American Idol 8 – San Francisco Auditions

Tonight, American Idol is in San Francisco!  Will they find the next Idol in the grand state of California?  Why not?  The show found Katherine McPhee and William Hung there, right? 

In this episode, we got to see new judge, Kara DioGuardi, clash with Simon Cowell again and again.  It definitely will be interesting to see what they are like on the judges’ panel during the live performances!

Tatiana Del Toro (22-year-old singer/actress from San Juan, Puerto Rico) chose to sing “Never Loved a Man” by Aretha Franklin.  When I first saw her, I thought she was going to be terrible, I will confess but she wasn’t too bad.  She is wayyyyy over-the-top but they put her through to the next round.

Dean Anthony Bradford (27-year-old entrepreneur from Pasadena, CA – pictured left) sang “Stars” by Simply Red (that’s a group I haven’t heard about in a while!) but he was dressed like a hobo.  The singing was pretty bad and he contorted his face in a way that was just not great.  They turned him away and he blamed his failure on his coat.

Jesus Valenzula (29-year-old fleet manager from North Highlands, CA) sang “Nice and Slow” by Usher. Simon interrupted him to say that he didn’t think he was right for the show and Jesus turned around and brought his kids into the room.  He followed up by singing Simon’s favorite song “Unchained Melody” and Paula, Kara and Randy voted him through to the next round.

More after the jump!

Dalton Powell (unemployed 18-year-old from Manteca, CA) sang “Ooh Baby Baby” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.  I was disappointed because I thought he was going to be better than that but it was not good at all.  The judges all said no to him.

Akilah Askew-Gholston (26-year-old aspiring songwriter from Oakland, CA – pictured above) sang an original song called “Make Sweet Love” and then tried “Natural Woman.”  Paula tried to get her out of the audition room and eventually left the room and then Kara got up and was finally able to usher the hopeful out of the room.  

John Twiford (27-year-old music teacher from Sherman Oaks, CA) sang “Overjoyed” by Stevie Wonder and it was good enough for a golden ticket.

Allison Iraheta (16-year-old high school student from Los Angeles, CA) sang “Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin and from the short clip, I wasn’t sure she was good enough but she got through.

Raquel Houghton (20-year-old waitress/bartender from Los Angeles, CA) sang “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield and it was good!  She got through to the next round.

Annie Murdoch (unemployed 20-year-old from Novato, CA) sang  “Summertime” and it was genuinely awful.  Of course, she was sent away without a golden ticket.

Adam Lambert (26-year-old stage actor from Hollywood, CA) chose to sing “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and Simon thought he was theatrical but they all agreed he was a good singer and they put him through!

Kai Kalama (26-year-old musician from San Clemente, CA) sang “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” by the Platters and it was more than his singing that was beautiful.  Kai’s mother began suffering from seizures and he has basically put his life on hold to take care of her. 

image ©2007 FOX BROADCASTING CR: Michael Becker / FOX.