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Can I sing something else?
I kept count on tonight’s American Idol auditions from Miami, and for the first time this season, they showed us more singers who were put through to Hollywood than singers who didn’t make it. Now, I won’t say that all of the ones who passed are good enough to win, or even make the top 24, but this is what the previous auditions have lacked: talent, and a glimpse of the next round.

I have to admit I agreed with Simon that the gypsy singer from Venezuela and the tiny Jasmine Trias fan weren’t good enough, even though Randy and Paula put them through, but I loved Corliss and Brittany, the two best friends who both made it. And I loved the befuddled look from 16-year-old Julie Dubela, the former American Juniors finalist, who couldn’t understand what was wrong with her forced, screechy performance. (She also didn’t know what “precocious” means, but I think she was not so much precocious as overindulged, another word Simon aptly used to describe her.)

If you’re going to show me a failure, make it a big failure like Julie, or Shannon McGough, whose résumé includes winning Okeechobee Idol and who might still be trying to get another song in before the judges call security. The walls of her parents’ meat market are decorated with her clippings and trophies, but I notice that she won in the past in the “traditional country” category. So why then was she trying to sing a Janis Joplin song that her voice was obviously not suited for? Any time a contestant’s audition song is one with no melody, that person should be sent packing. And probably not shown on TV.

Last night’s Omaha auditions had their moments, but as in most cities so far this season, the judges were too kind to performers who had good back stories and only fair talent. I’m sure the worst of these will be weeded out early in Hollywood, but I’m ready for more actual singing and fewer novelty acts, like Johnny Escamilla, who shouted “Shout!” last night (curing Paula’s hiccups), and like tonight’s showstopper (literally), Brandon Black (“I’m not just a funny person”). They should be embarrassed to give someone like that any airtime at all.

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