American Idol: Chicago Auditions Recap (VIDEO)

By Jennifer Hudock on January 20th, 2010

Twelve thousand potential “Idol” candidates arrived in Chicago for tonight’s auditions, but only a handful were worthy enough to move on to the next round. “Idol” hasn’t held auditions in Chicago since season five, and its residents were overjoyed.

Shania Twain sat on the judges panel with Simon, Randy and Cara.

The first Chi-town contestant to move on was Caitlyn, who came to audition at the beckon of her mother performed “Sugar and Honey” by Duffy. Randy, Shania and Cara all said she had a unique voice, but they all wanted her to sing something perkier.

Amy Lang, the Broadway Baby, crushed on Ryan Seacrest before making the judges laugh with a little boob flex action, but in the end her sense of humor made it difficult for them to take her seriously.

Sixteen-year-old Charity Vance sang “Summertime.” The judges were impressed with her personal style. All four judges agreed. Charity was in.

Of course, it wouldn’t be “American Idol” auditions without the full cast of crazies, who breeze through auditions and drove the judges absolutely insane. The judges took a break, but on the way back, Simon was confronted by an angry mother, who couldn’t believe the things he said to her daughter.

Angela Martin returned for her third audition. Personal tragedy held her back both times she appeared in the past. She performed “Just Fine” by Mary J. Blige. I have to say, it is always interesting watching Simon’s face during auditions. He comes across stone-faced so often, but he gets this twinkle in his eye when he really likes something. All four judges unanimously voted her onto the next round.

Angela’s audition broke the dry spell, and the judges chose seven other contestants.

Day two auditions kicked off with Curly Hubert. Curly didn’t impress the judges, and Simon nearly choked to death on his pen mid-audition. Followed by Alahna Halbert, it seems day two’s pitch was off, and she was dismissed as well. Brian Krause used to sing for the troops when he was in the service, and he sang Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” but after the morning’s pitch problems, the judges were not amused and he was asked to tiptoe out of the room. Not a single golden ticket was given away in the morning.

Chicago’s Harold Davis thought he was a shoe-in. He performed “Nice and Slow” by Usher, but the judges agreed that his vocals weren’t up to par and he was dismissed. The poor guy walked out of the audition in tears, and the losing streak continued on through the day.

John Park finally managed to shatter the morning’s no-ticket streak, and I think he made Shania blush, just before she gave him a full body rundown. The other judges agreed, and he was the first golden ticket of the day.

21-year-old Paige Dechausse nearly died when she was fifteen. She went into anaphylactic shock during an asthma attack while singing. Her parents were told she wouldn’t survive, and if she did, she’d have brain damage. She performed Sam Cook’s “Change is Gonna Come.” Simon said no, but Kara and Shania wrangled Randy into agreement, and Paige won the next golden ticket.

Day two yielded a total of thirteen golden tickets, and all of the chosen hopefuls will go on to the next round in Hollywood.

Tomorrow night, the “Idol” judges are in Orlando, so tune in with me as we watch the next round of hopefuls raise their voices and take a chance on becoming the next “American Idol.”