The “American Idol” judges found plenty of future superstars when the show visited Oklahoma City. (Photo property of 19 Entertainment, FremantleMedia North America and FOX)
By: Jacob Elyachar
American Idol has traveled to many cities across the country to find the best undiscovered talent in the country.
So far…. the show’s new judging panel: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Keith Urban and Nicki Minaj have handed out over 200 Golden Tickets during their tour across the country.
Tonight, their final stop took them to Oklahoma City, home to one of the show’s biggest success stories: Carrie Underwood. Did the judges find the next Carrie or did legions of William Hung soundalikes ruin their experience? Read on to find out…
Up first to face the quartet was 26-year-old Joplin native Karl Skinner, who blazed through his audition as he channeled the late Godfather of Soul when he covered his hit: “I Feel Good.” In addition to that wicked cover of a James Brown hit, Karl also proved he was versatile when picked up his guitar and played. However, Nicki stated that he should lose the guitar and keep doing the James Brown-type of performances. Karl received his four “Yeses” that were necessary to get a ticket to Hollywood.
After several bad auditions, American Sign Language teacher Nate Tao turned things around with his impressive cover of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life” that impressed Mariah and the “Starships” singer added that Nate has great charisma. He received the second Golden Ticket of the evening.
One of the biggest surprises of the evening came from ventriloquist Halie Hilburn. She has been working on ventriloquism since she was nine-years-old with a puppet named Oscar. When Halie walked into the room, the judges were expecting a crazy person but instead they received two solid performances that impressed the quartet. In the end, Halie abandoned Oscar to chase her Idol dreams and was the first girl to receive a Golden Ticket.
In American Idol history, there has been shocking eliminations and results. However, tonight the judges made the biggest mistake in the series by giving Zoanette Johnson a Golden Ticket to Hollywood. She gave the most horrible rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” in the show’s history that made Keith Urban fell out of his chair and had to be corrected by Mariah on one of the verses. In addition, her four-octave whistle sounded horrible. Zoanette Johnson will go down in Idol history as one of the worst singers this season.
The final audition of Idol: Season 12 belonged to 16-year-old Kayden Stephenson. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was 18-months-old and continued to live everyday like it was his last. When Kayden sang Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish,” it reminded viewers of a young Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Nicki stated that he sounded unique and will inspire many kids across the country. Mariah added she wanted to make his record now. Kayden earned the final Golden Ticket of the season and headed to Hollywood Week.
Next week, Hollywood Week begins! The over 200 contestants will sing for their lives and a spot in this year’s Live Shows.
