‘American Idol XIV’ review: Mark Andrew, Zach Johnson, Jacob Tolliver advance in Minnesota
For the first time in seven seasons, “American Idol” took off to Minnesota, which we feel is a pretty fun place to visit for auditions. With that being said, it’s not the best place at all for actual performances compared to New York. That audition episode was a knockout punch. This one was a little more of a jab for the first 35 minutes or so. Things started to get a little bit better from there.
Like with all of our other episode reviews, we’re cutting out the riffraff much like Basil Fawlty always liked to do. We’re focusing a little more on those who managed to get a golden ticket to the next round.
Shannon Berthiaume – She is only 17, but there is clearly something there. She does still need to learn how to control her voice better, but not bad for someone who was not exactly coming on the show with a whole lot of experience.
Morgan Ovens, Gabrielle Noe’l, Courtney Guns – Three singers who had some talent and zero air time. Oh well. So sorry.
Vanessa Andrea – Love her soulful voice. We wish there wasn’t so much time spent on a sad story beforehand. We would have loved her ten times more without seeing the tears, since we don’t want to feel sorry for her.
Zach Johnson – He can sing, but Harry Connick Jr. had some good advice for him: Stop trying to sound like other people you’ve come to know and love. What’s wrong with singing like yourself? The answer is nothing! Zach’s performance was so much better when he loosened up, and became more comfortable with what he was doing.
Aaron Bissel – Basically, he got a ticket after listening to some Harry shtick where he told him to “shut up,” mocking what happens to him when it comes to performing in coffee shops.
Cindy Jo Scholer – She apparently likes to hunt. She also is a solid country-rock singer. If we were Harry, we wouldn’t question the legitimacy of someone wearing a pistol necklace.
Jacob Tolliver – We heard about Jacob before the episode, and he is a super-great piano player. It took him two songs, though, before we started to see what he can actually do.
Hannah Mrozak – A little screechy, but one of the better singers on the show.
Mark Andrew – The final singer of the night, and he probably was the best … but that’s not saying much. We do admire anyone who will come out and perform a song from “The Jungle Book.” It takes at least a little bit of courage.
Who was your favorite tonight? Sound off in the comments! Also, click here to grab some other TV news worth singing over via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)