Summary "American Idol" - Portland Auditions - Feb. 1, 2012

We get an opening montage of people on the way to the auditions and walking into the audition room.

Ryan tells us it's the show's first trip to Oregon. We then get a montage of the sights of Portland.

First up is Sara Bareilles fan Brittany Zika who got a chance to sing with her American idol. She trips on the way in and calls herself Tripster the Hipster. She sings Brandi Carlile and she's fine. They love her. She's going to Hollywood.

We get a montage of bad singers from Seattle in season 6.

We then met a kid from Philly named Ben who has a cold. We get shots of him pounding his chest and blowing his nose and talking about his job selling cable on the street. He goes to sing Lady Gaga for the judges, and given the fact that he has a cold he could be much worse. He, however, is not good and is not going to Hollywood.

Next up is Jermaine Jones who eats, breathes, and sleeps music and grew up singing in church and his mom thinks his vocal gift is from God. He cries tears of joy and excitement and says it's his turn. His mother is very supportive. He's 6'8" 1/2. He sings "Superstar." He's fine and a little teary and very sweaty. The judges love him and tell him to loosen up, he's going to Hollywood.

On Day 2 we meet single mom Britnee Kellogg who has her kids and a whole passel of family, in matching "we heart Britnee" t-shirts, there to support her. She was married to a basketball player who held her back from her dreams and then he cheated on her and now she's pursuing her dreams. She sings "You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt. She's got the right motivation. She's pretty good and JLo starts singing along with her. They love her and she's going to Hollywood. She asks JLo advice about being a working a mom. JLo says it takes a village. Britnee's village comes in.

Next up is Sam Gershmann who is extremely animated and perky. She sings oddly, squeaky, affected and shrill. She is very irritating. The judges openly laugh at her. Steven calls her "too Broadway." Jlo saying her personality is bubbly and she should be onstage but not the "Idol" stage.

Next up is David Weed is very geeky with glasses and a sweater vest. He works in fast food. He sings "Tom Sawyer" by Rush. Given that, again, not as bad as it could've been. The notes are mostly there but... Randy claims that he thinks Geddy Lee is a really good singer. David then says he wants to be a comic too and tells a terrible joke. He's not going to Hollywood. It's kind of sad.

Next up is Romeo Diahnhe is from Liberia. He lived in a refugee camp in Ghana before coming to the U.S. He saw a lot of tough stuff before he got here. He sings Bob Marley, very much in an impression style. It's fine but since he has an interesting back story he's going to Hollywood, although JLo does express concern about how he will do in the competition.

Next up is Naomi Gillies who sings the Aerosmith song "Cryin." She doesn't show much range but she's got power and decent pitch and... she sings an Aerosmith song so she's going to Hollywood.

We get a montage of no's and angry and/or crying auditioners.

Next is Ben Harrison who claims he is adorable and then goes about proving that he isn't really, more like manic. He explains he's often kicked out of bands by older guys who are jealous of him. He sings Queen and it is... odd. He isn't going to Hollywood but is glad he didn't puke or pee his pants and walks out smiling.

We get another montage of no's.

And the final contestant is Jessica Phillips, a woman whose boyfriend of five years had a massive stroke last Easter. He was hospitalized for a month and a half and when he woke up he didn't know who she was and she's become his caretaker. We see them walking and holding hands and doing his speech therapy. It is clearly very tough for her. She breaks down crying talking about it, justifiably. She sings "Again" by Faith Evans. She's not bad, but she's not amazing, she has breath issues, but she's got sass, seems really nice, and of course... a very interesting story so... she's going to Hollywood.

We get a montage of yes's of some of the 45 people who got golden tickets, almost none of whom we actually got to see/hear.

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