AI8 - Jacksonville, FL Auditions (1/27/09)

I don't know about you, but I found Jacksonville rather disappointing (or at least what we saw of it). Here's who got through-

Joshua Ulloa (22, FL, 86819) - looks a bit like Justin Guarini, very energetic. Sings "Let's Get It On" & has a good voice but adds sound effects & such... not great. Gets 4 yeses anyway.

Sharon Wilbur (25, FL, 78093) - Sharon brought her Shih Tzu Sasha, whom Simon held while Sharon sang "Superstar." Not sure about the voice or vocal style. 3 or 4 yeses, they didn't really say.

Julissa Veloz (19, FL, 82858) - Julissa was Miss Florida Latino USA, and is wearing her sash and tiara. She sings Whitney's "I Have Nothing" and is decent! But has a very strange, annoying laugh.

And that's all we see of the 9 who advance on Day 1, except for the very short glimpses in a montage. On to Day 2...

Jasmine Murray (16, MS, 84122) - the youngest of 5 kids; sings Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" (probably my favorite song from last year!) and is very good. Simon calls her "cute, commercial, and a very good singer"; 4 yeses.

Anne Marie Boskovich (22, TN, 81948) - This audition is strange. She comes in, says she's a fan of Kara because she heard her sing once in Nashville, and does a bit of the song Kara did. Simon said she has a good voice but something is wrong, and asks her to leave and come back later "as a different person," with more confindenc / star appeal. So she changes her outfit a bit, adds some make-up, and returns to sing "Bubbly." She gets 4 yeses and is through.

T.K. Hash (23, NC, 82587) - they say he "didn't make it" last year when he auditioned, though I believe he did make it to Hollywood. He sings "Imagine" and has a nice voice; changes it up a bit but doesn't over-embellish. Randy disagrees & says it was over the top. Simon says no but he gets 3 yeses. I think he has good confidence & stage presence; he & Jasmine have the most potential but neither wowed me.

Ryan's voice-over says that's it and there were 16 total with tickets. The montage shows 9 new people, so he must have meant 16 for Day 2 and 25 altogether for Jacksonville. And we only got to hear 6 of them!! Unless you count the short "Walking on Sunshine" we get from a guy in a black t-shirt during the end medley. Still... not great. Perhaps tomorrow will be better - at least we'll get to see some Osmonds!