‘American Idol XIV’ video: Courtney Guns auditions to Lady Gaga’s ‘You and I’

When your name is Courtney Guns and you are auditioning for “American Idol,” there is probably a certain expectation of you to be a pretty aggressive performer. If you were the shiest person imaginable, there’d be a certain sense of irony to it.

We can definitely say after watching Courtney’s audition video (or at least the start of it uploaded to YouTube) that she is confident. What is more of the larger issue is going to be whether or not she is too confident for her own good in the competition.

Song choice – “You and I” by Lady Gaga. A familiar song for the show, and to a certain extent, we actually like the Haley Reinhart cover, which had more of an Elton John vibe to it, than the countrified Lady Gaga recording of the song that came out after the fact. It’s a decent audition song, but one that we’ve heard dozens of times already.

The performance – Vocally, Courtney’s very good. She could have held out a couple of notes longer, but she can sing and she also knows she can sing. Very important. Now, if only she can tone down some of the hand gestures and the facial expressions it would be a better package. It feels almost like Courtney has spent a lot of time performing either at honky-tonk bars or cabaret shows, where over-performing is more of a trend. Here, it is more of a bad habit.

Our verdict – Give her two “yes” votes, and send her through with the advice to work on her staging. Let her voice tell the story.

How well do you think Courtney is going to fare this season? Share now in the comments! Also, you can click here to see some of the other audition spotlight articles we’ve done, or here to sign up for all things TV via email, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)