American Idol Recap :: Tuesday February 2 :: Wednesday February 3

Courtesy of Fox

Tuesday night saw the judges heading to Denver with guest judge Victoria Beckham returning for the last official audition episode. Thursday’s show was a recap of past auditions with the fitting title, Best of the Rest. Over one hundred thousand people showed up for Idol auditions but only 181 had what it takes to compete in Hollywood. Let’s check out the remaining contenders!

Denver Stand-Outs

Nicci Nix with her dewy skin and high speaking voice wowed the judges with her accomplished pop styled voice—the fact that she flew 14 hours from Italy for the audition didn’t hurt either. Her dedication paid off with four yeses and a golden ticket!

Bikini Boy Ty Hemmerling got 30 seconds into Achy Breaky Heart before the judges walked out on him.

Simon accused Casey James of having no personality, but Kara liked him so much she asked him to take off his shirt—and he agreed! He got a ticket to Hollywood, but his striptease antics won’t save him from Simon’s ax for long.

Haeley Vaughn wants to be the first black pop country singer and she just might get that chance with her ticket to Hollywood.

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.

Kenny Everett, who calls himself “the male Mary J. Blige,” seemed to confuse loud with talented. Simon said he sounded like he’d been punched. Needless to say, he’ll be staying put in Denver.

Best Of The Rest

Jessica Furney sang Footsteps in the Sand, a song co-written by the man himself, Simon! The judges thought she’d improved since her audition last year and granted her a ticket to Hollywood.

Amanda Schetman teared up when the judges said she was overly dramatic and needs to work on her connection with the audience. Despite the dramatics, Amanda scored herself a golden ticket.

Lee Dewyze and the dreadlocked Crystal Bowersox both snagged a spot in Hollywood.

Adrian Chandtchi is 6”8’ but when he sang Only Fools Rush In in a high falsetto, Kara said he sounded like a 17-year-old choir boy. Simon said he sounded like he ate him. No dice for Adrian.

Didi Benami performed a Joss Stone-esque rendition of Hey Jude that got her a pass—Simon only granted her “a small yes.”

Stephanie Fisher tried out for the seventh time. Yes, seventh. Her frenzied performance of Fever failed to impress the judges. There’s always next year, Stephanie!

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