, and she says it’s “her year.” [/QUOTE] It may be, though. I believe she’s the one I heard about on TWoP: Irish girl, favored by Simon, couldn’t be in season 5 because of an issue with her visa or green card. Simon didn’t seem quite as overjoyed now as he was reported to have been then, though. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/48 "2008-01-25T06:24:09Z")
What always bothers me is how so many of them seem _proud_ of never having any singing lessons. 😕 Hello? Dancers take dance lessons. Artists take art courses. Why in the world doesn’t someone interested in singing as a career make a point getting some professional help? It would at least cut down (one hopes) on the number who sing through their noses or have annoying vibratos or gargle every other note up and down the scale at random. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/49 "2008-01-25T12:34:29Z")
It always cracks me up when they say, “I’ve been singing since I was a child!” Is that supposed to be meaningful somehow? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/50 "2008-01-25T16:51:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] It always cracks me up when they say, “I’ve been singing since I was a child!” Is that supposed to be meaningful somehow? [/QUOTE] While seeing Aretha’s complete shock and disbelief, it dawned on me: if somebody has a reasonably pleasant tone, and (more importantly) enough range to hit high notes – they’re convinced (and friends & family probably feed this) that they can _sing_. They can be utterly tone deaf, not to mention missing any finer points about technique and interpretation…if they can produce notes from their throat, they’re convinced they are the Real Deal, and are stunned to hear otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583/51 "2008-01-25T19:41:42Z")
I think you’re right, **jsc**. And another factor is that these people probably do all their “singing” accompanied by recordings. Singing along with the car radio and so forth. Singing a capella is verrrrrry different. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-idol-1-22-auditions/434583.md?page=2)