The Buzz with CCX - Season 21 Episode 4

[ScarletDevilCCX]

Absolutely nothing "buzzy" about this edition, since it's both delayed by almost a day because I wasn't going to stay up late enough to watch the after-Oscars edition live and alcohol-free because I'm stuffed from dinner. Has it really only been eight days since the last edition? It feels longer. Well, the upside of watching off the DVR is no commercial breaks. The downside is also no commercial breaks because I'm too verbose for my typing speed.

 

We start with a montage of things from the previous three episodes, but soon we have new contestants. Dany Epp, 23, originally from Suffern, NY but moved to Oklahoma to be with their girlfriend, is singing Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away". ...Tough song. Not a bad performance. I'd like to hear something else. Katy's singing harmony for Dany, though, so I feel like the judges don't need to hear more. And the judges send her through--I wasn't going to commit to a gendered pronoun until the judges did. Next up is Amara Valerio from Yonkers, NY, who got "Kanye'd" at a high school graduation--she was only a junior at the time and was tapped to sing the national anthem, and a member of the senior class took offense that she hadn't been chosen, and then Amara's senior year was 2020 so she couldn't sing at that. She's singing "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan. The judges keep trying to guess the name of the girl who interrupted her. They finally get a reaction out of Amara once she's finished with "Sara", and then they send her through.

 

Savanna Christian is auditioning via "Metaverse Idol", an app that her friend created. She doesn't go through, but the publicity for her friend's VR app will be great. We're in New Orleans. Hannah Nicolaisen, 23, former college volleyball player from Houston, TX, is singing Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love". The singing is beautiful; they'll have to work on stage presence once she gets to Hollywood. Katy says she feels Hannah hasn't even sung enough to know what she has. They send her through. Okay, enough time since dinner now. Angry Orchard Cinnful Apple.

 

Reette Thorns, 20, from Madison, WI, has had a rough life, having a single mom who's struggled with addiction. She's basically cared for her younger siblings since she was 11, not wanting to let anyone know how neglectful her mother was being because they'd rather be with a useless mother than not with their mother at all. She's singing "I Believe" by Fantasia, and she sings it beautifully, and she's nearly in tears afterwards and Lionel gets up and gives her a hug. It's a yes from Lionel, and a yes from Katy. Luke says that two yeses gets her through to Hollywood, but he'll give her a no to push her.

 

Tripp Taylor, 18, is from Florence, SC, and he takes Ryan remarking that he has a deep voice as a complement. He says that the South isn't the easiest place for "racially ambiguous" people. He's a fan of old soul, so he's most excited about meeting Lionel. He's singing Ray Charles' "I Believe to My Soul" and playing the piano. He takes Katy saying that Tripp looks like he could be Lionel's son as a complement, too. It's pretty good. Katy asks again if Lionel's sure that Tripp isn't his son, and I suddenly remember that Lionel's daughter doesn't look remotely black so I guess the "racially ambiguous" bit qualify.

 

Now we've got the "interesting" ones montage. A rocker with a stage name, I didn't see her first name but I doubt her last name at birth was "Karma". Lionel reveals he's friends with Rob Zombie, surprising the other two judges. Or maybe it's not a montage; up next is Colt Glover, 21, from Magnolia, TX, singing "Rock Salt and Nails" by Flatt & Scruggs, and he seems to be a likely golden ticket recipient. This song is weird. "If the women were squirrels with soft bushy tails?" ...No comment. Katy feels like "Colt Glover" is the perfect name for a country singer if she was picking a character in a video game to be a country singer, and he lives up to the name. It's a big yes.

 

Katy's saying good night to her little girl over the phone, and our next contestant is Cay Aliese, 24, from TN. She's also a mother of two, ages 2 and 1, and her father was a failed musician who died just two months earlier of a drug overdose. She said that for the longest time, seeing her dad in the music industry made her not want to go into the music industry, but ever since he passed, it makes her feel closer to him. She's singing an original she wrote about her father, Nolan Neil, who was a contestant on The Voice and America's Got Talent, called "City of Nashville". ...It's tough to tell because of the weird start time, but I think this might be our episode finale? Katy says she wasn't feeling the emotion, and Lionel agrees...what the freak? Katy does give a yes, but she says she's on the fence. Lionel also seemed unsure but says yes. And it's three yeses but none of them seem confident. I really thought this was our "final contestant of the episode special"...oh, wait, it is. Preview of next episode.