The auditions got off to a strong start with an impressive amount of talent featured and with almost all the unfunny joke contestants and sob stories going the way of Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey. Two more hours of auditions tonight, will the Austin and San Francisco hopefuls be as impressive as the ones we saw yesterday? ... This ... is American Idol!

Recap and videos after the jump ...

Austin

Jesse Roach - 27 - She's stuck in "The Chamber" for about 5 minutes waiting for the judges to arrive. She was in her garage practicing and a neighbor that she'd never seen before came and sit in her garage. Ever since then, they are friends. She signed up for Idol and booked a hotel. "I had no choice because she payed for it" she says. Wonderful sound, very folksy, I love that raspy tone of hers. Amazing audition. Harry says she's an example of a voice with rasp that he wasn't distracted by it. She gets 3 yeses.


Steven Curd (18), Anna Melvin (22) and Ryan Clark (22) - Steven's got a sweet smooth tone. Anna says that when she performs she gets to be someone she can't be in real life, then she delivers a very loud cover of "Wrecking Ball". Ryan is a kinda jazzy, though it felt a little forced to me.


Jamiah Malik (15) and Quiandra Boston-Pearsall (17) - They are close friends and treat each other like siblings. "If I don't make it and Jamiah does, he's gonna have my 100% support" Quiandra says. Jamiah performs an original, which isn't truly impressive. Quiandra has a gospel sound and a better tone than her friend. Unfortunately, not both of them can make it. Jamiah is sent home while Quiandra makes it through with 3 yeses.


Megan Miller - 23 - Megan auditioned last year, in crutches. She's a big voiced country singer but very generic. Harry loved it but is worried when her voice will blow out. She says she's always been a powerhouse singer, so that won't be a problem for her. She gets 3 yeses.


Austin Alvarez (26) and Eric Wood (28) - Austin's outfit looks ridiculous. Apparently the spikes represent the hardness and the pink represents the softness. His audition also sounds like a joke but that may have to do with the fact that we are only shown him singing in falsetto. Eric is an oil worker, whose audition deserved a lot more screen time. Phenomenal tone, so much grit in his voice. Both get 3 yeses.


Spencer Lloyd - 19 - The first thing JLo tells him is he's a pretty guy. "That's a yes from Jen" Keith begins, "and a no from me and Keith" Harry finishes. He doesn't like being upstaged by the eyes. Spencer picks a Colton Dixon song. He's not the greatest singer and will probably coast through the competition based on his looks. Harry thinks he's only an ok singer and will bring an "image factor" to the show. 3 yeses either way.


Marlon Lindsey - 27 - He's been wanting to audition for about 8 years but since he was in the army for 6 years, he had to delay it. Soulful "A Change Is Gonna Come" rendition but I don't see much start potential. 3 yeses.


TK Hash - 28 - He's told by Harry he looks like President Obama. TK previously auditioned for S7 and S8. His "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" rendition is ok but I didn't completely dig it, mainly because of the arrangement. He's not the strongest vocalist either. Keith absolutely loved it. He gets 3 yeses.


McKenna Dennis - Her audition is edited as a poll. Her singing is rather pretty but will she make it through? Of course they do and you agreed.

Tristen Langley - 15 - He's the son of S1 finalist Nikki McKibbin! She came in 3rd. We see little Tristen giving his mom a rose while she was performing. He's not a bad singer but not great either. Harry says that if he didn't know the story, the audition wouldn't have worked for him. JLo disagrees, she believes he's got a really good voice. He gets 2 yeses, with Harry saying no.


John Fox - 20 - He lives with his parents. He was in school but realized he was supposed to do music, so he moved back home. He's a worship leader. He sings "To Make You Feel My Love" and is nice, very relaxing, if not a bit boring. I don't think he's got enough star power. He gets 3 yeses.




Rachel Rolleri - 17 - She's a senior at high school She loves singing and playing the guitar. Her mom wants her to make it past the first round so she can hug Keith. Both are huge fans. She sings "Stay" by Sugarland and while her voice breaks a few times, her tone is very pretty. With some polishing, she'll be great. Keith tells her she's got a great voice. She gets 3 yeses.


Athina Williford (20), Remi Wolf (17) and MK Nobilette (20) - Athina says not a lot of people from where she's from got to be sitting where she's sitting. She feels she was born to do this. Maybe it was the editing but I wasn't overly impressed by her audition. Her voice isn't rich enough. Remi participated in the Junior Olympics twice when she ski raced. It seems she's doubting herself during her audition but she's got a great tone. MK says she's auditioning because she's got a really unique style. She says she doesn't look like someone who sings as she sings. Interesting, she's quite good. 3 yeses for all of them.


Emmanuel Zidor - 24 - He enters the room already singing. Overly dramatic. JLo admits she was scared. Haha. "Sometimes good theater is scary" Harry says. Soulful, smooth tone. JLo tells him she believes in him when he sings. He's music teacher told him he'll never be on this show. They all tell him yes.


Caitlin Johnson - 15 - She's incredibly tall. Harry can't believe she's 15. "You're 32 y/o, you're from NYC and your name is Beth" he tells her. She's from Oregon and lives in a horse ranch. They raise horses. Mmm. She's only ok but it was kinda karaoke. She doesn't have an identity yet, which is the reason Harry says no. JLo and Keith give her yeses. She's off to Hollywood but will she survive it? I doubt it. She needs to come back in a few years.


David Luning - 26 - He sings an original song. He may not be the best singer but his performance was dramatic and pretty intense. That rasp on his voice was very interesting. He's got a great sound as well, kinda folk Americana but how will he fare singing covers? After some hesitation, all the judges end up giving him a yes.


Selena Moreno and Sierra Moreno - 22 - They are twins. Singing is their lives. "Let's just say someone needs to call an ambulance because we're gonna kill it" Sierra says. Selina sings Janis Joplin's "Try" while her sister sings "One+One". Sierra sounded better than Selina to be honest, even if the judges only put Selina through, but in truth, none is great.


Brianna Oakley - 17 - She's a bit freaked out by "The Chamber". She auditioned last year and made it to Hollywood Week but was sent home. She made the decision to come back this year the moment she was cut last year. Effortless singing, beautiful soulful tone. JLo compares her to Jordin Sparks. I'd like to see what she does next. 3 yeses.


Rico Perkins  (24) and Aranesa Turner (20) - He sings about getting a Golden Ticket. She sings Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's "Pure Imagination". Inventive song choices. Both get yeses.


Adam Roth - 28 - He's shown doing an annoying sound. He claims to be a "sound healer". "Music is the most powerful thing there is" he says. I really didn't enjoy his audition. It was decent but not good. Keith thought it was a strange performance, while JLo felt he was fake. Harry says no, the other two say yes.