‘American Idol 15’ review: Tristan McIntosh, Trent Harmon, Brandyn Burnett perform in second audition show
“American Idol” is turning premiere week into a four-hour event, and in the process doing its best to prove to us that there are some good singers still out there in America. As for whether or not all of these singers qualify as “undiscovered,” that’s a completely different story. We almost wish that the show would sort of drop that from its editing package at this point.
Just with yesterday’s premiere episode (read our review for that over here), we’re going to update this as the show goes on.
Cameron Richard – He’s a sweet kid. Ed Sheeran works well for him. We do worry if he has the demeanor and the spark to go all the way into the live shows, but his performance at least gave us something that qualifies as a nice way to start the show.
Daniel Farmer – We’re not sure if anyone actually found his hip movements and all of his shtick enjoyable (it was really just uncomfortable), but we’re not denying his talent. Somebody just put this guy’s ego in check in a big way if he gets far in the competition.
Dalton Rapattoni – Yep, he’s got a bit of a performing history already as a member of the band IM5. He’s hardly a newbie at this. Yet, as we said, if viewers don’t like that, they can not vote for him if he makes far enough. For now, we just have to say that he’s super-talented!
LaPorsha Renae – HUGE voice. Great range. She’s the sort of singe who is probably never going to play it safe on a performance. We could see her being a bit much if she makes it far enough, but for now she’s probably one of the best pure singers we’ve seen.
Trent Harmon – With his story about living on a farm and being out in the middle of East Mississippi, we thought for sure he was going to belt out some country hit. He’s a soul / pop singer with a lot of heart and a super-unique sound. Is it too early to say that he is our favorite? Probably, but we’ll do it anyway: He’s our favorite. At least so far.
Malie Delgado – We’ve been waiting for some great performers from Alaska! She’s got a background in radio already, was confident (rare for auditioners these days), and she even did the sorta-rap part of “Chariot.” Beastly. Great audition. She may be among our favorites, as well, up there with Trent.
Olivia Rox – Olivia … rocks? She is very good. Great musicianship. We’re a little bit bummed that we didn’t get to hear any of her guitar-work since that is clearly something that she is proud of, based on the way in which she talked about it.
Melanie Tierce – Melanie came at a period of time in which there were a number of super-talented female singers, and this was enough to get Harry Connick Jr. to get up and leave the room … but not really. We’d say that she is close to being up there with Malie and Trent.
Brandyn Burnett – He gets some brownie points for putting up with a lot from Harry over the course of this audition, especially when you think about how he was being really vulnerable with his original song while playing the piano. Ryan Seacrest was a “judge” here, and he got a “yes” vote from everyone!
Krysti Jewel – Maybe the biggest “American Idol” fan ever? Well, at least her parents are! They adore this show! Some may call this and her performance over the top, but we thought this was all a nice moment for a family who clearly loves this show. We don’t think she’ll make it to the live shows, but they still got something great out of this.
Tristan McIntosh – Tristan got the final spot on the night, and the relentless hype that arrived before the commercial break. Her voice was very good, but this was all about the moment and bringing her mom home from serving overseas to see her perform. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a show go this route … but it certainly still gets us emotional.
Who did you enjoy the most on Thursday’s “American Idol” episode? Share in the comments below, and head over here to get some other TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)