Summary "American Idol" - Jan. 28, 2009

Auditions- Salt Lake City

We get a look at the line of hopefuls at 5 a.m. and then a little later in the day. They're very chipper. The judges are hopeful about the talent.

Ryan brings up the Osmonds, since they're from Utah.

We meet David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, the oldest. We go to his house and meet his big family and see old footage of his dad's group. He and his dad both have MS, David talks about the remittance and relapse process and we see a picture of David in a wheelchair and his dad tearfully talking him up. He makes it to the audition room and sings "Something Within Me" by Take 6. He got the family gift plus a tiny bit of soul. Nice control too. Paula thinks he needs to start thinking of himself as a solo artist, instead of a group thing which is his background. Randy doesn't like the song. Kara thinks the runs don't show who he is as an artist. Simon says he shouldn't consider himself contemporary, because that would be a mistake. They seem reluctant. The producers don't show the vote and he walks out sheepishly and then produces his golden ticket.

We meet Tara an overweight, redheaded goth, with jacked up lipstick. She says she's not a goth. She says she has ESP and knows when people are going to die. She sings "One Day I'll Fly Away," from the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack. She is tuneless. Randy laughs. Simon says the whole thing was horrendous from the outfit to the song choice. She leaves, flipping off the cameras on the way.

We see a montage of people practicing and then a montage of terrible singers.

We meet Chris who has a friend there to support him named Greg the Rabbit who's dressed in a big pink rabbit suit. Chris also has a picture of Simon on a stick, like a fan. He sings "Roll to Me" by Del Amitri and it's not good. Simon is distracted by the rabbit and the fan. Chris puts the fan down and the bunny steps back. He gets two words of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" out and they stop him and send him away. Randy says he likes the bunny. The bunny hugs and lifts Simon off the ground, Chris is good-natured about it.

We see a picture of David Archuleta as Ryan opines on what a good mood everyone is in, we see a montage of people being dismissed by the judges and thanking them on the way out.

After seeing all this graciousness Ryan goes out to the holding room and gives the auditioners a pep talk saying they shouldn't concede so easily to the judges if they actually came to win.

We meet Frankie, a stay-at-home mom who feels like she can do anything now that she's had a baby. She's here to entertain. She's very confident and has been visualizing getting through. She sings a good chunk of "You Know I'm No Good," by Amy Winehouse. She's Winehouse-y in that she's bluesy and jazzy and sounds pretty good.They all like her voice and Simon thinks she has a cute face. They put her through unanimously. (Frankie goes to Hollywood, Ryan tells us.)

We meet Megan -- also a mom, who has recently decided to get a divorce. Today's her birthday. She sings "Can't Help Loving Dat Man," from "Show Boat." She's got a great jazzy style with a funky rasp and neat blue notes and colorings. Randy kinda likes it. Paula thinks she's loving her. Simon says it's one of his favorite auditions because she's different and memorable. Kara says she's got a glow about her. They vote her through unanimously. The judges confer afterward reiterating how much they liked her.

We see a montage of people getting golden tickets. We do not get to hear them sing.

We meet Andrew who sings a gospel hymn in a deep baritone/bass. He's actually not terrible but he's terribly goofy. They say he has "a" soul, but not soul. He's gracious about it.

We meet Austin who's class president and we see him going about his class president tasks at school. He's auditioning to inspire people. He sings "When I Look to the Sky," by Train. He's earnest but not very good, a little flat both in terms of pitch and delivery. Randy and Simon didn't like the song. Austin says they don't want him to fail, right? Simon says they haven't joined the fan club yet. He tries an "old soul" song, by RAFFI??? "It Takes A Village." He doesn't sound much better. And memo to Austin, this is not a soul song. Randy says he's got a voice but doesn't like the song choices but says he has perseverance so he says yes. Kara thinks there's something going on and says yes. Paula thinks he's charming and says yes. Simon says he needs to "become young." They put him through unaninmously.

We get a montage of people crying after being rejected.

We get a glimpse of Jarrett who I can't tell if we're supposed to like or not as he sings "Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae. Then we get a montage of the worst singers.

We meet Taylor who is from the islands in the Pacific and who's family moved back to the States in order to help facilitate the careers of their children. She's 16, beautiful, and very tall, 5'11''. She sings "Joyful, Joyful" pretty well, but she has pitch problems in her future. Randy calls it one of the best vocals he's heard. They put her through unanimously.

We meet tonight's Inspirational Story: Rose. She lives with her best friend's family. She grew up with her hippie dad, who died when she was 13. She shows us pictures of him. Her mother died when she was 15. She's 17. (God bless her). Her older brother tells us how well she's done with that. She wishes her parents were there to see her thrive. She enters the audition room, barefoot, and Simon thinks she looks fantastic. She sings "I Feel The Earth Move," by Carole King. She's very cute and not bad and she's Inspirational Story girl so she gets voted through unanimously. She hugs and kisses the judges.

12 people got golden tickets.

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