American Idol 9 - Denver Auditions

It’s the final week of audition episodes on “American Idol” before all those given golden tickets converge on Hollywood for selection of the Top 24 by the judges, including Ellen DeGeneres.

But before Cali, we had to make a stop over in Denver for another evening of auditions. While a montage was shown of all the great singers put through to Hollywood – 26 in all – we only got to see a few of them.

Victoria “Chicken Bone” Beckham was back as celebrity guest judge, looking like a dirty q-tip and offering very little in the way of actual judging, but quite animated when it came to what the contestants were wearing. Too bad this isn’t “Project Runway.”

Not without my daughter…errr…son: Mark Labriola was kidnapped by his mother when he was four and wasn’t reunited with his father until he was 10. While Simon made a joke of his back story, it turns out that Labridoodle can actually sing. Probably won’t make the Hollywood cut, but maybe he could be a Jack Black impersonator at parties.

That Wile E. Coyote Look: With a skeezy laugh and a deep scar in his forehead, Mario Galvan sang a flat version of “Jailhouse Rock” and looked like he’d been hit in the head with an Acme anvil. All that was missing was the Road Runner zipping by. Beep Beep!

Not broken. Yet. Danelle Hayes hosts karaoke nights at nightclubs and sings in a cover band at corporate parties. She had a big, belting voice and was put through to Hollywood. Simon said he believed “Idol” was Danelle’s savior and that she would finally be allowed to be herself. He was joking, right?

Read the rest of the recap at Project Q Atlanta now!