American Idol Recap :: Tuesday January 26 :: Wednesday January 27

Courtesy of Fox

The judges didn’t need to travel far for this week’s first episode since auditions took place in L.A.

Hollywoodland has its pick of celebs, so Idol got Avril Lavigne for Day 1 and Katy Perry for Day 2. Avril was her usual bratty self—complete with idiotic horned hoodie—and Katy got catty with Kara. Still, Katy claims she’d love to stay on as a permanent judge…yeah, good luck with that.

Wednesday guest judges were Neil Patrick Harris and gasp! Joe Jonas! NPH brought some charm to the judge’s panel and even had the gall to contradict Simon. Joe Jonas, on the other hand, was a bit of a dead fish—he barely added anything to the judging process, just muttered a few, “yeah man”s and basically sat pretty for the duration of his time. Oh well, at least he knows what he’s good at!

L.A. Stand-Outs

Neil Goldstein may have IQ of 168 but he wasn’t smart enough to remember the lyrics to Meatloaf’s Rock and Rolle Dreams Come True.

Jim Ranger, a worship pastor with a Keith Urban haircut challenged himself by auditioning with his own original song called Drive. Avril voted no, saying being out on the road would be too tough for him and his family, but the other three judges gave him the go-ahead and Jim got the first ticket to Hollywood.

Andrew Garcia escaped the gang life of Compton to raise his son and create a life for himself. His proud parents stood behind him while he killed his audition with a Maroon 5 song. Katy said he gave her chills and Simon said, “You are the only person who’s walked through today who I genuinely believe is a good singer.” Needless to say, Andrew scored himself four yeses and a golden ticket.

Tasha Layton was the first lady to get a pass to Hollywood. The pretty brunette, who works as a pastor, sang Baby Baby Baby by Joss Stone. Katy said “I love a good Southern Belle” and Simon gave her the backhanded compliment of “I think people may like you, Tasha, interestingly.”

Jason Greene amused the judges with his bizarre sexual energy—and of course he sang I Touch Myself by the Divinyls—but sometimes amazing hair flipping isn’t enough to get you to Hollywood.

Chris Golightly had the sob story of the night—he’s been shuffled through foster homes his whole life and he’s only ever felt at home in music. His dated look—he had a chain wallet, okay!—wasn’t impressive, but his vocals were. His lovely rendition of Stand By Me got him a pass from the judges.

Dallas Stand-Outs

Lloyd Thomas is a dock worker who says “The worst part about my job? Probably my job.” Maybe he won’t have to work there for much longer, because his rousing performance of Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder scored him a ticket to Hollywood.

Kimberly Carter had guest judge Neil Patrick Harris rooting for her—and it was her performance that stirred, in Simon’s words, “a mutiny on the panel.” Despite Simon’s naysaying, Kimberly got her ticket.

Erica Rhodes auditioned clad in leather—complete with a whip!—but the judges know all about her squeaky clean past—she was on Barney and Friends when she was little! Before her performance of En Vogue’s Free Your Mind, that won her a golden ticket, she was kind enough to sing the Barney theme song.

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