American Idol 16 preview: Noah Davis, ‘Wig,’ Layla Spring, Samuel Swanson among standouts

Leading up to the American Idol 16 premiere on Sunday night, who are some of the standouts? thanks to ABC, we do at least have a sense of some of who they want us to be thinking about entering the show. We don’t have much video in terms of their auditions themselves, but you do get a good sense as to their stories and also their personalities.

Noah Davis – The term “wig” has already been a part of the show’s viral marketing campaign, largely because it is A) capturing a whole lot of the way that millennials speak and B) it allows Noah from Arkansas a chance to have a secret connection to Katy Perry.

Just this one term alone and Katy’s communication with him suggests that she may be the greatest judge we’ve seen on Idol in quite some time.

Layla Spring – The video below focuses a little bit more on her story. She’s someone who probably grew up with the show and has a little sister who she’s trying to impress. She’s clearly from a small town and is the bread and butter of what makes this show so great.

The biggest distinction in our mind between American Idol contestants and those on The Voice is that here you do get more of these diamonds in the rough, people who may not have that much experience performing but have the potential to be a star. Think in terms of a Kelly Clarkson or a Carrie Underwood. Whether or not Layla is that remains very much to be seen.

Samuel Swanson – The moment you here that he’s homeless it’s easy to draw that sort of reaction that this is a classic American Idol sob story; yet, what we appreciate about this audition is that Samuel never quite allows things to go to that place. This actually becomes a little bit more empowering than anything else to hear about his determination and desire to keep moving forward in life.

The most important thing that we gleam from watching some of these videos is that American Idol is making a clear attempt at doing something different. They are actually giving you opportunities to see contestants as people and not just making their show all about the judges.

Related – Read about some American Idol ratings expectations

Are you excited to watch the American Idol 16 premiere?

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