American Idol Spoiler Watch: Casey James Audition
Bad Audition Still Gets Him Through to Hollywood
The folks who have been releasing American Idol spoilers have said that Casey James is in the voting rounds. Idol just showed Casey's initial audition. His backstory is that he was in a serious motorcycle accident when he was 21. He gave an unmemorable performance as far as the vocals. In fact, Simon said it was a bad audition with no personality and no effort. Randy agreed but eventually put Casey through, anyway.
The most annoying thing about the audition was the behavior of judge Kara DioGuardi and guest judge Victoria Beckham. They focused on his looks instead of his singing. Looks may get contestants into the audition room, but they need to deliver the goods once they step inside. It's Casey's poor singing that will not make him an American Idol favorite.
If anyone still thinks the producers do not want a girl to win this season of American Idol, look no further than Casey James. Forget the top 24 and voting rounds. Casey should have never made it to Hollywood based on that audition. He did the bare minimum any singer could do - hit the right notes and nothing else. There was no emotion, no uniqueness, no discernable vocal style, no phrasing or volume modulation to create character in the song, and nothing else you would expect from a contestant who made it all the way through Hollywood. Simon was right on this one. Of course, he probably voted him right through.
Victoria Beckham constantly focuses on looks and image. Considering her lack of real vocal skills, that's hardly a surprise. But talent should matter and generally does matter on Idol. Casey has no chance of ever winning if he sings like that. He might be this year's female version of Megan Joy - the sexy contestant who hangs around way too long but has no chance of winning. I've often said that Kris Allen did not have enough talent to win, but he is a singing god compared to what Casey showed us tonight.
Kara DioGuardi has made herself crystal clear over the last two seasons - she judges based on looks first and talent second. There is no way she actually thought Casey had a good voice. Kara has already openly focused on backstories this audition season, and now it's all about the looks with Casey.
With all that said, of course fans should keep an open mind. Maybe Casey had a bad day with his vocals. He should be given another chance to prove he can actually sing with some kind of emotion or originality. But the most likely scenario is that Casey is being set up as cannon fodder.
At most, he will probably be like Ace Young. Ace is a decent singer and perhaps did well enough to earn his spot into the Top 12. But it was generally about the looks with Ace. And his lack of success shows that looks cannot make a superstar singer. Otherwise, Ace would be touring and making more albums instead of hosting American Idol Extra or whatever Idol is doing with him now.
Hopefully, Casey can improve during Hollywood. Oddly enough, it's not the lack of personality that he needs to improve. His singing will never make him a favorite or American Idol winner unless he improves.
