American Idol 12 – Auditions #6 – Live Blog and Recap – 1/31/2013

Welcome to the live blog and recap for "Auditions #6" of American Idol Season 12!

It's the last auditions before Hollywood! Is our winner in this group?

Credit: FOX

Here we go!

8:00 PM

-Oklahoma City sings for the camera as Ryan Seacrest does the hard sell. I'm surprised this is really their first trip to Oklahoma, given that one of their most successful winners came from here.

8:02 PM

-Some reporter asks Nicki who will be the next American Idol.

Confused at being asked such a ridiculous question: "I have no idea!"

-Randy declares Carrie Underwood the greatest Idol to date, which I'm sure is going to light up message boards everywhere, for good or ill.

-The judges arrive, and the contestants lose their minds to see...who else? Mariah Carey.

KARL SKINNER, 26, is up first!

-Karl is a bit quirky, but he seems genuine. He talks about his love for his wife, and his desire to face the judges. He gets silly in front of the judges, finding it hard to decide whether he wants to move around or stay still.

-He sings "I Feel Good" by James Brown, and his dancing is actually better than his voice, which is all over the place. The judges are amused though, so they ask him to sing a song with his guitar. He performs one of his own tunes, and his voice is pretty nice, believe it or not. And the song is something I could see myself buying.

-Keith asks what kind of artist he wants to be, and Karl responds that he wants to be incomparable. Nicki feels that the guitar was constricting "the monster inside" him. Karl responds by ditching the guitar, saying he can do whatever is necessary, though Mariah states that Elvis had a guitar (exactly! No reason having a guitar should inhibit a person's showmanship).

-After a fairly solid Ryan Seacrest impression ("a-MER-ican Idol!"), the judges vote, and it's four yesses for Karl Skinner.

KARL SKINNER is going to Hollywood!

Karl Skinner - Oklahoma City Audition... by IdolxMuzic

-Back from break with an actually-amusing montage of terrible contestants, from a shrill diva hopeful, to a girl who butchers Nicki's "Super Bass", and closing out on a guy who murders "Price Tag" by Jessie J with his enthusiasm (which Nicki loves).

-We meet our next contestant, an American Sign Language teacher, whose parents are deaf - and skeptical of his ability.

NATE TAO, 24, is up next!

-He sings "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder, and he definitely has a good voice. I was surprised at his range, actually, as he just got more confident and more boisterous as the song went on, which served him well.

-Mariah says that Stevie is one of her favorite artists, and that she loved his rendition. Randy loves his unassuming confidence, walking in with his shirt and tie, looking like he's going to do his taxes, and then blowing the roof off the place with a spot-on vocal. Keith and Nicki both felt his voice was beautiful, and I have a hard time disagreeing.

NATE TAO is going to Hollywood!

Nate Tao - Oklahoma City Audition - American... by IdolxMuzic

-Golden Ticket in hand, Nate embraces his father, who signs "Congratulations" to him. It's a sweet, genuine little moment.

8:22 PM

-We're back from break with our next contestant, a ventriloquist, who arrives at the audition with her puppet, a dog named Oscar.

HALIE HILBURN, 27, is up next!

-Keith asks for the contestant's name, and when she responds, Keith says he was actually asking the dog. Halie rolls with the joke, saying she was actually surprised Oscar didn't talk before she did.

-Ryan converses with her family outside, including the man she just married ("Oh! You're the HUSBAND!").

-She sings "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart" by Patsy Montana, and it's surprisingly good. The judges seem stunned themselves, though it might possibly be due to the incongruity of a good singing voice being contrasted with the ridiculous image of a woman with her hand up a puppet's ass. Her yodeling is outstanding though. In lieu of any new Jewel albums, it falls to Idol contestants to bring that sound back, I suppose.

-Halie asks to sing another song, Oscar-free, and the judges are much more receptive to this second audition. Keith says Oscar is holding her back ("See the look on his face? He knows it!"), and Halie seems to agree. The judges vote, and she gets the four yesses she needs.

HALIE HILBURN is going to Hollywood!

Halie Hilburn - Oklahoma City Audition... by IdolxMuzic

-Outside, Halie reveals that she won't be taking Oscar to Hollywood with her ("no matter how upset he gets"). Ryan takes Oscar off Halie's hands, a final parting scored to "My Heart Will Go On." Because why not.

8:32 PM

-A brief video package about how great Oklahoma is, how attractive its people, how down-home their attitudes and values, and how gracious and polite. This is why, Ryan says, it's probably the right time to meet our next contestant...

ZOANETTE JOHNSON, 19, is up next!

-Zoanette is a walking pack of Fruit Stripe gum, wearing a pink dress, and a yellow jacket with a smaller brown vest (trimmed with fur) over that, and red heels. She tells Seacrest that she swore that, if Obama won, she would sing the National Anthem.

-And sing the National Anthem, she does. It's a wild, out-of-control vocal, but it's undoubtedly entertaining. She forgets the lyrics at one point, leaving Mariah to help her out. Zoanette hits the high notes, adding some percussion with her heels towards the end.

-I have no friggin' idea what to make of this girl, and the judges don't seem to know either. Well, except for Nicki, who's quite taken with Zoanette. "I'm OBSESSED with you!" she says, inspiring Zoanette to then go on a wall-to-wall display of enthusiastic lunacy, talking to the camera about how Obama needs to invite her to the White House, and joking that the judges need to hurry up and vote because she's got a lunch date.

-Nicki corrals the judges to vote unanimously on three, and though Nicki is an enthusiastic "Yes", it felt, to me, like the other three judges were simply taking their cue from her, and didn't want to spoil the moment. Randy is already showing pangs of regret, adding "I think" to the end of his "yes". But the judges did seem to genuinely like her, as a person, and as an entertaining figure. I'm just not sure they were sold on her talent just yet. However, I do feel like she has a voice, and could be a decent contestant if she learned how to control it. This was certainly one of the most straight-up entertaining auditions of the audition process. Sometimes, that's all you need at this stage.

ZOANETTE JOHNSON is going to Hollywood!

Zoanette Johnson - Oklahoma City Audition... by IdolxMuzic

8:42 PM

-Back from break with a lot of heartbreak, rejection, and tears. Lots and lots of tears. Although one young man towards the end is crying tears of happiness, as the judges compliment him on actually having a beautiful voice, which would be great if we actually got to hear it. But we don't. Hell, we don't even get a name. We get tears and a Golden Ticket.

-Onto our next contestant, who's so nervous she starts to cry before she even goes in for her audition...she then trips on the way in, due to a pair of overly complicated high heels.

ANASTACIA FREEMAN, 25, is up next!

-She asks if she can take her shoes off, and the judges agree, since she's already made her entrance and all. They ask Anastacia if she's the next American Idol. She says that all the other contestants can pretty much go home now, because she's winning this thing.

-Shame on me for getting my hopes up. Anastacia sings "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton, and it's just awful. So awful. The judges start laughing, causing Anastacia to stop and ask if they're laughing at her. They say "no", and so Anastacia smiles and continues singing. Once her audition is over, Randy asks if anyone encouraged her to audition for American Idol. She responds that God was the one that actually inspired her to audition, after she saw Phillip Phillips crowned.

-This leads to a "Cheap Dramatization" that ranks among the weirdest, most surreal things Idol has ever done, as they get an actress to play Anastacia, acting out the moment where God spoke to her, while she was writing in her journal, and gave her the idea to audition for American Idol in the first place. I thought it was funny, but I was in total "WTF" mode throughout, so I forgot to actually laugh.

-The judges vote "no", and though Anastacia seems accepting on her way out, she eventually tells the camera that she'll never listen to Mariah Carey again, and that she doesn't even listen to Nicki Minaj, so no loss there ("I hear she worships the Devil anyway..."), before adding that, if they're back next season, then she won't be. No loss there, dear.

Anastacia Freeman - Oklahoma City Audition... by IdolxMuzic

8:52 PM

-Up next, we meet Kayden Stephenson, a kid whose enthusiasm is infectious, as he asks Ryan if he's excited. He's incredibly mature in his background video package, in which he reveals that he has cystic fibrosis, and his life expectancy is only 35 years, and he plans on living his dream while he's here.

KAYDEN STEPHENSON, 15, is up next!

-He sings "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder, and though his voice is very light, he's pretty good. And he's definitely a charmer, flirting with Mariah (who wants to make the record right now, adding that he has hints of a young Michael Jackson in him), and humbly taking Nicki's compliment that girls will love him, and kids will be inspired by him.

-It's the easiest four yesses of the night.

KAYDEN STEPHENSON is going to Hollywood!

Kayden Stephenson - Oklahoma City Audition... by IdolxMuzic

-Golden Ticket in hand, and surrounded by his family, Kayden states that God put him in the position to do this.

8:58 PM

-And that's that...except for one more audition. A "woman" named "Pepper"...who is actually

Steven Tyler in drag.

Um...yeah. Steven is just popping in to say hello, though he's not going to Hollywood. That thing I said about the "Cheap Dramatization" being the most surreal thing Idol has ever done? Yeah:

Steven Tyler - Surprise Oklahoma City Audition... by IdolxMuzic

-And we close with a preview for the start of Hollywood Week, from which only 20 guys and 20 girls will advance. Looks like lots of drama, which is part-and-parcel of any Hollywood Week, really.

Keep refreshing the thread as videos will be added to the post, and join me next week for the start of Hollywood Week!

Until then, thanks for reading!