American Idol Season 14 Episode 3 takes auditions on the road! Literally! The Idol bus tour traveled the country, stopping off in 11 towns choosing contestants to audition for the judges in Kansas City, MO. Harry, Jennifer, and Keith are ready to hear them sing for a chance at stardom…right after Harry and Jennifer discuss her generous derriere. First up on the evening is Rontarius “Big Ron” Wilson enters the room singing a riff of J.Lo’s “Jenny From the Block.” He tells Jennifer she can call him Big Sexy before singing “Let’s Get It On” to her and completely ignoring the guys, who decide to go out for a burger in the middle of his audition and leave him singing. At this point, I feel like I would just watch an hour of Jennifer, Harry, and Keith hanging out. Big Ron gets a golden ticket and his mom lets out a few “Whooooos!” that would put Vicki Gunvalson to shame. Some kid named Ian gets the boot after “hitting” a high C. Ashley Lusk, 15, however doesn’t seem like she’s going to strike out. Neither does Josh Sanders, 26. And then there’s returning contestant Casey Thrasher from Tuscaloosa. He was sent home during Hollywood last year (when they decided to keep the guy who couldn’t sing with his eyes open). They all get golden tickets. Joey Cook plays the accordion. She’s got a dream of making the “squeeze box” mainstream. Hard sell on the accordion, but her voice has something really cool about it. She gets an easy yes with the great advice from Harry to pay attention to how close to being a novelty she is. Keith goes Super Australian since her name’s Joey. See? Let’s just let the judges be funny. Alexis Gomez didn’t plan to be a country girl since she didn’t ride horses. Because all people who sing country music ride horses. Especially Keith. She calls herself “hippie country” and auditions barefoot. Keith can see the talent in her but doesn’t think it’s fully realized. Harry calls it good but not spectacular. Keith says no. Jennifer gives her a yes. Harry breaks the tie with a yes. Anton Busnher’s favorite country singer is Keith Urban. (How many of the country hopefuls say that?) He sings one of Keith’s songs, which is always brave. Jennifer doesn’t seem to know what to think. Keith tears up a little. Harry totally loves him. Anton gets a golden ticket. We’ve seen a LOT of girls with guitars. Stephanie Gummelt is the latest of the bunch, and she decides to sing an original song. There’s something old school Jewel about her, plus she has a great personality. Very quirky. Jennifer likes her, Harry wants more breath behind her song and gives her a no. Jennifer and Keith give her yes votes and send her to Hollywood. Ashley Stehle is 15. She’s been singing her whole life, but both of her parents are deaf. Her father has only recently heard her sing for the first time thanks to a new hearing device. But she’s very off key for the whole audition and the judges have to let her down and send her home. Ellen Petersen comes in with a banjo. She’s from Branson, Keith’s wearing a Branson t-shirt. It’s basically perfect. AND she yodels. Who is she? Heidi? Yodeling, a banjo, and the accordion girl! They should be an act and go on the road! Ellen has some fun in her voice. She’s going to Hollywood. But first, Keith and Harry have to sing The Beverly Hillbillies theme song with her playing banjo. Jennifer has no idea what The Beverly Hillbillies is. I feel sad for her. Kohlton Pascal is from New York, but he’s homeless. He hitchhikes or plays guitar and raises money to buy a bus ticket. He left home at 16 and has only ever spent 3-4 days in the same place since then. He sings an original and I can’t say I think his future is in songwriting. And maybe it isn’t in singing either. Harry calls him terrific but says he wonders if Kohlton will get out of his comfort zone to win. Jennifer thought it was interesting but wonders if we’d still feel his soul down the road. Keith likes his talent but thinks he doesn’t have the look. Basically, they’re saying “this is going to be crazy hard and the machine will eat you alive.” They send him to Hollywood and he closes out the night. In all, 38 tickets were given out in Kansas City. But who cares about that when there are ribs to be eaten? Auditions continue tomorrow night in New York City and Adam Lambert steps in to judge for Keith.
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American Idol Season 14 Episode 3 Recap: From Small Town to Stardom
