The Buzz with CCX - Season 19 Episode 5

[ScarletDevilCCX]

Had a Sauvignon Blanc at dinner tonight, but just one so there might still be a drink later. Final auditions. Madison Watkins, 25, from Fayetteville, AR, but now living in Los Angeles. She's singing an original that she wrote for her father, who is her biggest supporter. Her listed profession is "hair model". As expected of the first contestant of an audition episode, she's good.

 

Montage of Katy fans. One of them says they've been a fan since Katy's first song, and I'm like, these are teenagers, they were like not even in kindergarten when Katy's first song came out. Liv Grace Blue, 17, is doing a very interesting take on "I Kissed a Girl". Ava August, 15, of Laguna Angel, CA, is doing...I don't recognize it right away but I'm assuming it's another Katy Perry song. Both are...okay. Both go through, and I have no problem with that but they're not overwhelming. Then Liv's mom comes in and embarrasses her with bad dancing. Deshawn Goncalves, 19, of Cleveland, OH, is a student at Jackson State University (and a tuba player in their marching band--shout-out to HBCU marching bands!). His father ended up in prison; his parents were very young when he was born, in particular his mother was 13. He came in very sharply dressed and sure enough, he's a soul singer. Also, amazing. Lionel says "Consider yourself hugged", because of course he can't physically hug Deshawn because of the pandemic. He goes through.

 

Athlete montage. Alana, 22, is from Florida. Cameron Allen, 20, is a college student from Oklahoma. Both go through; I'm not sure I agree with Cameron going through. Tryzdin Grubbs, 15, is from Columbus, OH, and he's the only singer in a family of athletes; he says he "grew up on a football field". And he got bullied for daring to be different. He's a bit mumbly but I like the sound of his voice. Give him some more confidence and he'll be good. The judges say the same thing. He'll do another song, "Nobody" by James Arthur. ...And now it's maybe a little overenunciated. A little bit of mumbliness isn't necessarily a bad thing. But it gets stronger as he hits the chorus. A bit of a rock style? Yeah, I can see it. He could be our next glam rocker. Thought we were heading to commercial but instead we get a quick montage. Andrea Valles, 23, is doing "Landslide". She's a bit over-affected but I like her. Katy isn't sure what to make of her. Luke is far more positive. Andrea is trying for this, and yeah, she's earned this. Luke gives an instant yes. Katy pouts a bit but it sounds like it was a yes, and we come out of the room with a ticket.

 

Kiko, 25, is a registered nurse from Las Vegas. I like what he's got, but Luke wants 30 seconds of something else, so he calls in his guitarist...Season 18 Top 5 Francisco Martin! And they'll be doing "Ten Years" by Season 17 runner-up Alejandro Aranda (is he still using the last name? I'm not sure). Okay, they are brothers. I thought we already had two noes when Lionel said yes, but apparently Luke hadn't voted yet. But it's another no. He feels his nerves got the best of him, and Francisco says he's confident Kiko will get it next time. Segue into "second chances"-- Zachary D'Onofrio, 19, is doing the Beatles' "Golden Slumbers", and he made it to Hollywood in Season 16. I like him. Katy's not sure what to make of him and asks for more, and he asks if he can bring in his girlfriend. And it's another returning finalist! I do remember the sparks between him and Catie Turner, and apparently they fell out of touch but last year they got together. She's looking a lot less geeky than she did on her run on the show. They put Zach through. Then Ryan makes things weird.

 

Montage of oddballs. Brianna Collichio, 15, is from upstate New York and she auditioned after a video she made and her sister Sentina posted on TikTok went viral. She originally had an earlier audition date, but she collapsed just before her first audition as a result of her cystic fibrosis. She says normally that would be a problem for singing because a lot of CF patients have scarred lungs and are all raspy, but she doesn't have that. She's singing "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara, naturally. It's amazing. How is this only the hour one closer; this is the type of thing they often put at the very end of the show?! They put her through, of course. She's in tears.

 

We get some people who were in a boy band together. They're not worth remembering. Oh, wait, no, we've only seen one of them. Colin Jamieson, 22, of Boxford, MA, is doing "six feet under" by Billie Eilish. He's...better than his friend, but still not great. He goes through though.

 

Vahhley, 23, from Brooklyn, NY. Has a son, probably about 2 or 3...and they've been living in a homeless shelter for the past 8 months. She's singing "One Moment in Time" by Whitney Houston. She sings beautifully, and as they're delivering the verdict, her father (who's also homeless) can't keep her son MJ under control any longer, and as a new mother, Katy's tuned in to that. Vahhley goes through.

 

...Oh no, some more stuff got lost because my computer is bad. I remember the last contestant because she had a baby who had a life-threatening condition, and I remember an autistic kid with an even more severely autistic brother who was told to come back another year, and there was a guy who sounded good but they thought was too fake, which was then contrasted with someone who was real, had gone through some issues and had a sister who also had those issues that he wrote a song for. The other two I mentioned (not the guy who was too fake) also had originals that were very personal. It's a theme this year.

Edited March 15, 2021 by ScarletDevilCCX