Another fun night on AI with some crazy bad and crazy good auditions.  This time around, the Idol buses stopped in Orlando, Florida to hear what the local crooners could offer.   There were two moments which stood out in the night….and both involved handcuffs…sort of.

Remember Jarrod Norrel? He’s a graphic design student from Georgia who just could not take ‘no’ for answer.  He sang Amazing Grace.  He thinks he’s a great singer (he’s not), and wouldn’t leave without a ticket to Hollywood.  Security was called…he was handcuffed.  It was pretty humorous.   He was let go without ‘officially’ being arrested.  I emailed Jarrod to get a comment about his experience….I’m wating for a response.

Matt Lawrence at the Orlando Audition

The other moment, for me, was when Matt Lawrence sang “Trouble”.  Trouble’s a word he knows well.  He spent 4 years in jail for robbing a bank with a BB gun when he was 15years old.  He’s righted the ship, so to speak, and belted out an amazing version of “Trouble“.  The judges were all blown away.  He reminds me of Michal Sarver from last season.  I’d like to see more of Matt Lawrence, but I think he could go far in this competition.

Another “notable” from the night was Michelle Delamor from Miami, Florida.  No, we didn’t see her sing, but we know all the people who got their golden ticket.  Check out this performance from Delamor on YouTube.  She’s amazing.  If you watched her little AI interview, she told us that she opened for Lil Wayne, so she is accustomed to the spot light.  If this is how she sings all the time, she’s going far.

Someone else to watch is Jermaine Purifoy.  He took things more seriously this go around (he didn’t during the Season 7 auditions).  The judges LOVED him this time and gave him two bazillion percent yesses.  I really don’t enjoy the two bazillion percent stuff, but I digress.    He gave us an amazing performance of Tony Bennett’s “Smile”.   Based on his audition and the judges’ reactions, Jermaine is someone to watch closely.

American Idol now goes to Los Angeles on Tuesday night.  LA should bring out some interesting people.  Be sure to watch AI on Fox Providence at 8pm Tuesday night.   As always, the Rhode Show will talk about the Los Angeles auditons…and I’ll be blogging about them.

Enjoy.