Even Hollywood gentler this year on ‘Idol’

Wannabe governor pulls through
The biggest surprise, without a doubt, was Kyle Ensley.

Ensley auditioned as a 21-year-old who talked about being a future governor of Oklahoma. He doesn’t have anything to worry about from an ethical standpoint. When the hotel mistakenly gave him keys to a room occupied by two female contestants, he stammered his way out and raced back to correct the mistake. Plenty of contestants would likely have played things differently.

His first chance to sing before the judges went as poorly as possible.

Ensley went with “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” by Edison Lighthouse, and Simon stalked off in the middle of the judges’ debate, saying he couldn’t take it anymore. As the singer/politician stood shell-shocked on the stage, it was hard to see him having any chance at moving forward.

But he made it to the finale, and when he sang “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban it finally became possible to see a scenario where he could make the final 24. That’s still a longshot, but he did make it into the group of 50 singers who will be considered, even winning over a suitably apologetic Simon.

Liberated from the car
Less surprising but far more disappointing was Josiah Leming, the 18-year-old from Atlanta who lives in his car and has a singing voice like someone in a college Coldplay cover band.

He easily made it to the finale, with Paula gushing, “You have a magical thing about you. You make the girls fall in love with you, and the guys think you’re cool.” But for the final performance, singers got to work with the band, just like they would if they made it to the show.

That was a huge problem. The late night and inability to get in synch with the musicians left Leming feeling low. “I can’t sing in front of a band I don’t feel comfortable with,” he said. So, unrehearsed and with less than two hours of sleep, as the final performer, he thanked the band for their service and sent them away so he could sing “Stand By Me” a capella instead.

It was not a good decision. The vocals were very bad, made more obvious by the lack of any instruments to drown it out.

“That to me was your worst audition,” Randy Jackson said in the understatement of the day. “Do you want the band to come back?” Paula also slammed the choice, and Simon called him overconfident.

Though they all agreed that he deserved to be in the final 50, he had to head home wondering about his chances of advancing to the final 24. His fate, along with that of the other 49 still standing, will be officially announced Wednesday.

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